This week Chris continued our iDareU2 series by daring us to share. There is always a potential risk when we are dared to do something so there is always a level of courage that we must have. What we have to remember is that courage is not the absence of fear, it’s the faith that God will be with us in the midst of that fear. Christ’s last words to his followers were to go and make disciples, “go”. . . when is the last time you went and shared the gospel? In order to go and share, we have to start at home, Romans 5:8 tells us that “God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” That is an amazing thought about the hope that we have in this life and the power that is in Christ, we should be running to tell people about the unending hope and love we have in Christ. Chris also shared with us the easiest way to start sharing the good news: talk about Jesus! Talk about His history and His story (His true story!). We must also remember that we only succeed in the Spirits power, man’s power can conform people to a pattern of religion but it can’t transform hearts, in order for hearts and minds to be transformed you must have the Holy Spirit and God in his mercy to extend grace. How can you do this? Study Jesus, His claims and His story. But above all, your most powerful tool to share Christ and His good news is YOU! Your story before Christ, your transformation through Christ and the journey and path you share with Him now! Trust God, be yourself and remember the powerful closing quote from Sunday. . . “Sometimes we’re so concerned with being tactful, we make no contact.”

Praying that each of us would have an opportunity this week to share the amazing story of Christ with those around us!

This Sunday is the Special called conference at 12:00 in the sanctuary to start the Pastor Search Committee process, please join us for this important time. If you are free, join us again this Saturday morning at 5:30am at the Kohl’s in Mckinney for an additional Clothe-A-Child event, God provided above and beyond and we are able to help clothe another 400 children in need from our community!

This week we continued in our series iDareU2 by being challenged to move. Chris walked us through Matthew 25:14-30 were we saw that experiencing abundance requires action. God entrusts us with His resources, are you being faithful to that and bringing your life before Him? We have to be willing to confess our sins and have the courage to trust God and use the talents that are unique to us that He has given. How do we gain that courage? We looked at 3 things that must happen; first, we have to reorder our priorities. Where you give of your time and resources is where your priorities lie, how much of your time and resources are given to God? Secondly we must maintain focus, the word of God tells us that we must stay alert and focused in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Lastly, we must create healthy habits, habits of daily quiet time with God, continual conversation/prayer with the Almighty and above all, faith in a trustworthy God. Will you dare to move and use the talents that God has gifted you with?

This Saturday, September 18th is Clothe-A-Child at Kohl’s in Mckinney. Volunteers need to arrive at 5:30am, there are still slots available, email jmc2180@gmail.com for more information. Next Sunday, September 26th we will have a Special Called conference at 11:45am in the sanctuary to appoint the initial 4 members to the Pastor Search Committee, please join us for this important meeting. That evening we will also have the Deacon Ordination and Missionary Commissioning at 6:00pm.

What a week! This week Pastor Jeff finished up the mini series Unstoppable: God’s dream for His church. We looked at Christ’s words from John 21:15-19 when He asks, “Do you love me more than these?” We looked at what “these” were; did he mean more than these other disciples love me? Was He asking if Peter loved Him more than he loved the other disciples? Or did He mean more than any other human relationship( Matthew 10:37)? Maybe He meant more than Peter’s own life and livelihood themselves. 1 John 4:10 shows us what love is, that we love because He first loved us. Are we willing to give everything up to follow Him in response to that love? Walk away from our own plans, hopes and dreams? How would we know that we were following the call? While this is something that each one of us must look at in our own lives, we are lucky enough to know a man who is willing to step up and say, Yes Lord, where you lead, I will follow, regardless of if it fits into the hopes and dreams I had for myself, a man who is willing to follow the call God has placed in his life. It’s with a mix of joy and sorrow that we learned that Pastor Jeff is answering the call of God on his life to shepherd another church. As we move forward together, I think of the words from Colossians 3:11, “Christ is all”, just like Pastor Jeff, my prayer is that each of our lives would reflect the fact that Christ is all to us, and that when he asks the question our answer would be a resounding yes. Yes, Lord, I love you more than these. . .

