Great start to Growth Groups! Still time to get in!

I think it is so cool that we have Growth Groups from our church that will be meeting Sunday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Saturday night. Our first Growth Group began Sunday night with eleven people. I talked with one of the group attendees yesterday. He and his wife are new to our church. He said he had never been part of Growth Group that met off campus in a home. He attended the Sunday night group. He really enjoyed it and is now hooked!

 

We are seeing good sign ups for all our Growth Groups. I encourage you to sign up and and be a part. Don't let three months roll by and you miss out. Listed below in the Grow section of this email are the Growth Groups offered. You can sign up today and find yourself on the road to spiritual growth this week. I can't wait until mine starts Thursday!

 

 

Blessings,

 

Pastor Tommy

 

 

We are not commanded to grow Ridgeview Church!

Recently, I came across a quote from Twitter that really made me think. It said, "Number of times following words found in Bible: Christianity - 0, Christian - 3, Disciple - 263. Think there's a message here?" Yes, I do. Part of what drives me is the Great Commission. Jesus said, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations...(Matthew 28:19." Inherent is this command is to "go." We must seek to bridge people to Jesus Christ. But, what do we do when people come to Christ? We are commanded to see that they are discipled. It is a life-long process.
 
What is one of the primary ways we disciple people at Ridgeview. It is Growth Groups. They are a small group of no more than twenty people that gather together to study the Bible, pray, fellowship, and serve together. They meet for three months at a time. Then, they take a break for a month until a new semester begins with new Growth Groups, new leaders, and new studies. Growth Groups allow you to connect your faith with the body of Christ at Ridgeview. They allow you to sharpen others and others to sharpen you.
 
This Sunday we begin our new Growth Groups Spring 2010 semester. You will find the various Growth Groups offered in the Grow section of this email, on our website, and the catalogues on Sunday morning. You can sign up for a Growth Group by 1) signing up on our website, 2) contacting Paul Eill (paul@ridgeviewchurch.net, 3) signing up on your Connection Card on Sunday, 4) signing up at the Grow table on Sunday in the foyer.
 
As the title of my article indicates, we are not commanded to grow churches although we do know God wants to see His church grow! In fact, any growth that takes place is due solely to Him. What we are commanded to do is grow disciples. I believe when we grow disciples, church growth and health will occur. So, let me encourage you to take responsibility for your spiritual growth for the next three months. Growth Groups are one of the great tools we make available to you in order to do that. Don't miss the opportunity!

193!

 

We could not have asked for a better day for our first Sunday morning worship celebration at Blue Ridge High! There was great energy and excitement! I have heard nothing but positive comments about our new home for worship services. The auditorium's acoustics were fantastic. The Ridgekidz area also is an improvement from our previous location. The grade school kids are in the band room and the preschool kids are in the front foyer of the school with the babies in the teacher's lounge.

 

Let me thank each of you who came Sunday. Let me also thank the many of you who served in some capacity, whether it was setting up, taking down, Ridgekidz volunteers, worship, sound, or media teams, parking lot and inside greeters, hot dog meal team, and flag football organizers. I want to especially thank those of you who invited family or friends or neighbors or co-workers to come with you Sunday. We had sixteen first time guest cards turned in! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

We set a goal of having 200 people this Sunday. Did we reach our goal? Well, we came close with 193 people counted. We counted two or three times. There are some ladies in our church who are pregnant. I even requested we count the babies in utero but that didn't fly. Nevertheless, thank you so much for investing and inviting the people you care about to come with you to church Sunday. As I shared in my "State of the Church" address January 10, we must invest in and invite the ones we care about to Jesus Christ and His church family. The Bible says in John 1:42 that, "...Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus..." We must bring the people we know to meet Jesus as well. Bringing them to church is a great way to do that.

 

So, where do we go from here? You may be a first timer reading my weekly email newsletter or a long time member of Ridgeview. We are a simple church. We meet corporately for worship, we gather weekly for our small group Bible study fellowships we call Growth Groups, and we seek to bridge people to Jesus Christ through serving them. Let me encourage you to take advantage of our Growth Group sign ups that are listed in this email newsletter. It's a great way to grow in your faith, get to know others, and serve the Lord through Growth Group service opportunities. Our Spring semester begins the week of February 21 and will end the week of April 25.

 

God bless and I will see you Sunday as we continue our "Road to Financial Freedom" message series. I have some great principles to share with you from Scripture as we deal with the dangers of debt (and how to get out).

 

See you Sunday!

 

Pastor Tommy

 

 

 

BRHS Here We Come!

I am pumped about this Sunday's first worship service at our new location, Blue Ridge High School. And oh, by the way, the new location is 2151 Fews Chapel Rd, Greer 29651.

 

Unfortunately, we were unable to meet last Sunday. I wanted to pass out invite cards for you and have a time of prayer last Sunday. Because we were unable to do that, you will be receiving in the mail tomorrow 3 invite cards and a letter from me. I am asking you to do 3 things as we prepare for the Big Day (Super Sunday) and seek to reach our goal of 200 people this Sunday:

 

1) Pray for those 3 important people on your invest and invite card.

 

2) Take the 3 cards you will be receiving in the mail, pass them out and invite those people you have prayed for.

(If you don't have 3 people- pass them out to strangers- just get them out!!!)

 

3) Pray for our Big Day that God would bless the mailers, the stick signs, the Val-Pak ads, and all those personal invites going on in our church and that they would find favor with the recipients.

 

My friends, don't rest on someone else to invite. If you don't do it, who will? We cannot grow if we don't step outside our zone of comfort and make the "big ask." God will bless your obedience. Scripture says, "Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus…(John 1:42). You can change a person's eternal destiny simply by bringing them to church and they meet Jesus. I along with others in our church have been praying and fasting for this Sunday. It's too important to take lightly. I am so looking forward to what God is going to do.

 

See you Sunday!