Mama Chick’s Neighborhood

On Sunday we continue our series, “How To Wreck Your Marriage.” You better get to church early if you’re coming to the 10:00 am service, it was STANDING ROOM ONLY last week! Better yet, if you have been a regular TNC attender at the 10:00 am service how bout attending the 8:30 or 11:30 am service. We have open seats in both services. It will open up seats for guests in the most popular 10:00 am time slot. Thanks in advance for helping us continue to reach others for the Kingdom!

As I mentioned we were packed last week as we kicked off the marriage series. It’s going to get more intense and practical this week, you don’t want to miss it! (I’m not going to tell you the topic-you will have to come and find out.) If you have friends or family members struggling in their marriages please get them to TNC this Sunday, they will be glad you did! Trust me!

Last Sunday I shared these words from Nehemiah 4:17, as God’s people were rebuilding the walls of their city and their enemies opposed them."Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." As our enemy (Satan) seeks to divide and conquer our marriages and homes we hear Nehemiah’s words echo in our hearts, “Don’t be afraid. Remember your God who is GREAT and AWESOME and FIGHT FOR YOUR MARRIAGES and YOUR HOMES.”  We are doing this series because we want to help and equip you in FIGHTING FOR YOUR MARRIAGE! We must never give up the FIGHT! I encourage you and challenge you to FIGHT for your marriage and FIGHT for those that you LOVE who are struggling at home. Invite them to TNC in November! I can’t wait to see you Sunday!

Fighting for our Marriages,

Steve Davis, Lead Pastor

THE MESSAGE: Watch online at http://www.truenorthchurch.com.

Marriage can be crazy; especially when we embrace unrealistic expectations. 

Do any of these sound like you?

• If our marriage is hard work, we must not be right for each other.
• I shouldn't have to change who I am to make our marriage better.
• My spouse is responsible for my happiness.

The truth is: marriage is hard work.  Because your marriage is hard does not mean you do not belong together.  We are different as individuals, and families, children and careers add to those differences.  Where is hard work needed in your marriage?  Spouses are constantly having to change for the betterment of the marriage.  This is no different than improving in your career or anything else in your life.  Marriage is two people coming together, helping each other change.  What is it in your marriage that needs to be changed?  Although only Christ will complete you, your spouse is there to compliment you.  However, your spouse is not responsible for your happiness.  We need to be committed to the person, and not the expectations.

Our expectations are born as natural desires in our hearts, and when realistic are very rewarding. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12).  How do spouses merge the pictures of their expectations?  By being aware, reasonable and clear about what they expect, and through their willingness to listen to the Lord.  Have a tender heart towards God.  Nehemiah 4:14 tells us to remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and to fight for our wives and homes.  Satan is the enemy to your marriage, and fighting for it is vital to its longevity.

Marriage is going to take hard work.  It means giving time, energy and sacrifice.  Keep these things up with your spouse.

THE MUSIC: Click listen for links to the songs that accompanied Sunday's message.

Solution by Hillsong United [listen]

Alive and Running by Kristian Stanfill [listen]

You Never Let Go by Matt Redman [listen]

Love Story by Taylor Swift [listen]

How He Loves by John Mark McMillan [listen]

Halloween Weekend is upon us! Along with "Trick or Treating" we have lots going on at TNC this weekend!

Class 101 will meet tomorrow (Saturday) morning at the Depot from 9:00 AM to Noon.  Breakfast is provided, but childcare is not.  If you want to know more about the what and why of TrueNorth or want to become a member, this class is for you! 

A TNC GUATEMALA MISSION TEAM made up of 14 TNCers flies out of Atlanta tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Please be in prayer for our largest team ever, as they take it to the streets and minister in San Pedro, Guatemala. They will join 14 others from our mission partner, El Camino Church in Guatemala City. Pray that God would use them in a mighty way and bring them back to us safely next Saturday.

DON’T FORGET TIME CHANGE SATURDAY NIGHT! After trick or treating be sure to move your clocks back 1 HOUR and get that extra hour of sleep! You DESERVE IT!

DON’T MISS SUNDAY MORNING as we begin a new series, “HOW TO WRECK YOUR MARRIAGE.” Join us as we take an intense and practical look at building a healthy, Biblical relationship with our spouse. Singles and students you need to be here to get the scoop on how you can prepare for a marriage that rocks for a lifetime! By the way this is a great series to invite a “fish” that might be struggling in their marriage so bring someone with you! DON’T MISS SUNDAY, YOUR’E INVITED TO A WEDDING UNLIKE ANY THAT YOU’VE EVER ATTENDED!!!! It’s going to be another SPECIAL DAY at TNC!

