New Year and New Possibilities - The Water' Edge Minute

Children's Christmas Play

We had 170 children lead us in worship this morning at The Water's Edge. It was a wonderful morning. So grateful for all the adults who volunteered so much time and energy.

This Week's Column

I remember September 17, 2006. It was our second Sunday worshiping at The Water’s Edge. We worshipped at Russell Middle School back then and had about 75 adults and 25 kids present. AJ was a one-man band. Our bulletin was a front and back 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. We had lots of leftover donuts.

In the last five years we have fed a lot of hungry people, new friendships have been created and existing friendships have been strengthened, children have learned about God, people have been supported though hardship, dozens of babies have been born, people have been baptized, marriages have been strengthened, we have laughed a lot, we have prayed a lot, we have run marathons and raised tens of thousands of dollars for kids in Africa, we have supported missionaries in Africa and Omaha and many places in between, we have worshipped in three different schools, we have been challenged and affirmed, and we have done our best to be God’s people together.

Last week we had over 550 adults and 135 children present in a crowded high school. The stage was full of musicians. The bulletin was 12 pages long. We ran out of donuts before the second worship service started.

We have come a long way and I sense that God is just getting started with us. I know much greater things are still to come.

You are the reason The Water’s Edge exists. The growth, grace, friendships, forgiveness, service, and salvation that I am most concerned about is the growth, grace, friendships, forgiveness, service, and salvation that happens in your life. The Water’s Edge exists to help people grow in their relationship with God and with others and to help us serve our community and world. I hope The Water’s Edge is making a difference in your life and I pray The Water’s Edge continues to make a difference in your life for the next five years and beyond!

I am more excited today about the next five years than I was five years ago about the first five years…and I was pretty excited back then! I know we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg about what God is going to do in us and through us.

Today is an important day for The Water’s Edge and for Faith-Westwood. After the 10:30 worship service we will hold a Church Conference to seek approval for the recommendation for The Water’s Edge to become a United Methodist Church separate from Faith-Westwood. It is my hope this approval is widely supported and embraced by people at both campuses. It is also my hope that no two churches in Omaha work more closely together in the future. I believe this proposal is best for The Water’s Edge and I believe it is best for Faith-Westwood because both churches will have the opportunity to focus externally on ministry (instead of inward on what it means to be one church), implement best ministry practices for their own unique setting, and create and live out their own unique vision of what it means to be the church.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

New Beginnings

New beginnings. It’s a significant and reoccurring theme in the Bible. 

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! -2 Corinthians 5:17

Wednesday is a day of new beginnings for students in the Millard schools. For students in Elkhorn, Gretna, and Omaha – your day of new beginnings will come soon. Some will be going to Kindergarten for the first time. Others are going to be seniors and have one year left. A new grade level, new classes, new friends, new teachers, new opportunities. Most things are new. Except the food. 

This morning we are going to pray for the teachers and other school employees who will be teaching, mentoring, leading, coaching, and serving students. Your calling is one of life’s highest. If I ever think of something more important in life than investing in future generations—I’ll let you know. But don’t hold your breath. 

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. –Philippians 3:13

Students get a fresh start each August. The A’s and B’s and C’s from the previous year don’t matter. Many of us need that in life. A fresh start. Our past sins no longer hold us captive. Neither do our failures. Neither do our hurts. Starting next week, we are going to start a new sermon series called: Getting Past Your Past. We will look at breaking labels that bind us, forgiving those who hurt us, apologizing to those we have hurt, and getting past our personal failures. I invite you to join us and invite you to invite others to join us as we say goodbye to our guilt and pain and say hello to grace and hope. I have been praying these four weeks will be a major break through for many of us. I invite you to join me in praying that many of us will experience a fresh start this month at The Water’s Edge. 

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” –Revelation 21:5 

On August 28th, after the 10:30 service, both campuses—Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge—will be holding a Church Conference to support the proposal that The Water’s Edge will become a separate United Methodist Church on January 1st, 2011. The congregations will move forward independently, yet cooperatively. I hope no two churches in Omaha work more closely together than Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge. Having served at Faith-Westwood for six years and The Water’s Edge for five years, I believe this is the best future direction for both the Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge. I wouldn’t support this proposal if I didn’t believe it was best for both locations. I believe these things will happen at both churches: a more clear and focused vision, higher levels of ownership and commitment, and a more effective and efficient use of people resources. In short, I believe God will do a new thing. And that is something that excites me. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

The Water's Edge

Here is next Sunday's column, a little early. I'm leading a camp for kids this week and had a little time this morning.

