>>Into The Light

As believers, we have been called out of the darkness and the shadows to walk in the light. This happens when a person becomes a Christ follower. It is the moment a person says yes to the offer of God to follow Him. Peter wrote: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (I Peter 2:9-10 NIV) For over a year now, we have seen people coming out of the shadows and into the light. One of the most exciting things that I experience in ministry is seeing people make this decision to follow Christ. This past Sunday we saw adults, students, and children who have made the decision to follow Christ and take the next step of baptism. Awesome! This one word is almost inadequate to describe what we witnessed as these who had already followed Christ took the next step of obedience. Yes, in a cattle trough they were baptized. Want to share this excitement? Continue to share Christ's love with others and witness, before your very eyes, others coming into the light.

>>Appreciative, Humbled, Excited

Those are just three of the many words to describe the awesome move of God at NorthStar Church. This is a move of God, not man. Man could not make this happen. You see why I keep saying: “I am just trying to stay out of the way." It is evident that He is at work here and lives are being changed. Of course staying out of the way does not mean lack of involvement. While we must allow God to show the way, give the directions, and lead us, we must be busy doing the work He is calling us to do. I have seen so many over the past year get plugged in to the awesome work that God has called us to do. In fact, as we move to 2 weekend services on May 13, there will be almost one hundred volunteers doing the work. This is not to mention all the people of NSC constantly inviting people to NSC. I am appreciative for all the servants who often work tirelessly, giving of their time and talents to the Lord. I am humbled by the fact that God chose us to do this work, and I am excited about the direction the church is headed. I envision hundreds and even thousands coming to a place called NorthStar Church to worship, connect, serve, grow, and tell the Good News of Jesus Christ. It has happened before and it will happen again. Thank God, He is still in the life changing business.

>> What A Day

Here is a typical Sunday in my life. April 1, 2007, I woke up somewhere around 5:15 and 5:30 thinking it was actually later than it really was. Do you ever do wake up thinking you are late? (Whew! I had a couple more minutes to snooze.) My phone, which is also my alarm clock, has some problem because of the day light savings time thing. It is weird, on Saturday night it begins thinking that it is on the old time or something. ( the phone company my have been playing a April fools joke on me or something) I usually wake up before it sounds the alarm, so I got up and began getting ready for the day. I am talking, moving very SLOW! After quietly saying good bye to my wife and thinking I will see my family in a few hours, I hop in the car and maneuver around the used car lot of a driveway. (I do not have a used car lot even though I am thinking about selling off some of the cars that seem to find themselves parked there each weekend. (Not really on selling them... but really on having to maneuver around them)

Where was I? Oh yeah...I begin heading out of the driveway while it is still dark, and I make my way to the NSC building. I know we will move one day and have lots of acreage to park cars and a really nice place to worship, but I really like this place. This has been our home for one year! I like it because God put us there. It is quiet as I turn on to the gravel parking lot and ease up to the door. I park near the door until it is time to unlock the gate of the parking lot next door. I go inside with a million things on my mind, and my heart is palpitating at the anticipation of being able to speak to hundreds and thousands of people in just a few hours. (Hundreds for now.)

After making seven pots of coffee, (not all for me) I think about the things I will be sharing in just a few hours. It is really quiet, and I spend some time alone with the Creator of the universe. It’s Awesome. After about an hour and a half, I take my car next door and drive to the end of the parking lot, which is in the next county I’m sure. Then some of the NSC Praise band begins to show up. Some of them actually park their cars near the county line. “There is life out there,” I murmur to myself. Ha.

Things begin to get cranked up as the band begins one last hour of prep. I simply meditate and think about the message I am about to bring. Then I walk around the G.P.S. (worship center) praying for those who will be attending worship. I pray, "Lord bring them in. Help them to wake up, get up, suit up, crank up, and drive up to NSC today to worship you."

At nine o’clock the students show up for Bible study, and somewhere between 9:00 and 9:15 workers and staff start coming around doing the various and needed tasks to get ready for the day. Around ten o’clock people start arriving for worship. They make their way to the coffee and stuff, and some detour at the Compass Center (NSC books and gifts).

Did I mention that God meets me there first thing in the morning? With out Him all we do would be futile. In fact, I can't do it without Him.

The countdown starts, cars continue to pour in, children continue to get checked in, the countdown to worship time goes to 0:00, and then it is time. Here we are to worship the only one who is worthy, Jesus Christ. When He shows up, things really begin to happen. The worship is great, the message is from Him, and lives are changed. The service has concluded, but people are still hanging around. Some are at a meeting. Some are telling us they just had a life changing experience, some are just happy to be around people who are on the same journey they are on. Everyone is hungry! It is 12:30, and people are still hanging around (which is great). There are a few bewildered looking kids hoping to eat at least one more meal. (they are wondering when that will be.) How many were here today and how many met Christ? Just a few of the questions I ask. (I also want to know how many cars were parked here today) Well it is time to head out. Man, I will miss this place, till the next time we get to come together and do it again. WHAT A DAY.

>>Navigating Life's Journey

On March 16, we will have reached the eleven month old stage in the history of NSC. It is hard to believe we are only eleven months old. The best we can track, we have over six hundred people who are attending sometimes. We work constantly to see this number increase and encourage the attendees to come on a more consistent basis. We have approximately two hundred people who have gone through our membership class, and we are averaging over 325 on a regular basis each Sunday. This past Sunday we had 384 people present, and Christmas weekend we had over 500 people attend. Many first time people are attending our services each Sunday, and the Lord continues to add to the church each month at our Discovering NorthStar 101 class and each week as they give their heart to Christ. Terry, you are doing a lot of counting aren't you? Yes! We count people because people count to us. We have just added two staff members on a part time salary basis. While we have four being paid on our staff, we have a total of eight on the leadership staff. We have countless volunteers that ensure that we can do what God has called us to do, and for this we are grateful. The Journey of NorthStar has been and continues to be incredible. Someone asked if we were shooting for a certain number of people. Our passion is people. Our passion is to reach the unreached, disciple them in the faith, plug them into ministry, help them connect with other believers, lead them to authentic worship, and repeat the process. Many months ago, when God placed on my heart the planting of this church, I knew that it was going to be an incredible journey. As others began to join me on this journey, I realized in an even greater way this journey was going to be special. Some have been around since the early days, while others have only been here for a few weeks. There may even be those who are reading this that have yet to attend. We are thankful for every person. Everyone is important to the plan God has for NorthStar. We are navigating this journey together with God as the head. It takes all of us praying, giving, attending, dreaming, implementing, working, cleaning, building, moving, changing, trusting, sacrificing, teaching, believing, reaching, sharing, ministering, fellowshipping, evangelizing, worshiping, and protecting the unity to become the church we need to become. I am glad to be on this journey with you and look forward to each day that God gives us to build and work for His glory. Keep on keeping on, for He has great plans for us. Please remember though we are on this journey together, He is the one that makes it happen.