Hey everyone, just in case you don’t know yet…Our first annual Golf Tournament is coming up!
Here is some important information:
- Saturday October 4th @ Lyman Orchards Golf Course
- See Faith if you would like to help (especially if you are out going)
- Invite everyone, and anyone, to the golf tournament (Seriously, if they look like they have ever golfed, their grandparents may have golfed, they know someone who golfed, they saw a movie with someone golfing, or if they look like they know what a golf ball is…INVITE THEM TO PARTNER WITH US AND JOIN OUR GOLF TOURNAMENT!)
- If you need invite cards and brochures, let me know and I’ll mail you some
- If you can’t help, or golf, you can still come to the dinner and support the Golf Tournament
Filed under: Cinema Church
Hey guys!
I though it would be a super sick idea if we all started to plan to hang out with each other just as guys and create better friendships and stuff. What better a way to do so than to get together at an awesome barbeque joint. There is a place in Manchester called The Smokey Bones that has some really delicious food and we are all going to meet there this sunday night August 24th. We will probably want to meet around 7 or 7:30 unless you guys can send me some times that might work out better for everyone. Their website is http://www.smokeybones.com/ and they have a store locator on their so you can get the address and stuff. Also if people want to carpool or whatever we can probably work that out too. This is going to be a great chance for us men of the church to bond and hopefully become more like brothers. There might even be some beard growth as a result of this. We can only hope so. Shoot me an email back to let me know whether or not you’ll be able to make it, which you better be able to, and I will have some tables reserved for us that night. Its going to be a great time regardless and I hope we can all enjoy this first of many awesome experiences.
Cheers,
Brendan
Why in the world is Cinema Church hosting a fantasy football league?
- We are all about changing the way people view church. I don’t know of any other church that is utilizing fantasy football leagues to reach people. I’m sure they are out there, I just don’t know about them. There is a pretty good chance that most people in Connecticut don’t know of churches utilizing fantasy football leagues. If people are going to be in fantasy football leagues then why cant a church jump in on what people are already doing. When people see and hear about what our fantasy football league experience will be like I’m pretty sure this reaction will be quite common: “Holy crap, a church sponsored that?”
- We are all about creating buzz. If people around work, and water coolers are going to be talking about football and fantasy football…Why not have them also talking about a church fantasy football league. I cannot wait for people to say “I just won $200, and the league I was in was run by Cinema Church.” Or, “next year you should be in this league I’m in now. Its through some crazy church, Cinema Church or something like that, the food they had, the prizes they had, the giveaways, its sick. I’m pretty sure this is the best fantasy football league ever, and you should be in this league next year.”
- We are all about connections. Connecting with people so we can help them connect with Christ. I am absolutely positive there will be some in our fantasy football league who would never have walked through the doors of a church. Perhaps we can change their view of church. Perhaps this will be the first step for someone in finding life and peace and hope in Christ.
- Live Draft Sunday, August 31st, 5 PM
- Must be at live draft to participate
- Tons of food and resources for you at the live draft
- Registration deadline and $20 fee is due by August 29th
- Maximum of 10 teams per league
- Prizes: 1st $200, 2nd $100, 3rd $75, 4th $50, 5th $25… for each league
- If you aren’t good with math…we are giving away over twice as much as we are taking in, and even if you finish 5th you will still make money and have great food. How can you beat this!
- If you’re in it to win it…forget about it…I’m def winning. But I will get you THIS trophy.
Filed under: Cinema Church
As everyone will find out tomorrow at church we have Cinema Church shirts for sale!
Reasons to buy:
Anything we do, like Golf Tournaments, Community Outreach events, etc we want our presence to be known. We will encourage everyone involved to have these.
This has to be the coolest shirt you can own. How can it not be, it says “Cinema Church” on it!
All the cool kids have them.
Great way to market our church and let everyone know we are here. This is a huge part of our buzz marketing.
You know you want one.
