As a church family, we came around the Lord’s table and began our new year sharing communion together.  Then, we closed out the night physically circling the building in prayer as we stood hand in hand pleading for God’s favor on Graystone in 2012.

As part of my hour long “message”, I shared 6 visions/prayer requests for Graystone’s future and 5 initiatives for 2012.  Here they are:

Big Picture Dreams/Visions for Graystone

1. Build Phase II – 1500 seat auditorium, new preschool wing, and our current auditorium becomes the Youth & Rec Building.

2.  Purchase 3.5 acres next door - in order to have enough land to build the size building we need, appropriate parking, and the vision for expanding the ball fields for Sports Camp and greater community outreach, we will need more land.  We approached the owners 3 years ago, but they were not interested in selling.  I personally believe God has already given us this piece of property and am praying that they will approach us to buy it.

3.  $2 million miracle – God has impressed on my heart to pray for a $2 million miracle.  We owe $2 million on the current land and building and if we were to pay off all our debt, it would put us in a tremendous position of strength.  It would free us up to hire more staff and invest our resources in expanding our influence and impact.  In my mind, the only way I see a $2 million check coming in is through the life insurance policy on me.  But I know that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and $2 million is pocket change for him.  Pray with me for this miracle!

4.  DOMINATE our community with the love of Jesus – We have a prayer circle drawn around the 32,000 homes that are closest to Graystone Church.  We will continue to move forward reaching our community with the love of Jesus Christ.

5.    Expand our impact by going multi-site.  Part of our vision at Graystone is to go multi-site and expand our impact into surrounding communities.  The first one that God has laid on our hearts is Monroe.  We already have hundreds of Grasytoners who live in the Monroe area, we when the timing is right, we would like to start the new campus with a full-time staff team and 300-500 people.

6.  Graystone expansion campuses near colleges/universities (Athens, Milledgeville, Atlanta, Carrollton, Rome, etc.).  It has been a dream of mine for over 10 years to start churches on college campuses (I showed an old school video of me on the campus of SMU sharing this vision.).  College students are an incredibly strategic group of people to reach for Christ. They are deciding what they believe and are making major decisions on life (occupation, marriage, etc.).

They also can be the leadership pipeline for our internship ministry and we can train them up to send them out as pastors and missionaries around the world.  College students have their whole lives ahead of them and they are not tied down with mortgages and expensive lifestyles.  They are agile, mobile and available.  I could go on for days about the “strategery” of starting a thriving college ministry.

Also, how cool would it be for our kids to graduate high school and go to college where there is a Graystone campus with Graystone staff to continue discipling and mentoring them?

Where are we going in 2012?  5  Major Initiatives:

1. Connecting people into relationships

Thousands of people are coming through the doors of Graystone, and we need to do our best to get them connected relationally, mainly in small groups and serving teams.

2.    Caring for orphans and abandoned children

 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

Graystone has been known as the “Sports Church”.  What if we became known as the church that cares for orphans?  We have started an adoption fund for any Graystone family adopting children.  We are trusting God for 15 Graystone families in 2012 to adopt or foster. But we want every single Graystone member to do his or her part (give, help, pray, etc.). We are devoted a message series in February, True Religion, to highlight this initiative.

3. Focus on strengthening our marriages

• Extraordinary Marriage series in March
•  I’m sick and tired of hearing about people having affairs.
• There are too many divorces happening in the church.
• Couples are not taking seriously the sanctity of marriage.

4. Stay evangelistic and keep reaching out to our target community

• 32,000 piece mailer for Extraordinary Marriage series
• Egg Hunt on March 25…big outreach event
• Easter…new series on Sermon on the Mount
• Jersey Day on April 29
• Mother’s Day in May
• Sports Camp…first week of June…Tim Tebow or someone else will be speaking.

 5.    Focus on Fatherhood and helping our men become the spiritual leaders in the home

• June message series: Courageous (based on movie)
• We will make Father’s Day one of our biggest services of the year (Easter, Christmas Eve, Father’s Day).

Well, that’s Vision Night in a nutshell.  I shared many more things about our “Community to Core” Philosophy of Ministry (concentric circles) and our focus on keeping it simple with our mission and values (the 4 G’s).  We have a strong core team and tons of MO.  I truly believe that 2012 will be our best year yet.  Thank you so much for being on the Graystone Team.  Our next Wednesday night “core team gathering” is March 21.

Major dreams/miracles we are drawing prayer circles around:

This past weekend, Jennifer and I flew out to Seattle, Washington to check out 3 great churches: Eastlake, Mars Hill, and The City.  All 3 of these churches are different in style and theology, and God is using each of them in phenomenal ways.  When I visit a church, I learn as much as I possible can.  I check out their facility, volunteers teams, student & children’s area, how they treat first-time visitors, the worship service, the sermon, print material, follow up and so forth.  I try and meet with a staff member or key volunteer and ask a plethora of questions.  We learned a ton, and I can see why each of these churches are so successful.

One of the biggest takeaways from the trip is realizing how much God has blessed Graystone.  We have a beautiful facility, a great team of staff and volunteers, and God is using us to DOMINATE our community with the love of Jesus Christ.  It is an honor for Jennifer and I to serve at Graystone.

