If churches are dreaming small dreams they are marching straight towards their own funeral. Some leaders think it a step of faith to “trust God” for 3 to 5 percent growth this year.  That won’t cut it.  Don’t fall into the trap of “small dream” thinking.

Dream big.  Change your community.  Don’t add ….. multiply!

At North Point, we realized that we need to get better at reaching the community and God is not done with growing us as a church.  We feel like God is leading us in the exciting direction of being a multi-campus church.  We will open our first campus with video teaching in January.  In the meantime, we didn’t want to hinder growth.  We added another service.  We now have 6 weekend services.  During our Sunday service experience there is usually 1 service that gets to experience what our future video venue at the multi-campus will feel like.  We started this last week and got some really positive feedback.  We rotate the video around on Sunday so that it is usually not the same every week.  Our people get it!  They are fine with video because they know we are pioneering something that will help us to grow and reach the community.

There is nothing safe about big dreams …. but the only thing with more risk than a big dream is a small dream!

Dream on!

2. Sam Bradford would be safer in Afghanistan waving an American Flag than he will be behind the Rams offensive line.

3. Brett Favre will be good enough to take his team to the playoffs, but will make a bone headed mistake that will cost them their final game.  Is he the best quarterback ever? No!  Is he the toughest and most likeable to ever play the game?  Probably.  But none of this matters, because people will still have their “Favreasms” no matter how he plays.

4. The Chiefs & Rams will suck!  I am now beginning to understand why Springfield loves girls basketball.

5. Tim Tebow will never be much of an NFL quarterback.  He is such a good guy, that I wish he would …. but he wont.

6. Peyton Manning will be the best quarterback in the NFL this year and probably ever.  Too bad his average defense, running game, & coach will keep him from winning the Super Bowls that he deserves.

7.  The best teams will be Green Bay, New Orleans, Indianapolis, San Diego, & Baltimore.  Runner ups will be New England … maybe the Vikings … & maybe Dallas.

8. What the Giants taught us a couple of years ago is very important.  Any good team can string together 4 or 5 consecutive wins and be Super Bowl Champions.  That means that any predictions are a lesson in futility.

9. Eagle fans will remain the biggest (fill in the blank with something inappropriate) in the NFL.

10. Congratulations New Orleans, you are back to back World Champions. (see #8).

2. Family - Great wife & 2 great sons…………………… and my dog.

3. North Point - 6 services went great last week.  New service times help us to reach more people.

4. My talk for this weekend - I am studying for it now.  I think it is going to be a very important talk.  Don’t miss it.

5. My staff - I have a great staff at North Point Church.

6. Volunteers at North Point - There is no way North Point would be what it is without the great volunteers that we have.  THANK YOU!

7. Personal Growth - I want to pray, read the bible, worship, think, read, and grow more and more everyday.

8. Keep my mind open - I don’t know it all - I need to learn - I need to be creative - I need to grow intellectually - I need to have empathy - I need to understand.

9. Multi-Campus - We are making preparations now to be a multi-campus church by January.

10. The people of North Point - You guys did great at the one service that we showed the video in this week.  Thank you for keeping an open mind and for knowing that not only is video just as good as “live” teaching, but you are helping us to have additional services to handle growth.

2. New Campus opens in January.  2951 E. Sunshine.  It used to be club “Intensity”.  The campus will have video teaching.

3. Starting this week, we will show a video of my teaching on Sunday during one of the services (sometimes more).  The tendency will be to show the video at the 10 or 11:30 service.  It will always be live on Saturday.

4. We will put our “talks” on a KRBK TV beginning late September.

5. We are asking everyone to attend a service and volunteer in a service.

6. We learned that the one main thing is this: “Just treat every prodigal the way a loving father would treat his own son!”

7. We learned that “Loving fathers are preoccupied with who is missing and older brothers are preoccupied with themselves.”

8. We learned that “Loving fathers operate from a context of forgiveness and older brothers operate from a context of shame.”

9. We learned that “Loving fathers throw parties and older brothers throw fits.”

10. North Point Church is committed to being a “Loving Father Church”, not an “Older Brother Church.”

NPC 8-21/22-10 - One Thing from North Point Church on Vimeo.

NPC 8-14/15-10 Dream On from North Point Church on Vimeo.

Join us for our 5 week series, “That’s What She Said.” You’d be surprised by what these women of the Bible said…

August 28/29 For such a time as this
September 4/5 It’s a dog eat dog world
September 11/12 A little help here
September 18/19 What is the secret to your power?
September 25/26 All this from one apple?

Invite your friends, family, neighbors, classmates and coworkers to this series by using our convenient EVITE tool. Click here!

