Fw: New Year

Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless by,

Chris Morgan
423-593-5735

-----Original message-----

From: "cmaxfligo@comcast.net" <cmaxfligo@comcast.net>
To: cmaxfligo.clay@blogger.com
Sent: Sat, Jan 1, 2011 05:19:32 GMT+00:00
Subject: New Year

I have been hit by the devil tonight, Robin wanted to go to 3:20 after we watched a movie and I pitched a little fit, little, it wasn't a big tantrum but still.  We go and how big a fool I was, God showed up big time, as if He shows up any other way.  I've heard that whatever you're doing on New Years Eve or day that is what you'll be doing the coming year, well amen, cause I've been praising God with my hands held high with my wife right next to me.  God is so awesome, I hope you all have a wonderful night and happy new year!

Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless by,

Chris Morgan
423-593-5735

Congratulation to Chris and Stephanie on your marriage, may God bless your marriage and this new journey together.

ABS newsletter

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and you have a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration wherever that may be, I think we are gonna do the 3:20 thing at the church, weather permitting. Here's the last email from Mark for the year, see you all soon.

It’s a peaceful week. Here we are, perched between Christmas and New Year. All is quiet, but there is a sense of impending opportunity. We are preparing for a NEW year with new expectations and a re-newed hope in our God. Honestly, I have no idea what is in store during 2011, but I am confident that God will reign supreme and that He will act for His glory and His good. As I pray for our fellowship as we prepare for this year, I am praying that our lives will posture to live, move, act, and become for His good and His glory. I am praying for a 2011 beyond what we could ask or imagine. May God find great glory in His church and in His people. Happy New Year!

For the sake of simplicity, here are just a few things that you should know….

- 3/20 Tomorrow Night – 9 – 12:15ish. Students bring in the New Year with Christ as the apex!

- All activities are a ‘go’ for Sunday, January 2. We do have evening worship, but no kids activities in the evening. I absolutely LOVE Joseph… enjoy studying his life and his impact this Sunday!

- WELCOME to our New Student Pastors – TJ Joy and Steven Platt.

o January 15 after the evening service, we will welcome our new student pastors officially. I would LOVE for our ABS to be involved, so here are a few more details so that you can prepare your class.

§ 9 AM ABS Groups – you will ‘pound’ the Joy family. They are in their first house and enjoying making it a home. I will be asking you guys to provide a basket that ‘pounds’ or prepares each room (kitchen/ bath/ etc)

§ 10:30 AM ABS Groups – you will welcome the Platt family. They have lived here and they are established. So, I am thinking more along the lines of a ‘theme’ basket from your group. Examples are: Movie Night or Date Night or Night on the Town…. You can have MUCH fun being creative and welcoming them.

- You can being discussing this week and I will be explicit in information next week. In fact, I will assign 9 AM classes to a room (ie – kitchen) in the home.

What a great treat to welcome staff to our team!

Have an amazing New Year. I hope that you live with great expectation today. Christ is resurrected, therefore how can we live any other way than for the sake of His greatness, wonder, and awe. We truly exist because we believe that God transforms lives…. He changes our views of death… He transforms lifestyles… He transforms hopes… He provides priority…. He is our passion and purpose. Because Christ does transform, we are believing much from Him. (Romans 12.1 – 2) I am so thankful to be a partner in the gospel with you. Enjoy a peaceful few days and let’s prepare a God-sized year.

By Grace… For Glory,

Mark

Christmas Party

Had a great time tonight thanks Brian and Jenn for opening you home to us and hosting the party, the few pics I took are on the photostream.

Chris

Mission Update

Just want to say thank you to the guys that made it out to the Food Bank this morning. We got a lot accomplished and there is still more to do. Sometime in January we will be helping put the cooler and freezer units together and possibly some shelving as well. When I have a date for January I will let you all know, hopefully a lot sooner than this last time. We will need as many as we can get when we go the next time due to the amount of work that will need to be done and it won't, hopefully, be as labor intensive as today was. More info to come, also there are more pics added to the photostream from this morning, its taking a while to get them all uploaded from my phone but its working on it.

Thanks again, Chris

ABS newsletter

We exist to reach and teach about the transformational power of Jesus Christ! If the preceding statement is to be found true among us, we need to increasingly become a people of focus and passion. Paul, in the Letter to the Church at Philippi, wrote some simple, yet astounding words. He said, ‘I want to know Christ….’ In the simplest form, those words are our only shot at fulfilling our mission. We want to know Christ. More than any other good on this planet, we want to know Christ. More than any other pursuit of our lives, we want to know Christ. We want to know Him…. to see Him… to pursue Him…. to glory in Him…. and to be used by Him to elevate His glory. I am very confident that we will reach and teach of the transformational power of Jesus Christ WHEN we write on our hearts that the consuming desire of our soul is to know Christ. I want to know Christ and, out of that knowledge, to make Him known!