On Saturday, we had an opportunity to do a little sight seeing.  It is always good for us to get away.  As Mark Batterson says, “A change in place, gives you a change in perspective.”  We had a blast in Seattle, and we are refreshed and ready for our next season of ministry here in Hotlanta.

I’ve been so encouraged by all the letters, emails, and conversations I have had in response to Vision Night.  It fires me up that so many of you are excited about our vision and what God is doing in and through Graystone.  Later this week, I will try and post a more detailed summary of Vision Night for those of you who missed it.  We tried to video it, but the 60 minute tape ran out.

2.  Graystone Church now has a volunteer cleaning team.  The church is cleaner than it ever has been, and they are saving the church $12,000 in 2012.  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

3.  JP and Shannon from Echoing Angels are joining KATB this Sunday at Graystone.  I’m hoping and drawing a prayer circle that this becomes a regular gig.  Also, if you like the old school TV show, The Wonder Years, you will love this week’s bumper video.  Also, GSM kicks off this Sunday at 6:30 PM.

4. If you have not joined a small group, NOW Is the time to sign up for one.  You can sign up online here or this Sunday at Graystone.  The new small group semester begins next week.

5.  I was so pumped to see so many people at Vision Night.  It was the loudest that I have ever heard our congregation sing and worship God.  We have 5 “Wednesday Night Worship Experiences” (We do not have a name for these.) planned for 2012.  The next one is March 21.  Please mark your calendars.  BTW, everyone of them will be different, but they will include some form of corporate worship.

I first taught on drawing prayer circles around our biggest dreams and greatest fears.  Then, I shared 6 BIG visions for the future of Graystone and 5 initiatives for 2012.  Which ones resonated with you?

What excited you most about Vision Night?  Let’s hear it!

If you were not at Vision Night, I’ve attached my notes below.

1. Dress warm because we are going outside at the end.

2. It will be longer than our normal worship service.  Plan on 1.5 hours (7:00-8:30PM).

3. Childcare is provided.

4. It is for EVERYONE who calls Graystone home (adults, students and children).

5. We’ll discuss vision for big picture Graystone, our 2012 focus/initiatives, and specifically for YOU and your family.

Where there is no vision, the people will perish.” Proverbs 29:18

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Let’s live it out!

2. Today, there were snow flurries in Atlanta.

3. Our Graystone men’s basketball team beat a bunch of college age kids last night.  I was the oldest guy on the court, and I almost had an assist.

4. Next Wednesday at Vision Night, I will be getting on the Graystone roof.

5. I preached my sermon today to 700 empty chairs. Several of them made commitments at the prayer altar.

6. Today, all 10 digits on my hands were fingerprinted TWICE.

7.  The guys from Echoing Angels will be joining KATB Sunday.

8.  Here’s the passage for Sunday if you want to study ahead: Mark 1:35-39.

9.  Sunday, I will be wearing a crimson shirt with a pair of houndstooth pants…size 32 of course.

10.  I love Dora the Explorer!

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵ Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”  Revelation 2:4-5a

I ended up having to cut it from my message…if you only knew what gets cut each week.  Anyway, this didn’t make the Sunday message, but I thought it was blog worthy.  Have you forsaken your first love?  Have you lost some passion and fire in your relationship with God?  Are you as close to God as you have been in the past? If not, why not?

We love God because he first loved us.  In the book of Revelation, Jesus is judging the 7 churches. The one in question in this passage is the church in Ephesus (I.e. Acts 18-19; book of Ephesians, Timothy served as their pastor…1-2 Timothy).  They worked hard.  They served God with good deeds.  They hated evil.  They knew the truth and identified false apostles.   They endured hardships and persevered in their faith. All that was good, but they had forsaken their first love.  They were doing all the right things (I.e. going through the motions), but they had lost their love and passion for God.

So, “the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand” (Jesus), tells them to repent and do the things they did at first.  Maybe your passion for God is lacking.  Maybe you are no longer on a spiritual honeymoon.  Maybe your spiritual flame has burned low.  Well, get back to your first love.  Do the things that you did when you first experienced the love and grace of God.

When on your spiritual journey were you closest to God?  What were you doing that led you to such a close relationship with God?  Well, repent and do the things you did when you first knew God.  When’s the last time you told God, “I LOVE YOU!”

Well, enough for now.  Sunday, I will be talking more about developing an intimate friendship with “the one who walks among the seven lampstands.”  I hope you can make it.  And I hope you are ready to fall in love with God all over again.

Hard copies are available at Guest Services in the Graystone Church lobby.

Tonight at 6:30, there is a Candlelight Memorial Service at the Grayson High School flag pole.  Several of our Graystone staff members will be there to support, pray and provide counseling.  If any of our elders, prayer team, visitation team or members feel led, let me encourage you to go and be available to minister to those who are hurting and searching for answers.  We certainly do know not “why”, but we can be available to provide love and support.  Let’s trust in God through this difficult time and help others find peace in Christ.

“Cast all your anxieties on HIM because HE cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7