Last Sunday night, a woman in our membership class, H2O, asked me where we got our name, The Water’s Edge. I was grateful she asked the question because, in the busyness of life and ministry, I need a reminder of why we exist.

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things. –Mark 4:1-2

As chapter 4 continues, Jesus taught and challenged the people gathered at The Water’s Edge. Next, he sent the people out into their community to live out his teachings. Finally, he calmed the storm in the lives 

The vision is to be a Mark 4 community. It begins with Jesus and his teachings. The dream is to have an overflowing group of people gathering weekly at The Water’s Edge to hear the teachings of Jesus. Community is experienced. We share our lives together. We laugh and pray and learn together. The teachings are relevant to our lives and they challenge us. When applied to our lives, the teachings make us better. Then we are sent out into the world and because we are getting better the world will be better. And, for those times when the world doesn’t make sense or our lives don’t quite make sense, Jesus calmed the storm. He offers peace when the world is not able to.

I left worship Sunday morning excited about how this vision is becoming a reality. People came early and stayed late. We ate together and shared with each other. We watched all the elementary kids singing songs about God’s love for them and their love for God. I don’t know if it’s possible to convince me of a more beautiful thing. Then we heard stories from high school students about how they served the elderly and the poor. That is beautiful too. We heard the teachings of Jesus that we are to be influencers in our communities. We prayed for one of our own who is having a mass removed from her brain this week. People stood in line and signed a card for her. I delivered that card to her this morning. Her eyes welled up. I could sense Jesus was calming a storm. And then the gathered people were sent into the community to love others, to offer hope, and to invite others to follow Jesus.

The dream for The Water’s Edge is that we experience community because life is best lived in the presence of others. The dream is that we are challenged when we need to be challenged and that we are comforted when we need to be comforted. The dream is God changes our world and the world one live at a time. I have enjoyed and I look forward to taking this journey with you.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

A Little Bit About A Lot of Things

Here is Sunday's Column

Response Team 

Last Sunday I shared a dream about creating a Mission Response Team. The goal of this team is to go serve people who are recovering from natural disasters. In the last few months, help has been needed all over the country. My dream is to have dozens of people register to serve in this ministry. This pool of people would be contacted when a disaster happens and those who are able will go serve hurting people together. This ministry will obviously start small, but my prayer is that it will turn into something big. If you are interested in being a leader for this ministry, contact celeste.ellis@faithwestwood.com. Join me in praying for this ministry as it develops.

Team World Vision 

On next race will be the Omaha Marathon (26.2 miles), Half-Marathon (13.1 miles), and 10K (6.2 miles) on September 25th. We had 63 runners finish the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon and raised over $26,000. We will be releasing information in the next week or so as we are still working out a few details with World Vision and the Omaha Marathon. 

I encourage you to join the team. You can walk, run, or do a combination of the two. Spend this summer getting fit and help support kids in Africa! Check out our web site: www.runningforkidsinafrica.com.

Summer Slump 

The Water’s Edge is having a great year so far. Our average adult attendance is 453 per week (up 30% from last year) and our average kid’s Sunday school attendance is 104 per week (up 48% from last year)! Typically churches see less people in worship during summer months. Memorial Day is next weekend. Then school gets out for the year. I want to challenge you to do a few things this summer that will keep us thriving as a congregation and as individuals.

1. Try out the 9:00 worship experience. The service has grown in the last six months. It is identical to the 10:30 service. You can be done at 10:00 and have the rest of the summer day to enjoy.

2. Invite a guest to worship and introduce them to me and to some other people. Things are a little more laid back in the summer and this gives us an opportunity to get to know new people better.

3. If you are out of town or your child has a game early on Sunday morning, you can watch the sermon on YouTube. Visit www.watersedgeworship.com. You can also subscribe to a podcast if you prefer an audio version.

4. Do the daily Bible readings and study questions. You can always find them at on this site.

5. Register for E-Giving. People who give electronically report that it is easy and it helps them be consistent.

6. Register to be on a volunteer team. We have a few more opportunities in the summer. Email jill@watersedgeomaha.com (adult teams) or nancy@watersedgeomaha.com (the kid’s team) to volunteer.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

The Marathon

Running for Kids in Africa. We were an eclectic group of runners.

Some of the team before the race

One of the runners had lung cancer a few years ago. Post-operation, he never dreamed one day he would be running a half-marathon. Another of the runners is the fastest Nebraskan ever at 10,000 meters. He’s not as fast as he was twenty years ago when he won a national title at Wesleyan, but his love for the sport and for people is contagious. One marathoner smoked two packs of cigarettes per day in December. These five months have changed his life and maybe saved his life. One woman has run the Boston Marathon five times. Forty-five runners had never run a race before. One of our runners placed in the top ten in the marathon. The other sixty-two didn’t. 