Keep up to date with North Point’s messages by subscribing to one of our feeds:

Video Messages | Audio Only via iTunes | Audio Only via RSS

NPC 8-14/15-10 Dream On from North Point Church on Vimeo.

This video is a must see! If you missed last week, watch this. We do our best to lay out our plans and vision for the fall and new year…………CHECK IT OUT!

By the way, don’t miss this weekend ………… part 2 of the “Dream Weaver” series.  I am more excited about my talk this coming weekend than I have been about a talk in a long time!!!

Jacob is saying to God “It all comes from you … it is yours … I am not the owner … I am the manager … the steward of all the resources you provide … and I will return a tenth of all that you give me … that is yours to begin with.”

It is a myth to think that you are the owner of all of your dollars and resources.  Your stuff is not your stuff!!! It is owned by God.  It is on loan to you.  For every ten dollars God gives you, he wants you to enjoy - to live - to be smart - but He invites you to return the first (not last) dollar back to partner with Him in Kingdom work.

He invites you to trust him.  He invites you to learn about faith. 

Dave Ramsey said “If God wanted your money, He’d take it and there would be a greasy spot where you were sitting.”  God wants your heart. 

Giving is a heart issue.  Do you trust God?

If you want to break the cycle of materialism in your life and invite God into your finances …. begin to tithe.

When you tithe, you are becoming like God in that you are giving and not consuming. God is a giver!  The most famous verse in the bible reads “God so loved the world that he gave”.

For me, the tithe is not an option.  It is the first thing I pay when I get paid.  I dare God to bless me.  The reason that it reads in Malachi that people are “robbing God with the tithe” is that by not giving the tithe, they are not returning to God what was His to begin with and by doing so, they are robbing themselves.

What a connect group is not from North Point Church on Vimeo.

Join us September 10 @ 7pm for Connect.Me. This is an event where you come to meet people in your same stage of life to form a connect group. We promise it won’t be awkward like a middle school dance. Connect.Me events are fun and full of led interaction. Free childcare will be provided.

Connect groups are small groups of six married couples or eight individuals of the same gender that meet weekly in a group member’s home for fun, fellowship, Bible study and prayer. They are for adults of all ages, stages of life and spiritual maturity.

You can register two different ways…

1. Register online by clicking this link!

2. Fill out the group profile on the back of the bulletin this weekend and drop it in the offering bucket or at the CONNECTION CENTER.

If you have any questions check out northpointnow.org/connectme or call the church office at 417-833-1950.

I am not a fan of stepping out and doing something stupid and not thought out, but I am not a fan of playing it safe either.  Take a well calculated risk!  Start tithing today!  Stop cheating God with your money.  Show & tell your spouse that you love them.  Same with your kids.  Start a new ministry that, unless God comes through for you, will be close to impossible to accomplish.

Think through your next move.  Plan it.  Raise money for it.  Let someone who is smarter than you pick it apart.  Research.  Cover your bases and your butt.  Be clever.  Get the timing right. Make sure you are in agreement with God, family, the Bible, & someone that can hold you accountable.   But at the end of the day … take the risk.  Jump off the high dive.

When I am on my deathbed, I can be at peace with some failure … but I can’t be at peace with wondering “What if?”.

I don’t care if you work for a church, a business, or a factory. I guarantee you, your boss needs you to be…

1. A Momentum-Increaser — don’t make your boss be the only one pulling up the attitude and bringing energy to the workplace.
2. A Values-Champion — No one should live out the values of the organization more than you do.
3. A Silo-Destroyer — sniff out and destroy the silos that exist in departments throughout the organization. Make sure everyone is more committed to the macro vision than their micro project.
4. A Straight-Talker — don’t engage in triangle conversations or put-downs of your team or leaders.
5. A Generous-Giver — okay, this one is specific to working at a church, but I would never work for a church where I didn’t believe in it enough to give as much as I possibly could.
6. An Innovative-Thinker — be solution-oriented. Don’t just come to your boss with problems, but also solutions. Your attitude should be, “Economy tough? Less staff? Lower budget? No problem, we’ll figure out a way to get through this!”
7. A Loyal-Friend — you don’t have to hang out together, but he needs to know you are “for” him. If put in a corner, your boss knows you would defend her.
8. A Back-Protector — always believe the best. Always.
9. An Integrity-Keeper — you are who you are when no one is looking. Your boss needs you to have great character.
10. An Unbelievable-Spouse and Effective Parent — the strength of your leadership and effectiveness comes from your leadership at home.
11. A Lifelong Learner — read books, study other best practices, learn, learn, learn–then come back and apply it to your organization.
12. An Equipping-Leader…not a Satisfied-Doer — You should be building teams and reproducing teams. Take delight in the success of your team more than your own success!