Praying for you!

Steve Davis, Lead Pastor

Guatemala-map

In just a few short days, 2 days, 11 hours, and 14 minutes, our team of 13 will leave for Guatemala.  Once we reach Guatemala we will join another group of 14 members from EL CAMINO SAN CRISTOBAL.  This is one of Truenorth Church's largest teams sent out. It's very exciting.

San Pedro will also be one of our destinations while in Guatemala.  San Pedro population is mainly Mayan people. It has a tranquil setting and very popular with travelers, particularly the hacky sack set. Many come here to learn Spanish or just live cheaply for a spell and enjoy the scenery.  Of course that won't be our journey. Our mission is to love on some children in this area. We will also travel to San Marcos, another town located on Lake Atitlan which is famous for it's natural beauty and colorful Mayan villages.

Two years ago I traveled to this area.  It was the very first missions trip I had ever gone on.  It was an amazing experience.  I am looking forward to returning to see what God has planned for me this time.

Chicken Bus

Class 101

Why DID Steve Davis start TrueNorth?  What is the point of Journey Teams?  Where can I volunteer?  How do I become a member of TNC?  What's the deal with Dunk'd?  Who taught Steve to dance? All of these questions and more will be answered at Class 101 this Saturday.  Join us from 9:00 am to noon at the The Depot (3002 Riverwatch Parkway)  for the what and why of TrueNorth Church.  Breakfast will be provided, but childcare is not.  It's not too late to sign up!  For more information or to sign up for the class, email info@truenorthchurch.com.

Pimp Your Pumpkin II

What do you get when you combine 300 drinks, 200 funnel cakes, 100 pumpkins, 2 basketball goals, a DJ with a live drummer, an army of amazing volunteers and one Guatemalan (we love you, Chente!)???  A great night for all ages at Ridgeview; that's what!!! Check out the pics from the Pimp Your Pumpkin II block party, which was held this past Monday night at Ridgevew Manor.

Mike Fiedler
Missions Pastor

Wow!  What a great experience this was for everyone at TNC.  It is truly amazing all that God has done right here in our midst.  He has used all of you in an incredible fashion. 

From a Journey Team standpoint, I could never have accomplished this without the massive effort given by Sandy Collins and Katie Czapala.  These two women both worked hand in hand to produce all the workbooks and the devotionals.  Each book had to be delicately scanned and edited to a fine degree.  This took a tremendous amount of energy and time.  Both of which I did not have.  In addition, Sandy and I both entered everyone into churchteams.com, made the phone calls, and then Sandy kept in contact with all the teams to encourage them on their journey. 

It was almost 9 months ago when Sandy, TJ Barton, and myself sat down at Atlanta Bread Company for lunch and we discussed the idea of doing 40 days of Community.  Sandy had been through this at Saddleback Church and brought the idea to the table.  The rest is history.  Who knew that this land would be an option?  Who knew that we would more than double our Journey Teams?  God did.  The one who can do incredibly more than we could ever dare to ask, hope, or imagine.  He is truly sovereign over the events of our lives! 

Strap on your seatbelts.  It is going to be one awesome ride, all for His glory!

I love you all,

Jay Knotts, Small Groups Pastor

As we entered in to WE UNITE: 40 Days of Community, the following mission led the movement: We will commit. We will pray. We will see God when WE UNITE.  For those playing the game at home, God showed up in some major ways! 

• We united in worship, and many honored a commitment to come to church every Sunday for the past 40 days.  Those Sundays brought times of prayer and healing.  Lives were changed and transformed. Many people let go of burdens that were holding them back.  And around 22 gave their lives to Christ!
• We united in giving, and raised $210,000 for the land offering, 1,400+ pounds of food and $300+ for the Golden Harvest Food Bank.
• We united in small groups, and saw the number of J-Teams go from 30 to 71.  This brought the number of people in J-Teams from 350+ to over 675; including 85% of Element students! J-Team locations range from Aiken to Fort Gordon.
• We united in acts of service, and more than 350 people showed up for Second Saturday to impact 16 locations from Aiken to South Augusta. WOW!
• We united in God's Word, and many have developed study habits to keep them growing and maturing as Christ-followers by meeting with Him daily!