Sixty-three of our runners started the Lincoln Marathon or Half-Marathon. Sixty-three finished. The hours and hours of training during the cold, icy weather paid off. The miles and miles of sweating on the treadmill are now worth it. I was proud to wear my bright orange shirt yesterday. I knew the people wearing the same shirt in front of me and those behind me had given and were giving their best. 

One of our runners, Bill Draper, was not able to run the marathon because he suffered a severe brain injury about three weeks ago. Thirty-six hours before our race we ran Bill’s race for him. One hundred and seventy five people: runners, children, friends, family, and supportive strangers from the church showed up and ran or walked a lap in Bill’s honor. It was a beautiful thing seeing the church be the church. I drove to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital after the marathon and gave Bill my finisher’s medal. The medal is his now as he takes the beginning steps to his marathon of recovering. 

I have run in the Drake Relays against Olympians in front of 20,000 fans. I’ve run the Boston Marathon with 25,000 other runners. As I look back, this was my most rewarding experience as a runner. We raised over $26,000 for kids in Africa. If nothing else happened that would have been more than enough. Kids will get fresh water, nutritious food, education, medicine, and hope. 

But something else did happen. Friendships were forged. Strangers become supporters. Husbands and wives trained together. Dads ran with their daughters. God gives us each other and we all now understand that better. 

People embraced a happier lifestyle. Collectively, the runners lost hundreds of pounds. Hearts and lungs various other muscles have become stronger. 

But the thing I loved the most was seeing the fearful be transformed into a finisher. Running a half-marathon or marathon seems like a daunting task. And it is. Six months ago, many didn’t know if they could do something like this and were fearful. Yesterday, the runners did this and were finishers. Through Christ, more is possible in life that what we believe. 

Amanda doing her first half marathon

Four typically skinny distance runners

Allison on her way to breaking two hours!

Jamie and April - Training Partners and Friends

Jessica finishing her first marathon!

Michelle and Emily - Mother and Daughter - Finishers

The Nech's before the race

I think those hands are always attached to the hips

Rick Perez running down the Hauptmans

Ray and his girls. They ran great! After Ray paced them, he went 
out and paced a marathon runner. Over 30 miles for the day!

Jessica and Stacey celebrating post-race

The Vances and the Clements

Marathons, Africa, Easter, New People, and Mother's Day

Marathon

Over 60 of us are running the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon this morning. Lots of family and friends are supporting the runners as well. It is the first race ever for many of the runners and is the culmination of six months of training. If you are interested in training and doing a race this fall, we are investigating participating in the Omaha Marathon, which also includes a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles). Stay tuned.

Part of the Running for Kids in Africa team getting ready to run

Africa

The reason we are running is to raise money for children in Africa. All runners have paid their own expenses so that one-hundred percent of all donations can go to help kids in Africa. We set an ambitious goal of raising $20,000. We ended up raising over $25,000! To all those who are running and all those who donated, I am so grateful. $25,000 will provide abundant fresh water, nutritious food, education, medicine, and hope for children in Africa. We will continue to raise money for kids in Africa and support missionaries serving in Africa. In the future, I feel God is leading us to partner with a church in Africa, pray with them, financially support them to transform a village, and send teams of people to serve, learn, and worship alongside them. It’s a big dream, but we have a bigger God.

Easter

Last week we had over 1,000 people in worship and in the nursery. This is a new record for us. We have come along way since our worship launch four and a half years ago. Thanks to the dozens of volunteers who served on Easter morning and to all the guests to worshipped with us. Thanks to those at the 10:30 service who stood around for a while until we found chairs for you. We have some innovative ideas how to accommodate our current people better next year and how to welcome additional guests as well.

10:30 Worship on Easter @ The Water's Edge

Are You New?

We have been going through a growth spurt in a last few months and we have a lot of new people. I hope you are experiencing God, connecting to others, and feeling at home. Later this spring and throughout the summer we are going to have some gatherings to meet new people. I hope you will participate in one of these. Joining a serving team is a great way to meet people, serve God, and become an owner of our ministry. We are also going to be starting new small groups and Bible studies in the fall. Check these out in August and September.

