• THIS is why we do what we do!!
• THIS is why I will GIVE MY LIFE and lead a church who will GIVE THEIR LIVES to HAND OFF a healthy church and PASS ON a Godly Legacy for generations to come!!
• THIS is GENERATIONAL INFLUENCE at it’s best!!
• THIS is the NEXT GENERATION showing US how it’s done!!
• THIS is what being a CHRIST FOLLOWER is all about – HOPE in the midst of life’s tough stuff!!
• THIS is what COMMUNITY is all about – not having to go through life’s storms alone!!
• THIS is James 5:13-18 at work in our student’s lives
• THIS is why I (& Lisa) GET (drive, make 2 & 3 trips if necessary to work with their schedules)…sometimes even MAKE our kids go…to The 706!!
• THIS is why I will continue to Rant and Scream that you need to get your students to The 706 – even when it’s inconvenient and yes, even when they have a big test the next day, and even when practice gets out late – NO TEST SCORE or SPORTS PRACTICE can trump the presence of God they experienced last night!
• THIS is why I love Wesley, Andy, and Compass’ 706 Leaders & Volunteers – THANK YOU for creating space in our student’s lives to focus on what really matters – IMPACTING PEOPLE, DOING LIFE TOGETHER, and WORSHIPING JESUS with EVERYTHING they’ve got!!
• BOO YAH!!!!!!!!

WHY I’M FIRED UP ABOUT THIS WEEKEND –

#1 – JESUS AT WORK – I love the line in the song we closed with last Sunday – “MY GOD”S NOT DEAD!!” That means the SAME POWER that raised Jesus from the dead is the exact SAME POWER AVAILABLE to work in our lives today no matter what it is that you or someone you know is experiencing…I need to be REMINDED of the GREATNESS of our GOD!!! When we gather together on Sundays, worship passionately, and preach the Word of God boldly SOMETHING HAPPENS that is UNEXPLAINABLE, yet UNDENIABLE and I am reminded just HOW GREAT OUR GOD IS…sure hope you are planning on bringing someone with you on Sunday!!

#2 – WE GET TO BAPTIZE SUNDAY – if a player can’t get fired up for GAME DAY, you’d better quit…if the church can’t get fired up for BAPTISM, we’d better quit…NEVER GETS OLD hearing the stories of life change…let’s ROCK the warehouse and CELEBRATE new life in Christ like never before when they come up out of the water!!!!

#3 – OUR CURRENT SERIES THE HAND OFF - Jesus & Football – c’mon now, it doesn’t get any better than that…been waiting to preach out of Joshua 14 to this generation since June – it’s going to be challenging, confrontational, tense, life changing, and AWESOME – Can’t Wait!!

• Here’s the link for last Sunday’s STUDENT INTERCEPT Message.

#4 – HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL KICKS OFF – there’s nothing like Friday Night Under the Lights in the South!!

CATCHING UP…SUNDAY, MONDAY, & TUESDAY -

Spent Sunday afternoon – Tuesday at Lake Hartwell doing a mini staff retreat with our Staff Leadership Team. WOW – we are so BLESSED to have such an AMAZING group of Passionate, God Fearing, and Amazing leaders surrounding this vision and church. One thing I was reminded of over and over again was how much THEY LOVE Jesus, this church, and each of you!! We’re SO BLESSED to have them leading the way!!

As a team, we prayed, planned, had fun, but most importantly BEGGED God to do something AMAZING in this next season of ministry. Please pray with and for us for the courage to do ALL that God is placing in our hearts!! Look for a date coming up soon for us to download with you what God is challenging us to do to continue to Rock NE Georgia for Jesus!!

Get your READY SHOES ON – OUR GOD’s NOT DEAD…the BEST is yet to come!!!!!

#2 – STUDENT INTERCEPT THIS SUNDAY

SOMETIMES we’ll let the Kids Choose where they get to eat lunch.  I’m officially proclaiming this Sunday, August 22, 2010, as STUDENT CHOICE SUNDAY.

Load up your cars, suburbans, and mini vans (only if you’re REALLY cool) with as many of your STUDENT’s FRIENDS as possible…get them to Compass…tell them you’ll take them to lunch…they get to choose where…and you’ll pay – even if it’s ZAXBY’s (where my kids ALWAYS pick on Sundays).

MY PRAYER and MY BELIEF is that THIS SUNDAY will be one of those days where many students look back and REMEMBER “THIS was the MOMENT where God SPOKE to me, CALLED Me Out, and CHANGED my life.”

I BELIEVE in this Next Generation…CAN’T WAIT to see what God Does as we HAND OFF to them the GREATNESS God has planned for their lives!!

#3 – COMPASS PARTNERSHIP LUNCH THIS SUNDAY – 1:00pm

Stop being a FAN – Start being a PLAYER! God is using the local church to IMPACT the world like never before. There’s a SPOT for you on the Compass Team. Meet the staff, hear our vision, and find out how we can PARTNER together to ROCK this city for Jesus. Oh, Lunch and Childcare provided. REGISTER HERE.

It was SO GOOD to be back at Compass this past Sunday - Lives were CHANGED…Worship ROCKED…ton of FIRST TIME GUESTS…and seeing first hand God at work IN and THROUGH our people….it doesn’t get any better than that!!!!

5 REASONS THIS FALL WILL ROCK –

#1 - THE HAND OFF – GET READY for Sunday – I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT to begin Compass’ new series,  THE HAND OFF!! The creative team gave me a FOOTBALL THEME to roll with – BOO YAH! Every football lovin’, tailgate crazy fan you know better get an INVITE for this one. Going to speak to all ages….13-103!! Calling an AUDIBLE – God just hit me with how HE wants to end Sunday’s service – I’M TOTALLY PUMPED!!!!