This is only a glimpse of what God did during these 40 days of community, but also a glimpse at what can still be accomplished when we are concentrating on His vision.  This coming Sunday, a new series will begin.  In a couple of weeks, another Second Saturday will take place.  Day 40 has been reached in the devotional books.  The question is whether or not we are going to let packaging end what God has started, or are we going to build on it?  WE UNITE is something that needs to continue.  Will we continue uniting in these ways?  These are the highlights of what God can do.  Let's keep it going, TNC!

THE MUSIC: Here are the songs that were a part of Celebration Sunday.

We Unite by Elevation Worship [listen]

Came to My Rescue by Hillsong United [listen]

Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2 [listen]

Revelation Song by Gateway Worship [listen]

This Sunday WE UNITE IN CELEBRATING what our BIG GOD has done during our 40 Days of Community! God has changed lives, deepened community and touched hundreds through our Second Saturday explosion! The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:2 “Remember today what you have learned about the Lord through your experiences with him.”  That’s exactly what we plan to do as we gather together Sunday to remember, reflect and celebrate the victories of our WE UNITE experiences!

I want to ENCOURAGE EVERYONE who has purchased a WE UNITE T-SHIRT to wear it this Sunday to commemorate our day together! If you didn’t purchase a t-shirt then wear something you would wear to a party and come ready to celebrate BIG TIME!!! Join us in one of our 3 services and bring a friend to party with you at TNC!!!

IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE GOD’S GOODNESS TNC! WE WILL SEE YOU SUNDAY!

Steve Davis, Lead Pastor

Hey Kidz Stuff Kids...Don't forget that you will be celebrating this Sunday with a pizza party during the 2^nd and 3^rd services!!! 

I was watching, briefly, last night the baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  What a game, Phillies won 10 - 4.  The crowd was crazy, all you could see was Red in the stands.  People jumping up and down screaming, high fives everywhere you looked.  People were chatting on Facebook, there statuses reflecting their excitement or disapproval of the winner.  I would say that most people in Philadelphia are Fanatical Fans of the Phillies.  There mascot is called the Philly Fanatic, does that say something or what!

That brings me to my point today.  I am reading our last day of "WE UNITE," the series we have done for the past 40 days at Truenorth Church.  It has been an amazing journey.  One that has touched my life forever. God has brought so many things to my attention about myself.  It's been interesting to see myself in some ways, but it has been very much needed. 

Our scripture reading is Ephesians 5:19 (CEB), "When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart."  Why is it that it's acceptable to be a freak at ball games but when it comes to praising God it's not ok to be one?  You can get drunk, act like a complete idiot, roll on the ground, get sick and punch the guy out next to you, but you can't raise your hands when singing to Jesus without being called a religious fanatic? 

Can you imagine standing in the "Citizens Bank Park" in Philadelphia filled with 46,214 people, not cheering for the Phillies or Dodgers to win, but to cheer on our amazing God. Praising Him with meeting together, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs?  WOW!  Did you really see that number, 46,214.  These people are cheering on a baseball team!  OMG!  Go figure, we can cheer on a baseball team but when it comes to living our eternal life in heaven or hell they say we are Jesus Freaks.

Why should we, those who know Jesus, act as if our relationship with Him is like going to a funeral?  Why can't it be like going to a baseball game?  If anybody on earth has the right to celebrate, it is those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus Christ and been accepted into God's family!  I for one am thankful that I am on God's team, and I will celebrate that in front of how many ever people He would like me to.  No shame here to say that I believe Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior. So consider me a Fanatical Fan of Jesus!  Amen to that!!!

For those of you who don't know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, this is some of what He offers...check it out!

• given a new life of PURPOSE and significance.  (oh no, we actually have a purpose, well Yes my dear we do!)
• forgiven for every sin, and failure.  (Yep, we all sin and we all fail at something, but we are forgiven.  YAY!)
• loved unconditionally and accepted by God!  (someone does love you)
• provided with a spiritual family for our support!  (you got a friend)
• set free from worry because God is in control! (I'm still working on this one but it's there for us if we choose.)
• offered God's power to overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups!
• given God's Word with the principles for successful living!
• released from shame, regret, and resentment!
• assured that Satan cannot take away our salvation! (Oh NO he can't)
• comforted knowing that "God works all things together for our good!"
• able to face each day with hope and optimistic faith!
• equipped with spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities to use!
• protected by all of God's promises!
• supplied with everything we need!
• guaranteed eternal life in heaven!  (my favorite part of all...it doesn't end here on earth!)
  

*taken from 40 days of community devotional*