Your Story

If you are a follower of Jesus, you have a dynamic and powerful story to tell of how he has rescued you from the clutches of darkness and death, and set you in his Kingdom of love and life. Continuing our series, “My Story,” Pastor Chris did a phenomenal job giving us some basic elements of sharing your testimony.  Here are a few practical tips to help equip you to do that as God sends you into the world to influence others for Christ.

1) Your background – Help people connect with you and your experience; Ask questions and connect with others, but also, help people connect with you.

2) Your life of sin – The gospel names sin, but doesn’t glorify it. You should not be afraid to do the same.

3) Revelation of sin – Your sin was nailing Christ to the cross. It was an abomination to God and he hated it. Before Christ, you were outside God’s kingdom and separate from him. This would be a depressing story…and a short meeting, if this is where the story ends.

4) Revelation of Christ - Communicate how you came to recognize what Christ did for us through the cross (2 Cor. 4:4, Ga. 3:13-14) and resurrection of Jesus; and who he is to you because of that.

5) Response of repentance and faith – Describe how you turned from sin and practically surrendered your life to Christ.

6) Your new life and mission – How is the gospel benefiting you today? Why do you want others to experience the same thing?

These are just some brief, but important concepts to think about. Below are the names of the resources Chris identified as fantastic tools to help deepen your compassion for people far from God and sharpen your effectiveness at sharing your story with the world.

Happy storytelling!

Resources:

Share Jesus Without Fear, William Fay

Questioning Evangelism, Randy Newman

BASICS Training pt.2

A – Accountability - Accountability is a part of life. Your parents, teachers, boss & teammates all expect it. Why then do less than 5% of churches provide it and less than 2% (out of that 5%) of Christians actually embrace it?

Here are some thoughts to help you embrace accountability and mature in your faith.

1. Accountability is a part of life.

Although often misunderstood, and sometimes intimidating, the reality is accountability is an important and necessary part of life. In football, we would watch film after every practice. That’s accountability. Ever build a house? I bet you’re thankful the builders were required to “give an account” of their work. What would school be like if no one had to prove their proficiency? All of this is simple accountability, and we all need it to grow.

2. God expects accountability.

Paul said it this way: “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:12

That means, God expects us to live with eternity in view and to this life as men and women who will be required to ‘give an account’ of our lives (Romans 14:12), actions (Matthew 25:40),  our words (Matthew 12:36), even our secrets (Romans 2:16). Keeping this in mind helps people develop a healthy fear of God that will keep us from derailing our lives.

3. Trusting Jesus means we have nothing to fear.

Webster defines accountability as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” The Good News of the gospel is this: God has taken the responsibility to create us and, having been rejected by sinners, enact a mind-blowing, multi-generational, global, history shaping plan to redeem His creation. Wherein: Jesus took the responsibility of our sin for us (see Isaiah 53, 1 John 2:2, Romans 4:25 for example), and sent his Spirit into our hearts, thus taking the responsibility to live out His life in us (John 14:17, Galatians 5:16). The responsibility left to us then is to simply believe and obey the One who has done so much for us.

BASICS Training

When a young person joins the military, it is usually accompanied by great vision to make a difference in the world and serve their nation. But no matter what skills or experience they possess, they all go through the same process…basic training. The new recruit doesn’t just get handed a gun and get sent out to battle. He is taught what it means to be a soldier, the values of the military, the value of the man along side him and how they need and can depend on one another.  He is taught how to carry himself as a soldier in whatever situation he may find himself.

In the same way, we are a part of the greatest force for good in the history of the world, the Church. But often believers feel ill-prepared to handle the challenges and pressures of life, much less know how to make a kingdom impact on the world around them. Every believer must know that they play a vital role in advancing God’s kingdom and how they can be equipped to do just that. This is the aim of BASICS training.

The goals for this series are:
To identify the 6 things every Christian needs to fulfill your purpose and accomplish your mission.
To clarify specific strategies & resources to grow in these 6 spheres.
To recognize Life Groups as the primary place to experience growth in these areas.

B – Biblical Foundations – laying a proper foundation helps ‘storm proof’ our life. Luke 6:46-49 Download “30 Days With Jesus” Reading Plan

7 Day Prayer & Fasting Guide

By the leading of God, we are asking that every one of you join us as we enter a time of fasting & prayer both for our own hearts and for our transition as a church. During this 40 day window from now until October 8th, we are believing for an outpouring of the Spirit, for unity of heart and mind, for miraculous doors to open and for people to be saved.

