Hey Greenbrier Church!

As you may know, many people in Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Pratt City, Pleasant Grove, Huey Town) are recovering from a major tornado that hit yesterday. With over 180 people dead, Gov. Benley said; “this may be the worst natural disaster in Alabama’s history”.

As I read Isaiah 58, it is hard not to see our opportunity to respond!  Through a connection at “Church of The Highlands” in Birmingham, we are coordinating a response to help those in need. The immediate need is to send items listed below or money. We may be organizing a team to physically assist with projects the very near future.

FOR NOW, our response is:

1.  SUPPLIES: THIS Sunday morning, May 1 – we will be collecting the items below at Greenbrier Church (Evans 14 Cinemas) between 7AM til 11AM.  Please bring any/all items you can bring.

Items Needed:

• Bottled Water
• Blankets
• Clothing – all sizes, tshirts, jeans, Shorts (just informed these are not needed)
• Children’s clothing  (just informed these are not needed)
• Feminine products
• Diapers
• Baby food
• Insulin…other immediately necessary meds
• Toys for smaller kids
• Band-Aids
• Socks
• Jackets
• Chips
• Juice (individual)
• Packaged food for distribution
• Fruit cups
• Paper towels
• Kleenex
• Toilet paper
• If donating money, make checks payable to “Church Of The Highlands”

2. DELIVERY: On Monday, (May 2) – Men from Greenbrier Church will drive the items to Birmingham and evaluate how we can assist. If you would be willing to drive or would like to go, please reply e-mail or see me on Sunday.

Thanks Greenbrier!  Keep praying for those that are hurting and hopeless and have lost loved ones.  May we reflect the hope of Jesus to them!

Praising God for you!

Chuck

Why is Greenbrier Church  doing 21-days of prayer  fasting?
God is providing us with some incredible opportunities as a church. If you missed the announcement at the end of our services yesterday, here is the  “IT’S TIME!”  video link. During these “21 Days of Prayer  Fasting”, we are asking each person in our church body to seek God’s  face about their role in our Next Steps as a church. We want to do whatever it takes to Connect disconnected people with Jesus …together!

What is fasting?
Plain  simple it is giving up something great to pursue someOne greater: Jesus!    Though many people view fasting as a chance to diet or to give up  something to please God, this is NOT what fasting is all about. In fact,  it may not even be food be that God would have you fast from as you seek Him. Fasting is an opportunity for us to remove some of the distractions that keep us from worshiping and hearing from God.   It allows us to refocus our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ and His  will for our lives whenever we think about that thing we have given up  to seek Him.

Fasting Ideas: Below are a few things that have been fasted from…
-food (ie. modeled by Jesus, Moses, Elijah)
-some foods (ie. modeled by Daniel)
-a meal each day
-sweets or caffeine or ???
-electronics or TV or Facebook or ???
-a hobby
-other: ???
Seek God about what He might have you fast from, but remember that it’s not so much about the What you “fast from”, as it is about the WHO you are fasting to – Jesus! 

Your Next Step:
We are about to  make some big steps as we lease approximately 12,000 square feet of  Lenox Plaza. These steps require ALL of us to be the church together.
We have asked each person to pray about three areas:
1. a One Time Gift -  over  above your tithe: this will be for facility renovation  and new equipment  supplies.  It will take sacrificial gifts from  all of us to tackle this project.
2. Automate Your Tithe – Whether you have been faithful in tithing or you are taking a step of  faith to begin tithing, by going on-line and and intentionally  ”automating” your tithe, ministries in our church will be able to  operate consistently rather than if funds are available or not.
3. PRAY – seek God’s face about your role/about our role as a church in  impacting this community for Jesus Christ like never before!  As part of  the fast, i’ll ask you to read Isaiah 58 .  Other passages will be sent  out to our body as well.
*We will celebrate the commitments  decisions made by our church body on Sunday AM, May 15th – in our morning services!

How is prayer related to fasting?
In  the Bible and in the church today, we often hear the phrase “prayer and  fasting.” While fasting removes distractions from your life so that you  can better hear God, you must communicate with God in order to hear  from Him, just like in every other relationship. And that is what prayer  is—talking and listening to God, plain and simple. During your fast,  leverage the craving or desire for food/hobby/habit to remind you to  pray  seek God.

