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What did you learn?

Yesterday at Buckhead we concluded our series on Hope with Louie Giglio. It was a powerful series. In walking the halls yesterday, I heard some great stories about the impact it was having on you and your friends. In fact, the stories and insights were it gave me an idea: We need to share what we learned in this series with each other. This is one of the ways we can encourage each other as the Scriptures command us to do.

With that in mind, I want to encourage you to share your insights to the following two questions here on the blog:

What did you learn from this series?
How will you apply that to your life?

You can comment anonymously if you want. I just think it’s important for us to reflect on the truth that Louie spoke on before moving on to the next Sunday. What did you learn? How will you apply that to your life?

In doing so, we will provide some much needed encouragement for each other because, as Louie pointed out, the rapids are heading our way.

Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

Celebrate

This past Sunday at Buckhead Church we celebrated the baptisms of Philip Daitch, Justin Honaman, Matthew Miller, Sineat Vilichay and Megan Walter. I love these celebrations, so much so that I thought the celebration should continue. Click on the video to hear a couple of our baptism stories from Sunday and then add a comment. It will be a great way for you to encourage them and join in on the celebration.






Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

Get ready Baghdad!!

Yesterday, we had a little team-building exercise with the staff by organizing all of the school supplies you donated for the 33 schools in Baghdad. (I never knew organizing school supplies could be so much fun.)
The question everyone kept asking me was, “Did you have any idea the response would be this big?”

Please know how encouraging it is to be a part of a group of people who actually believe God can change the world through a local church. This is what the Church is supposed to be doing.


Seriously, I don’t think I’ve seen this many crayons since the Crayola 18-wheeler truck dumped crayons all over I-285.

Thank you!!!

Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

Amazing

One word: WOW! WOW! WOW!

Okay, that’s actually three words. I can’t help it though. Yesterday was a WOW day for me. I continue to be amazed at the generosity, passion, and vision of the people in our church. We made one announcement, sent one email, and wrote a couple of entries on our blog about our desire to provide school supplies for 33 schools in dire need in Baghdad. The result: we are sending a boatload of school supplies to Army Chaplain Bryan Smith stationed there. Boy, is he going to be “WOWED,” not to mention the students who will now have crayons, notebooks, paper, and other supplies. (The photo captures the supplies just in our overflow room. We had to create room here since the bins were filling up.) More details on the school supply drive will be on the blog throughout the week. I promise.

Yesterday was also a WOW because of the baptisms in the services. Are you kidding me? The stories of life change were amazing. God is on the move in our community in massive ways. These stories were yet another example of this.

Louie’s message on Hope was one of the best I’ve ever heard. Thanks for inviting your friends. I heard so many stories of unchurched friends and family members who came to Buckhead for the first time yesterday. What a great Sunday for them to be there.

And as if that weren’t enough, I had the privilege of teaching the Bible story in UpStreet yesterday at 11:00 a.m. I’m so grateful to our volunteers and staff who pull off this amazing environment for elementary-aged children each Sunday. It truly is a WOW moment for me as a dad to see my daughter engaged in worship and hearing truths from Scripture.

That’s enough from me. I would like to hear your comments about yesterday—from school supplies to Hope to whatever. What did you learn, experience, and resonate with? Click comment and let us know.

Thanks again for a great Sunday.


Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

This Sunday at Buckhead Church

This coming Sunday will be an important day for our church. We begin a brand new series with Louie Giglio entitled Hope: When Life Hurts Most. I can't encourage you enough to bring your friends to church on Sunday, particularly those who have concluded there is no God because of the pain of tragedy and difficult circumstances.

The other reason it will be an important day is because of what we are doing in response to our last series, How To Be Rich. We are partnering with Army Chaplain Bryan Smith, who is stationed in Baghdad. Chaplain Smith is attempting to provide school supplies for 33 schools by October 1. We are asking you to bring some specific school supplies with you to church this Sunday. Please read Wednesday's blog entry for details. Let’s WOW Chaplain Smith and the 33 schools with our incredible generosity. After all, we’re rich.

Thank you for what you are doing as we attempt to share the news of Jesus from Buckhead to Baghdad. It’s an honor to serve alongside you.

Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

From Buckhead to Baghdad, Part 2

Okay, here’s our plan. We are providing school supplies for 30 schools in Baghdad. We are working with officials from the U.S. military. (For more information, check out Monday’s blog.)

We need the following supplies:

Pencils
Crayons
Lined paper
Spiral notebooks
Glue sticks

We’re asking you to bring these supplies with you to church this coming Sunday, September 23rd. There will be bins at all entrances and the information center for you to drop off the supplies.