Below you will find a 7 day prayer request guide. Each time you go to pray, it is a good idea to examine your own heart, humble yourself and begin with repentance & confession. God gives grace to the humble (Jas.4:6, 1 Pet.5:5), and we want more grace for us and for you. Then move to a time of thanksgiving, and praise to God for his goodness and faithfulness (Ps.100:4, Ps.50:23). Then into declaration and requests, knowing that as you ask according to His will, he hears you and you have what you ask.  Join us in believing for nothing less than a move of God!

7 Day Prayer Request Guideline

Day 1) Divine appointments & evangelism – That the Holy Spirit would break our hearts for those who are far from him and standing at the precipice of eternal separation from Him. That God would lead us to meet and develop relationships with the people he has already been drawing. And that we would model the missional ministry of Jesus, being bold in our witness, and gathering people together to share food, life, prayer and ministry.

Day 2) Churches & leaders – That churches would glorify Christ, uniting together for prayer believing for kingdom expansion, and working together to serve the needs of students and communities surrounding the campuses where we serve.

Day 3) Athletic departments - That coaches, administrators, and team leaders would be open to the gospel, for creative ways to connect the gospel to the athletic world, and that athletes would recognize the unique influence they carry in the culture and use that for God’s glory not man’s.

Day 4) Artists – That God would bring a move of his Spirit to the school of the arts,visual, performing, music, etc. And that artists would realize and walk in their divine purpose for pointing people to Christ.

Day 5) Fraternities & international students – That students would be saved and become key influencers in this strategic pocket of community on the campus.

Day 6) Families - For those called to reach students by modeling family for a fatherless generation. Scripture says “God sets the lonely in families” (Ps. 68:6) and there are some whose hearts are burning for God to reach young people while they change diapers, do the laundry, work around the house, etc. And there are families who will be changed by us living out our mission, who see their children reconciled to God and filled with life in Christ.

Day 7) Provision & resources - The Psalmist declared boldly “the earth is the Lord’s, the world, and all who live in it” (Ps.24:1).  As we give our lives for the cause of Christ, He, the Source of all good gifts, will pour out every REsource needed for his purposes to be accomplished. Pray for miraculous provision.

2010 Big News!

“I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” -Acts 26:17-18

What an amazing year 2009 has been! Since the beginning, we have said we exist to “point people to life.” And all over the city, in homes and on campuses, under bridges and in the streets, from flood destroyed condos to dorm rooms, you have been doing just that! You continually show that life lived for Christ and others is the only life worth living and I am so thankful for the opportunity to lead this great church into 2010!

While it has been exciting to see all that God is doing, in order to effectively continue Reaching, Equipping and Sending people to bring the life of Christ to others, we felt it necessary to implement a couple of changes to our schedule beginning in January 2010.

One major change we felt was critical to growth and maintaining momentum as the new year turns: Are you ready…? We will have a worship service every week at the AMC! That means we will no longer meet in the parking lot the first Sunday of the month to go out and serve but will actually gather together to worship God as a church.

However, we also recognize that serving the city via Resolution:service projects is a strategic part of our DNA and culture. As people have shared our story and others have joined us in serving, it has been amazing to see how God is impacting people through us living out our resolution to “live as the church on God’s mission,” not just “have church” and “do missions.”

As followers of Jesus, it is our duty to “extend our souls to the hungry” (Is.58:10) in serving those who are poor, forgotten or oppressed. And it is always good to remind ourselves that “whatever we do for the least, we do for Jesus (Matt.24:40).”  With all that being said, our leadership team has come to two other important conclusions: 1) We must continue prioritizing worshiping Jesus through service to others. 2) We will do that on the first weekend of each month* in 2010 with many immediately following our regular church service.

We will adjust the timing of the projects so as not to take up your entire day. And we have a team of people researching some of the best organizations in Atlanta we can partner with. To accomplish all this will require greater sacrifice, leadership and teamwork than ever, but I am confident that God is faithful who has called us and you are up to the task! And for those who have not yet experienced the Life offered through the Gospel, there is too much at stake!

*with the exception of January 3rd, when we will have NO SERVICE PROJECT.  See you at the theater!