So, order your shirt tomorrow, or better yet shirts.
As many of you will find out Sunday, or soon in subsequent blogs here…We are having our first annual Cinema Church Fund Raising Golf Tournament! It is happening October 4th at Lyman Orchards. Over the next week or so there will be a plethora (felt like sounding a little smarter than saying “a ton”) of information about the actual golf tournament. For now I want to talk to you about the process…
I need to start by telling you that this has been the most encouraging experience for me so far at Cinema Church. Don’t get me wrong, there have been several ups and downs. In fact, just last Monday we were seriously considering canceling this whole thing! It was looking like things just weren’t working out. It was appearing that we would be at a dump (Portland West), paying more than a person off the street would, securing 72 spots, and paying $18 per person for the worst food menu ever. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I was not thrilled one bit.
However, God completely rocked our worlds! Lyman Orchards is like comparing McDonalds to Ruths Chris. And the best part is…We are going to end up paying FAR LESS to be at Lyman Orchards, we will raise far more money for Cinema Church, and everyone will have a much better time! That is amazing!
But, I still haven’t gotten to the point of this post…
I want to talk about Super Faith. I hope that this next part encourages you, in some way, to take another step in the journey toward being a disciple.
Everyone will see how awesome Lymans really is. Everyone will experience how professional our Cinema Church Golf Tournament will be. What most will never see or fully know is the amount of work Faith Wilson (Super Faith) has put into this to make it a reality. This really has been the most encouraged I have been since starting Cinema Church. At a time when literally everything can seem to be falling apart, God has used Faith to inspire me, encourage me, give me hope, and bring joy to my life. And she didn’t do any of this for those reasons. She was just doing her best, and being available to God.
I want to list some obstacles (some you and I share in common with Faith), and some of what encouraged me most:
MAJOR OBSTACLES:
- Faith knows ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about golf. Seriously, in our meetings where we discussed the golf tournament it was immediately obvious she knew nothing about golf. Im not sure she would know what a golf ball was if it landed in her lap! Sounds like a great person to literally run a golf tournament, doesn’t it!
- She has two full time jobs. She “works” at Liberty Bank. Im sure she is exhausted many nights, but somehow what is a huge obstacle for many (job), was never brought up. Ever. Not once.
- Her other full time job…raising and caring for 3 awesome kids. On her own! Now thats a huge obstacle. I know they are older, but if you think it gets easier as they get older, you are in for a rude awakening when your kids are late teens, and going into and through college. Somehow, this never became an issue. Somehow she met all their needs, and blew this whole golf tournament up!
- Life. This is a major obstacle for most. Things happen, things come up, things don’t work out like we planned or how we originally envisioned them. I’m not going to get into her life, but I’m sure this has been one of the toughest years of her life. This didn’t stop her from listening to God, and life happening didn’t slow her down one bit.
- Crazy obedience. Even though she knew nothing about golf she did what she felt God was asking her to do. I see this just like Noah doing something crazy. He knew nothing about building an ark, but he did it simply because God had asked.
- Way beyond follow up. Faith literally ran with this WHOLE thing. Not once did I worry. Not once did I wonder if she was behind. Faith wanted to do this, and did the whole thing. It was nice to be involved so little. I really just showed up to a few meetings, and watched Faith put a team together and do the rest.
- Her family. She did this right. In a time when people forsake church and involvement under the excuse that they have to do whatever with family, Faith has lead her family by example. There is a reason that Dennis, Danielle, and Donny are so awesome. There is a reason those 3 are so committed to God. There is a reason that those 3 are some of the most committed at Cinema Church. There is a reason that those 3 will defy what statistics say about them. The reason is found HERE. So, while many forsake the bride of Christ, and hang out with their children, Faith has instilled something in her children. She has allowed them to see a true disciple. Because of that they haven’t graduated from church. Disclaimer:: NO ONE is suggesting forsaking your kids for ministry. That was a danger 20 years ago, today I think we have gone to the other end of the spectrum. Your priorities need to be God, Spouse, Children, Ministry. In that order, or mass chaos will ensue for all of your relationships. All I am saying is Faith did this right. She has obviously spent a lot of time with her children, but she has also shown by example what it means to be committed to Christ and the local church. That is invaluable if you want your children to follow Christ.
