I don’t know what we will call them (Journey, Life, Home Groups, etc.), but we are quickly moving in the direction of having them.

Here are our two biggest challenges at the moment- connections and growth. With our current structure (setting up, ministry, tearing down) connections have been a little slower than I would like. We are starting to turn the corner, but I know we are meant to grow together, so Im hoping we can speed the connections process up. The other area we need to improve on is growth. With so many people coming in to Catalyst from so many backgrounds it is hard to meet each need on a Sunday morning. We have everything from young to old, churched to unchurched to de-churched, single, married and single again.

I’ve been against starting Groups this early (mainly because we still need to focus on Sundays, CatalystKIDS and Community Outreach). BUT, lately I’ve been praying and processing through the possibility of starting Groups as early as January.

I just watched this video and I think we are quickly moving closer to starting Groups. At some point the stuff will hit the fan. At some point you will need people full of faith, hope and prayer to help you through something. At some point you will need to be there for someone. I think Groups are a great way to help connections and growth. Check out this video:

What are your thoughts?

Do you need to Break Free?
Do you know someone who needs to Break Free?
Do you want to see our church be the catalyst for our community Breaking Free?

We all face things we need to Break Free of.

HELP US FILL CATALYST CHURCH WITH PEOPLE WHO WILL BREAK FREE.

One simple way to help fill Catalyst Church, send someone an evite.

You can send someone an evite HERE, and for Break Free it looks like this:

People will die and go to hell unless I personally do something about it! How much is a life worth to me?   I heard a wise man once say you can give without loving but you cannot love without giving.  Jesus Christ LOVED us & GAVE His life on a bloody cross so that people (me included) do NOT have to spend eternity in Hell.  What can I give in comparison?  Not much!  But I can give my time and my treasure.   The more I give, the more people there are who will hear the gospel.  It’s that simple.  What will do you about the problem?”

This is part 2 of a 3 part series. I found this on a blog and knew I had to share. Tomorrow I will give a link to where I found this series of posts. Until then, enjoy…

“The other day my 2 year old grand daughter saw a card like this for our Full Throttle series.

When she saw it she said “That’s Jesus!”  Then she put a stuffed animal on it and said “I can’t see Jesus no more.”   I have the privilege to pastor a church where my Mom and Dad, my wife, attend.  My adult children attend too.  Not because they have to – because they want to.  And they bring my grandkids who are 5 and 2.  And they are learning about Jesus!

When I grew up in church, we went because we had to.  When I was about 17, I decided church wasn’t for me and I left until I was over 30 years old.  Luckily I didnt die or end up in jail during the process.  When kids grow up they leave the church in droves because it no longer offers anything relevant to their lives.  The truth is it probably didn’t when they were kids either.  I want to change that.  Thats why we do Crosspoint the way we do.

We invest heavily in our Fusion ministry so that kids can see Jesus in their world!  We could do it cheaper but think about what they are exposed to in the world of entertainment and experience.   I believe one of the greatest sins we can commit is to bore a child in church.  Jesus said it was better if we had a millstone hung around our neck and we were dropped into the sea than to offend a child and cause them to miss out on the Kingdom!

Our investment in salary, curriculum, stage,  props, prizes, lights, computers, software, flat panel tv’s, Nintendo wii’s, gates, diapers, hand sanitizer and the like for our children is making a difference.  A large percentage of people we baptized this year were children.  Statistically most people make decisions for Christ before they are 18.   My kids are past that age.  They are believers.  But my grandkids haven’t gotten there yet.  And I want them to know Jesus and stay connected to Him and his church forever.  I don’t want them to blow out like I did because it wasn’t relevant to their lives.    That’s why I give and why I am praying about my Full Throttle gift.   We will be spending around $50,000 on new gear for our kids so they can learn to say “That’s Jesus!”  Why do you give?”

I saw this series of posts, and knew I had to share. There are 3 parts in all. Keep checking back, and at the end I’ll share where these posts came from. I hope you enjoy, and I hope these help you on your journey….

“One day I was sitting in church on the pew in the middle of summer bored out of my mind.  Im sure the preacher was saying something interesting or beneficial but I zoned out.  I used to be an HVAC engineer and designed a few churches.  I was staring up at the vaulted ceiling on that hot day packed with hundreds of people and I was calculating 400BTU/personx800 people + light load + roof load (is there much insulation in that roof?) and then this thought hit me:

WHO PAYS FOR ALL THIS?

Oops! I set myself up for that one. Then it was almost like the roof of the building lifted off, all the people were gone, and I felt as if God actually spoke to me and said – in a very smart alec voice too:

NOT YOU….

You could have frozen a river with the chill that went down my spine.  I went home that day disturbed.  I have no idea what the preacher said that day.  But God spoke very clearly.   When I got home I read Malachi 3:8-11.  These words about the Tithe jumped off the page

“Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

God was DARING me to trust him.   I think this was a triple dog dare!  I told my wife – we have to write the first check on payday for 10%. No exceptions.  She was nervous.  I was scared to death.  Usually we could barely make it pay check to pay check. We had a lot of debt too. But I knew I had to do it.  I wrote it for EXACTLY 10% – including the change.  My hand was shaking so bad I could hardly write it.  I prayed over that check.  And I told God something like this (in kind of a smart alec way)

God – you said test you so here ya go. Im writing this one check. And if this don’t work out like you say – it’ll be the last one.

That was about 18 years ago I think.   Today I am blessed with a beautiful wife, a great family, a beautiful home, two cars, a job, insurance, clothing, and get to pastor an INCREDIBLE church. God kept His end of the bargain. And that’s why I have given at least a tithe (10%) and offerings above the tithe ever since.  I trust God and believe His word! Do you?”