This Sunday is Palm Sunday! Sunday begins “Holy Week” as we focus on Jesus’ last week before his Resurrection.   In our series The Cross I am going to focus this Sunday on this phrase about the cross: “This is the Path.”

We will continue this series both this Friday night (April 6) at our Good Friday service, and on Easter Sunday on April 8th.

I’ll see you at church tomorrow at either 9:00 or 10:45 a.m.

On Saturday, March 31st we will have an Easter Egg Hunt on the church property from 2:00-4 :00 p.m. for nursery through 5th grade.

Bring your kids, your neighbors, and any other children who would enjoy a fun and wholesome experience!  We’re going to have a blast!

On Wednesday, April 11  at 6:30 p.m., Michael Hines with The Christian International Embassy for Jerusalem (ICEJ) will be our guest speaker.  Raised in England, Michael spent five years working for the ICEJ’s media team inIsrael. While analyzing Middle East events and writing articles for the ICEJ, Michael developed a keen understanding of the issues from a Biblical perspective.  In 2007, Michael moved toMurfreesboro,TN and began to work for the ICEJ’s USA branch.  Michael will speak about the biblical call of Israel and the spiritual nature of the conflict raging in the Middle East.

I’ve been building a friendship with Michael in recent months, and I’ve been impressed with his intellect and heart for the Lord.  This will be an enlightening and enjoyable night.

It’s coming!  On April 8, we will have two great Easter services to celebrate our Risen Jesus!  Make plans now to attend either our 9:00 or 10:45 a.m. service to keep your Easter centered on the story of the resurrected Jesus.

Pray with me now that this would be an amazing day for our church and community as many people connect with Jesus.

I am very much looking forward to the next few Wednesday nights!   Coming off our series on The Holy Spirit on Sundays, I am going to continue to teach on Him, and we’ll have some times of concentrated prayers to make us more aware of the Spirit in our gathering.

I want our Wednesday night service to help build the core of our church, and to give us an atmosphere where mature Christians can focus on the presence of the Lord.  Sunday mornings is our “front door”, so we have so many things to consider.   Wednesday nights is a more relaxed atmosphere, where structure is flexible, and there is a more dynamic feel.   Your participation will help build the excitement of this gathering.

Our service on Wednesday starts at 6:30 p.m., and is approximately one hour.   Ministry to children and youth is provided.   Let’s go deeper together!

I’ll see you this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

I hope you have enjoyed Spring Break!  This is a great time to say THANK YOU to all our teachers, faculty and administrators.  We have a lot of educators in our church, and I admire their hard work to make our community a better place.

On a personal note, I’m a believer in public education.  I appreciate and value private schools, as I attended Christian schools through elementary school.  I also believes parents should be the primary educators, so home-schooling is an important family value to have as an option.  Still, much good for society comes from public education, and Christian educators have a wonderful call from God to serve the greater good.

This Sunday, we will regather from our “vacations” and “stay-cations” for a wonderful worship experience at both 9:00 and 10:45 a.m.   I’ll be teaching on the Holy Spirit, while Penny Cowart and Daniel Reed will lead us in some incredible Jesus-focused music.

Please make every effort to join me for this outstanding Sunday we’ll have together.

If we think of the Holy Spirit as so many do as merely a power or influence, our constant thought will be, “How can I get more of the Holy Spirit,” but if we think of Him in the Biblical way as a Divine Person, our thought will rather be, “How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?” – RA Torrey[1]

We will not be having Wednesday night service on Wednesday, March 14.   With Sumner County schools on Spring Break, we want to give our folks some extra time with their families.

The youth ministry will have an activity at “Strike and Spare Bowling Center” from 6-9 on Wednesday, March 14.

I believe God has some great things in store for us the rest of the year on Wednesday nights.   Enjoy this one week change, and let’s all re-commit ourselves to the mid-week gathering starting March 21.

Last week, I spent a couple of days with Pastor David and Elliot Parry at the Seeds Conference  in Tulsa, OK.  The Seeds Conference is put on by Church on the Move and Pastor Willie George.

In the 1980’s, Willie George was innovative in his ministry to children as Gospel Bill .

In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Willie George was an innovator as a senior pastor who personally invested in youth ministry, launching the OneEighty youth movement, which was re-produced all over the nation.

Now, Willie George is passing on innovation through training a high-level of production in the weekly church service.   Specifically, the innovation flows through his son Whitney George, who is the Arts Director and the driving force behind the creative elements at the church.  Still, it takes great foresight and leadership to let the younger generation bring innovation, while mentoring them through the process.

The entire experience at Church on the Move was inspiring and enjoyable.   I don’t think the Church on the Move model is reproducible for the body of Christ, but we learned some great principals that will help us immediately at CIL.