Mother’s Day

Next Sunday is Mother’s Day. We have a great worship celebration planned to honor moms. I hope to see next week. And for all the moms out there…thanks for being you.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

Strategic Matters

Volunteer Drive

Our “mini” volunteer drive the last two weeks was to add volunteers to a few areas we were short and to add some depth in a few other areas during summer. Little did we know this would be our biggest response ever. We have over 40 new volunteers register to serve at least once a month. Many of these people have volunteered to serve in more than one area.

Two Areas To Strengthen and Serve

Because of the explosive growth in the Frog Pond (we are averaging over 100 children which is up 43% from last year), we need more volunteers for our Sunday morning children’s ministry. I want to encourage you to serve once a month in this area. You can worship one hour and serve one hour. You don’t need to be an expert in the Bible and we will never make you serve alone. Email nancy@watersedgeomaha.com for more information.

Men who aren’t serving, I want to challenge you to serve on our set-up or tear-down team once a month. You will meet some other great guys, become owners of a ministry, and serve everybody who worships. It’s simple and a no-brainer. Email jill@watersedgeomaha.com and tell her what Sunday of the month you would like to serve and if you want to set-up (7:45 to 8:45), tear-down (11:30 to 12:30), or both.

Running For Kids in Africa

63 runners have raised over $21,500 so far. Our goal was $20,000. 100% of this money goes to kids in Africa. Last Sunday morning during our special offering this congregation gave thousands of dollars and put us over the $20,000 mark. I am becoming more convinced each day that God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people. Support us at www.runningforkidsinafrica.com.

Serving water to thirsty runners. Father's Day - 2010

Bill Draper 

Bill is a member of our leadership team and is a mentor for Running For Kids in Africa. Two weeks ago he suffered a severe brain injury. We took an informal offering for them two weeks ago. I got to deliver his wife checks, cash, and notes of encouragement the next morning. Jesus says that the world will know we are his disciples if we love one another. You are showing the world what it means to love. Check out Bill’s CaringBridge page at www.caringbridge.org/visit/billdraper. 

Invite 

So many of you have been inviting friends to worship and sharing your faith. I have met so many great new people. Our worship attendance is up 21% over last year! If you are new, we are excited you are here. Feel free to ask questions and join a serving team. We will have new small groups starting in the fall and encourage you to try one of them out. 

I look forward to serving and growing alongside you. -Craig

Vision

Words like vision and dreams and future excite me. I don’t know why, but they always have. I enjoy writing, speaking, and thinking about such things. Next Sunday morning after our 10:30 worship service we will have a time to vision, dream, and think about the future.

The Water’s Edge started at Russell Middle School on a rainy day in September 2006 with a big worship launch. The next Sunday about 70 adults and 15 kids returned. That is where we started. In 2011, on a typical Sunday at Millard West High School, we have over 400 adults and 100 kids. This is where we are today.


When we started The Water’s Edge just about four and a half years ago we didn’t really know what to expect. Our primary goal was (and still is) to provide a non-threatening environment where people not connected to a local church could learn about and experience the Gospel: both the comforts and the challenges. A secondary goal the first few years was to develop a critical mass of invested people who would make the ministry sustainable. We have accomplished the secondary goal and are now moving to the next chapter.

Faith-Westwood is a multi-site church. The Water’s Edge is a part of Faith-Westwood. Some ministries like worship, children’s Sunday School, most serving teams, and most small groups operate independently. Other ministries such as Vacation Bible School, student ministries (6th to 12th grades), and women’s ministries work more closely together.


Four years ago, it would have been tough to imagine the two campuses would be roughly the same size and have a much different culture and demographic. That is where we find ourselves today. In the last few months, the Church Council has been looking at our past, evaluating our present, and strategically visioning for the future. The question the council has been evaluating is: With the goal of making and multiplying disciples in our ministry areas, what will the future relationship between Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge look like in regards to vision, leadership, organizational structure, and shared ministries.

These conversations are not because of conflict. The campuses are working together well and a high degree of cooperation exists. Nor are the conversations happening because we are currently looking for land in The Water’s Edge’s ministry area. Like any responsible organization that has undergone significant changes in recent years, we are taking a step back, evaluating our current practices, and dreaming about the future so that we can partner with God and faithfully follow Him and serve His Kingdom.

