Back at theater! What an awesome day!

Holy Cow!  What an awesome experience we had today!  You guys were rockin it out!

Let’s take a moment and recap why it was so cool;

We had 8-10 people showing up at 5 am ready to set up stage and all the sound equipment.

Lenny and Girard got the trucks there right at 5:30 when everyone else was showing up.  And they did it without getting bit by one of Kevin’s Guard Rattlers.

Stage was set up by 5:30 which it only took about 25 minutes to do. We’re going to improve on this time by ten minutes next week.

Ryan Hipp was loving lugging around that stage again.  He really appreciates when we give him a good workout.  As a part of his two year anniversary with us we gave     him new work gloves.

Wade and Sean were huge helps with the stage, loading Uhauls, and then dropping off a trailer at Kevin’s again braving the Rattler’s den.

Ralph was there early and was a huge help directing our folks even when he was taking his mandatory union breaks.  Love you Ralph!

Everything was done and put away by 7:35 am WOW!

We had all our stuff outside the theater by 1.  That’s incredible in itself but then we reloaded the trucks differently so as to downsize our set up minus 1 trailer.  Next     week I have a feeling we will be packed up by 1.

We saw a ton of new faces there this week.  We need to see you again so this is your cordial invitation to come back next week!

We got Justin to start drinking coffee today.  He experienced some heart palpations but I think it will help him in the long run for our early mornings.

When we stopped at 7:40 to grab a bite to eat and to talk a minute I looked up into the seats and there were well over thirty people sitting there.  I was literally choked up!

I could go on and on but just know that I am very proud of our ‘Mighty Men & Women’ of Oakleaf!  Remember that God is waiting to use us all to do great things for him which is  just starting here in Cartersville.  (Remember to check out 2 Sam. 23 if you want to read more of that story)

Let’s do it again next week!

road to the theater: prayer guide day 5

This post comes from Anthony Gratto our executive pastor:

My prayer for Oak Leaf Church’s opening Sunday at the Movie Theater is as follows:

• Pray that droves of new people will check it out for the first time.
• Pray that those who live north of town who checked out on us for a while because of distance will come back again.
• Pray that our first Sunday will be a great example of what we are trying to do there.  You don’t get a second chance to make a good impression on those who will come see what it is like.
• Pray those who work at the movie theater and those who come to see movies will be blessed just by our church being there…without holy water or a blessed handkerchief

road to the theater: prayer guide day 4

Today’s prayer request come from Will, our Creative Arts Pastor.  He writes…

We have made the word “worship” synonymous with the music we sing on Sunday morning and forgotten it is a lifestyle and a mindset that extends far beyond the boundaries of a one hour experience on Sunday mornings. If we really want to see people taken from where they are to where God wants them to be, we must first be willing to accept that mission ourselves, transform our worship into a daily outpouring of God-honoring words and deeds, and let that journey become the blinding light the community is drawn to.

Take time today and pray for these specific requests:

1. Those who attend Oak Leaf will continue to make the connection between the sunday morning experience and their everyday life by shaping their habits to unashamedly and openly reflect the life-changing nature of Jesus Christ.

2. For every person that authentically carries the light of Jesus from Oak Leaf church into the community, ten people chose to show up on Sunday to see what makes that person so different.

3. The creative artists at OLC set such a standard for excellence in using their gifts to worship God, the entire arts community and culture in Cartersville is redeemed and reshaped to bring God glory.

road to the theater: prayer guide day 3

As we have already seen there are some big prayers being prayed for right now in our church.  We want to be the church that has a great Sunday experience for adults and children.  We want to see numerous people come to Christ of all ages.  And lastly, we want to be a real church for real people, especially those who do not have a relationship with God…’yet.’

The way I see it Journey Groups will be leading the way in our efforts in, “Leading people from where they are to where God wants them to be.” They will be the backbone of our church by Reaching out to our community, Connecting with one another for strength and guidance, and Growing in their relationships with God.

Here is the prayer for our Journey Groups this year;

1.  That we would have 25 groups in the fall.  This is a huge step for us and would be an increase of 40%!  This would be a representation of 60-65% of our adult attenders.  What does this mean?  It means more and more people will be in a place that is conducive to their spiritual health and to the health of the church.

2.  That our Journey Groups will lead the way in reaching out to our community.  That they will be all about inviting friends, neighbors, relatives, anyone to their groups, always striving to include.  That they will invite these same people to church whenever they get a chance.  And most importantly, that they would be the hands and feet of Christ in their community.  That they would complete some type of outreach event once a quarter.

3.  Lastly, that our people our so on fire for others, that every group has to multiply in February in order to handle the amount of people living life in a Journey Group.

I know that God is going to be doing some incredible things here!  Please be in prayer with us as God takes this ministry to the next level.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20

road to the theater: prayer guide day 2

Here is our blog post from our Family pastor Jonathan;

Reaching kids and families is not a secondary thing at Oak Leaf. It’s not an afterthought. And KidVenture (preschool & elementary) is not a low priority. In fact, it’s a top priority! God has called us to impact kids and parents in Bartow County and beyond. We are on a mission to see thousands of lives changed!

Today, please pray these three specific prayers for KidVenture:

1. Let Oak Leaf Church become the first place hurting families turn to in a time of crisis. Our prayer is that we become known in the community as the healing place for families. Through counseling, providing basic needs, or whatever the situation calls for, we want to reach families at the point of their need.

2. That our church would reach thousands of children through the public school system. We believe thousands of kids will come to faith in Christ over the next several years. And we believe this will be a direct result of Oak Leaf’s involvement in the public school system. Inviting kids to KidVenture on Sunday morning is great…but we must do more. We must go to where they are. Pray for the right strategic partnerships with our local schools. Pray that the right doors will open so we can take the Gospel in to the schools.

