6 years and counting…weekend reflections from The Ridge 4-15-12

Yesterday was our 6th Anniversary as a church @ The Ridge. In a lot of ways I cannot believe that it has been six years…in other ways it seems like a lot longer. God has been good to us and has blessed this community and many others around the state and the world through His church. I am certainly blessed to be allowed to pastor such a church. I believe God is doing some significant things in us as He grows us deeper. Disciples are developing, lives are being changed, people are being made over into the likeness fo Jesus, souls are being saved, and a generation yet to be born is being impacted because of what God is doing in families. What a privilege it is to be a part of His work.

Yesterday we had a great worship time as we kicked off a new series called Life Is A Highway. We are continuing to seek God for revival and awakening. I pray that we will all humbly come before Him, hungry, broken and surrendered. We looked at Isaiah 35 and the Highway Of Holiness described there. We determined that those who walk this Highway are first hungry and second humble. They hunger and thirst for righteousness and they come befor the cross in humlity and brokenness. When we walk this highway, we are clean, full of the Spirit, in fellowship with Christ, living victoriously.

Yesterday I also introduced the church to a book that was written over 60 years ago, but is one that has had a profound impact on milllions of people, me included. Some of our small groups are using this book as a guide to study God’s Word in relationship to personal revival. This book is called The Calvary Road by Roy Hession. I was very excited to see many people pick up a copy at our resource center. You can get a copy HERE or if you have a Kindle it is available for free download. I would encourage all Ridgers to read this book during this teaching series. We are not teaching the book, but we will be exploring the principles laid out in it as we examine what revival is in God’s Word and what it looks like in our lives.

Another special part of our worship gathering and anniversary celebration yesterday was the installation of our first two Elders @ The Ridge. When the Church @ The Ridge was formed six years ago, we said, we wouldn’t have Elders until God sent us Elders. Well, it took a while, but God has affirmed two men to serve in this capacity @ The Ridge. I am so pleased to have these men serving alongside us privding wisdom and discernment as they help us seek God together for His vision and direction for His Church @ The Ridge. Mike pinkerton and Darrell Galloway have agreed to serve in this capacity. These men ahve been vetted according to God’s Word and the qualifiacations for Elder that we find in We will be adding more Elders in the future as God directs, but for now  these men will be laying groundwork for future elders. Please pray for them as they seek God with us. They will provide, wisdom, direction, vision, discernment, accountability and encouragement for the pastor and staff. I will be giving a profile of each of them in a later post.

Last evening, we had a chance to celebrate together as a community of faith with The Ridge Family Picnic. It was a great time of eating, playing, hanging out with one another.

I believe that God has some HUGE things on the horizon @ The Ridge!  The opportunity for us to “impact another generation for the glory of God by changing people’s perspective” has never been greater…nor mor urgent. May we be diligent in prayer, faithfulness, obedience as we join God is His work around us!

6th Anniversary @ The Ridge TOMORROW!

I can’t believe that it has been six years since we officially launched The Church @ The Ridge! God has been so gracious and has done so much work in and through His Church here. We are celebrating tomorrow, Sunday Evening, April 15th with a special Ridge Family Picnic and with some special elements in our worship gathering Sunday morning.

Here’s some quick details on our Anniversary Picnic

• Picnic is at White Oak Park on Mustang Drive off Hwy 61 at 5pm look for the tents we’ll have set up.
• FOOD: Bring enough food to fee your entire family a MEAL. We will put it all together in a big spread and share. Church will provide paper goods.
• DRINKS: to keep it simple, bring your own cooler with your own water, soft drinks, etc.
• We will have cornhole, but you can also bring your own games. Whatever fun picnic, family, group games you want to bring. Break out the frisbees, horseshoes, footballs, volleyballs, whiffle balls, baseballs, or whatever!
• Come and plan on having fun and getting better acquainted with your fellow Ridgers!

YOU have been and ARE a part of God’s work here in this community. Let’s celebrate what God has done these last 6 years and what He is going to do in the future.

See you tomorrow morning @ The Ridge as we gather for worship at Austin Middle School. Remember, we are back to our regular schedule at 10:30am.

We are beginning a new series tomorrow that dovetails out of our OneCry series. This series is called “Life Is A Highway” and I believe it will be one of the most important teaching series we have ever done! Don’t miss it ! There are also going to be some other special things happening in our worship gathering tomorrow that you won’t want to miss. God has something for YOU. Won’t you be there?

See you tomorrow!

Pastor Steve

Dead or Alive?

