If it ain’t broke…

We’re gearing up for Jubilee Charlotte’s first ever Alpha Course. I’d love to say that we’ve come up with someone brand new and exciting that no other church has ever done but at the end of the day, ALPHA WORKS!! Its just a 10 week course about Christianity started a few years ago by a well-spoken vicar in London which has taken off and made a huge global impact. AND, if it ain’t broke, why fix it.

So here at Jubilee, we have been gearing up for the course by putting on some social events and inviting our friends who we think might be interested in coming along to the course. And one of these was a cook-out we had at a local park on Saturday. We had about 30 people there but here was the funny thing – it was the most international BBQ I’ve EVER been to. Without even trying to be intentional about it, these are the nationalities we had – Indian, Nepalese, Chinese, German, Russian, Kazakhstani, English and a few Americans! And it was only natural to do the obvious thing – we played cricket!! It was great!!

On Wednesday night we’re having a guys poker night and on Friday a smoothie night with the course starting on Thursday June 3rd at the University City YMCA. If you have time to pray then we’d appreciate that or if you’re in Charlotte and you’re interested in joining us, then let me know.

Cheers. Oh here’s a couple of great videos about Alpha that you may want to pass on to friends:

Wise words (from other men)

If in doubt of what to blog about, just refer to other peoples blogs who are generally wiser, funnier and better at writing. Thats what I say! So here is a great short read and a great video from some great men which should hopefully inspire you and stir you up:

Terry Virgo’s thoughts are generally great but here is Part 1 of what will be a great little series on Church Planting.

Watch a great message by Matt Chandler  T4G 2010 — Session 8 — Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

How to Pastor your Children

My friend Simon Holley who leads The Kings Arms Church which I used to attend in Bedford, England posted this great link to an article he found at the Resurgence Website.

Its specifically for dads and husbands but it can help us all. I personally found it challenging and convicting and I want to do all I can to build something similar into my life too!

Keeping up with the Students!

Yesterday me and Sarah had the awesome privilege of being able to speak with about 65 students on the campus of UNCC. We were invited by the guy that leads them, Mike Witt who, a few weeks ago told me they were starting a new series on ‘Relationships’ and I knew straight away that Sarah needed to come and speak with me. So we showed up on campus last night and walked into the theater where they meet to witness a bunch of crazy students in love with Jesus. We both felt pretty old especially when I told them we had 4 kids, one of whom is just about to become a teenager!

We spoke on how to be Godly brothers and sisters to each other, how to set healthy boundaries between each other, dressing appropriately and all that stuff. At times it got a bit tense and many eyes looked towards the ground at times, but hey, with an opportunity like that, I’m not going to back off! We especially focused on Gods grace and forgiveness and people responded for prayer at the end. It was a great night and we pray that these young guys and girls will continue to make good decisions and be set free. Sarah spoke amazingly and gave some of her story and we know it affected many of the girls there. We had at least 3 people come up to us directly and tell us they thought we were speaking directly to them!

I went out to eat with some of them after and I had my first taste of ‘Cook-Out’ and my first meal at 11pm since I was about 17!

It was great to get on campus and start to make an impact. Some of them said they are coming to Jubilee on Sunday (after I promised them some free food round our house!) so please pray that we all have a great time together then.

Great days!

What did you do for Easter?

If there’s ever 1 message in the year that a pastor should ever want to preach its the one on Easter Sunday. Resurrection Day. The greatest day in the history of the world. The day that changed everything! So, after a break of 6 weeks or so from preaching, I was thrilled to get back in the saddle and deliver this message:

Being a People of the Future

I hope it encourages you not just to reflect on what Jesus achieved BUT ALSO to change the way you live as a result!

‘Mission’ is a commandment not a suggestion!

Yesterday here at Jubilee Charlotte, we had Trevor Atkins join with us from our other Jubilee location in Atlanta. Continuing our short series on Authority which Carl started last week (which you can listen to here also), Trevor spoke about how being under authority goes hand in hand with our mission to ‘go and make disciples’. I could write down all the notes I took but I think it would be better for you to listen to it here!

