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Archive for the ‘Vision’ Category

Friday 5: Our First Baptisms at Walton Campus, Caring for Orphans, David Pollack, HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT

Posted in Graystone Church, Vision on May 3, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Pollack1. 10 people are going public with their faith in Jesus through baptism on Sunday at Graystone Walton.  We launched our first expansion campus 2 months ago (03.03.13), and 10 people are already crashing the waters of baptism.  God is moving!

2.  We’re making a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT on Sunday at Graystone Walton.  We’ve made the most important decision to date concerning Graystone Walton, and I cannot wait to share it with our launch team and campus.  If you’re a part of Graystone Walton, please make it a priority to be at LHS on Sunday at 10:30AM.

3. I will be speaking live for at least one service at both campuses (Ozora and Walton) on Sunday.  This is a first for me and Graystone, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes.  I also may try and make it to both Newcomers Lunches.  We will see.

4.  This is a tangent…as I type this I am looking at a little 2 week old orphan boy sleeping in my living room…The church, the people of God, need to step our game up in caring for orphans.  Instead of complaining that our GOVT is not doing a good job in caring for orphans, we need to DO SOMETHING about it.  The only reason the GOVT is involved is that the church has dropped the ball.  What are YOU doing to care for orphans?  True religion…

5.  David Pollack, former UGA All-American and current power forward on the best church basketball team in the universe, will be sharing about #EveryDayCounts during my message Sunday.  This week I had to opportunity to interview David at his house.  We have a little video footage of him working me out in his home gym.  He’s pretty serious about this fitness stuff.  One of my favorite parts of touring David’s house (MTV Cribs) was his urinal in the master bathroom.  Sorry, I didn’t take a picture.  I’ve gotten in trouble in recent weeks posting pictures from bathrooms (I.e. toilet paper rolls). :-)

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Graystone gave $10,000 to help start Radius Church in Dubuque, Iowa.

Posted in Graystone Church, Stewardship, Vision, tagged , on February 28, 2013 | 3 Comments »

John and Cheryl Reeves and their 6 kids (ages 21-10) have moved to Dubuque, Iowa to start Radius Church.  Dubuque is listed as the 9th least churched city in the US.  Most of the other  Top 10 Least Churched Cities are in the New England area where Ben Presten is planting Valley Town Church.

I’ve attached a short video below of John sharing about Radius Church and what led them to Dubuque.  I also share the story of John “planting a seed” that started Graystone Church.  Then, at the end of the video, I give him a check for $10,000 from Graystone to help start Radius Church.  As you can see in the video, I was pretty pumped.  God is good!

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42,000 Seeds of Faith

Posted in Bible, Graystone Church, Prayer, Vision on February 25, 2013 | 1 Comment »

On Vision Night 2013, I taught on sowing seeds of faith.  Over the weekend, Graystone Church sent out 42,000 mailers (seeds of faith) inviting our community to 3 events:

  1. Our new message series, Family Wars
  2. The grand opening of Graystone Walton (03.03.13)
  3. A 20,000 Easter Egg Helicopter Drop on Sunday, March 24th

Let’s pray for these seeds of faith to fall on “good soil” and for God to produce a harvest multiplying 30, 60, 100 times (Mark 4:8).

Family-Wars-Mailer-FrontFamily-Wars-Mailer-Back

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I will be sharing my heart and vision for Graystone Walton.

Posted in Graystone Church, Vision on February 22, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Graystone Kids ClassroomThis Sunday, February 24, I will be at our Graystone Walton Campus, and I will be sharing my heart and vision for what we want to see God do in Walton County.  I will also be sharing the significance of the name “graystone” and why it means so much to us.  Nate Rector, our Small Groups Pastor, will be teaching at our Ozora Campus for the finale of the Identity message series.

If you’re interested in being a part of Graystone Walton, this is a great Sunday to check it out.  We’re having a Preview Service at 10:30AM at Loganville High School.  The worship experience will last around one hour, and we have simultaneous Children’s programing for ages 10 and under.  This is a great opportunity for you and your family to see and experience Graystone Walton before our Grand Opening on Sunday, March 3rd (03.03.13).  I hope to see you Sunday!