 

46 years ago, Time Magazine put this question on their cover. Many people then were saying that God no longer had a place in America…or anywhere for that matter. He was dead. Not relevant. Unneccessary. Afterall, man was so enlightened that he had all the answers. Culture was moving away from a need for God, so therefore He was dead.

But what about today? What do you say? Is He dead or alive in your life? Do we need Him anymore?  Well, as we approach Easter, here is a headline for you:

Join us for Easter @ The Ridge! This Sunday, April 8, 1012
9:30 & 11:00am at Austin Middle School on Ridge Rd in So. Paulding Co!

  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb,  taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found  the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold,  two  men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵ And as they were  frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you,  while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man  must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and  be crucified and on  the third day rise.” ⁸ And  they remembered his words, ⁹ and returning from the tomb they  told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. – Luke 24:1-9 (emphasis added)

OneCry

Beginning this Sunday @ The Ridge, we will start a new series called OneCry. I am excited about this series like no other series we have done. I believe with all my heart that God is wanting to do something significant in our church, community, and world, but it has to start with us as individuals. Will you join me as we join with others across our country in OneCry for God to bring revival and spiritual awakening to this land?

Be at Austin Middle School at 10:30am this Sunday, March 11th. Don’t let the time change keep you from gathering with the church. Set your clock…get to bed on time…you have an appointment Sunday morning.

The Truth Is…

Last week I was in my devotion & prayer time and I was reading in Ephesians 6. A familiar passage, no doubt. I quickly read through it as I have many times before. Then I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me to pray through it, so I did. Praying through the armor of God, but I felt like I needed to pray through each piece of the armor. It turned out to be just what I needed that day. It was one of those days that I was kinda down…sort of in a little funk. So, I went back and reaqt verse 14: Stand therefore,  having fastened on the belt of truth, then I stopped and started to just pray back to God the things I knew to be true…about God, from His Word. But I felt like the Holy Spirit was saying, “Write these down.” So I got my prayer journal out and started writing. I don’t normally share what I write in my journal, but I thought I would share this. I wrote the things that I know to be true from God’s Word, about God, about me, about His will. After SIX pages I simply stopped and thanked God for the “belt of truth” from His Word! I was blown away! The more I wrote, the more God brought to my mind.  I came away inspired, revived and renewed to face the day, having immersed myself in the truth and remembering what I know to be true and seeing more clearly the falsehoods of the enemy. Here is just a little of what I wrote as a prayer back to God:

The belt of truth = Truth is…

Your grace is sufficient; salvation is sure, real, paid for; forgiveness is offered and given; You are a God of encouragement; You have overcome the world; I am no longer a slave to sin; your power is made perfect in my weakness; I have access to the throne; You love me unconditionally; You are Jehovah-Jireh; the Holy Spirit dwells in me; I don’t have to be good enough; I am a new creation in Christ; You are preparing a place for me; Your plans are to prosper me and not to harm me; You are sovereign and in control; I have nothing to fear; You are Lord Almighty; there is healing in Your wings; Your Word is a lamp to my feet; I can fully trust You; You have already won the victory!

That was just the first page I wrote that day. What do you know to be true from God’s Word? I’d love to hear your comments.

Take some time this week to do this little exercise. I can promise you God will use His truth to lift you up.

Sunday Recap…2-19-12

It was a great day @ The Ridge Sunday! While attendance was a little low (because of weather and winter break), God really spoke as we began wrapping our Family Matters series. There was a good vibe in our worship gathering today!

The band did their usual great job. Loved the new music today!

SO thankful for our volunteers in our RidgeKidz area! You guys rock! Your faithful ministry week in and week out is much appreciated…and makes a huge difference in the lives of families!

We saw 5 men stand, along with their wives and kids, at the end of our worship gathering and make a commitment to leading their families by making The Resolution, which was featured in the film Courageous. We will be allowing men to make this resolution anytime they feel led by God to do so. We felt that this opportunity needs to be made available just as we do our Family/Child Dedications peiodically through the year. It’s that important! It was also very encouraging to see a bunch of men standing behind these guys who had made that Resolution back in the fall. Pretty pwerful ending to the worship gathering today. What is the Resolution? Check this video out…

 

Today’ teaching was from Psalm 128 as we talked about “The Result” of walking in the ways of God and in fear of the Lord as a family.

• When we walk in His will, He provides our needs and we are blessed or happy
• the next generation will be blessed because of the faithfulness of your family now.