Christmas is great and one of my absolute favorite times of the year. There are so many exciting things going on during this Season. Feel free to venture back to last week’s e mail if you need the calendar for December. A favorite saying of mine over the last several Christmas seasons flows something like this…..’I want to be far less about consumption and far more about compassion.’ In other words, I want to worry far less about my needs and the crazy and excessive spending during the Christmas Season so that my resources are available to meet the needs of the world around me. Enjoy a phenomenal Christmas season. Enjoy a debt free Christmas! Want to think more about compassion? Check out:

www.adventconspiracy.com

www.compassion.com

This Sunday will be another significant spiritual marker in the life of Valley View. This Sunday…..

- We will adopt a budget that will cast vision for 2011 and will impact our ministries for the next 12 months. What an exciting reality to vote about a budget, but even more, to implement a vision that will impact the Nations; this city; our students; our senior adults; food banks in this area; the Honduras; our preschoolers; our discipleship; Royal Family Kids; our children; and SO much more. We GET to give so that Valley View will reach and teach of the transformational power of Jesus Christ!

- We will vote to affirm the call of T.J. Joy (Malyssa) as our High School Pastor and Steven Platt (Ashley) as our Middle School Pastor. We will be voting to put leaders in place who will affect our students and those who volunteer and invest in our students and in the family’s of students. This Sunday will be a massive moment that will have implications for many years to come. We are praying that God will raise up a generation of students who radically advance the passion and purpose of Christ for their lives. We believe HUGE things for our students…. Ephesians 3.20!

This is a big deal Sunday! Come expectant!!

Let’s Pray….

- Pray for uncommon unity within our body

- Pray for continuously expectant hearts. After all, Christ is resurrected and He has chosen to live in and through us. Ask God to raise our level of expectancy

- Pray for a church-wide move of people who refuse to indebt themselves this Christmas!

- Pray for God to prepare the hearts of our students as we move into God’s ‘next’ in the ministry through them

- Pray for our Pastor! God has blessed us with a great pastor

- Pray for our staff! God has blessed us with an amazing staff

- Ask God to move in ways that simply cannot be explained by men. Join with me in praying that the people of Taylorville will have no capacity to grasp why we are who we are and how fresh God is among us!

It is such a remarkable thing to share life with you! As I move through Thanksgiving and into the Christmas Season, I find myself giving such levels of thanks for you…. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of what God is doing in and through Valley View…. Thanks for believing that God will use this body to transform our lives and to transform the culture around us and to move our lives into His transformational work around the world! I am deeply grateful that we are partners in the gospel! Have an amazing weekend and come expectant Sunday…. Expectant for changed lives… finances adopted… student leaders affirmed…. Salvation to spring from our worship… our hearts changed. Come expectant!

By Grace… For Glory,

Mark

Christmas Party

Christmas Party will be at our house tomorrow at 6:30 pm. Please remember that we will be doing a gift exchange "dirty santa". So bring a gift per person. Please let me know if you need directions. jshort223@hotmail.com See ya tomorrow!

Jenn

ABS newsletter

Sorry this is late I was out of town when I got the email but anyway, this is the email from Mark from last Thursday the 2nd. Chris

Transformation = a marked change; as in appearance or character. I really like that definition of transformation. I am praying for a marked change in my own character and in the character of our church as we pursue Christ and as He pursues us. As long as we are living and moving, He is willing to breathe life into us and to continually transform us into His image. Now, what really amazes me about our God is that He allows us to be a people who are invited into His transforming work. Honestly, I find that to be absolutely crazy. God… the God of the universe…. the One True God invites us in and chooses to use us for His good and His glory. Amazing! 2 Corinthians 5.11 – 21 are verses that simply leave you undone and wide open to the goodness and wonder of God and for your purpose in His economy.

We truly do exist to reach and teach of His transformational work and His glorious goodness.

Because we are in the midst of His ministry of reconciliation, we are organizing our lives and our fellowship around His transforming work. We are asking God to compel us to be a people of His Word (disciples) who deeply love and are committed on one another (community). Our commitment to one another leaves those who do not yet know Christ to be drawn toward Him (community). Even more, our passion for Christ compels us to serve the world and for those around to take notice of His life through us (mission). It is great to be a follower of Christ! I am praying that we shared in a marked change in our character so that we mark this world for the sake of the gospel!!

Good Things are Happening around here…..

- It is Christmas Season. The Messiah is born! Because it is Christmas:

o Kid’s in Tuscaloosa will celebrate more fully because our fellowship is providing Christmas via the trees in the mall/ gathering area

o Our children are preparing to lead us in worship (Sunday Night, Dec 12)

o Our adults are preparing to lead us in worship (Sunday, Dec 19)

o We will share in communion and carols (Christmas Eve, Dec 24)

I love Christmas!

