Ready.

Finally ready. Its almost here! We are just six weeks away from launching Awaken Community Church at the YMCA in Hixson. We are pumped to see what God is going to do in our city. Continuing to think of marriages finding freedom, the addicts healed and many coming to know the reason for life; Jesus. Jesus is not just a noble guy or a man that came to do some good in the world, but the Son of God who came into the world to give hope and life to depraved people in their sin.

Many of us find something to put our hope, worth and significance in, but it all is a waste without knowing the one who made us. Its not just believing in God, but truly knowing Him and having a relationship with Him. We look not to bring tradition or legalism to our city, but to bring hope, love and serve our community just like the church of Acts (in the Bible) did.

If you are "de-churched" (seperated from church) or just not sure about God and life, I would love to invite you to Awaken. We are launching Spetmember 13th at the Hixson YMCA. Pray for us as we seek to see a community changed forever.

28

Well, today I turn 28. They should call it 29 because I lived a whole year before I even got a number. Kind of a rip off. Here are random thoughts that come to my head over the last 28 years.

puke baby got beat up by brother socks in my face bb gun wars
cheeseburgers taco salad riding bikes basketball latchkey kid
cool dudes playing cars GI Joes black eye parents divorced church basketball friends neighborhood middle school high school friends CROAM workout tennis dating follower of Christ life change purpose mentor Faith School bad marriage degree job friends God Kylie job Abigail Church Planting friends good marriage 28.

These are just a few random thoughts from my 28 years. I look forward to the purpose God has created me for through the rest of my life. Thank you for everyone that has been apart of my life.

Days without God

Sometimes I get so focused on my life (wife, kids, job friends and more) that I live days without God. Yeah, God has put these blessings in my life, but they should not replace the One that created me. Have you lived days without God? What about weeks, months or years? What about ever? People today are more open to spiritual things than ever. There is a God-shaped whole in all of us that can only be filled by....guess who? Yep God.

At Awaken we are starting Community Groups. Community Groups are groups of people that meet in homes throughout the week where people "do life" together. We eat, hangout, be real with one another and ask questions, read the Bible and learn more about the God of the universe. We realize that no one is perfect, so no one has to act perfect. Hangout with a bunch of single people or maybe honestly your marriage sucks and you need to "do life" with other married people. We all mess up and need to lean on one another.

Live life with God and bring other people along with you. Your life was never meant to be alone. Even with just you and your family, you need people to come beside you and "do life" with you. Let me know if you are interested in a Community Group and we'll get you plugged into one.

$1,000

What would you do if someone just gave you $1,000? Would you pay bills, eliminate debt, blow it on whatever you want? What if someone gave you $1,000 and the only restriction was to spend on someone else. Would you help someone buy groceries, fix a water heater or just bless someone, leave someone a fat tip at a restaurant? 

At Awaken we have committed to giving half of our money away that comes in through the giving on Sundays. We have just reached $1,000. We have many ideas and some things already in place. We look forward to taking up money each week, because we can literally see how much is going back out to connect with our community and make a change in peoples lives. Some ideas people mentioned last night are: Hospital bills, the homeless, a neighbor in need and more. We look forward to seeing what God is going to do in our community. 

If you are reading this and you live in Chattanooga, we invite you to join us as we are forming Awaken Community Church. We launch September 13th, 2009.

Community Now...

We are starting a four week series called "Community Now" this Sunday at Awaken. I am so pumped about what God is going to do. This past week we had 40 people come and experience Awaken. Excited to see who God brings our way.