Posts Tagged “Baptism”

Jun 21 2010

SUNDAY POST GAME

Posted by: jcarpenter in General, tags: , ,

FATHER’S DAY ROCKED at Compass Church!!

  • I have the BEST FAMILY and JOB on the Planet…
  • ….I know many of you would argue with me on the family thing…and that’s OK…you should!!
  • 3 people surrendered their lives to Jesus today – that’s WHY we do what we do!!
  • LOVE the story of BENAIAH and how he is described as “a VALIANT WARRIOR from Kabzeel” (1 Chronicles 11:22-25)
  • His story Stirs something inside of me to be a VALIANT and MIGHTY WARRIOR for God and my family…
  • SERIOUSLY – there is a block that sits on my desk that reminds me every day “FINISH STRONG” and “DON’T SCREW UP”
  • We will be a church that “Gives our Lives to HAND OFF a HEALTHY CHURCH and PASS ON a GODLY LEGACY for GENERATIONS to come.” – that’s GENERATIONAL INFLUENCE at it’s BEST!!
  • Special thanks to Mark Batterson for bringing Benaiah’s story to life in his book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day” – GREAT READ – took our the Wednesday Morning Men’s Group through this one!!
  • We all have a PAST that serves as an opportunity to gain much needed wisdom and experience…
  • …a PRESENT that is an opportunity to make a difference TODAY…like RIGHT NOW!!…
  • …and a FUTURE which is the opportunity to leave a LEGACY
  • The people God often uses the most are the ones with the most SCARS in life!!
  • Scars are not STIGMAS rather they are Signs of Hope & Healing in our lives!!…JESUS has SCARS and I believe they were left there to remind us that the Greatest Setbacks are often precursors to the Greatest Set Ups in life!!
  • Benaiah’s SCARS as a warrior were what gave him the CREDIBILITY on his resume to eventually lead David and Solomon’s Army!!
  • Your ability to help others heal is limited to where you have been WOUNDED yourself!!
  • “The HEALING POWER of our Heavenly Father is greater than the wounding power of our earthly Fathers” Bill Hybells

THIS COMING SUNDAY…

  • WE ARE BAPTIZING – I CAN’T WAIT…CLICK HERE for more information or to sign up for BAPTISM!!
  • Let’s be a church that IMPACTS SUMMER instead of Summer impacting the church, BOLDLY speak our ONE LINE that God can use to ROCK someone’s world, and DO WHATEVER IT TAKES to bring our Friends and Family to hear about JESUS and celebrate life change this Sunday!!

ON A PERSONAL NOTE…

The Carpenter Family had an AWESOME FATHER’s DAY hanging out together – kicked it off with church – no better way to start a week!!…went to the lake and crashed for a while…got on the water and had some fun…saw the BEST TUBING WIPEOUT EVER (got 10′ off the water – NEVER seen that before..and yes, I was IN the boat NOT on the water)…ate some home made strawberry ice cream…ate some incredible FRIED SEAFOOD at Dockside Seafood House in Hartwell, GA with Lisa’s dad and family (yes, Father’s Day was created to EAT)…and topped the evening off with some more home made ice cream – oreo this time – BOO YAH!!

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May 14 2010

HEY COMPASS…CAN’T WAIT!!

Posted by: jcarpenter in General, tags:

Hey COMPASS…hope you are having a ROCKN week…I CAN’T WAIT for Sunday…

  • #1 – THIS SUNDAY we are BRINGING IT and it would be the MOST AWESOME SUNDAY of the year for you to INVITE someone and BRING A GUEST – SERIOUSLY!!
  • #2 – I’ve been convicted and challenged this week like never before as a HUSBAND & DAD – it’s MESSED me up and FIRED me up!!
  • #3 – I’m PRAYING for God to raise up a GENERATION of GODLY PARENTS like never before – COMPASS DUDES this begins with us!!
  • #3 – At The 706 Wednesday night, 3 students prayed to receive Christ and 3 are ready to be BAPTIZED – Made My Week!!
  • #4 – WE ARE BAPTIZING Sunday, May 30 – My FAVORITE thing we do at Compass!! Click here for more info or to sign up for Baptism!!
  • #5 – Our next NIGHT OF WORSHIP is next Sunday Night, May 23 – Can’t Wait!!
  • #6 – Celebrate 20 years of MARRIAGE this next week – Humbled, Blessed, and so Grateful!!!!
‘Are We There Yet?’ continues this Sunday, click HERE for our Facebook link. This is a Sunday you will not want to miss, so make sure to invite all your peeps!

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Jan 20 2010

WEDNESDAY BUTT KICKING

Posted by: jcarpenter in General, tags: ,

COMPASS-ERs - God JUST KICKED ME IN THE BUTT – can I share it with you?

We just finished finalizing COMPASS’ 10th ANNIVERSARY SERVICE. WOW – I don’t even know where to begin!!!. All I can say is, it will be the most FLIPPIN AWESOME AMAZING LIFE CHANGING SERVICE ANY of us have EVER been part of in our lifetime.  SERIOUSLY – I’m in tears and BLOWN Away by ALL GOD HAS DONE through you!!

Please FORGIVE me…I really think up to this point, I have thought and led us as if this was a celebration for our church (that is, those of us who call Compass home). God has really gripped my heart in the past 24 hours – this isn’t about US, this isn’t about COMPASS, it’s ALL ABOUT HIM and what HE’s DONE these past 10 years. DUH!!!!

AND, He’s given us a stinkin’ 1,000 SEAT AUDITORIUM to host our 10th Anniversary Service in!!!! I don’t know of anything more HONORING to God than for us to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to FILL THAT PLACE UP (with people in our lives that NEED JESUS), LIFT HIM HIGH in Worship, and TELL HIS STORY like never before!!!

I’m PRAYING for 1000 people to show up – not because it’s all about the numbers, BUT BECAUSE people need to hear some GOOD NEWS!!  There’s nothing more POWERFUL than the Story of God CHANGING LIVES, people stepping from darkness to light, marriages being restored, addicts being freed, and people finding the PURPOSE they were CREATED FOR. And, that’s all we’re going to do on JANUARY 31st is CELEBRATE ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE.

PRAY FOR ME – I’m also asking God for the words that Sunday to give the BOLDEST most POWERFUL Invitation to the Gospel He has ever put inside of me!!

THAT’S WHEN IT HIT ME – there’s NOT a BETTER SUNDAY to bring a guest than to hear the story of how God has changed SO MANY lives these past ten years.  It’s SO POWERFUL & such a testimony to HIS POWER, LOVE, FORGIVENESS, MERCY, GRACE, PROVISION in the valleys, & SURPRISES on the mountain tops of life.

We’re not standing 10 years later because of ANYTHING we’ve done, it’s ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS!!  We’re learning and our story loudly screams there’s BEAUTY in BROKENNESS, HIS STRENGTH is made perfect in WEAKNESS, MUCH can come from LITTLE with His SUPERNATURAL TOUCH, and YOUR BEST DAYS CAN BE AHEAD NO MATTER YOUR PAST!!

If we’ll each do our part, God will do something BIG. If everyone who is coming January 31st will INVITE & BRING ONE PERSON with them, we’ll fill that place up for the Glory of God! ARE YOU IN? LET’s DO IT!!!!!

BAPTISM – I can’t divulge the Creative Team’s Plan, BUT I can tell you I had a mother come to me last Sunday from the OC and ask if her son could be BAPTIZED before our final service in that building. Let me think…..ABSOLUTELY!!!! So, if there is anyone from the OC (or AC) that is ready to be baptized and wants to GO PUBLIC for JESUS during our 10th Anniversary Service, EMAIL US HERE RIGHT AWAY and let us know so we can arrange everything.

I love this church, love this city, love being your pastor, love what’s NEXT for us, and CAN’T WAIT to see the NOHS Fine Arts Facility filled up with people CELEBRATING God’s Greatness and Power to Change Lives!!!!

Much to talk about Haiti (this church is INCREDIBLE!!), Celebrate from this past Sunday, and update you about the MERGE – I’ll post on that tomorrow!!

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Aug 21 2009

GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT…

Posted by: jcarpenter in General, tags: ,

My phone was blowing up with texts when I came off the stage at the OC Sunday to tell me my close friend Joey was baptized on Sunday in the 11:00 AC service (Oh, Yea, who says VIDEO doesn’t work. I wasn’t even there, God spoke boldly through the video, Joey manned up and responded, and I didn’t even get to baptize him!!!!)

I sent a picture of us (posted in yesterday’s blog) we took at lunch that day out to at least 20 of our friends SHOUTING OUT about what God did – many were like “Well, if I would have known, I would have come!“

I have another friend in FLORIDA who reads our blogs and leads a Men’s Small Group on Monday Nights. He challenged his guys as a result of reading about what God did this past Sunday at Compass to pray for, invest in, invite and not stop until they had a brought a friend to Jesus.

Then it hit me – that’s our church growth strategy – set our people up to BE BOLD INVITING MACHINES by Giving Them Something To Talk About – JESUS CHANGING LIVES!!

#1 – Now That You Know about it…..what are you going to do about it??!!

#2 – Click here to get your BAPTISM PICTURE from Sunday and SHOUT OUT your God Story…

“For I have a great sense of obligation to people in our culture and to people in other cultures….to PREACH the GOOD NEWS. For I am NOT ASHAMED of the GOSPEL about Christ. It is the POWER of God at work, SAVING EVERYONE who believes.” (Romans 1:14-16) Those Verses STILL Messing Me Up!!!

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Aug 17 2009

Sunday Post Game

Posted by: jcarpenter in General, tags: , , , ,
BOO YAH!!!!!! Thank you JESUS!! TODAY was the most ABSOLUTELY AMAZING DAY EVER @ Compass.

•We BAPTIZED 39 people today – that’s only half the story….

•…They literally had NO IDEA when they got up this morning they were getting baptized today.

•That’s Right – THEY might not have been PREPARED but GOD WAS PREPARED FOR THEM and our incredible Volunteers were too!!

•Today, I challenged people who had never placed their faith in Christ or had but had never been Biblically Baptized to BE BOLD, go for it, and be baptized on the spot – not next week, or next month, not go home and think about it, not raise a hand, flip a switch or walk an aisle, but to accept God’s original invitation and BE BAPTIZED TODAY to tell the world that you belong to Jesus.

•Talk about a RUSH – God showed UP and showed OFF in an AMAZING display of what He will do when we take risks for Him!

•Was it Risky? Boldest Risk we’ve ever taken as a church (trust me, we had our doubters – including me).

•Was it Worth It?  So much we are going to do it again next Sunday. There’s already a BUZZ among our staff and church about what God MIGHT DO this coming Sunday!! I CAN’T WAIT and I sure won’t get much sleep this week!!!!

•NONE of us have ever experienced a day like this before in church…did I mention 39 people got baptized who had no idea their day would include being baptized for Jesus!!

•It wasn’t NORMAL…it was RADICAL, it was BOLD, it was GOD Showing Up and Showing Off, it was THAT DAY (Acts 2:41) coming to life in our generation.

•You had to have been there…if not, I imagine it’s hard to understand. It wasn’t about us, or people joining a church – this was about people of ALL AGES (middle school and up) RADICALLY and BOLDLY declaring for all the world to know through Biblical Baptism “I BELONG TO JESUS!!!”

Several key moments I’ll always remember…

-MEN who came forward holding their wives hands with tears in their eyes to be baptized as couples…
-DADS laying a spiritual foundation for their families by boldly stepping out (I’m telling ya, women love dudes who take bold spiritual steps with their lives!!)…
-STUDENTS declaring in front of their friends and family “I am Not Ashamed of Jesus”…
-A COACH baptizing two of his players he had invited to come with him to church that day…
-A LADY shouting back at me in response to the question “Is it your testimony that Jesus lives in your heart and life?” “YES, JIM IT IS!!!” – scared me but I loved it!!
-MY PHONE being blown up with texts that one of my close personal friends got baptized in the 11:00 AC Video service – I was BLOWN AWAY! Living Proof that God can use technology and a video service to POWERFULLY speak and change lives!!
-39 BOLD PEOPLE who put their fear aside, knees shaking and all, stepped out and stepped up, went public with their faith, and became catalysts for what I believe will be the Boldest Move Of God our city has ever known.
-MY FATHER-IN-LAW who has NEVER touched a computer before and couldn’t be there today, wanting to learn how to TWITTER he was so excited when I told him what God did!!!!
-MATT AMMONS, our worship pastor,  who told me he was stripping and jumping in if nobody responded saving his job and NOT having to do that!!

•COMPASS VOLUNTEERS – ELECTRIC!!!! You were LEVEL 10 at your FINEST today – your Passion, Preparation, Organization, and Execution of the DETAILS in each of your areas was stinkin off the chain!! Thank you for doing WHATEVER it takes to connect people to God. I felt your passion, energy, and excitement to be part of a BOLD MOVE of God every step of the way today.

