This Week & more…at The Fellowship.

Here’s the latest information on what’s happening at The Fellowship. You’ll hear about Starting Point this coming Sunday, our upcoming Couples Retreat, April Serve Day and the second preview service for our Mt. Juliet campus. Good things are happening. Come join us!

The Real Jesus…continues.

What a great day at The Fellowship this past Sunday. It was Easter and we definitely celebrated! If you weren’t able to join us, we have the entire service right here for you (see below). We are talking about who Jesus really is, and why that even matters. Our current series is called The Real Jesus and we just finished up part 2. Come hear part 3 this weekend. Worship at 10:45 a.m. with LIFE Groups at 9:30 a.m.. See you there!

The Launch of our 2nd Campus. See it here!

Many of you have asked, “So, how did last Sunday night go?” Well, besides the awesome worship, a special time of fellowship and a fun family cookout? It went great! Check out this one minute video to experience just a bit of what we did. Enjoy. And, see you this Sunday. Happy Easter!
-Matt

The Fellowship at Mt. Juliet from The Fellowship on Vimeo.

Do You Know Who the Real Jesus Is?

What a great weekend at The Fellowship! Not only did we experience an exciting kick-off at our second campus in Mt. Juliet, but we began a new series at the Two Rivers campus. It’s called The Real Jesus. You and I and the world have lots of opinions about Jesus. Who He was, what He was like.But the fact is, none of us really know.

I hope you’ll check out the video of our worship service from Sunday and see what you think Then, celebrate Easter with us this weekend! We will have two services. One at 9:00 a.m. and one at 10:45 a.m.. Child care provided.

Looking forward to meeting you and seeing you there.

Serving alongside,

Matt

Real Jesus- Week 1 from The Fellowship on Vimeo.

Would you pay the bills of the man trying to sue you?

Love this!! -Matt
Atheist Shocked When Church Helped With Bills.
ATHENS, Texas (BP) — The man who threatened to sue a Texas county for placing a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn has had a shift in perspective, dropped the lawsuit and now plans to move to the county with his wife and cat.

Patrick Greene, an atheist, said he was shocked when a church began raising money to help battle a detaching retina. Greene previously had fought to have a nativity scene removed from a courthouse lawn. Photo is courtesy of the Athens Daily Review.
Patrick Greene, an atheist cab driver from San Antonio, had said he found the placement of the nativity unconstitutional and intended to use the legal system to force a judge to order its removal — that is, until he began losing his vision because of a detaching retina.

With surgery on the horizon, no health insurance and a job that he could no longer maintain with his deteriorating eyesight, Greene realized he needed to focus his energies and finances on life’s necessities, leading him to withdraw his lawsuit.

When Jessica Crye, a member of Sand Springs Baptist Church in Athens, Texas, found out, she called her pastor, Erick Graham, to see if he had heard the news — not only about the dropped suit but about Greene’s health. Crye asked Graham if their church could help him. Graham’s answer was simple.

“Sure we can help him,” Graham told her.

Graham said he didn’t need to take time to pray about the matter or to mull it over because Christ had already provided an answer.

“We don’t need to pray about it,” Graham said. “We’ve already been given the command to do it.”

Crye began to organize an effort to send support to the Greenes, and Graham explained to the church that they had an opportunity to show Greene the love of Christ.

Greene did not accept the offer of the church to pay for his eye surgery, but eventually agreed to let the church help him with bills and rent, which were becoming increasingly difficult to maintain with medical costs stacking up and no job to bring in income.

Greene said when he agreed, he and his wife never thought the church would actually follow through and send money.

“My wife said, ‘We’ll never see that,’” Greene said. “Two days later, a check for $400 came in the mail. We are totally flabbergasted.”

Donations have not ended there, though.

“The money continues to come in for him as it’s been made more public,” Graham said, explaining that Greene then asked them not to send any more. “But I can’t keep the people from giving. The money keeps coming and it’s not ours to hold onto.”

In the meantime, Greene has changed his mind about accepting help in funding his eye surgery, saying the Christians from Athens have worn down his resistance to outside help. He even set up a website http://gofundme.com/i5htw) to receive donations, publicly thanking Graham, Crye, and the Sands Springs church family.

Greene said in his entire life, he never has had a Christian treat him the way the Christians in Athens treated him. (Athens is the county seat.) The so-called Christians that Greene had encountered had refused to pay their fare in his cab because they did not want their money going to the “devil.” They also had also refused to lease him apartments because of his disbelief in God. But they had never loved him, he said.

