Below is a copy of the letter that Pastor Aaron read on Sunday, November 27 during the morning worship gathering.  For our fellow Revolutionaries, who were out of town.  Take a read…

Dear Revolutionaries,

The last two years of ministry have been a dream come true for me. I have been able to do ministry the way that I always thought a pastor should be able to. I am eternally grateful for God’s grace and calling to serve as a Pastor. One of the things that I am most thankful for is all of you.

Your honesty has been refreshing. It is so good to serve alongside of people that say what needs to be said. I admit that it has not always been easy to hear correction, but I am a better Pastor and leader because of it. So, keep the truth coming. Just deliver it in love.

Your heart for the Gospel amazes me. We are a church plant, which means we don’t have all the bells and whistles of a lot of churches – and to be honest we will intentionally not have a lot of them. Yet, every week you guys show up, serve and worship Jesus with a growing heart for the Gospel. Thank you for putting the Gospel over your personal comfort.

Your faithfulness has blown my mind. What you see hear is all done with volunteer labor. People show up early every single Sunday to make this happen. As a matter of fact Revolution would not be anything without God’s grace and your faithfulness.

The list of things that I am thankful for could go on and on. I guess what I really want to say is THANK YOU. THANK YOU for a being my partners in taking the Gospel to Oakland and beyond. I couldn’t imagine any other people that I would want to be on mission with. And the best part is…THE BEST IS YET TO COME! New year is going to be AWESOME!

God’s Best,

Aaron

If you would like to hear the audio form this week’s message, you can listen here.

This past Sunday – during the worship gathering at www.therevolutionchurch.me – we gave everyone in attendance a card.  On the front of  this card was the series graphic for THIS IS WAR. On the back we printed this phrase – YOU ARE PART OF THE PLAN.  Then we provided space for everyone to list five friends that they would commit to pray for, reach out to and invite to worship.

When we pass out cards like this, we usually see three different responses.  First, some folks just leave the card in their chair.  Second, some folks will fill the card out and then forget about it.  Third, some will fill out the card and see the challenge through to the end.

I have but one question – Which of these three people will see their friends’ lives changed by the Gospel?  

Only the one who is willing to do the work of praying, reaching and inviting.

These responses are very reminiscent of what Jesus said in Matthew 25:14-30.

 14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. 16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. 19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ 21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ 23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ 26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Don’t be like the unfaithful servant.  Get in the fight.  Take the Gospel to your friends.  It all begins with a commitment to pray, reach out and invite.

Don’t keep the Gospel hidden in your life.

YOU ARE PART OF THE PLAN.

We are starting a regular monthly day of service that we are calling SERVOLUTION SATURDAY.  This will be a day filled with opportunities for you to serve your community.  It will usually fall on the last Saturday of the month.  Our first SERVOLUTION SATURDAY is scheduled for Saturday, August 27 from 9-11 AM.

We will be assisting Fayette Cares with registration for their “Cott’n Pick’n 5K” at Walmart and Kroger in Oakland, TN.  This opportunity will require about 10-12 volunteers.  If you would like to serve, you can sign-up by clicking HERE.  We will contact you to let you know your assigned location.

What a great weekend at Revolution!  The worship was powerful. The crowd was fired up.  All of this made for a great kick off to the “Questions & Answers” series.  We began with the question – “Does God have a plan for my life?”  You can check out the current series page on our website later this week for the audio for this question.

Next week we will be looking at the question – “Why can’t we all just get along?”  This question will focus on the divisions that exist in our culture and the American church.  We will look at issues like different denominations and racial division.  I am really excited about this coming weekend, and you need to be too.

So, here is what you can do to prepare for this weekend.  First, pray for everyone who will be leading this coming weekend from Pastor Aaron to the musicians who will be playing to the guests who will visit for the first time.  Second, start inviting your friends to worship with you this weekend.  Third, come expecting God to show up and change lives.  If we would do these things this week, there is no telling who God could use us to impact for eternity.

We’re excited to announce a NEW Servolution opportunity that everyone can get involved in.  We are gathering items for a “WELCOME BACK CARE PACK” for the teachers of West Junior High School.  We will be collecting the following items.

• copy paper
• masking tape
• pencils
• erasers
• black pens
• white/manilla construction paper
• decorative printer paper
• dry erase markers
• black/colored sharpies
• staples
• paper clip 
• daily planners

This Sunday, August 14 will be the last opportunity for you to give toward this SERVOLUTION.  You can drop off your items at the box located in the lobby starting this Sunday.  Let’s seize this opportunity to bless the school that we call home.

This past weekend we began a new teaching series at Revolution Church – Be Different.  In this series we are exploring what Jesus taught in Matthew 5 – 7.  The first thing that Jesus addressed was the attitude of those who follow Him.  They have a different attitude, especially when it comes to God and people.

As we concluded the service we provided a TALK SHEET to take home.  This sheet included the verses we taught on, a few questions for discussion and a heads up on the verses we will be looking at next week.  The challenge was to take this sheet and use it as a guide for family and Community Group discussion throughout the week.

Last night I sat down with my family and we looked over the talk sheet.  I must admit that it was very entertaining with two active boys.  We took about 10 minutes, read the passage from Matthew 5:1-12 and just talked about it.  I did have to modify the questions to fit my family, but it was great to take a moment and just talk about God’s Word together.  As we were finishing we each mentioned a prayer request and we gathered hands and prayed.  It was truly the best part of my day.

I want to challenge you this week to go through the TALK SHEET with your family.  You can download it here – Matthew 5:1-12 Talk Sheet.  God will do some great things if you just take a moment and talk about Him with your family or friends.