Launch Sunday is HERE! Next week our new service times start, be sure and join us at either 9:00 or 10:30! Sunday August 29 we will have a reception to show our love and appreciation to Pastor Jeff and his sweet family for their 11 years with us. Sign ups have started in the connection for this year’s Clothe-a-child event happening September 18 at Kohl’s in Mckinney. You can also now register for Upward basketball online at www.fbcmckinney.com\sports.

Music Set for 08/15/2010:

Not to Us – Chris Tomlin; Not to Us

Freedom is Here – Hillsong United; A_Cross_the_Earth

Open my Eyes – Hillsong Live; A Beautiful Exchange

Beautiful Jesus – Kristian Stanfill; Passion: God of this City

This week we continued our DIVE series with executive pastor Christ Stull. We jumped into 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and looked at the resurrection power that has been given to us as children redeemed by God. The three points we looked at regarding this power were the fact that there is power in human weakness. We have to learn to trust more in God than we do in ourselves, we have to come to the realization that we’ve done all that we can do and trust that God is going to take care of everything else, we must decrease so that He and His power in us can increase. We revisited the truth that there is power in God’s spirit, when God displays His power. . . it changes everything! God can change our lives, and He wants to, but we have to be totally dependent upon Him. Lastly we looked at 1 Corinthians 2:5 to see that the source of power comes solely in Christ! What we need the most, is for God to speak to us, we need to access the power that has been given to us in Christ Jesus. Chris also left us with some warnings. . . We must be cautious of counterfeit faith, we can not let things that we perceive as valuable override the truth in our faith, leading to counterfeit truth. Finally, we must be aware and cautious of fleeting faith, the word of God tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. . . the things of this world are fleeting and we must stand strong and remember that our power and faith come from Christ and Christ alone! Are you accessing the power that has been given to you? My prayer this week is that each and everyone of us would live as the redeemed children that we are and would rely totally on the Father that continues to save us daily.

This Sunday is our Leadership Impact event at 5:30 in the worship center, all BFG, community group, youth and children’s ministry leaders are encouraged to attend. August 22 is just around the corner, and with it comes our new worship times of 9:00 and 10:30! Registration is also in progress for Women’s Fall bible studies, now through August 23rd, visit the church website at www.fbcmckinney.com for more info. Don’t forget to stay up to date with all the happenings in The Theatre by stopping by and visiting us on our web page, www.fbctheatre.com!

Music Set for August 1,2010:

Our God is Love – Hillsong Live; Beautiful Exchange

Everlasting God – Brenton Brown; Everlasting God

Sweetest Mystery – Eddie Kirkland; Orthodoxy

Til I See You – Hillsong; The I Heart Revolution

God With Us – Andrew Heath Band; God With Us – SIngle

As we continued to Dive into God’s word this week, Jason Illian took us through Matthew 14:22-33, a story that most of us have heard but he gave us a new perspective on it. As we looked at the story where Jesus walks on water, we saw the disciples caught in a storm in the middle of the sea, a storm that came immediately following a great miracle where Jesus fed the 5,000. Something that we sometimes want to overlook, is that we can be in the storm AND in the will of God at the same time. God sends storms to correct and perfect us. As the disciples sat in the midst of the storm, they were terrified as Jesus approached them walking on the water, they didn’t expect Him to come in the middle of the storm that way. Just like they realized when he called out to them “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.” that things sometimes come to us in unexpected ways, we need to realize that often times life’s best gifts, the gifts that are exactly what we want and need, come to us in unexpected packages. The bigger picture of this story is that of Peter’s faith, Peter had the faith to answer the call of Christ when he said “Come”, he had the faith to begin walking on the water with Christ, but perhaps most important, he had the faith to call out to Jesus as he began to sink. You will never walk on water if you don’t get out of the boat, but once out, will you have the faith to call out to Jesus to save you when you’re sinking?

