We’ve had some unique and awesome Sundays these past two weeks with a poolside talk on baptism and sharing the Lord’s Supper together for the first time at Team Church. We’re soon approaching the end of our first semester of Home Teams (we’ve got just two more meetings), and the launch of our Fall Teams (Aug. 20). Yep, that’s right, fall’s just around the corner and that means SCHOOL’S back.
To usher in the first day of school (aug. 17) Team Church is throwing the community a movie party! In just two-1/2 weeks we’re going to show an outdoor movie in the baseball field next to the Kershaw Elementary School. This will be a lot like our Easter event where our mission is to provide a fun environment for families. We want people in Kershaw to relax in their lawn chairs, have a bag of popcorn on us, and enjoy a movie. The movie is pretty exciting too and will start up at 9pm. It will have just come out on DVD, “Race to Witch Mountain.”

I’ll be asking for volunteers to sign up to help us on Friday August 14. So I hope you’ll help make this great night. Plus, you’ll hear more about how you can donate needed school supplies to the Elementary School kids.

As the Fall comes quickly we’re staying busy with Team Church because we really expect God to help us reach out to more people. Once school starts I believe God will begin multiplying some of the efforts we’ve put in during the summer. Teenagers are going to be sharing their experiences with Youth Serve and Team Church, and we could see a lot more of them on a regular basis. Teens will be talking to their parents about coming to visit, and we will see God transform lives as He leads people to salvation and full devotion. It’s really exciting what’s coming up soon.

Most people didn’t realize this weekend that Kenny Hibbard, the senior lead pastor of Team Church was at our Lancaster County campus in Kershaw.  And that’s the way he liked it!  He was slipping-in to observe just like any visitor might do at this brand new campus.  His feedback from the visit was wonderful and very encouraging!  I count it as just another confirmation that God placed an awesome team together.

My reaction to finding out that Kenny was with us Sunday was pretty funny though.  I was in the production meeting a few minutes before the start of the service.  I was just settling down from band practice, and we were huddled up to pray, when I asked Olivia if she was nervous.  Olivia, said “I wasn’t nervous until Kenny showed up.”  I said, “Naw!, he’s on vacation. He wouldn’t be here.”  She insisted that he was, and I finally got it:  “What?  You’re serious?” All of a sudden I was tugging on my shirt collar and fanning myself with a handout.

I may have been just a tad nervous Sunday, but now that I think about it, I don’t shy away from inviting everyone to take a good assessment of what they find at Team Church because we’re reaching people where they are and leading them to full devotion in Jesus Christ.  That’s the Great Purpose of Jesus and the One Purpose of Team Church.  At any rate, the visit gave Kenny the opportunity to get an up-to-date and personal feel for what God is doing at our campus.  And God is really doing something great.

A great time for you to come and refresh your view of Team Church is to come AND INVITE OTHERS to our Swim Sunday July 19.  On that Sunday, we will not have our regular Sunday Service at the Rec Center. Instead, we will have a SWIM DAY at the Kershaw Pool & Pavilion at Stevens Park. Join us for a morning of fun and fellowship. You will have the chance to get to know others at Team Church better in a casual setting, we’ll cook out (lunch is free!), and we will hold our first campus baptism celebration – Team Church style! Bring your own chairs and swim gear; lifeguards will be on duty. Find out more about baptism at www.teamchurch.com/baptism.

Some people say that “opposites attract.”  That’s at least true for the huge contrast between the way men and women think and communicate.  What spouse hasn’t said, “Are you even listening to me???”  What spouse hasn’t thought “How did you get that from what I actually said???”  What spouse hasn’t wondered, “How is it that you put the dirty socks on top of the hamper, but NOT IN THE HAMPER???”  Okay maybe that one is just for some of you.

I mentioned Sunday a theory called “Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti.” The difference comes in the way that men think and communicate like their life is made up of compartments like the box-like compartments that make up a waffle, whereas women think and communicate in a world full of connectedness, such as a plate of spaghetti where one noodle may touch every other noodle, and the plate, and the meatballs. Click the titles below to read more about this in a three article blog post:

• I Am A Waffle

• My Wife Is A Plate Of Spaghetti

• How To Enjoy A Plate Of Waffles And Spaghetti

Don’t forget Sunday is Father’s Day.  I say don’t forget, not because the women need a reminder, but because most of us men, if we’re not in our “Scheduling Box,” are oblivious to what day Sunday is.  We’re going to have a great worship element that will inspire you to hug a dad, or become a better one!  You won’t want miss it!

Also, have you made plans for the “Family Day Camp” that will be June 28?  Click on the following link to get all the info about this free fun awesome Sunday event at our 10 for 10 celebration web page.

I’ve been a part of a small group (we call them Home Teams) for several years now.  The format and some of the people have changed over the years, but I’ve always desired to have a small group of people doing relational ministry around the proverbial coffee table.

One of the first groups I became involved in was what we called,  “Supernatural Talk,” that met in the Kershaw bowling alley.  When we finished there, we took the meetings to the home of Jim and Beverly.  And later, the Tuesday night meetings we had in our living room brought me to life like Sundays never could.  Now, Team Church is launched, and beginning 3 or 4 brand new Home Teams in just a week!

It’s mind-blowing how awesome God has been to me in small groups ministry.  I love it.

So tonight marks the last regular meeting of my Home Team before the new format and groups begin.  Tonight will be a very special meeting over at the Timmons’.  The meeting tonight is a little bittersweet though, because it’s not just a celebration of what’s beginning in a week, but also what is coming to a close after several years.

Home Team… Are you ready to go?  As I get nostalgic about my Home Team, I kind of hate to say, “goodbye” to getting together like we used to.  It’s not like we won’t see each other at church, or even that all of us are completely splitting up into different groups, but it will be different.  That group of 12 or 13 is going to now be leading 3 or 4 groups with new venues, formats, and new people.  But I believe we are ready.  We’ve enjoyed the small group life so much, and it’s time to help others experience it too.  Just think about everything we enjoyed from sharing in both the personal losses and victories, to prayers and frustrations, to refrigerator-rights and all the silliness around the coffee pot.  These precious things were a gift that we now get to give to others.

I’m looking forward to tonight.  Some of you maybe ready to get rid of me, and start your own group, ha, ha!  You’re probably looking forward to not having someone side-track the conversation so much as I do.  But it’s been awesome, and it’s been real.  (You remember the last time we did a Home Team kickball game!)  You guys made such a difference in my life, now, are you ready to go and do the same for others?  Love you all.