Connecting and Equipping

My wife Lorene (director of Women's Ministries at FBCG) recently received a beautiful email from a woman who is in the process of
connecting to FBCG as a new church home. She describes first visiting our Moms Together ministry and then taking the step of visiting FBCG for worship. She describes "the difference I feel when I walk into your church - the joy in the building, the people that are truly welcoming and happy to be there and accepting people from all walks of life and the simplicity of the worship service..." She goes on to describe how she and her daughters "already don't want to miss a Sunday and this is what I've always wanted - to be truly committed and to be strong enough in my faith that it is natural to sing His songs, talk about Him, pray and love Him with all of our hearts." In short, she describes her desire not just to connect to a church family, but also a longing to be equipped in her faith.

We find ourselves using these words - CONNECTING and EQUIPPING a great deal these days in FBCG
leadership circles - not just because they emerged from the church-wide survey we conducted back in the fall - but because we believe they lie at the very heart of what it means to be the Church of Jesus Christ. As we seek to strengthen FBCG we looked into God's word for guidance:

Connecting:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship..." (Acts 2:42-47)

By connecting we mean intentionally welcoming people into the mission and fellowship of FBCG.

Equipping:

"...and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be
built up." (Ephesians 4:11-13)

By equipping we mean preparing believers for maturity/service through an intentional process of spiritual growth.

While are excited at what we are learning together as leaders of FBCG - we recognize that we have much yet to learn about becoming a connecting and equipping church. Again, we thank you for your participation in the survey and ask for your continued prayers as we continue to seek God's will for FBCG!

Next @ FBCG

So What's Happening with the Survey?

Why did we do the survey?

After being on two campuses for four years, and recently revisiting the Phase 2 project for the West Campus, it became evident we needed to make sure
we understand the needs and hearts of our congregation before moving forward with a building project of significant magnitude. Our congregation now
totals over 3,500 - with weekend worship attendance of 1,600-1,800.

What did the surveys say?

The feedback from the Transforming Church Index survey was extremely encouraging - with our congregation identifying many
strengths within FBCG! The
survey results are helping us understand both who we are as a church family, and where we must focus our attention as we look toward the future.
Along
with the many strengths identified, our congregation also identified areas of our church life needing to be strengthened including feeling
connected
to FBCG and others, and intentional spiritual growth.

In response, our leadership believes God is calling FBCG to be a church that:

• Reaches people and families in our local community


• Connects people and families to FBCG and to each other


• Equips people and families for service, both locally and globally, through a process of intentional spiritual growth


• Glorifies Christ

What are we going to do next?

As we move forward, we want to retain the unique characteristics that God used to build this church family. We will continue to value multiple worship styles, multiple generations, ministry to all ages, and serving the world. We will focus new attention and energy to find and implement ways to deepen the connectivity of our church family and equip our congregation to reach and serve our church, our community and the world!

A few small steps:

Since receiving the survey results, the Executive Council and staff leadership have met to understand the results and discuss the implications for
FBCG. We have already launched several ministry initiatives designed to address issues we identified through the survey:

1. Seven couple's small groups involving 42 couples were formed following the Couple's Event in late February.


2. "Built to Last," a new class designed to help young married couples strengthen their marriages and build connections with each other, was
   launched in February at the West Campus.


3. Our recent sermon series, "Everything You Need: The Pathway of Spiritual Growth," was accompanied by a "Spiritual Growth Tool" on our fbcg.com
   website. The tool was designed to help people take intentional steps toward spiritual growth.

What can we expect?

We are planning several more events over the next couple of months, which will expand on the number of people involved in this process and
will allow us to begin developing specific action steps and ministry initiatives to help us move in the above outlined directions. We expect to define specific areas of work to preserve our strengths as well as address these new opportunities. We know representatives across the church will need to be dynamically involved in these efforts to move FBCG to the next step God intends us to take. We encourage you to continue praying for this process and to begin prayerfully considering your participation as we move forward.

Puppy Training - from Jeff Frazier

Puppy Training
by Jeff Frazier

This past December we welcomed a new member into our family, her name is Ivy, and she is a black goldendoodle puppy. Having a puppy changes things a little; actually it changes things a lot! We are devoting a disconcerting amount of time, energy and money on the health and development of our new pet. We have taken her to the vet three times, read numerous books on puppy training, and purchased a wide array of toys and other puppy paraphernalia. We do all of this because we want her to grow into a healthy and happy family pet. We have a vision, if you will, of the kind of dog she could become, and we are going to help her get there. God has a vision too; He has a vision for each one of us. God has a vision of the kind of man or woman He wants you to become and He wants to help you get there.