We are currently gathering the following items for a run to North Alabama this weekend:

- Toilet Paper
- Baby Wipes/Diapers/Supplies
- Baby Formula/Food
- Women’s Essentials
- Soap + Shampoo
- Tarps

Bulk items are greatly appreciated! For donation locations and more info, contact us at 901.466.6115 or email us at help@therevolutionchurch.me. We will be collecting items until Friday, May 6. Thanks!

Next Sunday, March 27 will be the one-year anniversary of Revolution Church.  So, this past Sunday I was encouraging our folks to help us get the word out by inviting their friends, and I mentioned the invite cards that we have used since the very first day we started our weekly worship gatherings.

As I was in the process of making this announcement – which I have made many times before – God spoke to me.  Now, it was not in a audible voice (I personally wish He would do that sometimes).  Nonetheless, I really sensed that God was pressing me to answer the question – why invite?  It was if God was saying, “Don’t just ask people to invite their friends – tell them why.”  So, I did.

Now, in many churches people are asked to invite their friends.  They are asked this by the pastors and leaders of the church for several reasons.  The main reason is that the church’s leadership wants to see more folks in attendance.  If you have more folks, you’ll have more money and you’ll be successful.  I know this because for years this is what I did.  And I did it because it is what I was taught to do.

As I answered the question yesterday I shared the real reason that we should invite.  The reason is simple – JESUS HAS CHANGED YOU.  The reason that we invite someone to church is because God has used that church as a vehicle to change us.  It has nothing to do with more attendance or money.  Of course, Jesus drew some pretty big crowds and the church of Jerusalem was pretty large – 3,000 plus on day one.  Yet, the reason they drew large crowds is because people’s lives were being changed.

So this week as you go about your daily routine, invite someone to join you at church this weekend.  Don’t do it because you want to see your church grow.  Do it because JESUS has changed your life and you want to see Him do the same for your friends and family.  Your invite might just change their life forever.

Yesterday, we looked at four things that can MAKE a relationship.  Today, we are going to look at four things that will cause your relationship to completely fall apart.

1. Negative Words – Just as it is important to say encourage your special someone, you’ve also got to rout any criticism.  Negativity comes in a variety of forms.  There are critical comments about what they say, how they dress, last night’s dinner or whatever. Then there’s pointing out something positive in someone else as a way to highlight your spouse’s flaws.  And I haven’t even mentioned words spoken in anger, which are pretty easy to notice and remember.
2. Refusing To Connect Emotionally – This is probably the most common reason many relationships come to an end.  When this happens many people will simply say, “We fell out of love.”  In reality, you neglected one another.  The sad thing is that many married couples live much of their marriage without connecting emotionally with their spouse.  This is where true intimacy takes places.  (Guys, it’s NOT in the bedroom!)
3. Being TOO Busy – Many couples lead some pretty busy lives, especially when kids are in the picture.  Now that we have two boys, it is very easy for us to not spend time together alone. Julie works full time as a teacher and I am planting Revolution. Yet, due to our busy schedules, our time together is even more important.  That’s why we make time to go on date nights and we even go away once a year.  If you are not making time in your relationship for one another, you are BREAKING your relationship.
4. An “I could care less” Attitude – It seems like the word “WHATEVER” is one of the most over used words in relationships.  If our spouse points out a weakness to us, we say – WHATEVER.  If things get difficult in the relationship, we say – WHATEVER.  If you don’t care for him/her, why should they care for you?

Take a moment and let these sink in!  Are any of these things present in your relationship?  If so, it’s time to stop breaking and start making your relationship all God planned for it to be.  For more on relationships, join us this Sunday at 10 a.m.

This month at Revolution we are in the midst of a new teaching series on relationships – MAN vs WOMAN.  In this series we are looking at the conflict that arises in our marriage and dating relationships.  If you would like to learn more about this series, you can get the skinny by clicking here.

This series has caused me to spend quite a bit of time thinking about my relationship with Julie (my awesome wife of fourteen years), and the many couples I have counseled over the years.  So, over the next couple of days, I am going to share what I believe are some of the greatest relationship MAKERS and BREAKERS.

Today, I am going to share the relationship MAKERS.  These four things are essential to any relationship, but they are most important in marriage and dating.

1. Kind Words – There is absolutely nothing more important than words of affirmation from your husband or wife.  This means that you need to say positive things to him/her and about him/her.  If you cannot be encouraging with your words, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself.  If you are a husband who is constantly yelling at and tearing down your wife with your words, get some professional help (we are here for you)!
2. A Shoulder To Lean On – Your spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend will have bad days.  They will need someone to be there when their world explodes.  You need to be there for them.  If you are never there for them, they will find it in someone else.  The greatest way to “affair proof” your marriage is to be your spouse’s source of comfort.
3. T-I-M-E - This is how you spell love in your relationship.  Some people talk about quality time versus quantity time.  The truth is that every relationship needs both.  You need to spend time together, and it doesn’t need to be in competition with your cell phone.  Ouch…I just got CONVICTED!
4. Caring – You’ve got to care about them, and you can’t fake this.  Of course, you can tell them that you care.  However, your actions will reveal whether you do or not.  If you have gotten into a place where you don’t care much for your spouse, get some professional help.  Don’t let apathy destroy your marriage or relationship.

Tomorrow we will take a look at the other side of the coin – RELATIONSHIP BREAKERS.  If you (or someone you know) is struggling in their relationship, invite them to Revolution this weekend for MAN vs. WOMAN.