2011 is here!! So Now what?

Does it ever feel like it's easy to start the year with excitement and anticipation? Have you ever wondered where that excitement goes around the third week of January? For some of us, the dream of a great year may even get bogged down before then. I have experienced it time and again and I know that many of you can relate to losing the "I-Can-Do-This!" feeling that culminates in your New Year's resolutions falling flat.

A couple years ago, I realized that the reason I experienced the slump in the past was because I had failed to turn my resolutions into sustainable vision and goal setting for the entire year. Since that time, I have made it a high priority to put my (personal and ministry) goals and vision for the New Year into writing as quickly as possible each January.

This year I am going public with our vision as a leadership team at the Intersection. We believe that God has established 2011 as a year for us to grow deep in faith, family and community. As a church, we have set our faith on that same, larger vision which will manifest itself in 6 definable and measurable goals which include:

* Identify 8 new church system leaders
* Standardize the plan for Set-up and Tear Down
* 100 new decisions for Christ
* 35 confirmed baptisms in water
* To have a partnership class in place and working by the end of the year
* To get the Kids Mobility Center up and running by the End of May

I'd love to hear your feedback on this plan...or, if you want to share your own goals and vision for 2011, I would love to read about them!!

A Year to Grow Deep!!!

Hey everyone! What if I told you that 2011 was your year to grow deep? What does that even mean? This is my prayer aim for the new year and I want to help us all grow deeper in Christ through three events this weekend!

The first is our first EVER Intersection Vision Day! It will take place this Saturday, January 15th, from 9am-3pm. We will be meeting at Comfort Suites in Gettysburg, next to the Evergreen Cemetery and The Pike. Lunch will be provided, so come prepared to learn what God has in store for us in 2011 (a year to grow deep)!! We ask that you please find your own childcare for this day-long event.

The second event is our regular morning worship experience on Sunday morning @ 10am at the Gettysburg Middle School. If you haven’t been with us in a while, it’s a great time to jump back in! You don’t want to miss the worship time and continuation of the message series we are calling “Primal”.

Finally, come out for a time of refreshing and refocusing at the Catalyst Session being brought to us by our sending church, Freedom Valley. Join me and Pastor Gerry as we grow in leadership principals and team planning at Freedom Valley York Road starting at 6pm. Childcare will be provided!

So many opportunities!!

Religion is too complicated!!

Hey all you cool people!!

2011 has arrived and with it comes all of our hopes and dreams for “getting it right” in the New Year! Many of us make resolutions to get in shape and get organized. Others feel that we have let our love for God grow cold and so we look at the New Year as a chance to get our spiritual lives in order...that’s where The Intersection comes in!

We have begun a primal journey with a new message series that can help all of us take the complicated out of faith! If you feel that Christianity has become too “hard to get” causing you to become “lost in the weeds” of complex faith, we want to help you find a new, simple start to a relationship with God!

“Primal” will help us all get “back to the basics” of faith in Christ as we look at the prime commandments of Jesus to...love God and love people. It can be that simple!!

Join us at 10am on Sunday morning at the Gettysburg Middle School for this exciting new look at the simple message of Christ and YOU could find your hope and faith renewed for the New Year!

Blessings in the New Year!
jeremiah

If you had one chance to give...

Hey everyone! I want to thank you all for being such generous givers over the last two weeks. With God’s help we have managed to raise nearly $700 in addition to our regular tithes and offerings to bless ministries in the DR and Gettysburg. Thank you for giving. Its your generosity that makes The Intersection generous.

This weekend will be our last opportunity to give to a cause outside ourselves before Christmas. I’d like to ask each of you to pray about what your family can do to bless the mission work that will be highlighted this week.

Jacque Merine, of “Source of Life”, will be with us this weekend to share the vision and upcoming challenges faced by his ministry on the island of Haiti. An island that has been in the news recently because of earthquakes and disease outbreak. You can be apart of the rebuilding of the orphanage that was lost in the earthquake and you can help give the kids a new home.

Please pray generously and remember a life lived for others has the kiss of God. Love you all and see you Sunday at 10am!

jeremiah

P.S. If you would like more info on “Source of Life” go to www.source-of-life-ministries.org

It's a Wonderful Life!!

Giving isn't just for Christmas anymore!

Over the past couple of weeks at The Intersection, we have been working on what it means to have a "lifestyle of giving". Living with an open hand and saying goodbye to lack in our everyday lives. "It's a Wonderful Life" is becoming a message series with impact, redeeming the "Scrooge" that lives in all of us. There is a better way to live...

"A life lived for others has the kiss of God..."

This phrase is becoming our rally cry for the Christmas season and beyond at the Intersection. My prayer is that we will be more audacious givers on December 26th and 27th, than we ever were on Christmas day. Check out what we are doing by going to the "Media Online" section of our website at www.theintersectionchurch.net

Much love to all of you! Please comment back if you have been challenged!

Upcoming Leadership Events!!

The next Catalyst Meeting is going to be held at Freedom Valley York Road on December 5th @ 6pm. You are invited to join Cori and I as we discuss ministry and leadership concepts as well as time for fellowship and food. I especially want you administrative types to join me as we talk about ministry processes and qualifications for leadership. Please join us as we grow in our ability to lead God’s people at the Intersection!

Also, mark your calendars for March 17th as we will be having a one day, training and enrichment event with a person who has influenced me deeply. His name is Matt Keller and his passion for Jesus is only matched by his passion for church planting teams. That day will lead into a weekend with Johannes that will revolutionize your life! If you want to grow as a minister and leader you will want to set aside that week in March!

The Tale of Two Houses (An allegorical thought...)

This is the tale of two houses...

The first house was on a hill at the edge of town. Everyone in town “knew” about the house, or rather the one who lived there. Old Man Gray had been there as long as any of the townsfolk could remember even though no one could ever remember seeing the old man. The house was even older than it's owner and its age, and years of neglect could be clearly seen...

...in the broken shutters
...in the paint that peeled over every inch
...in the broken and damaged windows.

Rumor had it that the place had been “haunted” by the ghost of it's previous owner. In fact, it had become a topic of daily discussion at the local taverns and diners. Kids walking home from school quickly ran past it because of it's reputation and frightening lack of appeal.

Everyone in town knew the stories that swirled around the old Gray place. They all assumed that they knew what was in there. In fact, townsfolk called it “The Ghost House” because they were so sure of who lived in the house now. This old house had become defined by the “ghosts” that had taken up residence

The second house was on a hill on the other side of town. Everyone in town “knew” about this house as well, or rather the one who lived there. He was a kind person called White, who took meticulous care of his property. The fence and shutters had a perpetually crisp coat of white paint. The yard was clipped and welcoming to people who passed by. It had not always been that way, though.

The story about town was that White paid entirely too much for the old house when he bought it. Although that may have been true, the old man continued to pour thousands of hours and dollars into the remodeling. Townsfolk watched the transformation with curiosity for years, wondering what White was up to.

It was clear that he was a good man. They could see it in the way he took care of the place He lived. They could see it in the way he invited people into his house. Even when his house was “a mess” from remodeling, he would go out of his way to live his life openly, and humbly ask his guests to "excuse the mess." Truth was, the townsfolk began to say “that house would have crumbled down to the ground if White hadn't of purchased it.”

The moral of the story:
1. Both houses had a reputation in town
2. Both houses were defined by the ones who “lived” there
3. Both houses were a reflection of the one who “lived” there


Who lives in you?

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,
who lives in you and was given to you by God?”
1 Corinthians 6:19

Listen to the sermon at www.theintersectionchurch.net/listen-online