Wherever you are or whatever church you go to, this week is a great opportunity for you to invite someone to church. Apart from weddings, funerals and Christmas, this is the most likely other time of the year when the unchurched will go to church. And can you believe that only 42% of Americans relate Easter to Jesus!! People NEED us to invite them!

On a different note, some of you may be wondering where our website is for Jubilee Charlotte. Well, its being worked on now and for the time being we are still referring to our previous one which is www.catalystchurchcharlotte.com. At some point soon we will be using www.jubileechurchcharlotte.com and it will be a shared site with Jubilee Atlanta.

On an even different note, I do like the design of this blog layout except for the girly flowers before each post. Still, you can’t have everything!

Euan

Submitting to Authority

On Sunday, Carl Herrington who leads Jubilee Church Atlanta (our other Jubilee location) and oversees Jubilee Charlotte, came to speak to us on Submitting to Authority. To be honest, I’ve never heard such a provocative, yet biblical approach to this subject. In a world that teaches us to question and even fight against authority, Carl gives us a biblical understanding by looking at the story of Jesus and the Centurion to show us that submission actually brings freedom and security.

I’d encourage you to listen to this and allow yourselves to be challenged to the core! (you may need to listen to it with headphones on as the volume is pretty low)

We’ve been in the States for 2 years!!!

Just a few days ago, Sarah and I realized we’d been in the States for 2 years. On March 13th 2008, we arrived at the airport in St Louis with 10 suitcases and 4 kids, not knowing where we’d live or what we’d do! All we knew was that God had called us. Crazy? You decide.

SO whats changed? Macauley’s accent…Kenzie’s hair…the girls are taller…I’m heavier…Sarah’s more beautiful;). In short, the last 2 years have been the most painful, fast, life-changing, roller-coasterish, best, most challenging 2 years of our lives.

The first year in St Louis was spent doing a Church Planting Training Course. It was a great time of training but tough on the family. Its hard living somewhere where you know you’ll only be for a year. Its also hard leaving friends and family and we went through times of real home-sickness. We were an hour out of St Louis itself working with Rick Hein at Jubilee Church Wentzville. We made some good friends there but by March 2009 it was time to move on again.

So, a year to the day of arriving in St Louis, we arrived in Charlotte with a few more items (and no more kids thankfully!). A fantastic group of people awaited us in Charlotte and we got stuck into building relationships and starting the church. To keep things simple and short, partly through my own weaknesses and mistakes (actually mostly), and partly through the plans of others, God gave us all here a huge wake up call. God has spent the last 9 months or so showing me that I’m really not ‘all that’! He’s been graciously showing me that the church here in Charlotte will be built by Him using me and everyone else here, not by me using Him. This wasn’t intentionally done by me but revealed to me along the way. I can honestly say that I’m a different person to the one that left England 2 years ago.

All along, Sarah and I have absolutely LOVED being in Charlotte. From the first few weeks it has felt like home. We love the city, the people, our neighbors and all the people in the church. The kids love it too. Holly and Poppy are really settled and love their schools and Mac loves his pre-school as well. We’re looking forward to spending the rest of our lives here (unless God calls us away again!!!).

I wonder what the next 2 years has in store??

Picking up speed!

From my perspective, the last couple of weeks have been significant here at Jubilee Church, Charlotte. Firstly our Equipping Groups (small groups) have started and are really helping to build relationships and draw us closer to each other and to God. We are studying the book ‘Crazy Love’ by Francis Chan which is a great challenge to all of us Western Christians who so often look to comfort before challenge and so quickly gauge our commitment to Christ based on our attendance on a Sunday. The aim of these Equipping Groups is not to learn about a book though. Its to grow in our relationships with each other and with God and use the book as a spring board to that. Last week, us guys didn’t even get to discuss the book until the last 5 minutes as we had such a good time in worship and prayer!

