TimHowey.Com

Looking Back on Easter@Grace

Last week (post-Easter) was so packed (short week + 2 funerals + 2 other crises) that I couldn't post a update on what happened at Grace Easter weekend. But here are a few comments. Enjoy:

• "The most emotional, moving, inspirational...I have ever been to. Thank you."
• "Dear Grace Church...tonight was AWESOME! I believed when I walked in, but now my belief is even stronger! Can't wait for those people who dont know Christ to...walk away with something special..."
• "I have to explain this picture. During the opening of the service the band introduced a song called Manifesto, during the song a painter came out and painted a somewhat random painting on 6 stacked cardboard boxes. None of us understood the meaning. Then later in the service, after the pastor walked us through the pain and suffering of the crucifiction, they played a song and the painter came back out, he deconstructed the stacked boxes, stabbed wooden paint stirrers into 2 of the boxes, then restacked the boxes in a different order...creating the picture you see above.., after he restacked them he added the whites of the eyes, splattered red paint, then squirted the line of red paint across the top of the 2 top boxes, it was extremely moving to see the end result...the picture of Christ after he was crucified. Again, an amazing service this morning - the team at Grace church...AMAZING...best Easter service yet."
• "My 7-year-old doesn't receive a weekly allowance or much money of her own yet, so we haven't expected much of her in the way of tithes and offerings yet. She apparently paid attention to the recent lessons on finance, though, because this morning as she was collecting her Easter candy she asked me if she could give back some of the candy in the offering! I told her I thought that would be a great idea -- as long as the candy stayed wrapped :)"
• "I wanted to send a note to say how blessed I am to work & be part of such an UH-MAZING group of people. You all humble me. Seriously!!  Thank you for what you do!  Thank you for stepping up to print, fold, cut worship guides on the fly. Thanks for answering the call in a mighty way & preaching, teaching, serving, loving!!!  You all ROCK!!!"
• "A lot of times people over promise but not the case at Grace: Easter Service was AMAZING!!"

God is good.

CALLING ALL MEN!!!

CALLING ALL MEN to join me at the Grace Church Men's Breakfast on Saturday February 11, from 7-9 a.m.! We'll be hearing from Craig McElvain on "What is God's BEST for my life??"

Takes one minute & register right here.

Watch a special invite from Mike Anderson, our Men's Ministry Director. Hope to see you then!

 

Men's Breakfast Invite from Grace Church on Vimeo.

"I am the Good Shepherd"

This weekend was a blast to continue unpacking the incredibly rich "I am" statements of Jesus -- this time, we looked at "I am the Door of the sheep" and "I am the Good Shepherd" (John 10).

We showed a clip from a video this weekend. Here's the full video:

Here's another video I watched this week, but didn't show. Interesting story of shepherds in Idaho

Another great resource on this topic is the book, "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" by Phillip Keller. It's a quick & easy read that's become a classic.

Web Bonus - Rebuilding the Awe

Yesterday, we wrapped up our "Rebuild" series, talking about how God deserves for us to view him with the appropriate level of AWE. We looked in on Isaiah visit to heaven (i.e. the "true temple," Isaiah 6:1-9) and saw how he responded with this unique mixture of brokenness and thankfulness.

Here's what people said:

• I love this passage. These two lessons just cried out to me from the text:
  
  • "If you see who GOD really is, you see who YOU really are!"
  • "If you see what God really DID, you'll do what God really WANTS!"
• Here's what people were saying:
  
  • Dave -- "Isaiah was privaleged to be in the presence of the Shekinah glory of the Lord as was Moses. We were privaleged to experience the presence of that Spirit Saturday night! Give thanks that the Lord is using his servant to change lives!"
  • Cynthie -- "I loved today when the microphone system was popping and cracking how it stopped after you called out the reason why and held the transmitter in your hand. Since I have been saved I have been made aware of spiritual warfare (getting attacked once) and I am all too familiar with the evil ones distractions. Anyway...good for you for just calling it out. Probably woke a few people up and taught a few other people a lesson...and it stopped him (yes, lower case 'h') from interfering with such an important message. Today's service was most excellent!!"
• Check out Josh Canady's original song called Isaiah 6. It's AWESOME!

I know next weekend is Labor Day, but I would WHATEVER IT TAKES to join us next week as I kickoff our our "Know Prayer" series. Prayer is where the REAL work is done...where the big picture issues are SETTLED. Everything else is working out the details. If you want to look ahead, we'll be in John 17, listening in on "The (Real) Lord's Prayer." See you then!