#2 - REFUEL (August 15 – 6:00pm) One HEART, One PASSION, One FOCUS – worshiping God with EVERYTHING we have. Check it out here – it’s going to be rockin’ as we worship, take communion together, and BEG GOD to do something great in our lives, church, and city!!

#3 - IMPACT LAUNCH – our young adult leadership team has been praying, preparing, and planning for almost a year a brand new environment for Young Adults to join together to IMPACT the world. LAUNCH DATE – Friday, Aug 20, 7:00pm. Check it out here!!

#4 - COMPASS PARTNERSHIP CLASS (Aug 22, 1:00pm) Stop being a FAN – Start being a PLAYER! God is using the local church to IMPACT the world like never before. There’s a SPOT for you on the Compass Team. Meet the staff, hear our vision, and find out how we can PARTNER together to ROCK this city for Jesus. Oh, Lunch and Childcare provided. REGISTER HERE

#5 - B30X – Yes, he really did say “we are going to read through the NT together in 30 days this fall.” BEGINS September 12. Get Ready to go EXTREME SPIRITUALLY and get to Know God  like never before!!

Ok, #6 – FOOTBALL – that says it all!!

Did something this summer I’ve never done before – I took a SABBATICAL BREAK.

What’s a Sabbatical? It’s like the “seventh year” in the Old Testament – an extended season to allow the land to regain it’s potency and the soil to restore its nutrients and minerals. God in Scripture designed Sabbaths (Geneses 2:2-3) and Sabbaticals to restore, renew, and refresh us for the purpose we’ve been created for.

For more info, check out “Leading On Empty” by Wayne Cordeiro – a Top 10 Leadership read and life changing book!!

We have the most AMAZING STAFF and VOLUNTEERS at Compass!! I’ve seen SO MANY Pastors burn out, fade, quit, and default through the years. I want to Finish Strong for my God, my Family, and the Vision He has placed deep inside of us here at Compass to impact a city for Jesus in our generation.  It’s stuff like this that helps leaders make it for the long haul!!  THANK YOU for encouraging and allowing us to take a much needed and refreshing sabbatical!!

So, one of my commitments is “shorter blogs” – ha…we’ll see how I do.  We’ll make this a two parter. That’s WHERE I’ve been…AWESOME to be back…CAN’T WAIT to preach…Tomorrow I’ll Catch You Up on the details.

PS – my 3 kids are ABSOLUTELY PUMPED about being at The 706 tonight!!!!

• YES – the Sabbatical was PLANNED, AWESOME and MUCH NEEDED to Refresh, be Renewed, & spend time with my family…3 things that are tough for pastors to do in the weekly flow…
• YES, I MISSED everyone – there’s NO PLACE like Compass!!
• And YES, I’m PUMPED to be back and READY TO GO!!

It was SO GOOD to be at Compass today and not as a speaker – we were scheduled to be at another friend’s church, but I MISSED you guys –  5 weeks is the longest I’ve ever been gone at once and then I heard GEORGIE was leading worship – that sealed the deal, we had to be at COMPASS today!!

I LOVE THIS PLACE, LOVE being your PASTOR, LOVE  ALL God is doing here, and CAN’T WAIT for all HE has planned for this fall!!

• GEORGIE WILKINS, one of our Worship Interns, led worship today for the first time and it was AMAZING!!!!
• Yes, her VOICE is INCREDIBLE but more importantly, her HEART and PASSION  to worship GOD with EVERYTHING she has are second to none - that’s what I LOVE about her!
• If you’ve hung around here for very long, you’ve heard me talk about our value/pillar of GENERATIONAL INFLUENCE – “We will GIVE our lives to HAND OFF a Healthy CHURCH and PASS ON a Godly Legacy for Generations to come.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
• Today was us living out that value. We’ve had 9 INTERNS the past two summers through our student and creative arts ministries and I LOVE IT when they get a shot to use their talents to minister.
• Georgie was one of our first and has interned with Matt and our Worship Teams the past two summers; beginning with The 706 as a high school student and now with our Sunday morning teams as a college student studying worship and music.
• This next generation has the Greatest POTENTIAL and RESOURCES to Connect and Point this World to Jesus than any other time in history – I want us to be a place that does whatever it takes to encourage, train, equip, and inspire them to the GREATNESS God has planned for them!!
• Interested in INTERNING at Compass? Email Sheryl Graham at sgraham@compasschurch.com and a staff pastor will contact you.
• STEVEN FURTICK brought it today talking about GOD’s UNSTOPPABLE POWER. Several thoughts that stood out -
  • When I want what God wants for the reasons God wants it, I’m UNSTOPPABLE!!
  • The MIRACLE happened BEFORE the message ever began (Acts 3:1-10)
  • It’s POSSIBLE God could use you to perform a miracle in someone’s life BEFORE THE SERMON ever begins.
  • Question – Are You making yourself AVAILABLE for God to use outside the temple gate?
  • When you give God ALL that you have – THAT’S ALL He needs to do EVERYTHING He wants to do THROUGH YOU!!
• I heard one time “the message begins in the parking lot!!”
• Compass VOLUNTEERS – THANK YOU again for ALL You do “outside the Temple gates” in the parking lots, hallways, and classrooms of Compass, bringing ALL you have, and ALLOWING God to change a city one life at a time through your time, treasures, and talents.
• Bottom Line – COMPASS would NOT EXIST without YOU!!
• I was told we had 4 New Volunteers take the VOLUNTEER FIRST EXPERIENCE today in Compass Kids – MADE MY DAY!
• Check out Compass’ next PARTNERSHIP CLASS, August 22 (click here) and find out how YOU can be part of ALL God is doing through the local church to ROCK THIS CITY and WORLD for JESUS!!