This Sunday!

The Last Day Of January

Today was spent in Panera Bread discussing new ideas for ministry, plus making preparations for our Baptism service this coming Sunday. I am so stoked about baptizing Diane, Steven, and Christa. Last year, we had a total of two baptisms, so, with that being said, we are definitely striving to be more missional this year!

The first four messages of 2007 were:

1. The Biblical Basis of Baptism.


2. Addicted to the Ministry.


3. Diving Lessons.


4. Developing a Persistent Prayer Life.

I had such a good time preaching this series. I believe God used it to challenge and convict our people. January was a good month for StoneBridge. I am looking forward to what God has in store for our church in 2007. Pray for us!

This Sunday!

The world will not change, until we are willing to be World Changers!

God In Your IPOD

I am excited about our February Series...God In Your IPOD! More information to follow! =)

A Change Of Plans

I woke up this morning with an entirely different message on my heart and mind. Instead of speaking on tithing, I have decided to talk about being addicted to the ministry. My thoughts, "If we will addict ourselves to God first, then whatever He wants us to do, we'll do it!" So, I am glad to know that God is directing this ship and not me. Have a great Lord's Day! =)

Go Deep Part 2

Tomorrow's message deals with the Biblical Basis for Tithing. Our church was amazing (in this area) in 2006. I am excited to see how God is going to use our church to go deeper in our finances.

I was reminded in the Scriptures that tithing began before the Law of Moses. Many people who are opposed to tithing believe that New Testament tithing is no longer of necessity. I disagree! Abraham gave a tenth of his spoils to Melchizedek. Many believe that Melchizedek was an appearance of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the King of Salem and the priest of God Most High. This indicates that tithing was practiced by the patriarch, Abram, therefore, it should be practiced by God's children.

We must remember that we have been entrusted with our finances. We are stewards (managers of the resources God gives us). It is a privilege and a blessing to give to the Lord. It is an act of worship. It is an expression of gratitude for the manifold blessings God has bestowed upon us. Tithing should not be looked upon as a duty, but a privilege.

After One Week Of Going Deep

Last Sunday, I preached about the Biblical Basis of Baptism. I truly felt like the message flowed, and the people were engaged in what I was saying. I talked about the need for people who have accepted Christ as their Savior to follow Christ in baptism.

This past year we had two baptisms. Although, we rejoice in the two precious people that were saved and baptized, I am disappointed that our church did not baptize more people.

One of the reasons we did not baptize more people is because Russell and I did not address the people enough about this important doctrine. Now, we know that baptism doesn't save anyone, but what we do know is that it is very important if we want to grow in our relationship with Christ and the discipleship process! Not only that, but it is a prerequisite to church membership.

In the Bible, baptism was always done by immersion, and it always happened after a faith decision. I am excited that one person responded to the call to be baptized. On January 28, 2007, Diane will follow Christ in baptism!

Go Deep Series Logos

Go Deep

Sunday starts a new series for the 2007 Church Year! I have entitled this series Go Deep! The main idea behind the series is to get people thinking about baptism, discipleship, and fellowship within StoneBridge Baptist Church.

I am excited to see how God is going to use this series of messages to impact the lives of people. I am excited to share with people the need to Go Deep with God.

So far (like most years), I have started the year out strong in my Bible reading. One of the things I am doing is reading three to four chapters a day in the New Testament. If I will continue this, I will be finished with the New Testament by the end of 90 days. This is exciting. I thank God for the New Year, because it gives me a fresh start at going deeper with the Lord.

If you have not started your daily Bible reading, I want to encourage you to find time each day to read three or four chapters. It really isn't that hard to do. It takes about 17-20 minutes per day. Come on, YOU CAN DO IT!

If you are an audio learner, you can go to Audio Bible to listen to Alexander Scourby read the entire Bible.

Whatever you do, do it all for the glory and honor of Christ. Peace!

Exciting Things For 2007

This week I have been working on personal goals, church goals, and my sermon series for the up-coming year. I am excited!

I have encouraged Russell and David to write some personal and church goals for 2007, as well. I am looking forward to seeing God bring our thoughts together as we strive to reach this city for Christ.

Morgantown continues to be an exciting city to live in. Since 2003, we have seen exponential growth. We have been placed here "for such a time as this."

Our Vision verse for StoneBridge has been 1 Thessalonians 1:8, "For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing."

It is our desire that StoneBridge Baptist Church sounds out the Word of the Lord not only in Morgantown, and the I-79 Corridor, but also in every place where people need to hear the Word of God.

One of the things I would like to see accomplished in 2007 is our Small Groups Ministry to multiply from 5 to 8. To accomplish this goal we will need more leaders to emerge and more people to open their homes to host these groups. I have the utmost confidence in our people, in God, and our vision to accomplish this goal. It is one thing to have dreams, it is another to see your dreams come to fruition.

This Sunday

I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle on Sunday. I will finish the Y Series with a message on Y-Church. Y Church will deal with the benefits of connecting with a local church. The Biblical text comes from Acts 2:41-47.

I can not speak for my readers, but I am thankful for the Lord's churches. When we connect to the local church, we are not just connecting to an organization, we are connecting to a family of like-minded believers who desire to sincerely worship the Lord and carry out His work!

Joining this family of believers is a privilege and honor. It is important for the leaders of the churches to challenge people to take their position in the family seriously. I have been listening to Nelson Searcy's seminar on Assimilation. One of the things he encouraged leaders to implement was the power of mobilization. He called it, "The Power of the Big Ask!" In other words, if we don't ask people to get involved in ministry, they probably will not.

I hope you all have a great Sunday!

The December Calendar

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. Russell and I sat down this morning planning for the up-coming month and new year. December will begin with Russell and me finishing up our Y-Series! His message will center around Y-Give, and I will finish the series with Y-Church.

This will take us two weeks into December, leaving us with three more Sundays in 2006 to impact our community of believers.

Looking back on the year, I am amazed at the giant leaps of faith we have taken as a church. Since the beginning of the year, we have called a worship leader (David Story), multiplied our Small Groups (from two to five), began numerous Life Transformation Groups, and have reached our monthly financial goals every month, except for one. Another exciting statistic is that we have averaged in the fifties and sixties since July! This past month, we averaged 61 people for the month, with an all time high (on our own) of 101 people.

We realize that we have a lot of work left to do. There are still plenty of people in Morgantown, and the world who are not yet fully developing followers of Jesus Christ. Russell and I discussed our inadequacies, and our desire to do a better job in 2007. One of the things we are going to do is plan our 2007 Calendar year. We hope to have our Sermon Series for 07' in the bag and ready to go. We want God to use our church in a greater, and more abundant way in the up-coming year.

Burning The Midnight Oil

Russell started a new series last week entitled Y. Y-Grow! was the first of four messages in the Y Series.

Today, my message was Y-Jesus! I dealt with three reasons to follow Jesus. I was up past 2:00 a.m. this morning honing the message. Here are the reasons to become a fully developing follower of Jesus Christ.

1. Because you can trust Him!

2. Because He is coming again.

3. Because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.