WE Grow Guide for gods at war, Week 1

Who is This Man? Humble

Here is the WE Grow Guide from this week.

Bar Rescue - Ash Wednesday Edition

Last Sunday evening I was tired. Laying on the couch. Flipping through the channels. It was the top of the hour and I caught the first few minutes of a show called Bar Rescue. I was hooked. The next 57 minutes of my life were spoken for.

A bar expert, Jon Taffer, goes into a bar that is failing. The first thing he did was ask the owner why the bar was failing. The owner said the state of California would no longer let people smoke in the bar and that the rent had been raised. Seemed like good enough reasons to me, but the bar expert was annoyed. Very annoyed. He said those weren’t reasons. Those were bad excuses. Taffer mentioned every other bar in California doesn’t allow smoking and all bars have to deal with higher rent or property taxes. But many bars are still making money and lots of it. The bar expert said the owner was the problem. He was right. 

The place was a mess. The staff wasn’t being led. The customers weren’t being cared for. They were trying to be everything to everybody and ended up being nothing to anybody. The expert finally convinced the owner of all this and the rescue was able to continue. 

The staff cleaned the place. They were trained with a new, simple menu and were taught how to serve customers. The bar got a new name and had an innovative plan to target a specific group of people. And then the remodel happened. A few days later: the entire building was spotless, the bar had a new name, the menu was creative and appealing, the staff was energized and excited, the bar looked amazing. The opening night was a huge success. People—customers, employees, and the owner—loved it. The makeover was complete. 

Lent, at its best, is a makeover. A rescue. Some of us are like a failing bar. Full of excuses. A mess. Not spotless, but stained. Not serving, but selfish. Not clear about what we are supposed to be doing or not doing. Discouraged. Our rescuer isn’t a grumpy guy in a sport jacket, but the Almighty One himself.

Ash Wednesday is the day we realize our brokenness and dependence on Someone greater than us. We struggle though Lent. It isn’t easy. We pray. We fast. We study. We cry. We connect. We learn. We grow. We serve. We dream. We give-up self-destructive behaviors. We pick-up constructive habits. And we have faith that the Grand Opening is going to pale in comparison to Easter Sunday. We will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection and we will experience a resurrection of our own. 

At our worship services and small groups – WE will be provided resources to flourish during Lent. Check our website and Facebook pages as well. God wants to do something big—in us and through us. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

Soul Detox - Week 4 - The Seduced Soul

This week's WE Grow guide

Soul Detox - Week 3 - The Tortured Soul

This week's WE Grow guide

WE Grow

Read the introduction to WE Grow

Read this week's WE Grow study guide.

WE Grow - An Introduction

Water's Edge family - This weekend we are going to start a year-long campaign, WE Grow, to help us grow in our relationship with God, others, and the world. We will be passing out binders that we will use during 2013 for our growth and development as disciples. Here is the cover page. Take a moment to review this important information. See you Sunday!

Hi Church Friends and Family,

I’m excited you have picked up this binder. It represents a journey we will be taking in 2013: WE Grow. The upcoming year will be divided into ten sections with each section lasting from three to six weeks. (If you begin worshipping with us during the year, as many of you will, you can start the WE Grow journal anytime!) We will focus on growth. Growth in our relationship with God. Growth in our relationships with others. Growth in our emotional, physical, and financial well-being. And, growth in our kindness and compassion to the world.

Each Sunday you will be provided with a one-page insert for this binder. Occasionally you will be provided additional resources such as prayers or devotional readings. The format will vary from section to section, but the goal is to help us engage God throughout the week. Each week will have questions for reflection, suggestions to focus our prayer life, and a weekly challenge to help us grow. Bring your binder on Sunday mornings to take notes and organize your resources. 

Christianity is not just about religion or theology. Jesus is fully human. He invites us to grow in our relationship with Him. Jesus is also fully God. He invites us to grow by applying His teachings and His lifestyle to our lives. 

As pastor, with God’s help, I will do my absolute best to make this year the most biblical, the most relevant, the most creative, and the most applicable that I possibly can. Our other preachers will strive for the same level of excellence. We will also do our best to make our weekend worship and the daily WE Grow devotional time with God both interesting and enjoyable! I welcome your prayers. 

I also invite you to utilize the WE Grow material regularly. We will only get out of this year what we put into it. Our output will not exceed our input! I encourage you to have a friend, family member, or a person in your small group hold you accountable for your progress. I also invite you to do the same for the other person. If you are married – the WE Grow devotional guides will be great to do together and will be a blessing to your marriage. 

If you have to miss a week of worship, we will post a printable version of the WE Grow journal on our website - www.WatersEdgeOmaha.com - before the weekend worship services and we will post an audio and video of the weekend’s message usually by Monday evening. We will also have past WE Grow devotionals and CDs and DVDs of the weekend messages at the resource table on Sunday mornings. 

I’m looking forward to growing with you in 2013!

Craig Finnestad

Reflections on Turning One

Looking back and looking forward. Both are necessary. Jesus says not to spend too much time doing either of them or you will miss out on the present. But both are still necessary. Celebrate, recover, and learn from the past. Hope, dream, and plan for the future. And live for today. 

Last year at this time, The Water’s Edge had a worship service to celebrate our birth as a United Methodist Church. We committed to God and each other that we would generously give our time, energy, and resources to create a healthy and growing church that will serve people in Omaha and throughout the world.

2012 – A community of gathered people with new responsibilities and new opportunities 

You demonstrated kindness and compassion. We collected thousands of pounds of food for people right here in Omaha; we gave thousands of dollars to our missionaries in Africa and Europe; we sent dozens of people to serve in Belize, Georgia, and Missouri; and we canceled worship one day and hundreds of us loved and embraced our city. 

We created healthy and sustainable financial and information systems and a solid leadership structure. Many good people gave a lot of time, behind the scenes, and performed these necessary tasks with excellence. 

Your generosity allowed us to purchase a ministry center. Volunteers did most of the work to finish the building. The ministry center is a blessing to our church and community. 

Your vision led us to purchase 23.3 acres of land at 198th and Harrison Streets. This will be the home of our future church campus. To say that exciting times are in front of us is an understatement. 

Your commitment to God, The Water’s Edge, our community, and each other is allowing us to be debt free at the conclusion of our WE imagine Campaign. We have given or have pledged to give $1.3 million to fund and resource our land purchase. 

Dozens of volunteers serve weekly on children’s and youth ministry teams. We do nothing more important than this. 

You have continued to invite your friends and neighbors to worship, serve, and grow with us. Over 1,200 people worshipped at The Water’s Edge during our Christmas Eve worship experiences. 

2013 – A community of growing disciples planting seeds and preparing the soil for fruitfulness in our individual and collective lives 

My mentor once told me: “Healthy and growing people create healthy and growing churches.” During these next twelve months we are going to intentionally interact with the Gospel and grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. The Water’s Edge will provide resources and opportunities to both comfort and challenge you. The dream is, one year from now, that we have grown and experienced greater health in our relationships with God, each other, and the world. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig