God's Hand on NSD

What a weekend!  It is so exciting to finally see all the prep work beginning to take shape!  We are so blessed with an outstanding group of volunteers!  Everyone is so hard-working and fun-loving - I can already tell that NSD is going to be a FUN place to be!  I think our TEAM NSD members understand the WHY of what we're doing too.  I think we're beginning to see what planting a NorthStar in our neighborhood will do- give people a safe place and an opportunity to find Christ and bring more meaning to their lives.

I wanted to share some of the cool moments over the last couple of months - many of them financial- that have continued to show that God's hand is on us!

- First, God sent us a staff of winners.  These are people who are pros in their fields  It's wonderful, as the pastor, to be able to relax and know that your staff is highly competent, and will produce a product that we can all be proud of.
- While picking up our kids ministry stage (bought from another church at a very good price), we were GIVEN a speaker cluster that now hangs in TrueNorth, and actually sounds better than what was there!
- God sent us a church member who is beginning a set design company!  He donated all of his time in creating an awesome set for our kids ministry - only paid for materials!
- So much was donated for our preschool area, that we spent around $4500 less than what we had originally projected to outfit the place.
- Our main stage was donated by a church in Warner-Robins.  This happened in response to Daniel Hoover's Facebook post: "Anyone have a stage?"  Saved us around $8,000.
- God continues to provide just the right people at just the right time.  Seems like when we need something done, there is someone there who has just that skill or talent.
- All of our Student Ministry hangout furniture/games/tech was donated by people or other churches.
- A friend who is on staff at another church let us come and dive through their storage unit, and take anything we could use.  We pulled out our gymnasium floor cover, 7 moveable walls (for preschool), 2 great speakers (for children), and several hospitality items.

All this to say, God is in this.  He could have chosen to bless us by allowing all of the money we said we needed to be raised, but then there would have only been that one opportunity to give Him the glory.  Because we were short on the fundraising, we had to get creative and trust Him to get things done. And, this way, He continues to provide over and over.  So much, that we just sit back and say, "What's next?"

What's next is a phenomenal place of worship, grace, and healing.  And it's in our community!

Work hard. Be patient.

I attended a meeting today for young leaders of Georgia churches (love that term, "young").  Craig Groeschel (on video) said "Don't overestimate what God wants to do through you in the short run (and when things don't happen like you think they should right off, you get frustrated), because you just may be underestimating what He wants to do in the long run."

This is a great reminder to me to be patient.  I want so desperately for God to explode NSD right away!  I want to see hundreds of people coming through our doors, and see God changing lives left and right, and we are praying toward that end.  But, more than that, I want what God wants.  I want Him to have complete freedom to do WHATEVER He wants on whatever scale He chooses.  Big or small, I just want to be along for the ride.

We need to work hard, pray harder, and be patient and allow God to do what He wants, when He wants.

Make Room for God

Hi everyone!

38 days remaining til launch!  Who's excited!?!

The devotional is emailed to me every day.  I've been reading it off and on now for about 20 years, and I always get something from it.  Today, this spoke to me directly about NSDallas.  Wanted to share with you...

-/\/\-----------------------------------------------------------------

 \  /  MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST    --     http://www.heartlight.org/

--\/------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                      January 25, 2011

LEAVE ROOM FOR GOD

     But when it pleased God...

     Galatians 1:15

     http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=ga+1:15&sr=1

As workers for God we have to learn to make room for God - to give

God "elbow room." We calculate and estimate, and say that this and

that will happen, and we forget to make room for God to come in as He

chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into

our preaching in a way we had never looked for Him to come? Do not

look for God to come in any particular way, but look for Him. That is

the way to make room for Him. Expect Him to come, but do not expect

Him only in a certain way. However much we may know God, the great

lesson to learn is that at any minute He may break in. We are apt to

over look this element of surprise, yet God never works in any other

way. All of a sudden God meets the life - "When it was the good

pleasure of God. . ."

Keep your life so constant in its contact with God that His

surprising power may break out on the right hand and on the left.

Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for

God to come in as He likes.

***With so much ahead of us, it would be really easy to calculate and assume how God will choose to show up.  Let's not do that.  Let's do our due diligence, work hard and pray hard, and let Him bless as He chooses.  He knows better anyway!