This Sunday August 1st join us for an outdoor baptism and picnic at the church followed by comedian Carlos Oscar in the worship center at 5:00pm. Tickets can still be purchased online and in the Worship and Arts office. As fall approaches, we have several upcoming mission opportunities with teams heading out to Malawi (Sept/Oct), JLife South Africa, Ft. White South Africa (both trips Oct 1-11) and local opportunities through 3e’s Adopt a School and Cloth a Child(Sept 18). Check out the churches website or contact Sandy in the missions office at 469-452-6925 for more info on any of these. Finally, remember our new BFG and worship times of 9:00 and 10:30am start on Launch Sunday, August 22!

Music Set July 25,2010

The Time Has Come – Hillsong United; I Heart Revolution

Song of Hope – Robbie Seay Band; Give Yourself Away

Our God is Love – Hillsong Live; Beautiful Exchange

Marvelous Light – Christy Nockels; Life Light Up

Healer – Kari Jobe; Kari Jobe

Last week we started our new series DIVE and looked at our new memory verse James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” We learned that going deeper into God’s word is not about knowledge but about a relationship, obedience, going deeper in love and the work of the Holy Spirit. We asked ourselves, when we obey God’s word, are we obeying a book or a person? This week we continued down that path, first by realizing that it is possible to obey a book and not God. We also had to face the truth that it’s possible to know your bible and not love and obey God, and an obedience problem is always a relationship problem. So how do we start to work on these problems and be obedient to Christ’s call on all of us to impact the world around us for Him? Through exploring Matthew 9 we see in verse 19 that we must “get up and go” just as Jesus and His disciples did. As we continue in chapter 9 we also realize that we must have eyes to see the needs of others, we need to be able to speak a different reality into others lives and we HAVE to get up close and personal with those around us. In verse 38 Christ is praying for workers into His harvest and we need to be the answer to that prayer, by looking, praying and going, because the hope of any nation is found in Christ alone. Will you be the difference?

This Sunday, July 11, there is a special called conference to present nominees to serve on the Northwest Option Ad-Hoc Committee taking place at 12:30 in the worship center. Mark your calendars for Sunday August 1st at 5:00pm we will have comedian Carlos Oscar with us, tickets available July 18th in the Connection, online and the Worship and arts office, $7 for adults and $3 for children. Afterwards head outside for a picnic and outdoor baptism! If you would like to schedule your baptism for this time, contact Nora Laprade at nora.laprade@fbcmckinney.com or call 469-424-1593.

Music Set for July 4th,2010

Happy Day – Fee; We Shine

Cannons – Phil Wickham; Cannons

Jesus Messiah – Chris Tomlin; Passion: Awakening

Here I Am to Worship; Chris Tomlin; Passion: Our Love is Loud

Hosanna – Brooke Fraser; Hillsong United: All of the Above

This week we finished up our “Lighten Up” series by celebrating dad’s and looking at the things that Dad’s can live without. Things like the world’s definition of “success”, more stuff, lusts of the world, whining kids and home repairs all topped the list of what dad’s said they could do without! From there we dove into the word of God to see some ways we can all lighten up from these things. Looking at Psalm 127 we see that one way we can lighten up is to build our home on the foundation of the Lord, “Unless the Lord builds the house, it’s builders labor in vain. . . ” How do we know if we are using the Lord as our foundation? We value the things that He values; Godliness, mercy, grace, truth and justice. . . everyday! The closer we are to Him, the more we are like Him and the easier it is to know that we are living our lives on the foundation of the Lord. As we begin to walk with Him daily and have Him as our foundation, it becomes apparent to all those around us and presents itself in our reputation. Remember, your character is what God knows about you and your reputation is what others think about you. . . When we are close to Him, the two align. Above all, as we walk through life and are bombarded daily with expectations and temptations of this fleeting world, hold close to the truth that your purpose and identity are found in Christ alone! Look forward to worshipping with all of you this Sunday!

