Answering three Questions

We got 'phase-one' of the North Murray/Rock Bridge Chatsworth transformation completed today! The space looks and sounds AMAZING and I am so impressed by the amazing people God is putting together to make Rock Bridge Chatsworth happen! I am so proud of this growing team.

That said... Considering the weather I've decided that I should answer THREE important questions:

QUESTION: "There is a Rock Bridge Chatsworth Preview Service scheduled for Sunday at North Murray High School at 9:30am... is it still on?"

ANSWER: Yes. BUT... If you in are in any way uncomfortable driving, or in a dangerous-road area, feel free to stay home. There is no reason to take unnecessary risks. Come after church to help clean up if you can!

QUESTION: "It is very cold outside, will there be heat in the school?"

ANSWER: Yes. The school has arranged to have heat in all the areas where we will be working - they are AWESOME!

QUESTION: "Do you need help breaking-down after church tomorrwo?"

ANSWER: YES - More people = faster breakdown.

Answering Two Questions:

Considering the weather I've decided that I should answer two important questions:

QUESTION: "There is a Rock Bridge Chatsworth work day scheduled for Saturday at North Murray High School from 2:00pm - 6:00pm... is it still on?"

ANSWER: Yes. BUT... If you in are in any way uncomfortable driving, or in a dangerous-road area, feel free to stay home. There is no reason to take unnecessary risks.

QUESTION: "It is very cold outside, will there be heat in the school?"

ANSWER: Yes. The school has arranged to have heat in all the areas where we will be working - they are AWESOME!

Reminder about Rock Bridge Chatsworth

Just a reminder that we are having a work day at North Murray High tomorrow and a 9:30 church service on Sunday morning!

• The schedule for tomorrow is 2pm - 6pm with dinner served at 6pm.
• The schedule for Sunday includes service at 9:30am followed by a break-down of our stuff right after service.
• We are having home-made chili and can still use some help with the meal - please email alisha.webb[@]shawinc.com if you can help.

Schedule for this weekend at Rock Bridge Chatsworth

Things are happening fast and I'm pumped to announce that we are ready for our first full, or nearly full, set-up and run-thru at Rock Bridge Chatsworth and we can use your help!

Here are the details for this weekend:

• Saturday: 2:oopm - 6:00pm to set-up everything for the first time!
• Saturday: 6:00pm Chili-dinner to celebrate together
• Sunday: 9:00am Arrive for our first 9:30 service together. We will have worship and watch Matt's message. Childcare is provided
  
• Sunday: After church We'll break it all down and put it all away!

How can you help on Saturday?

• Help all or some of the day - there's something for everyone to do!
• Provide fixin's for dinner: A crock-pot of chili; nachos; cheese; disposable bowls; drinks; jalapeno peppers; Texas Pete; etc...
  
• Help with childcare

How can you help on Sunday?

• Come to Church!
• Help with Childcare
• Help break it all down!

Please email me to let me know how you plan to help at gus[@]rockbridge.cc

Ready to start!

Our materials are ordered and things are moving at an incredible clip! That said... the work continues this Sunday morning at North Murray High School.

We'll start at 9:30 am and we'll continue prepping for curtains, organize our storage areas and do a final layout of our space.

Please join us! If you have questions you can email me at gus[@]rockbridge.cc

An honor to serve...

The Rock Bridge Dalton campus-cleanup this morning was really amazing; here are some thoughts:

• Gail and I got up early to get a few pre-campus-cleanup things done
  
• We arrived about 30 minutes early to find a dozen or so folks already hard at work - so much for being early
  
• We got our pre-stuff done and had a wonderful breakfast - prepared [and cleaned-up] by some incredible God-like volunteers
• The Dalton children's staff had set aside a ton of stuff to be used by Rock Bridge Chatsworth
• A team of the volunteers this morning loaded all of it AND got it delivered to North Murray High School - making us even more ready for the Rock Bridge Chatsworth information/work day on Monday!

It's an honor to serve such an amazing church that God has filled with so many amazing people.

It's Time!

It's time to get to work on North Murray High School and Rock Bridge Chatsworth! We are meeting next Monday, January 18th to share more news and do some work. Here are the details:

• We need everyone there - it's time to sign up for final teams - launch is imminent!
  
• We'll meet at 6:30pm at North Murray High
• Dinner and Childcare are provided
  
• January 18th is MLK day so we have the school all day!
• The first teams will begin working at 9:00am - if you can come for some time during the day, please email me at gus@rockbridge.cc
  
• Childcare will be available starting at noon.
• Dinner will be served at 6:30pm
• Wear clothes to work in - we're prepping the school to be transformed on Sunday mornings - there's something for everyone to do
  
• If you have a 6', 8' or 10' A-Frame ladder that we can use, please email me at gus@rockbridge.cc to let me know
• The official launch date is still pending the arrival of all materials - but it is SOON!

More later - but please get this on you calendar and get ready to work!

Christ-Like Acceptance - SOON!

One of Rock Bridge’s core values is Christ-like acceptance. It seems that some confuse this ‘unconditional acceptance’ with ‘unconditional approval’. This leads me to ask and answer an important question: Is Christ-Like acceptance the same as unconditional approval?

To find the answer I examined a story I've discussed in this blog before, Jesus' encounter with 'the woman at the well'. Here's a quick look:

• Jesus met the woman at a well
• She was not asked to dress, act or speak a certain way to encounter Him
• She in fact, had no role at all in encountering Jesus, He went to her, exactly as she was
• He spoke truth to her about her less than perfect lifestyle
• Because of her encounter with Him and the truth He spoke, her life was changed
• Because of her changed life, other lives were changed too
• There was no building involved in any of this

So the answer is no. Christ-Like acceptance is not the same as ‘unconditional approval’. Jesus accepts us where we are and speaks truth that can change our lives, that can lead us to the abundant life He promises in John 10:10. What we offer at Rock Bridge is what Jesus modeled; Christ-like acceptance that leads us to be able to share truth.

Rock Bridge Chatsworth will be starting soon, very soon. Our weekend work will begin this month as we 'practice' setting up at North Murray High School and our official services will begin soon after that. It is important to note however that Jesus didn’t need a building to love people and neither do we. Let’s all offer Christ-Like acceptance – at work, at the grocery store, at school – wherever people are that need to be accepted and hear TRUTH!

Rock Bridge Folks... Watch for more details on the launch in the coming days and be praying to determine how you will serve Him as we move forward... lots to do!