Who have you invested in today that will join us on March 6th?

Brad

Jan 24th Update

Hi everyone!  The countdown to the launch of NorthStar Dallas is now just 40 days away!  In these final 40 days, please be praying expectantly that God will do amazing things around and through us!
__________________________________________________________________________________

***There are several events coming up that you need to be aware of:
Feb 13th (all morning) – NSD Meet n Greet (lobby) (Come meet other NSD’ers and chat with our staff)

Feb 19th (9am -12pm) – Setup practice at NHEC (all who can attend)

Feb 20th (9:30 and 11:00) – NSD preview services in Compass
                (all morning) – NSD Meet n Greet (lobby)

Feb 27th (9:30 and 11:00) – NSD preview services at NHEC (full day, but for NorthStar people only)

March 6th – NSD Launch! (9:30 and 11:00)
__________________________________________________________________________________

***We will have invite cards and other promotional material available for you to pick up at the Meet n Greets.  Help us spread the word!
__________________________________________________________________________________

***We need you!  If you have not indicated a place you are willing to serve (or if you haven’t received an email yet), please get in touch ASAP with the leader responsible for that area:

Preschool: rachel.adair@northstarchurch.org
Kids (Elem):  jason.thompson@northstarchurch.org
Students (Middle and High): clay.davis@northstarchurch.org
Worship & Tech: greg.blasche@northstarchurch.org
Hospitality: reggie.abercrombie@tiptoppoultry.com
Setup and Teardown: brad.parkhurst@northstarchurch.org
__________________________________________________________________________________

***I want to pass on a short devotional that was given to me today.  May we never stay in the “baby pool” because we’re scared to take a risk!

Monday January 24th, 2011 – Permalink <http://www.stevenfurtick.com/motivation/dont-drown-in-a-kiddy-pool/>

What if I fail?

That’s one of the most frequent questions I hear when it comes to living a life of risk and audacious faith.

What if it doesn’t work?
What if I take this big step of faith and it doesn’t land?
What if I set a huge goal and I fall short?
What if I take the plunge and drown.

I’m not going to lie to you, it’s possible. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a risk.
I can’t offer you certainty. I can’t tell you that it’s going to work. That your step is going to land. That your goal is going to be met. That you aren’t going to drown in your attempt to launch out in faith.

What I can offer you is the perspective that’s helped me.

Personally, if I’m going to drown, I want to drown in deep water. When taking a risk, if I’m going to go down, and I may, at least I want to be in deep water when I do it.

It’s embarrassing for an adult to drown in a kiddy pool. Or be standing ankle deep in it thinking he’s doing something commendable.

(Resource of the Day: For a related blog post that talks about what gives us the faith to take risks for God, check out Well, What If? <http://www.stevenfurtick.com/motivation/well-what-if/> )

There’s a greater risk than taking a risk and failing. And that’s taking none and failing. And maybe even worse, taking none and succeeding.

The greatest risk you can take in your life is to risk nothing with your life.
To live life in the kiddy pool. To live a safe life.
Because then if you fail, it’s embarrassing.
And if you succeed, it’s insulting to a God who had much bigger things in mind for your life.

Failure is a possibility no matter what you do. So is success.
I just know where I don’t want to be when either one happens…the kiddy pool.

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***As usual, I encourage you to:
Join the Facebook group:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=147634928608510
Follow the NSD Blog:  http://northstardallas.blogspot.com/

See you soon!
Brad Parkhurst
Campus Pastor
NorthStar Church, Dallas, GA
www.northstarchurch.org
Twitter: @BradParkhurst

5 Big Things

I hope that all is well with you, and that this Christmas season will be very meaningful for you and your family.  I am looking forward expectantly to 2011!  In 75 days, our Dallas dream will be reality!  Can’t wait to see what God does!

