Fall Kickoff: Guest Speaker

Fall Kickoff is full of great events. I hope you have all them down in your planner, ical, iphone, sticky note, or in whatever you use to organize your life.

In this post, I want to make you aware of the guest speaker we'll have on September 14 - Jeremy Simpkins. I'm really excited to have him with us. Besides being a great friend of mine, he's a great leader and is passionate about Jesus and His Church. Some of you may remember him from Clear Vision 2006 (if you're under 32 and were around then). Jeremy leads a church in Teesside, UK also called Jubilee and oversees the northern region of the UK for Newfrontiers.

A fully anticipate that he will be a tremendous blessing to us and your friends will love him so go ahead and invite them.

Bible Reading Plan

God has given us an amazing gift in his written word (the Bible). It is His self-disclosure to man that enables us to know Him, connect with Him, and learn about His purposes and plans for our lives. Don't ever take it for granted or grow tired of opening its pages and having God Himself speak to you.

To help you, I have decided to put together a Bible reading plan that will allow you to read the Old Testament and/or the New Testament in a year. I have also added a third column that will allow you to study the passages from the Sunday message. This option will be available in October.

If you interested, you can download September's reading here.

Fall Kickoff: Acts 13 Meetings

A few days ago I blogged about the first event of Fall Kickoff: the "Jubilee Family Meeting", which by the way is Thursday, Sept 4 at 7:15 pm.

The second Fall Kickoff event I want to make sure you know about is our Acts 13 meetings, which will take place September 13 & 14 (a Saturday and Sunday night). These meetings are incredible times of prayer, praise and prophecy. This is such a huge event that we will be flying in two prophetically gifted men over from the UK (Julian Adams and Jeremy Simpkins). These are meetings that you absolutely DO NOT WANT TO MISS and get started at 6 pm both nights. Childcare is provided.

Fall Kickoff: Jubilee Family Meeting

Fall Kickoff is an opportunity for Jubilee Church to recalibrate and get re-envisioned for the year ahead. We tend to run our schedule off the school calendar so September represents the beginning of a new year. There will be many events throughout the month and I want to take the time this week to highlight each one.

Today, I want to highlight our Jubilee Family meeting.

• When: Thursday, September 4 at 7:15 PM (shouldn't last longer than an hour)
• Where: The auditorium at our Kingshighway building (map)
• Who: ANYONE at who considers Jubilee their church (whether you're a member or a recent guest - this is for you)
• What: We will be discussing in a detailed way, where we are as a church and where we are going
• Misc: There will be childcare for this event. Unfortunately, we will not be putting the audio of this event online. CDs will be made available for those who serve the children that evening.
  

Jubilee Church St. Louis is one church with locations in St. Louis City and Wentzville.

Sunday Recap - Leadership Development

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the series in Acts. It's been great for me to study this book in closer detail to figure out what made this early church work. If you wanted to study more for yourself, I found John Stott's commentary on Acts titled "The Message of Acts" very helpful. It's part of a series published by IVP.

In this final message, I found my heart begin to swell as I thought about all the people who have stepped up at Jubilee to serve and take leadership responsibility. I'm very grateful for servant-heart that is evident at Jubilee.

I wanted to recap the leadership roles in case you didn't right them down. Here they are:

Jubilee Elders, responsible for leading all Jubilee Locations

• Bryan Mowrey
• John Lanferman
• Mike Lawson
• Rick Hein
  

City Location Leadership Team:

• Bryan Mowrey, full-time employee - preaching, teaching, leadership development, students, and general oversight
• Mike Lawson, full-time volunteer - Financial Counseling, Ministry to the Poor, Building/legal issues
• Larry Mowrey, part-time volunteer - Discipleship Communities, Prayer Ministry
• Karl Scott, part-time employee - Worship Dept, Video Production
• Alex Kerford, part-time volunteer - Sunday Morning Coordinator, Public Relations Liason
• Seth Hein, part-time volunteer - Baptism, New Believers, FYT Theology
• Curt McCutchan, Newfrontiers Employee - Pastoral Care, Marriage, FYT
  