Be praying this week for the hundreds of lives that will be touched through Backyard Bible Roundup going on all around town! Don’t forget to download the FBC Mckinney iPhone app found in iTunes and check out the videos from the Theatre Venue guys, no iPhone? No problem! Log on to www.truthcasting.com to catch up as well. Moving into the Fall be on the look out for Ignite to start back up on Wednesday nights on August 25 here in the Theatre and for our new service times on Sunday mornings at 9:00 and 10:30am!

Music Set for June 20th, 2010

Freedon is Here – Hillsong United; A_CROSS//THE_EARTH

Everlasting God – Brenton Brown; Everlasting God

Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall; Passion: How Great is Our God

How Deep the Father’s Love – Bethany Dillon; Modern Hymns of Worship

This week as we continued our Lighten Up series, we looked at the truth that assures us that we can live without lies. As we dove into God’s word in James 1:13-15 we realized that we are in a battle, we have a real and active enemy. The enemy plays on the desires and sins he knows we are bent towards, he tries to make us doubt the word of God and deceives us into taking the bait. However, as we continue into James (4:7-8) God’s word shows us how we can overcome sin! As we refuse to be intimidated, recognize our patterns of temptation so that we may prepare for the battle, run from the people and places that tempt us and request God’s help we find that it becomes easier to remain in Him and stay close to those that love Him. As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us and just as in Galatians 5, our lives will begin to bear the fruits of the Spirit for all those around us to see! Although the battle is not always easy to fight, it can become easier when we remember why we obey God (we love Him because He first loved us), that freedom is not doing what we want to do but rather what we ought to do and when we realize that the grass in not greener on the other side, the grass is greener wherever we water it. What are you watering in your life??

Next week kicks off our VBS Bible Round Up, there are still opportunities to sign up your kids or volunteer to help! You can go online to www.fbcmckinney.com or contact 469-424-1610 for more info. Last week was an amazing time for our youth as the largest group of students we’ve had went to Xtreme Camp and over 30 students were baptized and 31 made decisions for Christ! If you have youth, there is still a full summer of activities planned and tons for them to plug into, check it all out at www.youthquakerocks.com! This fall prepare to worship with us here in the Theatre at new times as the church moves service times to 9:00 and 10:30.

Music Set – June 13th, 2010

I Am Free – Desperation Band; From the Rooftops

You’ll Come – Hillsong; This is Our God

God With Us – Andrew Heath Band;God With Us- Single

Lead Me to the Cross – Hillsong United; All of the Above

This week we continued our Lighten Up series by digging into what the word says about letting go of our baggage and letting Jesus carry the load. Hebrews 12:1-3 explains this for us by saying, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

It’s awesome to know that Christ is there to carry all the things that we can’t, but sometimes it’s hard to turn those things over to Him. Here are some ways for you to get freedom from your baggage: Fellowship among believers – Hebrews 10:24-25 ; Study God’s word – 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Pray continually – Philippians 4:6-7; Take every thought captive – 2 Corithians 10:5; Understand your identity in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (*from the Bondage Breaker; Keith T. Anderson and Dave Park)

Praying this week that we may all find ourselves with our eyes fixed on Jesus and the blood stained cross that frees us from all baggage and bondage that we try to hold on to and that we would be transformed by the grace and love of Christ!

Interested in missions? We have several trips coming in the next few months to Guatemala, Malawi and South Africa, for more info on these or any other mission opportunity stop by www.fbcmckinney.com and check out the missions page. You can also keep up with Jon, Drew and the rest of the Theatre gang at our new website, www.fbctheatre.com. Thank you to everyone who gave to our Target 250 offering, because of you we were able to raise over $256,000 to fund projects in Mckinney and around the world to share the love of Christ!

Music Set For May 30th,2010

Happy Day – Fee; We Shine

Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall; Flying Into Daybreak

Beautiful the Blood – Fee; Burn For You

How He Loves – Eddie Kirkland; Orthodoxy

Tear Down the Walls – Hillsong United; A_Cross // The_Earth

Sweetest Mystery – Eddie Kirkland; Orthodoxy

All Because of Jesus – Fee; We Shine