By CedarCreek Pastors on
5/30/2008 8:59 AM
Some 120 times in the Bible we read "...the Lord said to Moses." When you study the context you will observe that God spoke to Moses in many different settings, yet to receive the commandments Moses had to climb up a mountain. Why? Why couldn't God speak to Moses as he had been previously? Why didn't God spell out the commandments for Moses at the foot of the mountain?
Could it be that some things God has to say to us, will only be spoken when we disconnect from our routine, our business, and our agendas? When is the last time you climbed the "mountain top" to hear from God what he otherwise will not say to you?
I am headed for a weeks vacation in Dallas, I am praying God will speak to me.
- Lee
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
5/23/2008 8:57 AM
Please make this "goal" or "idea" part of your prayer life. Here is how it breaks down:
We currently have 3 campuses all carrying the CedarCreek DNA. We want to start six more like these, one per year beginning with 2010.
But what is new for us is that we want to start (or support in a significant way) six church plants that are not CedarCreek satellites. Rather they will be, God willing, independent of the Creek and may or may not be like us. We expect that these six church plants will probably be outside of our current reach but that is not a must.
This is a gigantic goal...so pray!
Lee
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
5/21/2008 10:01 AM
It is day two now of a pastors conference at Saddleback Church, hosted by Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life. So far the conference has been affirming as Rick has urged Pastors to organize their churches around five purposes of the church:
1. Evangelism
2. Discipleship
3. Worship
4. Serving
5. Fellowship or Community
While we may not state them sequentially these five purposes are always on our radar. Some people accuse us of over emphasizing evangelism, but the truth is we devote more resources and man power towards discipleship. We are not about having lots of people...instead we are committed to transforming previously unchurched and spiritually restless people into men and women who Love Jesus with all their hearts, who serve people behind and beyond the walls of the church and who engage every culture in conversation about Jesus Christ, the only hope of the world. You could say we want to turn every person who comes through our doors into missionaries!
Off to the conference!
Lee
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
5/19/2008 3:21 PM
Membership at CedarCreek is not about gaining some privilege or benefit, its about a deep commitment to living "Missionally." Here is how we state it in our Missional Membership Manual...
Missional membership is simply every member being on mission! Living sacrificially, being the first to give up a seat at a full weekend service, changing to a service that has empty seats, serving at another campus, planting new life groups or even moving to another town to plant a church; doing what it takes to reach our relational networks, our families, neighborhoods and workplaces. It is about maturing as a believer, falling more in love with Jesus and seeing people through his eyes.
- Lee Powell
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
4/28/2008 8:24 PM
I visited the Toledo campus this past weekend, (April 26&27), and was blown away by the conversations I had with previously unchurched people. Just after the 10:45 service I talked to three unchurched families in a row!
Their stories were different yet what all three had in common was that they had thought about trying Perrysburg, but didn't want to drive that far.
I am more convinced than ever that this multi-site strategy is a win for the Kingdom of God. Please pray for all of our campuses including Gods leading for the selection of our next site.
Your Co-laborer in Christ,
Lee
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
4/13/2008 5:14 PM
First of all if you are reading this between April 13 & 22, I am sitting in the sun vacationing in Florida with my wife.
I thought you might want a Toledo update. The attendance has held strong at over 2,500. This is way beyond what we expected! In addition we are very close to signing a contract to build our own building in Whitehouse. Keep praying.
- Lee Powell
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
4/2/2008 12:07 PM
Dear Creeker,
Many of you have expressed interest in being updated regarding the weekend attendance now that Toledo is online, so here it is:
Easter weekend total was 12,892 (Toledo was 2,950!)
This past "Big Push" weekend total was 9,182! (Toledo was 2,638!)
We expect attendance at Toledo to settle in at around 2,000.
This is all really good, but believe it or not we do have some challenges. Specifically the 10:45 services at both Toledo and Perrysburg are overflowing. So prayerfully consider giving up your 10:45 seat through late May. Please.
And pray that many people will come to faith in Christ over the next few weeks.
Let's never take for granted what God is doing at the Creek, we are privileged to be experiencing this. Thank Him daily.
- Lee Powell
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
3/18/2008 1:30 PM
Dear Friends,
Please pray. Pray that many people will come to faith in Christ this Easter weekend. I will be presenting the gospel as clearly as I can with hopes that many will indeed give their lives to Christ.
Here are a number of "other" things you can do to help make this weekend a success:
1. Invite four or more people to church. Did you know you can send an e-invite by logging onto www.cedarcreek.tv?
2. Regardless of which campus you attend, park sacrificially. Park at the edges of the parking lots!
3. Be super friendly to everyone!
4. Be polite during the service, and try not to leave early.
5. Pray throughout the service that I will proclaim the gospel clearly and that many people will come to faith.
6. Perrysburg folks, consider attending the any one of the two Friday services 5:15 and 7:00 or the Saturday at 3:30. This will help relieve the expected crowds at the normal service times.
7. Take time "now" after reading this to reflect on the indescribable sacrifice our Savior made for us and give him much thanks!
I love each one of you,
Your friend,
- Lee
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By CedarCreek Pastors on
3/12/2008 3:20 PM
Finally, we're blogging on this website! I just wanted to give my first shout out, short and sweet. I'm excited to get some good conversations going, but I'm going to need your help. Post your comments, post your comments, post your comments!!! If this just turns into me acting like a raving lunatic with no replies, it's not going to be pretty. Who's with me?
- Kyle Gray
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