We talked about how we try to play a “quid pro quo” game with God too. Do you know what quid pro quo means? It is something done in exchange for something else. It’s “returning a favor”. We have taken passages like we read in Proverbs in regards to family and used them as quid pro quo with God.  We have misinterpreted them to say that Christian families will experience blessings from God or that He will take things away from us based on what we give Him in exchange for what we expect from Him.  We try to take Proverbs annd make them into promises like some sort of divine guarantee that we can use to manipulate God into doing what we want him to do. That is a dangerous game to play.

Without a doubt, we should look to Scripture for guidance in our homes. God’s Word speaks of family matters in the responsibilities of men (Eph. 5:25–33; 6:4; Col. 3:19, 21; 1 Peter 3:1–6), women (Eph. 5:22–24; Col. 3:18; 1 Peter 3:7), and children (Eph. 6:1–3; Col. 3:20). There are all kinds of examples of positive and negative family stories in the Bible. We should do our very best to follow all the teachings of Scripture. But we should never be deceived into thinking that the future results of our family depends on us.

Here’s The Thing…

The future results of our families depends on God, not you or me. Never take your eyes off of the One who actually holds your family’s future.

If things are going well in your home right now, don’t be fooled into thinking that somehow you have made it that way. Look again: your home is broken beneath the surface because it is full of broken, sinful, fallen people and each of us could fall apart in a moment. So, we should give God the praise and thanks he deserves and pray diligently for His ongoing mercy in the future.

If things are not going well in your home, don’t give up on the hope of deliverance. God loves to show his amazing saving power through people who have nothing left.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says,

 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being^[d] might boast in the presence of God.

Whatever the condition of your family may be, turn to the One who holds the future in his hands and ask him to honor himself through your family. Not so that you can have stuff or recognition or anything this world offers, but so that the world might see Jesus Christ in your family…God glorified in and through your home…they might see that YES, when you follow the principles and teachings of God’s Word it does work. If that’s the motive of your heart, then God will honor that. That’s why family matters…that’s the results of following Him and doing the hard work of training yourself and your family in godliness. That is where the hope lies.

Check The Box…

Family Matters…really, we believe that!

At The Ridge, we really mean it when we say that family matters. It matters to God, the church, a nation, and generations to come. That’s why this Sunday, February 12th @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm @ Austin Middle School we will offer our Family Matters Workshop. This is a great opportunity for you to attend a breakout wworkshop that will deal with…well, Family Matters.  There will be a Pizza Dinner for ALL. Cost is $2 per person/$10 max per family. You can’t beat that deal! After dinner with your family, the children and youth will break off into their groups. Students 6th-12th grades will enjoy their Regular Sunday Night activities while Babies/Toddlers & Preschoolers will have Childcare provided and Kindergarten-5th grade kids will have some fun activities provided. Thanks to the good folks from Hope Church for being willing to come in and help with our children so that all of our adults can have a chance to particiapte in the workshops.

While the kids are having fun, adults will have a chance to choose form one of the following Workshops:

Top 10 Components of a Strong Marriage (Led by Bryan & Kari Robertson)

Is your marriage hitting on all 10 components? Come and hear author Bryan Robertson and his wife share about these components and how they can fortify your marriage. Does your marriage need a little motivation to get back on track? Join us as we share fun, practical steps along with God’s truth to a better marriage. We will discuss the most unused word in marriage, timing, money, the 3-letter word, and much more. These truths will energize your marriage and allow it to bring glory and honor to God.

Dating or Courtship?  (Led by Steve & KimWhipple)

Einstein said that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting the results to be different.” Dr. Tommy Nelson, pastor and author, says that “we in the church want to attract and date the way the world does, but because we are ‘Christians’ we expect the results to be different.” What does the Bible say about dating? Is courtship “old fashioned” and “out of style”? Just how “different” and “set apart” are we supposed to be in this area anyway? What does a biblical model of dating/courtship really look like? Come explore this topic as we discuss some practical ways parents can help their teenagers make wise, biblical choices in regards to relationships.

Who’s on First? (Led by Mike & Mary Pinkerton)

What does baseball and discipleship have in common? Ask yourself, “What do I need to do to get up to bat? Who is on first? How can the game of baseball relate to discipleship within the family?” Join us as we take a look at the importance of discipleship within our families and gain some practical tools to making discipleship a reality in our own homes.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to invest in your family!!

Sign up for the Family Matters Workshop HERE!!