Secretaries

• Amie Fox, full-time employee
• Samantha Bryan, part-time employee
• Shannon Hein, Newfrontiers Employee

Discipleship Communities Leaders

• John and Pat Donjon (city, south of Chippewa and Illinois)
• Karl and Louise Scott (city, north of Chippewa)
• Larry and Vicky Mowrey (St. Louis County)
• John and Kara Russo (Youth)

Children

• Michael Whitmer, Children's Director
• Louise Scott and Elizabeth Poe, Nursery and Toddler Coordinators
• Vicky Mowrey, 3-5 year old Coordinator
• Jessica Regal, K-4th grade Coordinator
• Shannon Hein, 5-7th grade Coordinator

Ministry Leaders

• Heidi Sever, Money Counting Team Leader
• Wes and Michele Benton, Coffee Team Leaders
• Abbie Nadolny, Cleaning Team Coordinator and New People Connection Coordinator
  
• Maria Kerford, New People Connection Team Leader
• Dan Brindley, Visual Media Team Leader
• Matt Sweetman, Angel Food Ministry Coordinator
• Teresa Lawson, Ushers and Greeters Team Leader
  

My prayer is that we'll continue to grow in leadership and that you reach the redemptive potential God has for your life! Let me know how I can help.

Don't MIss Out!

This Sunday (the 24th) is the final day to sign up for action tracks. Why wait sign up now!

Here are your choices:

1) Love & Respect, A Marriage Enrichment Course - Almost FULL

2) Philippians Bible Study (for women only) - FULL

3) Turning Point - Almost FULL

4) Connect Series

5) Evangelism Training (for men only) - Almost FULL

6) Community Service

Another Opportunity for Jubilee to Make An Impact

Lately I've been hanging around some of the Christian College Student Ministry leaders in the area trying to get a beat on St. Louis college students and to look for ways that Jubilee can serve. Well a guy from Campus Crusade passed along the following opportunity to not only impact students, but the nations as well.

About 80% of the 4,000 international students studying in St. Louis will never have the chance to set foot in an American home while they’re studying here. We’re trying to create a network of churches and Christian families who are willing to open up their house to a student for just one meal every semester or so. We believe this will be a huge opportunity to share Christ with so many who otherwise would never have a chance to hear the Gospel.

Being hospitable (that is the welcoming in of strangers) is a clear calling for the Christian (Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9). What we are being ask to do is a fairly simply task and that is: Invite one international student for one meal. That's it! Let's do it church!

If you are interesting in hosting a student for a meal or would like more information, please email me at info@jubileestl.org.

Thanks from Shaw Elementary

Today, I had the privilege (along with Joe Pastor) of delivering more than 20 back packs full of school supplies to Shaw Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School here in South City. Principal Marilyn Burress and the rest of her staff were very thankful. She told me there is no doubt that this act of kindness will change the worlds of some of her students. Way to go church!

The Community Impact of Jubilee Church St. Louis City Location

We've been in South City a little more than a year, but take a look at our community impact:

1) We have helped New Americans get situated in the new homes and hosted a Christmas meal for them
2) We have served the Bevo Mill Community center remodel and fill their food pantries
3) We have served single mothers in the area
4) We have served the Czech Center with landscaping
5) We are helping to run a food pantry out of basement every Saturday that serves the Bosnian community
6) We run Angel Food Ministry that allows South City residents access to 50% off their groceries
7) We've picked up trash along Kingshighway
8) We've done some painting for Central Visual and Performing Arts High School
9) And now we've donated back packs to Shaw Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School

And people are taking notice. It is not uncommon for me to meet someone new in the area who has never visited our Sunday meeting, but has great things to say about Jubilee Church. They'll say something like, "I really like what you guys are doing for the community." Or, "People are really taking notice of what you guys are doing." Or in a note I received, "I've never met a church that wanted to serve the community like you guys."

Of course, we do this not in our own strength, but through the grace Christ has given us. I want to encourage us all to continue to serve our community.