Web Bonus - Jesus & the Four Friends

We kicked off our "Friended" series this weekend, where we're spending 3 weeks in the book of Mark (where we're reading in our OWNit365.com plan right now). We spent time with the story of the four (great) friends in Mark 2:1-12.

• Group Brainstorm -- We kicked off each service brainstorming together on what people DO for friends (actions) that they might not do for people who aren't yet friends. Here's what you came up with:
  
  • Sat 5p -- Give a ride to the airport, Watch their dogs/cats, Watch their kids, Help move, Share a meal, Send cards, Email
  • Sun 8a -- Argue, Tell them no, Listen, Spend time, Share a secret, Lend them money, Share toys, Use the phrase "it's not about u", Show your ugly side
  • Sun 9:30a -- Hug, Spend time together, Share secrets, Confess, Help them move, Tell them you love them, Take care of their kids/pets, Listen
  • Sun 11a -- Give them a hug, Spend time with them, Help them move, Cook dinner for them, Pray for them, Play games with them, Clean their kitchen, Bring them to the men's breakfast, Watch their cat
•  People's Comments -- Here's what I heard this week after the talk:
  
  • "Went to @graceks Church tonight and heard an awesome message by @TimHowey about friendship. I think I need to be a better friend. #inspired"
  • "when jesus says 'your sins are forgiven' God in heaven, when he looks at your life, says 'I am unfamiliar with any sin!'" @TimHowey WORD!
  • "I want you to know that I followed through with what I felt let to do after the sermon today & contacted my friend...It was well received...I plan on emailing [them] a prayer everyday and hope that God will do what He does best...draw [them] to Him. Praise the Lord who loves me so much that I get to do His work."

It's time to intentionally & prayerfully reach out to our friends who don't know Christ yet...to pick up "our corner of the mat" & do WHATEVER it takes, to introduce them to Jesus!!! Call a friend today & invite them to church, to a study, to a sporting event, to coffee, ANYTHING!!! Then tell them what great things God has done for you (Mark 5).

Next weekend, we'll continue our "Friended" series. Don't miss it!

Web Bonus - Jesus on Religious Hypocrisy

I got to close out our "UnJesus" series this weekend, this time living at home in Overland Park. It was very, very, very nice to be back. We looked at a topic that probably isn't looked at very often in churches -- Jesus' incredibly NEGATIVE view of religious HYPOCRISY (Matthew 23). Isn't that the same view we ALL have on religious hypocrisy???

What to say? What to say?

• The 3 Assignments -- I want to remind everyone of the 3 challenges I issued for people to prevent religious hypocrisy (which tempts virtually everyone) from taking root:
  • Pray through Psalm 51
  • Do a good deed this week that's totally secret
  • Consider whether you think "Woe is them!" or Woe is me!" (Isaiah 6)
• Baby Dedications?? -- Not sure why this was the week we scheduled long ago for baby dedications. It couldn't have been tougher, experiencing a "baby death without a funeral" this past week. (Ugh.) Regardless, it was a joy to celebrate with those dedicating their babies.
• People's Comments -- Here's what I heard this week after the talk:
  
  • "Thank you for preaching this message in the fullness of Gods love and Biblical truth. I needed to hear this message today. You encouraged me to ask myself the questions I've been ignoring for a while and motivated me to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit who has never once given up on me. One of the most loving things you can do for someone is tell them the truth. The split second I turn to God, He meets me right there every time. How beautiful. I love that he designed it that way. Special blessings, T"
  • "Truett was dedicated at church, lunch afterward, and then we crashed. My poor boy is still out! Thanks @TimHowey for a beautiful service. -S"
  • "Thank you Tim for an awesome sermon today! I appreciate that you preach on those things that cause us to evaluate ourselves. Today was kind of like cleaning out your closet. You hate having to drag everything out and make an even bigger mess, but then when you get rid of the yucky stuff and the good stuff is all put away nice and orderly, you are so happy!!! Thanks for encouraging me to look deep inside my heart for some things for the donation pile :) -B"
  • "Donation plie~~HA!! I'm starting a bonfire in my backyard... Ya wanna come over?!!! Beautifully said, my craftywonderiffic friend! "Search my heart Oh Lord!" After that message this morning, who knows how long I"ll be in Psalm 51. Love you B! -M"
  • "For any good found in me... which is only through Christ...even then...I still must fall flat on my face before his feet and worship him as Lord of all. -J"
• Go-Go Towers in Church?? -- I got this from Jason Henderson who was in Seattle this past weekend!
  • "I am in Seattle this weekend for work and attending one of the Mars Hill Church campuses.  This one is a converted go go club and they kept one of the go go towers when they took it over (see attached). Thought it was funny. -J"

Next weekend, we'll kick off a brand new series titled "Friended" which I could NOT be more PUMPED for. I'll be talking from Mark 2:1-12. You WON'T want to miss it! See you at the PRIMO service (Saturday 5pm)!