3. That God would raise up crazy, energetic, passionate volunteers on Sunday morning that would make KidVenture contagious. It’s no secret: Oak Leaf has the best volunteers on the planet! We are VERY APPRECIATIVE for all the sacrifice that each individual makes throughout the week and on the weekends. Our prayer is that as we go to three services at the theater, God would raise up even more terrific volunteers. We want to make that one hour on Sunday morning THE BEST hour of that child’s week! Pray that parents, teenagers, moms, dads…anyone and everyone would step up and volunteer for that one hour each Sunday. Let’s unite and make KidVenture so contagious that kids in Cartersville are dragging their parents to church each week!

Road to the theater: Prayer guide day 1

Hello to everyone who is reading this.  Take a second and read this carefully. We are asking for everyone to be praying for our move back to the movie theater.  Everyday you will find a prayer guide which will also be posted on Michael’s blog. We will also be praying for our specific areas of ministry.

thanks in advance!

As posted by Michael our Lead Pastor:

As I talked about on Sunday, I’m calling on everyone connected to Oak Leaf Church to pray for us as we get ready to move to the movie theater. Each day on this blog (and on the blogs of all our other staffers), I’ll talk a little bit about what we’re doing and give you three big prayer requests. If you know Christians in other churches, please ask them to pray. If you’re a church leader or Christian from another city, we covet your prayers. In addition to praying some specific prayers this week, I’m asking everyone to fast on Thursday. I’ll write more about that tomorrow.

This morning, I want to ask you to pray for what happens on Sunday. Sunday is the time when most people will experience Oak Leaf Church for the first time. So, we spend a lot of time throughout the week getting ready for Sunday, preparing for the guests that will come over to the house.

We don’t want Sunday morning to just be a church service. We don’t want it to be just another sermon or just some more songs. No…we want God to show up and speak to someone. We want somebody’s life to be radically changed with the power of the Gospel. We want to offer hope and encouragement.

And we don’t just want to family to come through the front door…we want to invite guests. In fact, we’re expecting them. When our volunteers are setting up lights and stages and kids equipment at the theater, they do so knowing that today will be the day that a “one” shows up.

Maybe it’s a mom who has been praying for her prodigal son for two years and he’s finally agreed to come to church. Maybe it’s the single mom who hasn’t been to church in years because the last time she went, she felt guilty for being a single mom. Maybe someone has been praying for one person for so long and today is the day they are coming to church. If that was your somebody, you would have wanted us to go all out to present the message in the most creative, relevant, and inspirational way possible. That’s why we work so hard on Sunday. Because somebody is coming to church that day.

Today, focus on praying for what happens on Sundays at Oak Leaf Church.

1. Pray for the new series that starts this week…”SuperNatural.” We’re talking about angels, demons and spiritual warfare. As I study this stuff, pray that God would speak through me.

2. For the hundreds of “ones” who we want to see come to Oak Leaf Church and meet Jesus. We didn’t start this church to give religious people a God-fix…we came here to see Jesus transform the lives of thousands of people.

3. For people to “come and see.” We believe the movie theater gives people a great opportunity to invite their friends, neighbors and co-workers. Pray for people to come check out church at the movies.

Journey Groups…Reach!

Man I am excited about the relaunching of Journey Groups at Oak Leaf!  We have a great year ahead of us and I know that we will be doing our part in, “Taking people from where they are to where God wants them to be.”  The way in which Journey Groups will do this is by championing three things in their group life; Reach, Connect, Grow.

I just wanted to give you a little heads up on what will be the most important aspect of our group life from here on out:

REACH

Have you ever felt like you did not fit in?  Maybe you had a hard time yourself making friends?  Maybe, this was your experience at Oak Leaf?  We never want this to happen to any of our guests that attend Oak Leaf!  We want to be a place where it is hard not to be included in this revolutionary movement of God that is happening here in Cartersville.

So here is what we will do as group people:

*  We will invite our friends that do not go to church anywhere to our groups and Sunday Morning Experiences.

*  We will invite our neighbors and co-workers.

*  We will look for those new faces at Oak Leaf that we do not know and invite them to our house for group.

*  When we are in our groups we will look for opportunities to bless those around us that need help, reaching out to those in the community.

*  We will learn to share our story of how Jesus has changed our life.

We will be the church that REACHES out to those around them and we will be the church that exists for the world!

Invest…

I was swinging Baylee in one of those cool tire swings the other day and a thought occurred to me.  This is the only time in all of eternity that she will ever be this age.  She will never again be 5 and I will never have this opportunity to interact with her like this again.  One day when we are both living on the other side of this physical life we will only be able to remember what our daughter/father relationship was like.  It will never be experienced again.

Like most fathers I already look back to the past times in my life and wished I would have been more engaged with my family.  Some of us believe that we have to sacrifice our family time in order to provide for them.  I believe this comes more from the man’s perspective that in order to be a good father I have to provide financially for the family.  But yet children desire time to be spent with them not toys or outings with friends.

They desire a relationship with the father.  The father that gives guidance and direction.  The father that creates a sense of comfort and safety.  Working long hours doesn’t do this, time together does this.  Research shows that many of our problems entering into adulthood stem from a lack father influence in a child’s life.  

Think about it.  We were created in the image of God.  We were created with a need to have a relationship with Him.  If we do not get the time with Him we encounter a life that doesn’t make sense.

Now, how do you think our children feel?  Don’t miss the opportunity, invest!