- You have prayed with us for leaders for our students and God seems to have answered that prayer! Last night (Wed), we shared of the awesome news of our Middle School Pastor (Steven Platt) and our High School Pastor (T.J. Joy) being recommended by our Personnel team to join the Valley View vision and mission. I am attaching the brochure that we put on the table if you missed it last night. On Wednesday, Dec 8 these two guys will be in the adult worship and it is an excellent time to hear their heart. After they share, the personnel chair and several staff will be available for Q & A. Based upon the joy of the staff and the recommendation of the Personnel team, we will be affirming the call of these two men on Sunday morning, December 12! I wrote a note to the Personnel Team, as we prepared for a meeting a few weeks ago. Since you guys are the core leaders of our entire church, I am cutting and pasting that note below. It will give you great insight into this search and how God led us to these two guys and what He is doing among us. These are GREAT days! (See note below at the end of this e mail)

Our Schedule for the Next Few Weeks

- December 5 – Regular Schedule

- December 8 – Adults in Gym/ Potential Student Pastors in Gym with us

- December 12 – Regular Schedule (Adopt 2011 Budget/ Vote to Affirm Call of Student Pastors in AM)

- December 12 PM – New Member’s Class @ 4:45 PM

- December 12 PM– Kid’s Choir in PM

- December 15 – Regular Schedule

- December 19 – Regular Schedule

- December 19 PM – Adult Choir/ Worship Team in PM

- December 22 – NO Activities

- December 24 @ 4 PM – Carols & Communion

- December 26 – ONE SERVICE @ 10 AM

- December 29 – NO Activities

- January 2 – Regular Schedule (No Kid’s Activities @ Night, but PM worship is ON)

- January 5 – Back on Schedule!

This is a great season in the life of our church. We are experiencing change…. and new…. and life… and we are asking God to mark us for His sake. I am so thankful to share in this journey with you. I am so grateful that God is allowing me to experience His transforming work among us. Pray for our fellowship. Pray for your groups. Pray for an outpouring of the presence, Person, and power of God and let us expect that God can and will do His work among us in ways that cannot be explained by man. I long for the people of Tuscaloosa to be in awe of God in and through the life of this church. That requires that we be a people who are experiencing His transforming work in and among us. Have an amazing Christmas Season! Spend wisely; Live generously; Allow Peace to rule in what many have defined as a season of chaos. We are a people who must be driven far less by consumption and far more by compassion! Merry‘Christ was born and it transforms everything about us’ season! I love you guys!!

By Grace…. For Glory,

Mark

Saying a Temporary Good-Bye

I have never been good at saying good-bye. I have actually avoided it most of my life. I hate the idea of possibly never seeing someone again, especially the ones you care about. I actually did it again Sunday. After our ABS, I look over at 2 great people in our class and said I not saying bye. I don't know why. I am now hating those comments I made. Know this Leon and Gina, you are in my heart, my prayers and on my mind until you return. I hope your time with your family is something special. May the light that you carry of Christ shine while you visit with all your family. I will miss you both and look forward to January we you get back. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Brian

Mission Update

December 11th we will meet at the church and leave the church parking lot at 6:45am, we will be going to the new location for the Food Bank. The new building needs a lot of clean up on the outside of the building, tree removal, weed eating, grass cutting, etc. This will not be a clean job so be prepared to get dirty. We have two chain saws and weed eaters, a third or fourth chain saw would not hurt, also another weed eater. Bring gloves and 400mg Ibuprofen, we will need to move the debris to the front part of the parking lot, so very labor intensive, be ready.

Now that I have scared everyone away with all the hard labor, I can't stress to you enough how much of an impact we are having on the lives of the workers at the food bank. Every time I talk to Henry he continues to thank me and us for our willingness to help, this is a quote from my last conversation with him on Monday, "I want you to know how grateful we are to have your group be willing to help out, a lot of people want to help but they just don't know how and they end up just getting in the way, but your group seems to know how and when to help and we really appreciate you", listen when you have someone tell you that you are the only ones that seem to step up and get things done its an awesome feeling but more than that, can you see the God thing here? I can, we're not a "SUPER POWER" group but we have allowed for our feet and hands to be used by the only true SUPER POWER and He is faithful to allow us to be part of His plan when we seek His will. I hope all of you will be able to help on that Saturday morning and if you have any questions you can email me or just call, by the way the new building is located across the street from Northport Auto Supply on Hwy 82, right behind the Cadence Bank, its a big white metal building, entrance on the right, passed the Bank.

Remember, your blessing may not be what you receive, but what you give.

Have a blessed week in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Chris