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What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas!

Posted in Graystone Church, Missions/Outreach, Vision, tagged , , , , , , on February 21, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

VegasJennifer and I spent last weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada.  We went to the Vegas Strip Saturday night and absolutely hated it.  It gave me a small glimpse of Hell.  Very sad.  Now, outside of the Las Vegas Strip, we loved the people, city and surrounding areas.  We toured the Hoover Dam and hiked a trail in the Mojave Desert.

The purpose of our trip was the visit Central Christian Church and learn all we could from their incredible staff and team.  Central is one of the top 10 largest churches in America and one of the fastest growing churches in America.  90% of the people who attend Central say that God has changed their lives through coming to the church.  They are ministering to 10′s of thousands of people in Las Vegas and around the world.

Central’s Senior Pastor, Jud Wilhite, was gracious enough to meet with us. One of their staff members led us on a tour of their amazing building and answered many of our questions about their various ministries and systems.  We also got to meet with their pastor overseeing their multisite strategy, and I think he has forgotten more than I know about starting expansion campuses.  Needless to say, I walked away with a notebook full of information and a much BIGGER vision for Graystone and beyond.

Once I’ve had some time to process things, I look forward to sharing new insights with our staff, elders and key leaders.  I enjoy going to conferences and reading books, but I learn so much more when I can see and experience something for myself.  I am blown away with how welcoming and helpful Jud and the staff and volunteers of Central Christian Church were to us.  They really are practicing RADICAL GRACE.

As far as I’m concerned, “What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas!”  Put on your seat belts Graystone Church.  We are about to kick it into overdrive.  We launch Graystone Walton in 10 days (03.03.13)!   If you cannot tell, I’M PUMPED!

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Vision Night

Posted in Graystone Church, Leadership, Vision on February 12, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Vision Night

Graystone’s Annual Vision Night is Wednesday, February 13 at 7:00PM.  If you’re part of our local Graystone team, please make it a priority to participate.  Childcare is provided and the middle schoolers will still meet in the student room (6:30-8:00PM).

Come expectant!

Jonathan

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Graystone Walton: A Successful Set Up Sunday

Posted in Graystone Church, Leadership, Missions/Outreach, Vision, Volunteers, tagged , on February 11, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Around 50 folks from our Graystone Walton Set Up Team met at 8:00AM Sunday at Loganville High School.  They set up the children’s area, lobby with Guest Services and Coffee Bar, and the stage/sound system.  It took approximately 1 hour.

I hear it was very organized and the set up and tear down went smooth.  And from what I saw in the pictures, it looked incredible.  I am so proud of our amazing staff and volunteers, and I know God is going to use the Graystone Walton Team to impact hundreds of lives for all eternity!

Here are a few pictures:

lobby

Guest servicesBabieschildren's roomchild room 2child room 3drumsunloading trailer

child dividers

push carts

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Friday 5: Brad Paisley, Bulldozer, Walton, Vision Night, & Hyperbaric Chamber

Posted in Graystone Church, Missions/Outreach, Random, Sports, Vision, Volunteers, tagged , , , , , on February 8, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Dozer

1.  Last Sunday, Graystone’s band played Brad Paisley’s song, Online.  We had to change the lyrics a little.  It was the perfect feature song for our new message series, Identity.

2.  This Sunday at Graystone, we will show video footage of me driving a bulldozer.  It was a blast, and I think I may have missed my calling in life.  Not really.  I’ll explain Sunday.

3. Graystone Walton launches in 22 days (03.03.13).  Our incredible Walton staff and set up team will be setting up EVERYTHING this Sunday at 8:00AM at Loganville High School.

  • This Sunday we will set everything up: parking signs, coffee bar, guest services, sound system, drums/instruments, children’s area, etc.
  • Next Sunday, February 17, we’ll have a practice service at 10:30am.
  • Then, Sunday, February 24 will be our Preview Service where I will be speaking live at 10:30am.  I’m so pumped about this.
  • Then, the grand opening is March 3, 2013 (03.03.13) at 10:30am.