The Appeal…Last Sunday @ The Ridge

This past Sunday we had a great time @ The Ridge as we continued our Family Matters series by looking at The Appeal…one of the parental appeals found in the first eight chapters of Proverbs. We focused on Proverbs 4:1-22 and I spoke most directly to the teenagers and kids that were in attendance…but indirectly to everyone, as the principles of God’s Word found in this Appeal apply to all of us at any stage of life. Nevertheless, we did a special set up for the teens. There were counches and beanbag chairs and some cafe tables and stools all set up front and center for them. We even had a cooler full of refreshments for them to enjoy. It was great and I think the kids enjoyed it. It certainly made it easy for me to keep them focused on the message.

We talked about the doctrine of the two ways as spoken by Solomon to his son in this passage. This one of the core teachings of Proverbs. It says that there are two paths or ways that lie before each of us: the way of wisdom and the way of foolishness and evil. The outcome of our lives will be determined by which way we choose to follow. Here’s a summary of “The Appeal” from this past Sunday. you canlisten to the whole message HERE.

What happens when we hear & heed The Appeal?

• v. 10-11 – the years of your life will be many if you “hear” and “accept” the words of a wise parent, provided those words are based on God’s Word.(see Ephesians 6:1-3)
• v. 12 – your step will not be hampered…you will not stumble

• in v. 5 the father told his son to grab hold of wisdom, here in v. 13 he reminds him to “not let go” of her and guard her…hide it and protect it in your heart…because wisdom IS life. In John 6:63 Jesus says, It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Life is in His word…His wisdom. So, apart from that is what?…death.

V. 14-15 tells us how to avoid falling into sinful situations:

first of all v 14 says don’t even enter there…don’t walk that way…then v. 15 gives us 4 verbs that will help us avoid pitfalls and sin…

1. avoid…the sinful situation
2. travel or walk…as far away from it as you can…stay as far from the edge of the cliff as possible
3. turn…away from sin…repent…change directions…don’t go there…
4. pass…just walk on by…escape it 2 Tim 2:22 says, ²² So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

So we hear God’s Word…from those who are older, wiser, have been down the road…we hear it for ourselves from God’s Word…we listen to the still small voice of the HS…we apply wisdom…then we avoid, travel far from it, turn, pass it by.

God’s Word changes our perspective…reveals sin…gives us wisdom…shows us the path to take. But unless we “hear & heed” we’ll continue down the path of foolishness & sin which will lead us to destruction.

Here’s an illustration I used with the teenagers (and adults) of how wisdom…hearing and heeding God’s Word…has changed someone’s perspective…

Kylie Bisutti is a model. She, at age 19, had it all. She had just won a modeling contest which gave her a contract with the top internationally known lingerie company in the world. It was everything she wanted and had dreamed of. She was having fun and making money, yet she was becoming uncomfortable. Here’s what she said in an article on Foxnews.com:

Mike & Kylie Bisutti

“I’m Christian, and reading the Bible more, I was becoming more convicted about it.”

The California native, now 21, said that in the wake of baring her body as an Angel, she was also hosting parties, posing for men’s magazines, and craving more and more attention. But she was not feeling good about herself.

“My body should only be for my husband and it’s just a sacred thing,” said Bisutti, who had gotten married just before winning the 2009 modeling competition. “I didn’t really want to be that kind of role model for younger girls because I had a lot of younger Christian girls that were looking up to me and then thinking that it was okay for them to walk around and show their bodies in lingerie to guys.

“It was pretty crazy because I finally achieved my biggest dream, the dream that I always wanted, but when I finally got it, it wasn’t all that I thought it would be. Especially being married I just wanted to keep my marriage sacred because divorce rates now in America are pretty high, and I just want to do everything I can to keep my marriage special.”

 “It is a very hard industry to be in without falling into things you don’t want to do,” she said. “I’ve fallen into many things that I wouldn’t have wanted to do, it’s a very tempting industry.”

“My goal is just to be a better role model for the youth, I just want them to see me as somebody that they can look up to and somebody that’s going to be dressing appropriately and I’m not going to get into things that I wouldn’t want them to be getting into,” she added. “I want to go over the top because I don’t think enough people go over the top about how serious all this is. I just want people to see something different about me because I have that faith and I think it’s so important for everyone to have.”