To give you an idea of the need, here is an email from Army Chaplain Bryan Smith:
My name is Bryan Smith, I am an Army Chaplain stationed in a based in Baghdad. I recently went on patrol with my Soldiers and we visited two schools. They have no school supplies. No notebooks, paper, pens or pecils nothing. They didn't even have their text books yet. Their text books are kept in another part of Baghdad and the teachers go in that neighborhood and they don't know them…... I walked the streets and alleys of the Karhk District of Baghdad. The people are poor and have 40% unemployment….Our brigade has ordered backpacks and some school supplies. But it is not near enough. It is not even enough for our little area. There are 33 schools in our area. I have been tasked to figure out what supplies the schools need to open. School starts 1 Oct….. In Christ Jesus CH(CPT) Bryan Smith

More details will soon be on the way. In the meantime, please spread the news to your friends, family and small group.

Thanks!!

Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

Show & Tell vs. Hide & Seek

Do you remember “Show & Tell” when you were a kid? It was always a hit! It seemed to be the teacher’s wild card. I, personally, believe that an extremely creative teacher with poor planning skills invented it . . . “Guess what tomorrow is class?—Show & Tell!” Translation: “I am way behind in my lesson planning and kids love to talk about the things they love!” And “Show & Tell” was born. The key to its success is that people love to make known to others the things they really value. But I think it taught us all something really dangerous. To some degree, it programmed us to value only the things that are cool or fun or pretty, and, by default, taught us to keep the other stuff hidden.

Which reminds me of another classic from childhood: “Hide & Seek.” This one is timeless. In fact, I recently heard about a group of 20-somethings at Buckhead Church who’ve been playing this at one of our Fusion leader’s homes on the weekends. From what I understand, they even mix it up every once in a while and play one of my favorite variations of this classic— “Sardines.” That’s where one person hides and everyone else tries to find him, and once he is found, everyone else joins him until the last person discovers the group.

I’m not a psychologist, and I’m not trying to suggest that these games are evil . . . that would be weird! I’m just wondering if our communities reflect these games more than they do what God desires for us. I reflexively move toward hiding and away from showing and telling . . . especially when it comes to the not-so-pretty aspects of life. It’s easier and less embarrassing, but also very lonely.

Personal confession has been practiced in the church for generations. Some church denominations are better about making a habit of their everyday faith practices than others, but, truthfully, none of us really enjoy it. But it is something that is ESSENTIAL for growing faith communities. As I was reflecting on some of the things God has been teaching me lately, the thought that came to me was, “Who am I telling . . . the good, the bad, and the ugly, as they say, of what God is revealing to me, about me, my relationships, my priorities, my character?

So last week, I decided to stop hiding and start showing and telling in my community group. It was awesome! So without a ton of detail, here’s what’s up with me…

• Through Don Miller at the Labor Day Retreat, God revealed to me that I am finding validation in people, stuff, and my achievements. God is teaching me that finding freedom is finding that validation in Him—Alone!
• Through Andy’s series How to Be Rich, God is teaching me that not only am I rich, but that I use my riches more for me than anyone else.
• Through my wife and son, God is teaching me that I am prioritizing the wrong things, that His will for my life is to be a reflection of Him and that is more about being a husband to my wife and a father to my son than it is about being a pastor in our church.

Those are some of the things God is teaching me . . . it is messy, hard, and incredibly freeing to reveal!

What about you? This is your invitation to “Show & Tell?” Comments???

joel

joel thomas
director of college & singles

From Buckhead to Baghdad

Yesterday we closed out the four-part series, “How to be Rich.” This was a perspective-altering series for many of us. As one person told me after the 11 am service, “I think this series has changed my life. I’ll never view my resources the same way ever again.”

If you weren’t with us over the last four weeks, you really need to listen to the messages on-line.

Before we move on to the next series, I want us to wrestle with the tension of the following question: What are we going to DO?” Let’s not squander the momentum God has created over the last four weeks. Let’s do something. After all, we’re rich.

Yesterday at Buckhead, I mentioned an idea to that effect. My friend and fellow staff member Kendra Fleming is working on a project to provide school supplies to 30 schools in Baghdad. That’s right, Baghdad, as in Iraq. She was looking for some staff members to help contribute and then I thought of the thousands that attend Buckhead Church. What would happen if we came to the rescue?


Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. We are asking each person or family to provide school supplies. We’re working through the details right now and will have more information on the blog tomorrow. In the meantime, discuss this with your small group, friends or family and think about what you can to do.

After all, we want to be a church that is rich in good deeds.

Thanks!


Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

You’re a Winner, Buckhead Church

Congratulations everyone. Your generosity, commitment, and passion for our mission are being recognized in a variety of ways. The latest happened Wednesday night at the Georgia Aquarium as the Urban Land Institute presented Buckhead Church with its Project of Excellence Award. The ULI recognizes development projects that stand out as examples of “smart growth through the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities.”