One of the things that I am learning about training a puppy is that puppies need constant praise and encouragement. The conventional wisdom from the puppy experts seems to be that positive reinforcement is far more effective than negative. My wife is constantly reminding me about the "tone" I use with Ivy, and I must confess that she (Ivy, not my wife) seems a little scared of me. I think that people are much the same as puppies in this respect. We all need a little encouragement now and then. When it comes to the area of spiritual disciplines, most people automatically feel bad or guilty. We feel as if we aren't doing all that we should or could. We may even feel like God must be displeased with us since we aren't very spiritually disciplined. The truth is that spiritual disciplines are meant to help us grow in our love for God and in our understanding of His love for us. In short, to help us grow into the kind of people that God has envisioned.

Throughout this series we have been providing weekly resources and spiritual challenges on our church website to help you grow. These challenges are not meant to make you feel guilty or bad, they are not meant to be a burden, a duty, or an obligation. They are simply tools to help you along the pathway toward the life God has for you. So let me offer you a little encouragement and positive reinforcement. God is not waiting for you to get yourself together or clean up your act before He will work with you. He is already at work in you...so why not join Him?

Pastor Jeff

Personal Spiritual Growth Tool

Left-handed Lay-ups

Left-handed Lay-ups

Two nights ago I sat at a high school basketball game and watched as a player (who happened to be my son) caught the ball, knifed between a pair of
defenders, and deftly flipped the ball off the backboard and into the basket - with his left hand. While in one sense it was just one of
several dozen
baskets scored in the contest, in another sense, it was remarkable because I happened to know that player is right handed!

How does a ball player acquire the ability to use his weaker and less coordinated hand in that way? The answer, of course, is "by practice." The only
way to develop that skill is by practicing hundreds and hundreds of left-handed lay-ups - that is, by investing time and effort in an intentional
process of growth!

In his book, The Divine Conspiracy, author Dallas Willard writes, "The place where you most need to be
conformed to the image of Christ is the place where you are least like him." That's the purpose of our current sermon series, Everything You Need: The pathway of spiritual growth! When Peter tells us,

"For this very reason make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge
self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love."

I believe he is telling us that God wants us to learn to shoot left-handed lay-ups, spiritually speaking. He wants us to grow in specific ways and he
wants us to know that growth requires intentional effort on our part. In order to help you in this process we have created a "tool" on our church
website. Just click here - Personal Spiritual
Growth Tool - to begin your own process of intentional spiritual growth in 2009!

We are also in this same process of learning to shoot left-handed lay-ups as a church family! As you know, we conducted a major survey of our
congregation back in August and September and our leadership has been working with Kevin Ford (author of The
Transforming Church ) and his organization to understand what the survey tells us about our strengths and weaknesses as a church. We have a
two-day leadership retreat coming up on January 23-24 when we will be wrestling with these issues again. We
simply want to ask you to keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek God's wisdom and direction for FBCG!

Thanks in advance for your prayers and support!

 

What better time?

What Better Time?

Lose weight.

Get out of debt.

Spend more time with family.

Stop smoking.

Go to church.

Those were a few of the top New Year's resolutions reported in a recent survey of more than 300,000 Americans. Maybe you've thought about a few of
the items on that list, maybe not, but almost all of us long to be something more and better than we are right now - it's just how we are made as human beings.

The beginning of a new year is a natural time to think about change and growth. The old year with its pains, frustrations and mistakes, is gone. And a new year - with 365 blank pages in the calendar - lies ahead. What will we do with this gift? What shall we become? Who shall we become?

This past weekend Jeff and I began a new series of messages at FBCG entitled, Everything You Need: The pathway of spiritual growth.For nine weeks we are going to work our way through an astonishingly simple yet profound passage of scripture found in 2 Peter 1:1-8. We believe that in these eight verses God has laid out a pathway of spiritual growth that he invites each one of us to walk - in our own way.

Our hope is that through this series you will be able to build your own personal growth plan for the New Year. In fact, we have created a "personal growth tool" to help you in this process. Here's how it works:

• Get your Bible and a journal


• Go to www.fbcg.com


• Click on the icon for Personal Spiritual Growth Tool


• In Step 1 you will find a personal spiritual challenge that comes right out of the sermon from that week (if you miss a sermon
  or would like to listen again you can do so by downloading a message from the website)


• In Step 2 you will be introduced to ministry programs at FBCG - or other resources - that are designed to help you grow in
  that particular area of spiritual life


• In Step 3 you will be encouraged to do some further study in God's Word to deepen your personal relationship with God

Spiritual growth is God's desire for each one of us. It all begins with Christ's call on our lives and in our hearts. But, like any commitment to
personal change - it doesn't happen without intentional effort! I hope you will take this opportunity to jump into the spiritual growth challenge with both feet! What better time?

Visit my blog, Coffey Break.  I'd love to hear from you.

www.fbcg.com

The Most Wonderful Time

The Most Wonderful Time
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." So begins Charles Dickens' timeless novel, "A Tale of Two Cities." I remembered that line as I was thinking about what it means to celebrate Christmas in 2008 -- and how often it is the "worst" around us that allows us to see the "best" within us.

Many of us are reeling from the impact of one of the worst economic downturns in our nation's history. While some have suffered "only" the loss of retirement or investment funds, others have lost income, jobs, and even homes. We have also felt the impact as a church -- having already cut 10% of our annual budget in response to a drop in our collective giving. Yet, in the midst of the economic bad news, we see expressions of faithfulness, generosity and good news. Our offerings last weekend totaled over $87,000 which is very encouraging because December is a critical month in our giving cycle. Food donated in this weekend's food drive will enable us to share with dozens of struggling families through the ministry of our Food Pantry. And our Benevolent Fund continues to minister aid to those in critical need. We are also planning to offer a Financial Workshop after the holidays that will provide an opportunity for families to acquire the necessary tools and information to weather this economic storm. Some of the "best" things come into view through some of the "worst" of times!

Through the recent TCI survey of the congregation we have also begun to understand some of the "best" and "worst" things about FBCG! We have learned that we are pretty good at providing quality programs, preaching, worship and financial leadership. Yet we have also learned that we aren't so good at providing a sense of fellowship and connection to the church as a genuine community of care. But because you have been willing to share your experiences and opinions, we believe we will be able to work together to address these issues and become just that kind of community - and that is a very, very, good thing!

And as I think about all these things it is impossible not to see the connection to the story we celebrate at this time of year. It is, of course, the story of the God who chose the worst of times to do the best of things. It's the story of the God who chose to do the unthinkable; to take on human flesh, to step out of the glory of heaven and into this sinful and broken world. The Apostle John said he came like a light to a dark place. The angels announced that his coming would bring good news and great joy to a world full of bad news and deep sorrow. The prophets told us he would come so that we would know we are never alone - because he is, and always will be, Immanuel, the God who is with us. We know him as Jesus, who was born so long ago, but is born again in our hearts by faith, that we might bring his good news to our world.

As you celebrate this Christmas; as you observe family traditions, exchange gifts, sing carols and enjoy all the special events at FBCG; take a moment alone somewhere along the way and ponder again how Jesus transforms even the worst of times into the best of times - and transforms even the worst in us into his best for us!

Have a merry and blessed Christmas season! Pastor Brian

www.fbcg.com

Fun of Giving

The Fun of Giving

Quick question: Which is more fun – to receive a great gift on Christmas morning, or to watch the face of someone you love as they open a gift you have given that you KNOW is the perfect gift? I think most of us would agree that giving the perfect give is WAY more fun than receiving the perfect gift! But why is that? What is it about giving that brings such joy to our souls?

I believe giving produces joy because that’s the way God made us. I also believe that giving produces joy because it is an expression of love. Think about it: we tend to give gifts to people we love. We tend to give generously toward causes that we are passionate about. It is the combination of love and generosity that always generates joy!

At FBCG we celebrate generosity because we know that our generosity not only produces joy but pleases the heart of God. About 6 weeks ago we, as leaders, communicated that FBCG had begun to feel the downturn in the economy. We let you know that our weekly offerings were running about 10% behind our budget and that we were preparing to make cuts in our ministry and operational budget as a result. Since then our church family has responded with the strongest giving we have seen since the spring. During the month of November, our collective giving EXCEEDED our budget needs for several weekends, with the result that we are now running behind by 8%. While this number is a significant concern, the fact that so many of you have continued to give generously through this difficult time is a powerful testimony to your love for your Lord as well as a great encouragement to us as leaders!

While we have exercised our responsibility as leaders by trimming back our budget some 10% through:

• reducing costs of many ministry programs
• eliminating expenditures deemed unnecessary at this time
• going to a four-day work week at both campuses
• eliminating the shuttle but between campuses on Sunday mornings

we are very hopeful that with strong year-end giving we will not have to cut back any further!

Historically, year-end giving has provided a large percentage of our annual budget. We know that, for many of you, the current economic situation may have impacted the way you are approaching your personal year-end decisions. We simply want you to keep the ministries of FBCG in your mind and heart as you allow God to lead you in those decisions – and to know that we deeply appreciate your continued faithfulness and generosity!

Finally, as you move through the celebrations and traditions of this joyful time of year – take a few moments to reflect on the gift God the Father chose to give so long ago. Think about the joy he feels as each one of us receives the perfect gift of his Son and our Savior!

Have a wonderful celebration of Christ’s birth!