Quartet from NACC Praise Team Wins Recording Opportunity

Matt and the NACC Praise Team are amazing. Every Sunday they lead our church family in praise and worship. They are the best! Today Matt received an exciting letter from Acapella Ministries and I pasted it below. Matt, Keri, Teresa and Kevin responded to a request from Acappella Ministries to record a song and sent it in. Quartets from all over the country sent recordings in but only a few were selected to work on this recording project. Read the letter below and the next time you see our praise team congratulate them. __________________________________________ Dear, Norway Avenue Praise Team. Thank you for your audition for the next Praise & Harmony recording session, June 30th & July 1st. Your overall group has been given a rating of “A”. We are happy to inform you that your quartet has been accepted for this project. Thank you so much for the work and time you put into your audition. Your rating allows you the status to apply for future Praise & Harmony recordings without further auditions. In April, you will be able to download the music and details needed for your preparations. Please pray that this project may equip Christians and glorify our Lord! Keep Pressing On! John J. Bynum Project Coordinator Acappella Ministries 708 Loretta Dr. Goodlettsville, TN. 37072 (580) 399-4758

Invite Children to Our Easter Egg Hunt

Invite the kids in your neighborhood to our easter egg hunt (April 12). They are sure to learn about Jesus and have fun with our children. There are many parents and children in our area that are looking for a church home. Easter is a great day to invite your family and friends. If they have children make sure to invite them to the 9:30am Bible class and 10:30am easter egg hunt. While the children are learning about Jesus downstairs the adults and teens will be worshiping upstairs. Easter is the biggest day of the year for churches. It is a time of celbration and thanksgiving for the resurrection of Christ. Make sure to invite and bring your family and friends and if they have children, tell them about the exciting easter egg hunt. It's going to be a great day!

Dancing with Shayna (Dads and Daughters)

I cherish this picture of Shayna dancing with me. There's something special the relationship between dads and daughters. I have three daughters and I love being their dad! The Lord turns the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6). My heart is full of my children. I love them so much. It's the little-every-day-things. Last night, when I returned from NC, Tori and I laughed together as we played tennis on Wii (she always beats me because she is a pro - a 2000+ player). Then when I picked up Amber from her new job at D.Q. - well, it's hard to describe what I felt. I was parked in a place where I could see her working - I prayed for her and then came memories and flashbacks of when she and her sisters were little girls running around my feet. They are growing so fast and I love each stage. I am excited to see what God does with my daughters. The Lord has good things in store for them and I pray for them daily. I love being their dad.

Age and Gender Distributions of Evangelical Churches

Check out this great website http://religions.pewforum.org/portraits which contains statistical portraits of various religious groups in the U.S. This morning Jeanie Meadows (my sister/secretary) counted the people in our church directory and we compared it to the national average. Our numbers are similar to the pie chart above.

I became interested in learning about the current demographics of our church because I am currently preaching through Joshua and I'm in chapters 13-14 where Joshua takes on a new role (from soldier to administrator) and Caleb takes on the giants in Hebron. We know Caleb was 85. We don't Joshua's exact age but we know he was old because God told him in 13:1 "You are very old." When I read that it dawned on me that these two men were the only senior citizens in the entire nation of Israel. That led to memories of walking in some churches that were predominantly composed of younger people and others that were composed of an older generation. There are various reasons why old-young gravitate toward their own age group but I believe God's ideal is for their to be an intergenerational mix similar to families. I was very encouraged by the chart Jeanie put together. The age and gender distribution looks good to me and I believe it looks good to Jesus. We do, however, need to improve intergenerational relationships. I believe the best way to do that is by serving together. Not a program or a project or a new church ministry. It needs to happen naturally. A great example is the friendship between Robin and Ms. Martha. Two generations - great friends. I pray God will repeatedly create those types of friendships in our church family so his love will flow from generation to generation.

Evangelism Jesus' Style is Simple and Easy

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. When you serve other people, especially the less fortunate, you are planting seed like Jesus. Peter said in Acts 10:38 that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and ... he went around doing good". That's Jesus' style of evangelism. He went around doing good. We make it too hard. We seem to think we are not evangelizing unless we're in some deep theological discussion about the meaning of life. There may be times when that happens but more often than not the most effective evangelism occurs when you are doing simple little things like shoveling snow off your neighbors driveway or fixing a peanut butter sandwiches for neighborhood kids or picking up mail for the widow next door. Somebody asked, "Does that really count? I mean, is that 'real' evangelism?" You bet it is - the best kind. Jesus' style is simple and easy. Just go around doing good things for people and God will make it grow.

Serve like Jesus

Your life has purpose and meaning, but you will never discover it in isolation from others. The meaning you assign your life largely depends on your willingness to serve, love, and work with other people. Service to others is the rent you pay for your room on earth. Do you remeber what Jesus said after he had washed his disciples feet? John 13:12 When [Jesus] had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13 "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.