A few things:

1) A Big THANK YOU!
   You guys really came through as we were able to bless the mom and son from EPMS.  We delivered everything on their list, plus a little more!  Here is a note from our contact at EPMS:

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL INVOLVED
Brad it was nice meeting you this morning.  Thank you for bringing everything to the school and thank you to everyone who donated for the cause.  I know North Star will be a blessing for the Paulding Co. community.  Merry Christmas
 Andy Aarons, Counselor, East Paulding Middle School - 6th (M-Z), and 7th Grade

2) Another opportunity:
   Several of you did not get my email in time to get in on helping out the above family, and have asked for anything else that needs to be done.  Well, last week, Nick and Jamie and I helped move one of our long-time members and her two HS girls to some temporary housing.  In the last year, they have been in and out of women’s shelters (due to domestic violence) and had been evicted from their apartment.  We are in the process of helping them land somewhere a little more permanent.  Of course, it’s Christmas, and I’d love to be able to help them by presenting the mom with some gift cards to some local stores (Target, Wal-Mart, and even Sears), that she can give as gifts for her girls.  If any of you would like to participate, just drop them off at the church office with my name on them by the end of business on Wednesday.  I will deliver them as a gift from NSD!

3) Two NSD families that need our prayer!
   Don’t know if you remember Mallory Smith (http://www.vimeo.com/14780062).  She is one of our former KMHS students who has had two liver transplants.  Well, she has been in ICU at Emory now for a couple of weeks, and is in the fight of her life.  Her brother, Michael and his wife, Angela, are a part of our NSD family.  Please pray for her and her awesome family as they stand by her side.  You can read her story and journal here: (http://www.teammal.org).
    Also, please remember the sweet Vehar family (Diane, Christina, Dan, and Lizzie), who lost their husband and father, Tom, last week.  Pray for their adjustment to life on their own – they have been surrounded by many wonderful friends and family, but we need to keep them in our prayers!

4) NSD Special offering:
   So far, NorthStar families have given over $40,000 in support of the Dallas campus launch!  Yes, this is (so far) short of our goal, but it just means that we get creative and begin thinking outside the box!  We want to be good stewards of every dime contributed to this work.  People can continue to give up until March 6th.

5) Mark you calendars:
   Our next NSD family meeting will be January 9th at 5:30pm at the Seven Hills Clubhouse (432 Seven Hills Blvd., Dallas GA 30132).  More details to come.

Merry Christmas!  (Staff Christmas greeting: http://www.vimeo.com/17811332)
Hope to see you at one of our Christmas Eve services!  (Here’s the frosty video from Sunday: http://www.vimeo.com/17993256)


Brad Parkhurst
Campus Pastor
NorthStar Church, Dallas, GA
www.northstarchurch.org
Twitter: @BradParkhurst

Luke Lettre's praying for Dallas!

Abney Elementary needs

I just had a meeting with Karen Paulk, the counselor at Abney, and Mandy Howell (a NSD member and bookkeeper at Abney).  I wanted to hear from them what they felt like were the biggest needs at their school, and maybe discern a couple projects we could tackle.  Here are the notes:
- Abney has more needy kids this year than they ever have.  When the new school opened this year, they were rezoned, and picked up a lot more needy families.  27% of their students qualify for free lunches, and another 7% qualify for reduced rate lunches.
- They have several kids with a parent who is incarcerated, and one child who has both parents in jail.
- Because of the current state of the economy, their funding sources are obviously not nearly as strong as they were.
- They're in pretty desperate need of mentors and a strong male presence to be "around" (more below).  They have a lot of kids that have very little adult influence in their lives.


What projects could we be involved in?
*Mentoring - could we send some of our great adults up to the school, even for just a short period of time once a week (or even every two weeks) during school hours to mentor kids?  This would involve reading with them, playing a game, etc.  It would be a one-on-one deal, where you connect with the same kid repeatedly.
*Watch D.O.G.S. Full Explanation - they'd love to start this program.  Men donate one day a month to be on campus- helps with security and more male role models.
*Christmas Project - this is more of an immediate need.  They have several kids that they sponsor for Christmas as a staff, but this year, there are so many more kids, and many teachers can't afford to help.  I'm checking with Marlon to see if we can direct some of the "Christmas at NorthStar" funds there.
*They used to have an emergency fund, for when a needy kid needs glasses or shoes, etc - they can help.  Maybe this is an "Extraordinary Giving" thing we do after we get started?
*I spoke with one of our current NS members about beginning a program to send home food with needy kids either every day or on Fridays.  This would take a lot of coordination and support, but could make a HUGE impact.  They loved the idea!
*Provide snacks for kids that can't bring one every day.  This could be done at any time!


So, that's the scoop.  What do you think?  Post a comment here, or email me with your thoughts.