Web Bonus - Hannah's Wisdom

Last weekend, we continued our "Got Wisdom?" series and looked at another example of TRUE wisdom from 1 Samuel 1. We studied Hannah.

• My 1 Big Take-Away -- It hit me on Saturday, as I was praying for the people coming out to launch our new Saturday 5 p.m. service, that Hannah was the FEMALE equivalent of Abraham & Isaac (Genesis 22), showing women what it cost God the Father to offer up His Son Jesus as a sacrifice. That's still got me spinning.

Next weekend, we'll continue our "Got Wisdom?" series, as we look at a not-so-great moment in history: King Saul from 1 Samuel 13.

New 40 Day Prayer List

I rewote a brand new 40-Day Prayer List for my daily prayer time today.

A lot of the requests on my last list were answered or no longer issues.  Some new ones crept their way up the priority list.

It was nice to get a whole new look at life & start fresh.

Web Bonus - Suffering of the Cross

This weekend was AMAZING.

We had our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Carnival on Saturday with an army of children gathering eggs scattered across all 20 acres. It was like watching an angry happy hoarde of locusts.

Then, we walked through our final Premonition week, walking through characters in the Old Testament who were living prophecies of Jesus Christ, by looking at Psalm 22:

• The Thoughts -- This psalm was instrumental in me coming to Christ between my freshman and sophomore years at Stanford University. It gives me chills every time I study it.
• The Prophecies -- I referenced a bunch of prophecies from Psalm 22 that Jesus fulfilled at the cross. If you didn't get them all, here they are, in order: Matthew 27:46, 45; Isaiah 66:24; Matthew 27:39, 43, 56; 1 Peter 5:8; John 19:36, 28, 37, 24.
• The Story -- Here's the story that I read yesterday. I got it Thursday from a guy in our church. It was powerful:
  • "Tim - I have been attending Grace for just under a year now, and I wanted… you [to] know how much it has changed my life.  I was raised [in a major denomination]… My [child] didn't like it… and…I didn't…either. So rather than continue doing something I didn't really like or believe in, I came to Grace at the suggestion of [friends]. And what I have found is a home… In the past, I have spent my life trying to be perfect.  What I have learned at Grace is that I don't have to be perfect. In fact, I now recognize that I CAN'T be perfect and that is why I need Jesus.  I have learned that faith is not about who you "try" to be. It's about who you are… It has been an incredible change for my [child] as well.  It is no longer a struggle to "drag" [them] to church…We talk about the lessons and I am so impressed with all the youth ministries. I am participating in Own it 365…Reading the Bible…not out of…obligation…but because I want to …to know Jesus better… I know that I have a long way to go and the journey to God will not always be easy.  But for the first time in my life, I at least feel like I'm on the right path and headed the right direction.  Thank you..."
• The Salvations -- There were a bunch of people, maybe 50 or so, that professed that they received Christ this weekend. AWESOME!!! We ended up having over 2600 in attendance too!
• The Stories -- Here:
  • "Tim, I just wanted to let you know [about the] sermon... the crucifixion on the beam was incredibly moving.  I know many people, including me, had tears in their eyes..."
  • "[It] was incredible, seeing all those people pray for their salvation... I’ve been at Grace for 3 years and I now have that relationship with God thru Jesus. Yesterdays message gave me complete peace which I didn’t have and what you said that brought me that peace was, “Feeling guilty for a sin is sacrilegious”. WOW, how many other people have that guilt due to the lack of their relationship with Jesus?"
  • "We both participated in church via Grace online this morning.  WHAT A BLESSING to us and to so many!  HE HAS RISEN!!! PS:  And bonus that it was quickly accessible for replay of a line that I wanted to re-hear!"
  • "My...son...received Christ... Jesus was the first first fruit... My son will be among the Harvest."

Next weekend, we'll kick-off our new "Got Wisdom?" as we introduce everyone to God's crash course on TRUE wisdom from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, then walk through a series of case studies of great moments and not-so-great moments of wisdom!

P.S. We launch our new 5:00 p.m. Saturday service in two weeks!

Wed Night - "The Hill of the WHAT???"

You don't want to miss tonight's topic.

It's the kind of night that will blow your mind.

We're looking at Joshua 5, particularly verses 1-9.

Don't worry guys. I won't be asking for volunteers for a live demo.

Join us live or online at 6:45-8:00 p.m. CST.