Serving the Recent Flood Victims in Atlanta

On Sunday, October 4th we had the privilege of joining with Samaritan’s Purse to serve the recent flood victims of the Atlanta area. We took 30 volunteers and honestly weren’t prepared for what we would witness. It’s estimated that at least 10,000 homes were completely devastated by the floods. Our team of 30 volunteers worked all afternoon, and didn’t even finish the 3 homes we were working on. And if any of us felt overwhelmed, imagine how the homeowners felt. There is so much work to be done. Thousands of volunteers are still needed to get the job done and you can be a part of restoring hope amid a seemingly hopeless situation. If you have time available, click here to volunteer to work alongside another great church in Atlanta that is bringing together hundreds of volunteers over the coming weeks.

As Christians, we have been sent by Jesus to love others with his love, and here we were able to do that through service, sweat, and tears, and hopefully to move them closer to rebuilding what was lost. What a truly a life changing experience. Stay tuned for future service opportunities with Resolution!

New Life!

“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” -Romans 6:4 NLT

This past Sunday was incredible! Seven people chose to publicly profess their faith in Christ and be united with him through baptism! It was our first baptism service and what better place to go public than to the Chattahoochee river?

We began with a time of worship down at the river bank, followed by a brief message from pastor Sterling. Then we got to celebrate with those being baptized as pastor Chris interviewed each and one by one they gave a bold confession of faith. Then they entered the water to bury their old lives. It was incredible to witness and then each received prayer and words of encouragement from the Holy Spirit.

Check out the Resolution Facebook page for more pictures.

Fearless

This month at Resolution we’re unpacking the “Box of Fears.” Everyone’s afraid of something. The rich are afraid of losing their money. Pro athletes are afraid of failing in their sport. Some people are afraid of commitment, or the future, or the economy. There’s a myriad of things we can be afraid of. In fact, a simple search will yield over 500 listed “official” phobias. And often all we have to do is look around, watch the news or check your phone messages to find some reason to fear.

However scripture boldly proclaims that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). So what do we do with that?

Well, I believe in Christ, we have the answer for everything we can be afraid of. So we’ve decided to talk about this issue so we can all live courageous lives free from fear. The first week, we talked about overcoming the fear of rejection and how the fear of man can be paralyzing. Last week, we touched on the fear of failure. It’s amazing how much we can do trying to mask a fear of failure, knowing well that failure is a natural part of life. The good news is that, though we will fail, the grace of God allows us to overcome every obstacle, set back and hindrance.

check out the podcasts at resolutionchurch.com and join us Sunday as we break free from the “fear of death.”

NAC 09!

I had an incredible time in Washington D.C. at the Every Nation North America Conference* last week. The theme was “Cross Culture,” talking about how we engage the culture with the power of the cross. It was an incredible time in God. I was impressed with a greater sense of God’s calling upon us as a spiritual family and felt the impact of that more than ever. We are privileged to be a part of such a movement that is reaching the world with the gospel.

We know that the best way to reach the world for Christ is to plant new churches & make disciples. I hope you’re encouraged to know that as of today, there are currently over 100 church plants taking place around the world through Every Nation Ministries, and Resolution Church is one of 10 new churches or restarts taking place in the U.S. right now! We took time to highlight each of those new churches over the course of the week, so I had the opportunity to share some of what God has been doing in Atlanta through each of you at Resolution! It was wonderful to brag on you and celebrate the grace of God that has been with us.

*Watch some of the EN NAC on Ustream.tv.

Check out the Every Nation World World update as well.

Resolution: Serve

We had an unbelievable time together this past Sunday! But without a doubt, we were far more impacted than anything we could ever do for someone else.

It is a privilege to serve God alongside the amazing people at Resolution Church and the incredible warriors at 7 Bridges to Recovery. Pastor 7 Wells and his team of radical, fearless servants of Christ have opened up the door for us to partner with them the first Sunday of each month to bring food and sanitation supplies to the homeless. They have prepared the way and are knocking it out of the park for Jesus 24-7 for years and we get the benefit of drafting off their courage and faith. Pray for them and for all of our new friends without a place to lay their heads.

It was a great reminder of Jesus’ words…

Matthew 25:31-40

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Serving others in need will rock your world! Won’t you join us the first Sunday in July?