- Life didn’t slow her down. She was running meetings, hosting Cinema Church prayer meetings, running small groups, organizing our connections on Sunday morning, and NOT ONCE was it ever apparent that she was burdened by these things. She actually seemed to enjoy doing these things.
- Not looking to be recognized. There is a reason I can write about Faith. She isn’t looking for me to write about her. She wants no one to admire her or pat her on the back. She did this for two reasons…She loves God and Cinema Church.
- Faith is a rock! When things were going wrong, not working how we had hoped SHE NEVER ONCE got negative. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of negativity. Probably one of the big reasons this is all working out.
- She has raised the bar. She is leading us in the right direction. She took an idea, and has brought it to a whole new level. I love that and can’t wait to see many more at Cinema Church follow her lead and do the same.
OK, so if you don’t like change, you must hate me, or you soon will. Things are always changing. As you probably know we missed our first class to Georgia. Because of this and the subsequent conversations, the guy who runs the class seriously thinks it would be a waste of time and money to go that far for this particular class. I was wondering about the same thing, and even talked to a few people trying to figure out if the money would be better spent on things like marketing. The leader of the school brought this up to me and suggested that the money would go farther in outreach and marketing. Needless to say we will not be going to Georgia for this church planting class.
You are special! And I want to PERSONALLY invite YOU to come be a part of what God is doing! This Sunday at Cinema Church, you should be with us. Seriously. Yes, YOU. Even if you’ve never been before.
Are you wondering what Cinema Church is really all about?
Do you wonder why your kids insist on getting up early on Sunday to go to Cinema Church?
I would love for you to be with us.
We are going to talk about some major stuff, that will shape what our church is about and what our church will do. If you consider yourself to be “with” Cinema Church, how could you miss this? Seriously. We need everyone to be on the same page, and to be going in the same direction if we are going to be the church God intends for us to be.
So, again, PLEASE join us Sunday at 10. It is going to be so intense I have thought about having a masseuse come in and give us shoulder massages!
Filed under: The fam
You are 1 now…before I know it you will have some questions. I want to answer some of those for you before you even ask…
What if a friend lets you down, or makes you cry…
I will pull her hair out
What if a boy breaks your heart
I will break his neck
What if a boy makes you laugh
I will be hiding right behind you (don’t even think about holding his hand)
When can I start dating
Maybe when you are 40
Why does dad have a gun
That was a gift to myself on your first birthday (in case any of the above need enforcing)
If you do something stupid
I will be disappointed, but only because I think the best of you
If you do something stupid
I will lecture you, but only because I want you to be the best
If you do something stupid
I will always forgive you
If you do something stupid
I will never stop loving you
If you need anything
I will always find a way to make it happen
If you want anything
I would love to give it to you, but I also don’t want to spoil you (too much)
If you wonder what the future holds for you
You will be perfect in every way, just like your mother
If you ever wonder
Yes, I do love you that much
If you ever doubt
DON’T!
Happy 1st Birthday!!!
Filed under: Innovative Churches
My hero, as everyone who knows me knows, is Louie Gigglio.
How cool is it that he is starting a church about the same time we are!
Can’t wait to see this develop.
It was good to hear what he is going through, and how similar some of the things hes facing are to what we are facing.
Check it out HERE.
Filed under: Journey through Acts
Acts 4:4 Amazing!
8-12 Wish I could have seen this whole things happening
13 This has to be what being a disciple is all about
16 Wow, I hope Cinema Church does some things that are undeniable
23-31 Heres that prayer thing again
32 Heres that unity thing again
