New Year

It is both surprising and disheartening that another year is ending. I personally reflect on all that has happened in 2008. I am pleased that God has accomplished so much in one short year. We began 2008 with dreams of how God could impact our church if we sold out for Him, physically, spiritually and emotionally. God has honored our commitment to Him. Velocity Church was born from the sacrifice of many and built upon the sacrifice of one at Calvary. I am constantly surprised by how He uses small and apparently insignificant happenings, things or choices to bring about a great blessing. I know my abilities and it is only by His grace that He uses me.

Velocity continues to evolve and grow. 2009 will bring an increase in our service projects; more fine tuning in staff responsiblities; the beginning of Connect Groups; a continued desire to reach out to God in our worship.

On a personal note, 2009 will provide me opportunity to grow in my faith; loose some excess pounds that have followed me mostly through 2008; physically prepare for a grueling week in June, riding my bicycle among the mountains of north Georgia; grow deeper in love with my wife Carol; take time to slow down–enjoy life, while God allows me the pleasure of seeing His beauty around me.

So, as the Apostle  Paul tells us:

Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT)
¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

“Changing lives for Jesus”

Christmas Greeting

The family will gather at the Stebelton household for our Christmas holiday. We picked up one daughter, Becky, at the Chattanooga Metro Airport. She flew in from St. Pete, FL for $ 39.00 ticket. Well worth the drive from Atlanta to Tenn. to pick her up. My youngest, Rachel will be driving in on Christmas eve from Charlotte, NC. Carol and I are excited to have the family together for the special season.

I also want to extend Christmas greetings and my best for the family at Velocity Church. And special wishes for those reading who are not directly involved in our work at Velocity. I pray for everyone to have a blessed year in 2009.

Early Morning

My day began very early today. I was awake at 3:00 and tossed and turned till 4:00 and finally got up. I let my dogs go outside at this very early hour and was surprised by the warm rush of air. It was in the mid 50’s here in West GA and my body was confused. Winter is just a couple days away, officially, and here we are experiencing such mild weather, while most of the nation is buried in snow, ice and a very cold winter grip.

I am thankful for the brief break from our normal winter weather and mindful of so many who are deep in winter’s blast. God’s blessings are easy to find in the sunshine and in the warm–but we struggle in the times of difficulty–or do we. I believe that often when things are going well–we tend to forget about God and go about our lives as if we were in charge–as if we are making the choices for our lives. We forget our creator. But in the times of downturn–when the winter wind hits our face, we seek a comfort and solution to our problems and thus turn to the Lord. And God does not respond, “Where were you when things were doing fine?” No God listens, forgives our thoughtlessness and seeks to bring us comfort.

Our nation was brought to our knees when we were attacked by terriorists on 9/11. As the econony seems to worsen, as jobs are cut, as the news goes from bad to worse–is it time to remember our creator.  Psalm 147:12-20 was in my devo’s for today, but so relevent to my thoughts this day. God is in control. And sometimes His message to us appears as cold biting wind or being pelted with hail stones–but ultimately we need to listen. We need to seek. We need to see His presence around us and acknowledge who His is–our Lord and Master. We glorify Him and put our trust in Him completely.

Great Day

Well, the day finally came for us. On Thursday, December 11th we closed on the major property sale for the church who sponsored our new plant. We closed in escrow, but still closed. Monies will follow next week by Wednesday. So a major part of my work has come to a very successful end. I was able to reach agreement with our buyer and make our bottom line sell price a reality. In today’s climate, selling homes, let alone a church is difficult. But God blessed us and within the past year I was able to secure the sell of two rentals and our church buildings. We are left with 10 acres of land. We will bank that property for a while before actively pursuing a sale. Some of the money from the sale of course goes to Realtors. Other monies go to Church Development Fund for our credit line extended to us to plant our new work. And plans are underway for a gift in the name of our benefactor congregation who gave us the property. We are left with a sizable amount to offset the expenses of a new church for at least two years. However–now the work really begins to reach the point of self supporting in the true sense of living off the donated gifts and offerings. We have our target amount needed each week for our 2009 budget. We know what our average offerings are holding at this time. I would estimate that we are collecting about 1/4 of our needs–so work must be done. How blest we are to have the cushion to keep us afloat while we reach our goal. But we can not and we must not acquire a feeling of self-satisfaction.

Two factors impact our financial growth. One is the practice of tithing. We need to teach this principle in as many diverse opportunities as we can to get the point across. God expects us to return a proportion of what He gives to us, back to Him in offering and worship.  I used to say, if you can’t give 10%, start with less–say 3%. But, does God return gifts to us in that proportion?  When He gave Jesus–He gave it all. So, why should my relationship to Him in giving, do any less than the minimum He expects–10%.

The second factor which impacts our giving is attendance. People in the seats. The more that are a part of the worship–the more people to reach in Jesus name–and the more opportunity for a larger collection. Now if that sounds crude–sorry. But the fact remains, we at Velocity are at a staffing level; equipment level; and program level to reach 4 or more times the people we are serving right now. We can grow significantly in numbers before our expenses will rise appreciably. We have the extra chairs and space for more–without additional costs. So–the more we reach–the better off we will be in reaching our self supporting status.

The Apostle Paul was concerned about collection of offerings as He traveled. We are just as concerned at Velocity. If our ministry is to survive–if our impact in this community is to continue–we need to do our best to seek God’s direction. And the road is paved with a commitment financially to support the growth of this ministry. Are you giving 10%? If not–why not? Trust God with this principle–you can not out-give the Lord. He will return to you far more than you can ever give to Him.

A great day–we are technically debt free–but if we are not careful–it can end rather quickly. Pray for Velocity. Pray that our offerings begin to reflect the real heart of Christians on fire for lost souls.

What’s the Point?

We are already one week into our Christmas message series. Our worship leader Chase Gentes spoke this past Sunday and did great job of starting this very important series. I will preach this coming week and Brian Brunke will handle the final two messages. Christmas is important and quite popular, but often really misunderstood by people with whom we are trying to reach with the gospel. If you are local to Hiram, GA, you are welcome to join Velocity Church at 10:00 am on Sunday to hear “What’s the Point”. This week we will find out exact what is the point of the Virgin birth?

Catching Up

Vacation is over. Usually I am anxious to get back home and get on with work, but this time I was not quite ready to head back north from sunny Florida. However, by the time Monday morning arrived, I was going ahead full steam. Two very long days and I can see a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. Today is Wednesday and I am ready to do some important Monday work, like blogging and such.

We are drawing ever closer to the disposal of our old church property. Hopefully within the next two weeks that project will be wrapped up and Velocity will be debt free. Many churches, especially church plants within two years old, are struggling financially. Staff members are being let go; advertising and programing plans are being cut back. We are blessed with the infusion of funds from the property sale. But… we can not take for granted anything. Giving is often based on need and I believe that does a disservice to God’s plan about giving. We return to God a portion (10% works for me!) based on love and obedience, not needs. If every Christian involved in a church would tithe off their income (net or gross–I don’t care) we would not have real needs financially in the church. We might “need” prayer and insight as to how and where to spend the funds!

So, Velocity must still continue to teach and example good giving practices. We must model for others God’s plan for our finances. And if done right, giving God the first fruits, we will find that even in our personal lives, we will still have some month left at the end of the funds, instead of the reverse. Pray for Velocity. Pray for our outreach. Pray for us to remain strong–to continue to reach those who most thought were un-reachable.