Who do you know in Walton County that you can invite?

4.  Vision Night is Wednesday, February 13 at 7:00PM.  If you are part of Graystone Church locally, please make it a priority to attend.  This is one of our favorite nights of the year.  In 2012, we held hands around the entire outside of the building (Prayer circle) and from the roof, I prayed for our church and community.  It was freezing cold but AWESOME.  I can’t tell you what we’re doing this year, because Heath likes to keep things a surprise.  You don’t want to miss it.  It only happens once a year.

5.  I’m looking to barter for a hyperbaric chamber.  I would like to use it for our Graystone Basketball Team.  If you haven’t heard, we are the best church basketball team in the universe.  We are getting a little old, so I need an edge to help my players recover quicker from injuries and sore muscles.  If you have any leads, please let me know.  We have an awesome set of woodworking tools that I would like to trade.

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Jesus is being worshipped in an old Universalist Church building.

Posted in Graystone Church, Missions/Outreach, Prayer, Vision on January 15, 2013 | 1 Comment »

God opened the door for Valley Town Church to rent an old vacant Universalist Church building.  The building, which is over 175 years old and a historic landmark, sits in the heart of Wilmington, Vermont.  It’s prior use was an art gallery.  Valley Town is still pursuing the storefront for a coffee-house/church facility which has a lot more parking and space for children, but the old church building is a great intermediate church home.

Ben, Zac and the VT Team secured the old building last week and in two days got it ready for their first service.  Even on short notice, they had their largest gathering in quite some time, and the new location has generated excitement and momentum for our first church plant.  Personally, I think it’s cool that Jesus was worshipped in the Universalist Church building for the first time.  Let’s continue to pray for God’s favor to be on Valley Town Church and for God to use them to DOMINATE Wilmington, The Valley and Vermont with the love of Jesus Christ!

Universalist ChurchVT First Service Church BldgVT Kids

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Friday 5: Operation Yuletide, Christmas Tickets, 03.03.13 and Christmas Shopping

Posted in Graystone Church, Humor, Vision on December 14, 2012 | 2 Comments »

christmas tix1.  It’s hard to put into words how excited I am about this year’s Christmas Offering.  Gifts are already pouring in.  I’m BLOWN AWAY already and the offering isn’t until Sunday.  I was talking with a dad this week that had a family meeting.  They have decided to have a few less presents under the tree and are giving the extra money to the Christmas Offering.  This is a great opportunity to put Christ at the center of our lives and Holiday season.  Also, it is never too early to start teaching our kids about being good stewards of God’s money.

2. Over 2000 people have already reserved FREE tickets for our Christmas Services at Graystone Church.  The 3:30PM service on Monday, December 24 is already “Sold Out” and the 5:00PM service on Sunday, December 23 is almost FULL.  There are only a few seats left for that one.  If you haven’t reserved your seat, let me encourage you to go ahead and do so.  Here’s the link to reserve your tickets online: Graystone Christmas Tickets.  Also, the Christmas Service is going to be so much FUN for the entire family.  And it really is the best service of the year to invite someone to Graystone.

3.  The service this Sunday, December 16, is going to be amazing (9:00am/10:30am/12:00pm).  KATB, Kyle and the Band, are singing 2 of my favorite Christmas songs, and the creative team has put together a hilarious, classic Graystone video titled Operation Yuletide.  I think EVERYONE will be challenged by the message God has laid on my heart.  Hopefully, it will be “one of my good ones”.

4.  We would like EVERYONE on the Graystone Walton Launch Team to wear their 03.03.13 T-shirts to church this Sunday.  If you are on the team and do not have a T-shirt, you could swing by the church office and pick one up or contact elliott@graystonechurch.com.  It’s hard to believe that we are less than 80 days away from the Grand Opening of our first expansion campus.  God is pulling together an incredible staff and volunteer team.  We will share more in the weeks to come.

5. I have not started my Christmas shopping.  If anyone has some good ideas or knows what Jennifer might want, please let me know.  I’m pretty sure she is hoping for a gift or two under the tree.

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