“No Christian at all that we’ve ever met in our lives, had ever been nice to us,” Greene said. “No Christian has ever done anything for us. Our own families have totally forgotten our existence, and strangers — Christians and atheists all around the country — are helping us. One of the things Jesus said to was love your neighbor as yourself. These people are acting like real Christians.”

Greene said he and his wife have received enough money to get caught up on rent, bills and taxes and that the surprise of the Christians’ generosity and selflessness has not worn off.

“We are literally still in a state of shock,” Greene said. “I feel like we’re in the Twilight Zone.”

Shock or not, though, the Greenes are moving forward, with plans to make Athens their permanent home with the help of Sand Springs Baptist Church and others who have heard about Greene’s story and wanted to help. In Athens, where the cost of living is lower than in San Antonio, the couple has found an apartment within walking distance to Walmart, meaning they will not need to drive anywhere to get their groceries.

Greene said when he gets to Athens, he plans to become friends with the very people he once fought against.

“I’ve already invited [Jessica] and her family to dinner,” Greene said. “I want to get together with everybody. We are not isolated anymore.”

Though Greene has not changed his beliefs, Crye said Greene told her he would come to some of her church’s services when he and his wife move to town.

So taken by the generosity was Greene and his wife that they purchased and gave a star to Henderson County for the very nativity scene they sought to remove.

The Greenes said they expected the Christians only to help them if and when they decided to convert to Christianity and were surprised by their unconditional gifts. Crye said Jesus has called Christians to love not just their neighbors but also their enemies — and to love both without condition.

“That’s what God called us to do,” Crye said. “It’s very against our nature to one, love people, and two, to love them unconditionally. If we’re not, the world is not seeing what Jesus is like. They’re seeing that view that Patrick has always seen.”
–30–
Sharayah Colter is correspondent for the Southern Baptist TEXAN, online at www.texasonline.net.

Mt. Juliet Campus: 1st Preview Service.

This Sunday evening, at 5:00 pm, at the Mt. Juliet Elementary School, we will officially launch our second location of The Fellowship! Why, you might ask? We’ll there are several reasons:

1. We feel like this is what God has led us to do. (That’s a big one!)
2. Mt. Juliet is a fast growing community. It needs churches that are truly reaching people
3. People want to go to church in their community. One of the things we stress at The Fellowship is for our members to make where they live their mission zone. Your neighbors, co-workers, kids friends at school, they are all people who need to hear the life-changing message of the gospel. Now you can invite them to your church where you live.
4. More people can serve! You will have even more opportunities to help people invest in what God is doing in their church in their community!

So, if you are in the Mt. Juliet/Wilson County area this Sunday evening, we hope to see you there. Invite your friends, neighbors and your neighbor’s friends to join you. Activities for all including bounce houses and cookout! I hope to see you there!

Serving Alongside,
Matt

In The Know

Do We Really Love People Who Aren’t Christians?

I saw this post by John Acuff and had to share it with you.

“Dad, stand up so everyone can see what I’m going to look like in 20 years.”

That’s how I introduced my dad during the devotional meeting at work. And it’s true. I’m going to look like him, which means I’ll look like Anderson Cooper or Steve Martin. Those are the two people folks always think my dad looks like. (At Lowe’s one day someone approached my dad nervously, because they thought he was Anderson Cooper, and if he was in town a natural disaster must be about to hit the area.)

After, what I think was a pretty awesome introduction by me, my dad and I got to hear a guy named Al Andrews talk about dreams.

Al wrote an amazing children’s book called The Boy, The Kite and The Wind. In his speech, he said, “A dream never makes sense. We’re supposed to have crazy dreams. If what you dream is fairly possible, it’s probably not the dream you’re supposed to have.”

It was a really inspiring/convicting message. My dad and I talked about it in the car later that day, and here is what he said:

“I think my dream is to get Christians to love non-Christians.”

My first thought was, “That’s kind of silly. I’m great at that. That’s not a dream. We already do love non-Christians!” But then my dad continued to share his idea.

“We think we do. We think we’re doing a good job at that, but how do you really show someone love? You spend time with them. You stand with them. You be with them. I think that’s a big part of what love looks like.”

And suddenly, I could no longer judge the validity of my dad’s dream. The truth is, by that definition, I don’t love non-Christians.

I started to look at my life and realized I don’t spend a lot of time with people who aren’t Christians.

I work with Christians.

I live in a neighborhood that is largely Christian.

I go to church with Christians.

I go to dinner with people from church.

I go to breakfast with Christians.

Save for the person who cuts my hair, I was shocked at how insulated I had become from the world. If spending time with non-Christians is one of the signs you love them, then I’m not doing a very good job with love.

