Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Celebrating the Past

I've asked people to share their experiences at Cedarbrook. I hope you'll add yours. Here's one for you...

I just want you to know that Cedarbrook Church, as a whole, has ministered
to my heart in so many ways. Though DivorceCare I have made wonderful
friends ... along with the gift of being able to give back some of what God
and Godly people have done for me. Through your seminar and meeting
withJayne in TPM, I have had tremendous healing from wounds of the past.
Through worship and sermons on Sunday morning, I have grown in my
relationship with God. Through helping out in children's ministries I am able
to see the excitement and innocence of the children and their ability to
trust and believe so easily that it inspires me to be more like them. Through
the leadership conference, I gained insight and a much better understanding
of our Cedarbrook roots. And now I have begun the Breaking Free women's
group with Jayne and I already am feeling a bond with the women there.
Cedarbrook is such a welcoming church with such a focus on getting people
emotionally healthy. Though I loved my church in Nevada where I had been
a member for about 9 years,I feel much more a part of Cedarbrook.
Cedarbrook is my church and I love it here.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Preparing to Change

I shared twelve tips to prepare for change on Sunday. You can download the whole message but here are the "tips" to keep in mind...
  1. Spy out the land. Get used to the change by exploring it in advance.
  2. Celebrate the past. Make sure you bring good closure to what was.
  3. Move on from the past. Celebrate the past but don't get stuck there.
  4. Start strong. Weak starts lead to weak (or no) finish.
  5. Celebrate small victories. If you wait, you may never celebrate at all!
  6. Communicate, communicate, communicate. The good, the bad and the ugly.
  7. Remember the vision because vision leaks. Keep the big picture in mind.
  8. Change together. Change goes better with friends.
  9. Don't quit, innovate. Use your frustration to resolve problems, not run from them.
  10. Include others along the way. Change is a great time for others to join.
  11. Enjoy the change. Different is only bad if you make it bad. Choose to enjoy it.
  12. Stay flexible because cheese moves!
In order to "Celebrate the Past" I asked people to send me their comments about how God has touched them at Cedarbrook. Here's the first email back...

I started going to Cedarbrook in the theatre on mother's day a year ago, and this church and it's atmosphere overall helped me come to Christ. The people were so nice and caring that I couldn't leave there. But then I would love to see more people experience the love and compassion of God and Cedarbrook. So since God has moved our cheese we still follow wherever he moves it from here to eternity.
The mall will bring so many oppotunities to expand the church. We'll have the experience of shoppers watching the t.v.s and maybe joing us in the actual service. It's exciting to me because it's a chance to change lives forever!!!