The Grove

There is a strong possibility that you saw a Facebook ad that we placed and you clicked on it. This clicking you did brought you to our main website which of course probably got you to this blog. At any rate, the question of the hour is: Why the Facebook Ad?

It’s a good question. Though we’re typically short on answers, we’ll try the simple version:

The fact is we think “Christians” should be different. Not different in the sense that they wear funny clothes, go around boycotting liquor stores or have fish decals on the back of their cars – but still manage to cut you off and let you know that you’re number one in their book while in traffic.

No, different in that they actually act like Jesus would.

How did Jesus act, you ask?

Not like many of today’s Christian’s.

He wasn’t exclusive. He wasn’t judgemental. He wasn’t phony. He wasn’t a racist. He wasn’t homophobic. He wasn’t pretty. He wasn’t in it for himself.

He was loving. He was honest. He was gritty. He was interested in every person because they mattered to God. People weren’t numbers to Jesus. He cared about justice and mercy. He cared about poor and marginalized people. He wanted every single person to know God. And He actually knew God and you could tell it by the way he acted and communicated.

Ultimately, He wasn’t very religious and He actually spent most of His time speaking out against religious people. At one point, he even refers to some of the most religious people as “white washed tombs” saying “…outwardly they look like righteous people, but inwardly their hearts were filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Not much has changed. Jesus is still interested in real people, with real issues who don’t have it all together. And that’s where we are. We’re starting a brand new church in Henry County that wants be like Jesus.

We want to put the “Christ in Christian.”

Why? We’re serious about the things Jesus was serious about; loving God, loving people, and leaving no doubt in the mind of every person He met. That’s why we’re here. That’s all we’ve got.

If you’re perfect you won’t want to meet us, cause we’re not. But if your life is a mess, or you’ve struggled to make sense of life, you’re in good company.

If you’re searching and want to ask serious questions about Jesus and following Him, we’re ready to help and you can contact us here.

If you’re already a Christian, that’s great, may we all look closely at who Jesus really was, what He cared about and How we can look more like Him together.

Join us for the very first monthly worship gathering where The Grove goes live! We want you to be a part of it!

We’ll be starting a brand new series called, “I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”

Many people find themselves asking, “Is this it?”
Sometimes we meet Christians and we’re disappointed to discover a “boring, stale religion.”
Faith feels disconnected, sucked up by Sunday pep rallies and chintzy spiritual souvenirs. Think you might be bored with religion? Check all that apply:

___I am disappointed with my spiritual life.
___I yearn to follow Jesus and live like him.
___I experience church as a monotonous religious routine.
___I long for real, authentic community.
___I seek spiritual adventure and fulfillment.
___I need my faith to make a difference.

Identify? Through provocative storytelling and gut-level honesty, we’ll unearth the life Jesus lived and wants us to experience, challenging us to move past spiritual boredom into a faith that’s exciting, beautiful, and powerful.

Come on out and bring a friend, but remember no perfect people are allowed! You don’t want to miss this!

How thankful I am for the team that God is building around me as we get closer to our first preview service for The Grove. I’ll keep this short, but thank you to all of you for the part you play and the role you fill in helping the people of Henry County take their next steps towards Jesus.

We’ve only just begun and I am absolutely thrilled and honored to get to do this with you! Your hard work, commitment and sacrifice – both physically and financially is AMAZING!

I love you all!

Let’s do this!

Chris

Next Monday, September 7th on Labor Day we are going to be hanging at Heritage Park!

We’ll be eating hotdogs and hamburgers and having fun! This will be a great chance to meet some of the folks who are a part of The Grove already!

So come on down bring your whole crew, just click the picture and it will take you to a page and give you directions. We’ll be in the pavillion next to the playground! You gotta be there!

We’ll be hanging at Ms. Miller’s house in the morning at 8am. You can check that out at www.projectmcdonough.com

Be there!

I am amazed at what God is doing and the doors he is opening for The Grove. So much has been happening and things are so crazy that I can hardly keep up!

I am excited about us getting to work with The Fuller Center and I’m thankful for all of you who have jumped on board and are helping with that.

I am thrilled about the new people that we are meeting and the blessings God is sharing.

I can’t wait to see what God has in mind next! Keep praying, there is much to be done and much God is going to do!

More soon!

Two things that are so huge happening tomorrow!

1 – Helping out with Project McDonough will be a good time! Tomorrow at 8am www.projectmcdonough.com

2 – Launch Team Gathering at Sharon Baptist at 6pm!

Fun for all – be there!

There are THREE things we are really excited about this week:

1 – We started the 60-60 challenge which is rocking my world and hopefully others as well. Want to know more, hit us up.

2 – Our launch team gathering this weekend. 6pm at Sharon Baptist Church in the chapel. So looking forward to this time together. Praying for God to move! Come on down!

3 – MOST IMPORTANTLY! Chris and Susan celebrating 10 years of marriage. It’s a bit of a shock she hung on this long!

Let us hear from you!

There are a few things I really like to do:

1. Play with my family! I love hanging with my girls, they are amazing! I can’t even begin to explain what a blessing my little girls are to me. I can’t start to help you know what an amazing woman my wife is! I love them so much!
2. Working in the yard! Even though my yard looks kinda average, I like working in it. It is relaxing work to me.
3. Spending time challenging people to take their next steps in faith. I love seeing the light go on in people’s lives when they realize that following Jesus is a better way. It encourages me in the BIGGEST way!
4. I like working. Yeah, I said that, don’t get torqued at me if you don’t. I like what i get to do and count it an honor every single day. So much so that it can get me in trouble in other ways. Sometimes I even use working as an excuse as to why I can’t spend time with my family or why I can’t do something else.

I have a really hard time dealing with this sometimes. And while I know there are seasons in life where you may spend more time doing this thing or that thing, I feel like work is an intense yet never ending season, and it doesn’t bother me, until I realize that my family has to take center stage in my life.

Fact is, I have to remember that my girls will only be my little girls for a little while longer and I only get to watch them grow up once. Plus, only during this time in my life and theirs has God called me to be their Daddy in specific ways with no make-up games left to play after its all said and done. I want to make the most of these times….

What about you? How do you deal with this? What things do you love to do that sometimes get in the way of what matters most in life. In a few days I’ll come back and share with you what I do to make this happen, in the meantime, what do you think?

posted by Chris