Now the easy response to this is “Yeah, but you live in the south. It’s different where I live.”

And maybe it is. The south is considered the “Bible Belt” after all. But even when I lived in Massachusetts, I didn’t live my life that differently. I worked with a lot more people who weren’t Christians, but I don’t necessarily know that I spent time with them. I tended to be the kind of Christian who liked to pray for far off people in far off lands, to say “God, give me a mission field! Give me people to reach!” And then I would sit down in my cubicle completely blind to the reality that God had already given me people to reach.

There was a building full of them. They were my coworkers. But it’s easier to pray for fictional people or the people you meet on a one-week mission trip than it is to pray for the messy, 3D people you work with.

What’s the fix? What’s the solution? To tell you the truth, I don’t know yet. This is a fresh thought that is unresolved. But someone did tell me a story that I thought was pretty interesting in the context of this challenge.

My friend knew a father who wanted to reach his local community. He wanted to step out of his Christian circle and spend time with non-Christians. We often think that’s complicated or difficult, but he found a really easy way to do it.

Every Monday night he and his son, who had graduated from college, went to a local pub in their neighborhood. For three hours, every week, they sat in the same spot. Week after week, month after month, they sat and talked. My friend went with them one night and said it was amazing. In three hours, dozens of people at this local bar came and sat with them. They talked, they shared, they listened, and they became friends. Weddings, funerals, unemployment, all stages of life passed through that small booth, and slowly but surely everyone there learned that these two guys wanted to spend time with them.

When the son later graduated from grad school, the guys at the bar threw him a party. They had become family. Why?

Time = love.

It’s a pretty simple equation, and it’s one we see Jesus live out in the Bible. I’ve written about that before. Jesus was a pretty ineffective communicator by our modern standards. He could have been speaking to thousands of people on hilltops every night. Instead, he “wasted time” on slow, long dinners with a handful of people everyone looked at as sinners. Why? Because time = love. And Jesus knew how to love people.

Question:
How much time do you spend with people who aren’t Christians?

Good stuff.
Serving Alongside,
Matt

Open Letter to The Fellowsihp

What a great month we’ve been experiencing at The Fellowship! I continue to be amazed at all that God is doing in so many lives. I’m thankful for the salvation decisions that have been made in our services, for the recent baptisms and the awesome spirit of worship. Honestly right now I am just so thankful. Here are a few things that I wanted to personally share with you:

1. Thank you for your participation. By this I don’t just mean your attendance, but how you are actively jumping in and leading in so many areas!

2. Thank you for your attitude. There is so much going on and so many new things happening. The majority of you have been overwhelmingly supportive and have just continued rolling with the punches.

3. The Fellowship at Mt Juliet Campus Update. Our new campus kicks off in 3 weeks (April 1) with a preview service. We look forward to seeing what God is going to do in this area. Be in prayer for everything that will be going on there.

4. Two Rivers Campus Update. God continues to move here and we are looking ahead to our future home once this facility sells. Pray that God shows us the perfect location for this new place of ministry that will allow us to even more effectively reach this community!

5. Invite, invite, invite!!! We want there to be a culture of invitation here at The Fellowship. This means that in our everyday lives we are looking for opportunities not only to show Christ to this world, but to invite people to experience what God is doing here at The Fellowship.

6. Our Couples Retreat May 4 & 5. This is going to be a refreshing time of seeing God’s plan for marriage and encouragement in the midst of frustrations. The cost is $35 per couple. (Dinner on Friday night is included). We will meet at the church but have a special rate for a hotel if you want to get away that night as well. Hope to see you all there.

This past weekend, we started a new series called Backwards. I hope you will make being with us a priority this coming Sunday! Invite someone to join you. Worship begins at 10:45 a.m. with LIFE Groups at 9:30 a.m.

On The Journey Together!

Matt

Just What Exactly Is an “Ordinance” Anyway?

The word “ordinance” may be unfamiliar to some of you, but it’s actually a pretty simple concept. And this past Sunday at The Felowship we celebrated with two of them! Watch it here!

An ordinance isn’t a kind of church ritual that “saves” you if you do it. The Bible clearly states that through Christ alone we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 4:12; Titus 3:5).
An ordinance, however, is a command that the New Testament calls us to obey. In simple terms, church ordinances are visual aids to help us better understand and appreciate what Jesus Christ has done for us. The two we as a church observed this past weekend were baptism and communion. And what a great day it was! You can see it all here

Join us this Sunday as we begin a new series, Backwards. Worship at 10:45 a.m. with LIFEgroups at 9:30 a.m. See you there!

Serving Alongside,
Pastor Matt