The other thing thats starting to happen is that in the last couple of weeks, we have been outnumbered by people who have come along since January 2010 than people who came before. This is a good thing! It keeps us from becoming stagnant and keeps us on the ball on a Sunday and reminds us that Sundays are not just a social occasion for the committed, but a time to welcome in new people.

About 20% of our attenders on a Sunday are from India which is also really exciting. Charlotte has a large Indian population due to being the headquarters of Bank of America and its been a real joy to have them along and be able to support them. Many of them are on contracts and are away from their families, so we have a great opportunity to be their families while they are away. A couple of Hindu’s have come along and love what we do as well. I am excited about what God has in store and how this will work itself out in the future.

Also, I am soon to be speaking at the InterVarsity at UNC Charlotte on relationships which will be a great opportunity to meet some students as well as trying to see how we can support the international students on campus.

Catalyst Church is no more!

Always start with a shocking headline, thats what I was told at school. Well, the headline is partly true. Catalyst Church has now changed its name officially to ‘Jubilee Church Charlotte’. Why? Good question. It’s more than just a name change so let me explain.

I’m realizing quickly that one of the most important characteristics in a good leader is humility. Humility to know your own weaknesses and strengths, humility to know when something you do is working or not working and humility to learn from people who have gone before you. And this is something I’ve needed to learn pretty quickly and pretty publicly! True humility is laying down your own dreams (no matter how admirable and godly!) for the sake of the Kingdom.

I’ve learnt more in the last year than in the previous 33 years of my life and I’m so thankful to other leaders in Newfrontiers who have taught me well and graciously led me (and are leading me) through this season, especially Carl Herrington who has been overseeing the church here.

One  thing I’ve quickly realized is the HUGE workload that goes into starting a church. From the finances to registering as a church, to all the admin, the location details, websites, smallgroups, worship team, kids work, pastoring, gathering, to name but a few as well as maintaining a healthy family, marriage and my own relationship with God! Wow. Even doing a years Church Planting Internship didn’t quite prepare me for the shock of everything. And coming into this in a different culture made somethings even more crazy. None of this to say that it isn’t possible of course as its been done many times before BUT when there are different and options to help out with this, we’d be foolish not to consider them.

So, Carl Herrington, who leads Jubilee Church Atlanta and John Lanferman who leads Newfrontiers USA and I talked and have decided to do something that seems so obvious yet so unusual. We have decided to be one church with 2 locations. Jubilee Church has 2 locations now. Atlanta and Charlotte. Jubilee Atlanta will be the central base with Jubilee Charlotte a location of the church. Jubilee will be led by Carl and the other elders, with me as the location pastor here in Charlotte. An administrator will take care of many of the things that take up so much of my time that I am not so gifted at. Things like finances, administration, website, logo’s, etc will be done in Atlanta while I can concentrate on things that I need to concentrate on like pastoring, praying and gathering. Obviously there will be some overlap and we don’t want to be ruled by job titles but essentially this will free my time up immensely. Carl and Trevor Atkins will be coming down monthly to preach, also saving much of my time.

We are so excited about these changes and I’m full of faith that this will result in us all moving forward together as a church. I couldn’t imagine doing church planting alone and I’m so grateful to Newfrontiers and men of God like Carl to learn from. I’ve also been inspired by other planters in similar situations and stages as me. My friend Matt Sweetman (who leads a new church plant in Chicago called Destination Church) blogged recently about the mistakes he’s made in the first 6 months of church planting. Reading these kinds of posts is essential as a planter and for those on church planting teams. If we ONLY read other peoples blogs and Twitters we’ll all get discouraged as most blogs and twitters only talk about the good stuff!

We are also needing to move location in the next few weeks as The Branch Church who run the school we meet in are having great growth and need to use the location for a Spanish speaking branch of their church. So please pray as we look for another location.

Well, thats all for now. Please pray for all of us at Jubilee Charlotte as we go through this transition. There’s much to learn and much to do and we’ll only succeed through Gods grace. No doubt I’ll let you all know soon of various things going on here and new websites etc.

Laters!