•COMPASS PRAY-ERS – THANK YOU!! For weeks, our staff, leadership, and prayer teams have been BEGGING God to do something BOLD like never before in our city, church, lives, marriages, homes, and school campuses – Guess What? TODAY HE started to answer those prayers!!!

•I can’t believe how many people are FASTING & Praying to beg God to do something BIG through BE BOLD!!

•Yes, it will take you a couple of days to get on track, work it out, get over the caffeine head aches, stop being hungry (ok, that will NEVER happen)…BUT PUSH THROUGH IT!! You CAN do it!! Here’s the BE BOLD FAST link on our website. I encourage you to download the message from our Dangerous Fast series and listen to asap – we’ll post a new one each week.  Keep checking for updates as we’ll also be posting more specific food options for those doing the Daniel Fast and opening a discussion board to encourage each other and share all that God is doing.

•LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY ROCKED!! I was dog tired last night, BUT Worshipping with all of you COMPASS-ERS, Celebrating the Day, Hearing the new Volunteer Systems & Connection Group Structure the staff is rolling out this fall (Wesley is one funny dude!!), Taking Communion together, Kicking off the Fast, Seeing some of you eat EDAMAME for the first time and LOVING it, and ANTICIPATING what God is going to do through this church this fall PUMPED ME UP!! I’ll have to simply pass out….no way I’ll go to sleep after that!!

•DANG IT – the Braves just lost…still believe they are going to make the playoffs!!

•I’m Ready for Football Between the Hedges!!

•Get your READY SHOES ON!!! THAT DAY (Acts 2:41) is going to become THIS DAY in our city in people’s lives!!!!!

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Sep 18 2008

This Sunday’s Service Times

Posted by: jcarpenter in General, tags: ,

Jesus’ last words – GO…CONNECT…and BAPTIZE (Matthew 28:19-20).

Compass – we are doing that THIS SUNDAY!!!

I just found out this past Sunday we had our highest attendance for a “normal” Sunday this year.

We only baptized 8 people – can you imagine what it will be like when we baptize 50 this Sunday!

There was talk of 3 services. We will only have 2 at current service times – 9:30 & 11:15.

PS – It’s going to be SLAMMED! ANYONE who can – please come at 9:30!

#1 – ARRIVE 10 MINUTES EARLY – WHY?

…The opening song ROCKS!

…The Baptism STORIES are AMAZING!

…Lis & I had a VIDEO CREW in our BEDROOM this week (definitely DON’T LEAVE EARLY).

…Jesus Would because it helps Guests with parking, seating, and KIDS Check In.

#2 – PRAY LIKE CRAZY

…Your Prayers Do Make a Difference – just ask the 66 people being baptized this month.

…Pray for those still wrestling with this life changing decision! I’ve talked to them – there’s a lot!

…Pray Jesus will rock DAD’S worlds – I know some coming just to see their kids baptized.

….I believe the BIGGEST RESPONSE to this series is still yet to be seen.

…I believe THAT DAY in Acts (Acts 2:41) could be THIS DAY on Sunday in Athens.

…SAT PRAYER TIME, 8:45am – 9:30am…throw on a hat and come pray with us!!

#3 – INVITE SOMEONE TO COME WITH YOU

…There’s No Way You Shouldn’t be INVITING EVERY SINGLE PERSON you’ve ever thought, hoped, wished, prayed would come at least one Sunday to Compass.

THIS SUNDAY is THAT SUNDAY!!

…I’m praying for the ‘184 Chairs’ again this week that God would do the unbelievable.

…Plus – you get a Free Chick-fil-A sandwich when you bring a guest – we’re removing all barriers.

#4 – COMPASS VOLUNTEERS

…Please park in the Coors Lot marked VOLUNTEER PARKING – this REALLY HELPED!!!!

…We’ll meet at 8:55 for our VIP meeting & prayer – can’t wait to see you.

…I’m blown away by our incredible volunteers.

SUNDAY, SEPT 28 – YOU ASKED FOR IT begins

Friday – I’ll post the TOP 15 Questions you are asking and open the voting for the TOP 6.

You are a TOUGH CROWD – the questions have INSPIRED & CHALLENGED me!!

Why didn’t we think of this earlier – this is going to be one of our BEST SERIES EVER!

I had lunch yesterday with a UGA Prof that I just met a couple of months ago working out at the Omni – I’ll tell you about it tomorrow – this series is EXACTLY what we need to be doing!!

Mom’s chemo treatments went well this week – thanks for your prayers!

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