Church

Over the last 46 years, I’ve been in a number of different churches. I was born, raised, and baptized in a wonderful church in East Peoria, Illinois. I led my first worship song at a one-room church in Caulfield, Missouri. As a teenager, I volunteered at a tent revival in Springfield, Illinois -- and had a blast watching the preacher sweat through a three-piece silk suit. As an adult, I have worshiped at Saddleback Church with Rick Warren (not right next to him, but he did preach). Three years ago I had the privilege of worshiping with fellow believers in Nepal. During my last year of college, I preached for a church of 18 people. I’ve been in large churches and small churches. I’ve seen the church fight the good fight and I’ve seen the church … just fight. What has been your experience with the church? Perhaps your experiences…

Rather than describe the birth of an institution, Acts 2 is about the birth of a movement. The four characteristics we'll explore over the next four weeks are vital to any church becoming a healthy, thriving church. Each of these characteristics also have an individual growth component, as the church is comprised of individuals. What we find in Acts 2 is that the church begins not with a strategy session but with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised them they would not be left as orphans (John 14:18) and that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). For many Christians, the Holy Spirit is the anonymous third wheel of the Trinity. For the early church, it was the Holy Spirit that powered their movement and expansion. While multiple apostles spoke in tongues on Pentecost, it is Peter’s sermon that gets recorded.…

As I write this post, it's sunny and beautiful outside. By this weekend, there's a good chance of rain and more snow. That's one of the reasons we love Colorado (if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes). There's also many reasons to love our church. If you attend Mountainview, you often me hear say "one of the reasons I love our church" -- because it's true. We have many reasons to love our church. I thought I'd take a moment and share a few of those with you. We are almost on pace to baptize one person a week this year. We have doubled the number of Stephen Ministers who provide Christ-centered care. We have doubled the number of teenagers going to CIY this summer. We have doubled the number of middle school students going to Camp Como this summer. Our newest church planting partner has been…