Consider this. On Wednesday night, over 700 members of the Urban Land Institute gathered together to hear the unique story of what God is doing through you at Buckhead Church. Wow.

I thought you might enjoy seeing your award. Congratulations.

And remember, it’s not about Buckhead Church. It’s about Buckhead.

Jeff

Jeff Henderson
Campus Director

SINGLES LABOR DAY RETREAT

If you missed it . . . well, you really missed it!!

Over 900 of us from North Point, Buckhead, and Browns Bridge returned last week from our annual Singles retreat in beautiful Destin, Florida—almost 600 were from Buckhead Church alone!

The weekend was full of opportunities to connect by competing in golf, tennis, and volleyball tournaments, as well as beach Olympics and moonlit Ultimate Frisbee for those who like to be active. Our “lounge” was a more laid-back environment where people connected with friends, watched football games, and enjoyed live music.

SHIFT was the theme of the weekend, built around the messages of Donald Miller, author of the New York Times bestseller Blue Like Jazz, who joined us as our main speaker (http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/). Kristian Stanfill and his band engaged us each session in passionate worship, partnering with Don as he attempted to “shift” our perspective on those outside the church. Some of it was profoundly basic, like “other people exist” and “people won’t listen to you unless they know you like them.” And some of it was very fresh and insightful, like “introducing someone to the gospel is about introducing them to a being, not a system of beliefs.” The most critical, perspective-shifting concept for me was this: “If we don’t find deep, true validation in God, we won’t truly love those we are trying to reach with the gospel. We’ll only use them to feel validated ourselves as ‘good Christians.’”

We also partnered with Nathan George and Trade As One, a nonprofit organization that uses sustainable businesses to address the issue of global poverty by selling high-quality products made in developing countries in the American consumer market. This is an excerpt from an email Nathan sent out after the retreat:

Our target for the weekend was to sell $13,000. We sold precisely $20,212.50. Given that about $6,000 in sales provides a job for a full year, North Point, Buckhead, and Browns Bridge declared the year of the Lord’s favor to three women in about five hours of frantic activity at the boutique.

How cool is it that in five hours God used the consumer dollars of our community to rescue three women from having to prostitute themselves in order to provide life’s basic necessities for them and their families. For more information on Trade As One, or to purchase their products and join the cause, click on http://tradeasone.com/content/view/33/89/.

We concluded the weekend with worship and communion on the beach, with the baptism of over 40 people. There has been an incredible response to the weekend, and as the Singles pastor at Buckhead Church, I’m excited to see how God will use it in our lives to impact our community.

joel

joel thomas
director of college & singles

MARRIEDLIFE LIVE THIS WEEKEND...ANOTHER FIRST!

The last six months at Buckhead Church have been full of “firsts.” We opened the doors in May for our first services at our new home in Tower Place. This summer brought our first Starting Point classes, GroupLinks, summer camps, and the first Promotion Sunday for children. This Saturday (Sept 15), we are excited to roll out . . . our FIRST-EVER MARRIEDLIFE LIVE in the new building!

MarriedLife Live is an awesome quarterly event that offers married couples an evening of laughter, great music, and the creative presentation of relevant truths to empower and enrich their marriages! MarriedLife Live is for married couples of all ages . . . from newlyweds to empty nesters! This weekend’s MarriedLife Live is all about communication and is shaping up to be one of the best events we’ve ever offered! Trust me when I say you don’t want to miss it!

We have a ton more room in our new building for MarriedLife Live to grow! This is why we need your help in two specific ways…

1. ATTEND and BRING SOME FRIENDS! I know this is kind of last-minute, but it is not too late to attend this weekend! Talk it over with your spouse and then invite some friends, neighbors, and folks in your community group. Typically, we want you to buy tickets in advance ($12 each), but this time around, simply arrive at the auditorium at Buckhead Church around 7 p.m., and you can buy them at the door!

2. As this environment grows, we are going to need people to VOLUNTEER TO HELP us make it happen! It is a great way to “give back,” but also to meet some other great couples in the process! For every MarriedLife Live, we specifically need help with set-up (typically on the Thursday before the event), hosting and greeting at the event (in the auditorium and parking lot), and breaking down after the event.

If you have questions or want to volunteer, simply email Katie.Peters@buckheadchurch.org and we’ll get you plugged in! If you can’t make this one, be sure to put Saturday, November 3, on the calendar for the next one! We hope to see you this week at the very first MarriedLife Live in Tower Place!

Be there.

Billy

Billy Phenix
Director of Family Ministry/MarriedLife
Buckhead Church