A Proud Dad

On Tuesday, my daughter turned 4 years old. We are pictured here (on the bottom) with her new (used) bike that we got for her birthday. It was a big day for her and Rachel and I. It was one of the moments where we both thought, "She's not a baby anymore!" I still think of her as the girl pictured on top. The moment was full of joy and tears.

But I guess growth is the goal, right?

Because I said So

Growing up I couldn't stand the phrase "because I said so." "Dad, why can't I ______." His reply, "because I said so." It bothered me so much, I made a vow never to use that phrase when I became a dad.

Well the other day, my 4 year old daughter asked me if she could do something and I said, "no". To which she replied, "Why?" And my answer? "Because I said so." Now I hadn't given my reply to her much thought until she said, "Why do you say so?" To which I replied with the ever ambiguous, "I just do."

This got me thinking a bit as to why this it a legitimate parental answer? Because the truth is, me "saying so" to my children sometimes is the only reason they need or maybe the only reason they would understand. However, on the kid side, it doesn't always seem like a complete answer. The reality is, it is a complete answer when the child trusts the parent.

How true is this with our heavenly Father? How often he does things that we don't understand? How often He, in effect, says to us, "because I said so"? Do this. Go here. Be this way.

As parents we know that our children would be much better off if they would just do what we say and we are imperfect. How much better than would our lives be if we would just do what our heavenly Father tells us to do who is not imperfect but knows all, and is all? I would encourage you to think about the things God has ask you to do through His word and otherwise and make the re commitment to follow through even though you may not completely understand. It really is a matter of trust.

Need Your Back Pack

Once again, I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for how enthusiastic Jubilee was to serve the elementary students Shaw Visual and Performing Arts School. All the back packs were picked up immediately to be filled with school supplies.

Many have turned them back in already to be delivered next Monday, but for those who haven't, I wanted to remind you to make arrangements to do so by this Sunday.

Thanks again for your participation in this act of generosity.

Send off Sunday

This Sunday (August 10) will be an exciting and historic day for Jubilee (seems we have been having a lot of those lately). The reason why is that we will be sending off the Jubilee Church Wentzville crew in prayer as this will be their last Sunday with us before we launch weekly at the Jubilee Church Wentzville location the following Sunday (August 17).

Hope to see you all there!

Impacting the Community

As you may know, the Oneblaze youth invaded St. Louis to help us serve our city. The response from the surrounding community was very positive. Everyone had amazing things to say about "those kids in the orange shirts!"

Click here to see a letter of appreciation from the Czech Center.

Supplies for Local School

I was very thrilled to see that the back packs were quickly picked up by Jubileeits to be filled with school supplies. I'm encouraged by your zeal to help others.

Many expressed to me the desire to help out even though the pack backs were already taken up. So I'm going to publish the info hear for anyone who wants to go and the get the supplies (you'll also need to buy a back pack). The cost for the supplies (including the backpack), should run you anywhere between $25 - $40, depending upon what brand you buy. We did our shopping at Target. Also, please remember to bring the supplies to the Kingshighway building no later than August 17.

Here's the list:

1 Back Pack
1 Box of tissues
1 Plastic bottle of waterless, antiseptic hand wash
1 Box of crayons (16 or 24 count)
5 #2 Pencils
1 Box of markers
5 Pocket folders
7 Spiral notebooks (wide rule)
1 Assignment notebook
-this is a “ledger notebook,” basically a notebook that has lined paper in it and may be slightly smaller than a usual spiral notebook.
1 Bottle of glue
1 Pencil case

These supplies may cost anywhere from $26-$40 (including backpack) depending on the brand name you choose.

**The school also asks for donations to the classrooms including: Ziploc bags, hand soap, antibacterial lotion, band-aids, Wet Wipes and/or a roll of paper towels.

Generosity

This Sunday I will continue our summer preaching series, "Acts: Building a Church That Works" and will tackle the subject of generosity (Acts 4:32-5:5).

I think everyone one wants to be generous, but there is something about being generous that makes us fearful. What if I don't have enough for me? Jesus answers this fear in Luke's first book the gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 22-32. If you are one of the many who wants to be generous, but is fearful to do so, I would encourage you to read those verses.