I encourage you to pray that we discern, embrace, and live out the plans God has for Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge. I also encourage you to come to the Town Hall Meeting next Sunday after the 10:30 worship service to listen to others and to share your thoughts as well.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

Vision

Last week I wrote that The Water’s Edge Leadership Team will be focusing on seven initiatives in 2011. The initiatives are:

1. Increasing discipleship for all of us as we learn, experience, and practice what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
2. Developing and deploying leaders. We have many community and business leaders in our congregation whom we are currently underutilizing in leadership roles at The Water’s Edge. New leaders walking alongside our existing leaders will allow us to continue growing, learning, serving, being, connecting, and loving.
3. Growing participation at the 9:00 worship service. Our biggest achievement in 2010 was starting a new worship service. This service has allowed us to grow again. Our goal is to glorify God through worship and make both services as meaningful as possible to all participants.
4. Discerning a clear vision that excites us, challenges us, and unifies us.
5. Improving opportunities for middle school and high school students (especially students from families who are new to us in recent years) to connect with each other, to connect with God, and to serve our community.
6. Developing a plan to acquire a permanent facility. Although Russell Middle School and Millard West High School have been excellent facilities for us, we cannot be renters with the school district forever. Four years ago when we had about 120 adults and children, we were very mobile. Today with 500 adults and children on most Sundays, we are much less mobile.
7. Expanding financial stewardship. It will take additional financial giving to resource us for where God is leading us in the future.

Last week I shared some thoughts on increasing discipleship, expanding our leadership base, and growing participation in the 9:00 worship service. I will cover student ministries, a permanent facility, and financial stewardship in the near future. This morning I want to share about vision.

Proverbs 29:18 says: Where there is no vision, people will perish. In life, we are not limited so much by our age, our looks, our current resources, or our abilities, we are limited by our vision. Helen Keller once wrote, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.” A God-honoring vision has four characteristics: 1) It is stimulating and challenging to our mind, 2) It excites our heart, 3) It is what we will build our lives by, and 4) It is what we will become.

I don’t exactly know exactly what the vision is going to look like, but I know it will build on our current strengths and challenge us to trust God as we move forward in a daring direction. I know it will involve prayer and reading / applying the Bible to our daily lives. I know it will involve small groups: encouraging, learning, sharing, serving, and growing together. I know it will include inviting new people to join us on the journey. And I know if will involve serving the poor and marginalized here in Omaha and throughout the world.

I’m excited about our future together and believe the best it yet to come…

Craig

Leadership Update at The Water's Edge

The Water’s Edge Leadership Team met last Saturday. We spent four hours studying the Bible, praying, dreaming, and planning. Seventeen of us shared our experiences and dreams. We remembered back to the days at Russell Middle School four years ago when a hundred or so of us gathered to worship together. We remembered our limited resources, our challenges, and our opportunities. We still have limited resources and challenges, but the opportunities in front of us are limitless. With God as our primary resource, we resolved that no challenge exists that is too big and no dream is too big either. The next four years are going to be even more exciting than the first four years.

We looked at seven areas we want to further develop and resource in 2011. I will occasionally share some of these areas with you over the next year and extend invitations for you to serve, give, grow, connect, lead, pray, dream, and develop. If you have an idea to help move us forward, I would enjoy hearing from you about how we can be better together!

One of the seven areas we will be developing is increased discipleship. The Water’s Edge has grown greatly in terms of worship attendance and the number of volunteers. We want to make sure our growth in discipleship is consistent with other areas of development. My dream is that by the end of 2011, each of us will feel more connected to God, more connected to others, and understand more clearly and practice more fully what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. In 2011, I want to encourage you to participate in the daily Bible readings and also try out a small group. We also need pioneers who are willing to co-lead new groups. This ministry isn’t for everybody, but it is for some. Contact Jill Schumacher (jill@watersedgeomaha.com) for more information on joining or starting a small group.

Another of the seven areas is leadership development. It takes more leaders to lead hundreds of people than it does dozens of people. We know we have many underutilized leaders and people resources that worship with us on Sunday mornings. If you are feeling led, as you read this, to utilize your leadership skills, gifts, and experiences to serve God and others at The Water’s Edge, I would like to meet with you. Email my assistant (staci@watersedgeomaha.com) and I will set up an appointment to meet with you, hear your story, and provide you opportunities to lead.

The final of the seven areas I will address this morning is our 9:00 service. Our biggest accomplishment in 2010 was adding a new worship service. The service started in September and is identical to our 10:30 service. Last Sunday we had 92 people at the 9:00 service and 375 at our 10:30 service. If we didn’t add the new service, we wouldn’t have room for everybody! We want to make both worship experiences as meaningful as possible for people. If you regularly attend the 9:00 service I want you to pray about volunteering once or twice a month. I also encourage you to invite people to our worship services, especially our 9:00 service as we have plenty of room to grow!

I’m looking forward to growing, serving, and sharing in 2011 and beyond with you.

In Christ,

Craig