What changed her perspective? The Word…as a believer, the HS lived in her. She had chosen a path of foolishness…and it was fun for a time…but God convicted her as she read the Bible more. The HS spoke to her through the living and active Word of God and convicted her, made her uncomfortable, changed her perspective and led her in a path of wisdom. She heard it and heeded it. And God gave her the strength to stand…

What happens when we don’t hear and heed and walk in the path of wisdom and righteousness?

v. 16-17, 19 tells us that the path of foolishness creates a hunger that is never satisfied and leads to destruction. the further you go down that path the more unsatisfying it becomes…which leads you to continue in the destructive path further and further…never being satisfied…[look back at Kylies’s story… she was “craving more and more attention”]…because the only place you can get true satisfaction is in Christ. The path of wisdom, the father here warns, is the only place to find satisfaction. That wisdom comes from God and in His Word.

He also says that those on that path will stumble in the darkness. The contrast of the path of foolishness and wickedness is one who stumbles through life in deep darkness. You think if you stumbled around in the dark you’d eventually get hurt? You’d have all kinds of wounds and scars and you might even get killed. Why? because you can’t see anything…duh! That’s the picture of the way of the wicked and foolish.

What does the path of the believer who hears & heeds the Appeal of Wisdom look like? v. 18

Increasing light… The path of the righteous…those who are “right with God” (and how are we made right with God? only in Jesus Christ) is a path of ever-increasing brightness. It gets brighter and brighter as we walk in His ways. We come to a better understanding day by day. It becomes clearer day by day. We make wiser decisions when we walk according to His word and those become easier to see as we walk day by day. That’s how you do it.

Here’s The Thing…HOW do I attain wisdom? …a change of perspective? 

I cannot walk this path on my own. It is impossible for me because the natural desires of all of us is in the way of foolishness and sin. We will always stray that way if we are trying to please God on our own and if we are walking in our own wisdom. (talking about that next week)

How do I walk then? I walk with Jesus…following in His footsteps…even allowing Him to carry me…I walk hand in hand with Him. I don’t know they way, but He IS the way!  I read, memorize, apply The Word…and I walk according to it…because Jesus is the Truth. I will then be led down a path not to destruction and stumbling, but to life…because Jesus is the Life. He is the Light that guides our path. HE is the one that perfects our path, not us. Because we can’t. You see you can’t do this apart form Him. If you try you’ll stumble for sure. If you try to do all the right stuff and please God on your own, you’ll fail. Why? because you are bent toward sin and you are not righteous. The Bible says none are righteous…we all fall short of the glory of God…but thanks be to God for grace that enables us to walk the path of wisdom because of Jesus and with Jesus. That’s the only way. He IS The Way! That’s how you attain wisdom. That’s how you walk the path of righteousness.

Before Sunday…

This Sunday @ The Ridge we are continuing our Family Matters series with “The Reason: Why did God give us us all these kids anyway?”

I have been asked before, “Why did you all have so many kids?” or “Did you all plan to have that many?” Well, the question is something that we have to look at from a different perspective: My wife and I didn’t HAVE them…and neither did any of you…rather God GAVE them to you. So when we have that perspective, there must be a REASON that He gave them to us. So…what IS that reason? Why did God choose to give you those children…whether you have one, two, five, or eight? We will be looking this Sunday at what God’s Word says about The Reason. (by the way…this isn’t going to be one of those ”you-should-have-more-children-like-Pastor Steve” messages ) I hope you will join us and that you will invite someone to come to Church @ The Ridge with you. If you want to read ahead, read Psalm 127 before Sunday.

In case you’ve missed it, we have a new billboard up on Highway 92 at the intersection of Ridge Road. We were able to get a really good deal on the billboard rental, so we are trying it out for a few months. We have traditionally done a couple of mass mailings throughout the year. When we do that, we usually hit between 5000 and 10000 mailboxes. However, that is a one-time “touch”. With this billboard, the thousands of people that will see it each day and week will be more repetitive…meaning the same people will see it multiple times. So, we thought we’d give it a try. We’ll see how God might use this to draw people to His church. I pray that people who are lost, hurting, seeking, in need of hope and community, will see this and check out The Ridge. Will you pray too? Ridgers, as you pass this billboard pray that God would use it to reach people in our community. By the way, I tried to get my wife to go for having she and I on the billboard, but she declined.

We also have updated and upgraded our website this week! After way too long (in my opinion) of trying to come up with a better site…and being hamstrung by the cost of it along with the time to make it happen as well as the technical savy…we were able to make an upgrade with our current site host. They offered a better template option upgrade with some much better features…like listening to our messages right from the site rather than having to host them elsewhere…as well as a cleaner, better look that is easier to use. Check it out HERE and let us know what you think! While it may not be everything we want in a website, for now it is much better. We hope to go a different route in the future, but this is a stopgap that works better than what we have had. Thanks to Danny Sloderbeck for working on this upgrade for us!