Greenbrier Church…
My  heart  prayer is that this time of prayer  fasting will be the  beginning of a fresh, intimate relationship with you and Jesus Christ!   The beautiful  incredible reality is that He has invested himself  fully to walk close to you…and the cross is proof of that.  Your  investment in this relationship through prayer  fasting over these  21 days can be huge!

Praying for you & Praising God for you!
Chuck

Scripture references:

Isaiah 58:1-6, Nehemiah 9:1, Joel 2:12, Matthew 4:2

Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 9:14, Mark 2:18, Luke 2:37

Acts 13:2, Acts 14:23

EASTER at GREENBRIER CHURCH

- Tomorrow, April 24th!

As always, Above All – KEEP PRAYING for our church – His church!!!
-for His Favor on Us!
-For His Glory in all we do!
-For the countless Salvation of many souls!
-For untold numbers of lives, marriages & families transformed by His power and presence!

-For our CREW to invite every DISCONNECTED person that is still breathing!

_______________________________

SATURDAY: Behind The Scenes Preparation.

The Saturday after Jesus crucifixion is not something we hear or read about much, if at all.  Why? Because it was the Sabbath; a day of rest.  Those who were followers of Christ observed Jewish law and “rested”.

Matthew 27:62-67

Luke 23:56

-How hard was it for the followers to “rest” when they saw the one they had given their lives to just be brutally tortured and murdered?

-How many times did Mary or Mary start to head to the door and get called back by the “disciples”….just to visit the tomb of their teacher, their master, their best friend?

-Even after Jesus death and Jesus shouting “Father, Forgive them!” The Pharisees were still afraid of Jesus and convinced Pilate to secure the tomb.

-It is crazy to me how the Pharisees broke their own law and manipulated Pilate into MAKING people work on the Sabbath – Guarding the tomb. Given, they were Roman Guards, but it showed the disregard the Pharisees had for the “Law” if it suited them.  …And how many times did they attack Jesus for “working on the Sabbath”?!?

-ALL the work done by the Pharisees and Romans on “Saturday” just goes to prove:

1.) You have to work extra hard to “cover-up” a mistake

2.)  NO ONE can stop a Movement of God!  Whether Anti-Christian groups, government, terrorists, …especially religious groups – You cannot stop ANYTHING that God sets in motion!

GREENBRIER, may we never hope for, pray for, settle for, seek, pursue…anything less than a Movement of God!

I am praying for you and am so thankful to my Jesus for you!
-Have one incredible day living nothing but reckless for Jesus!

FRIDAY: The Price of our Salvation.

Matthew 27:1-61

Mark 15:1-47

Luke 22:66-23:56

John 18:28-19:42

After reading through each of these passages, i am overwhelmed at ALL Jesus suffered…because He was and IS Hope & Salvation. For God’s sake – He healed the sick, raised the dead, offered forgiveness in a world devoured by guilt. Why would anyone want to put that to death?!  Then, as i was reading, Matthew 27:18-19 hit a truth that is brutally at the heart of it:

-the religious people were full of “envy”.  Jesus had stripped them of their charade of righteousness.  He revealed that WE CANNOT be good enough/self righteous enough…we ALL fall short of God’s glory!   …And NO ONE wants to think they “don’t measure up”…especially Self Righteous/Pious/”religious” people.

-because of envy, which leads to bitterness and resentment, they killed the One who embodied everything they wanted to be like.

-I wonder how much pain i put God through because of my own envy:  those days, hours, moments…even seconds of thinking i “measure up” apart from Him?!

-In that passage, i HATE that two unbelievers (Pilate and his wife), saw clearly that Jesus was innocent, yet the religious world was making a fool of itself in demanding Jesus death.

…Makes me wonder: what does the lost world around you and me think of Jesus by how we treat Him in what we say and do?!

-How i pray they see His power in our lives!  I pray they see His forgiveness coming from us!  I pray they see and hear His hope extended to ANYONE who would receive it!  Louder than the crowds yelling for Jesus crucifixion, i Pray we shout out HE IS MY LIFE & SALVATION!

LIVE reckless for my Jesus!

If you have not been praying daily for our church, begin praying NOW!
If you have not invited people God has put in your path, begin Inviting TODAY! 

My friends & family, I am losing sleep because i am so excited about what we get to announce this Sunday…a NEXT STEP God has opened the door for us to walk through together!
EVEN MORE, I Praise God for the Gift of Hope and Salvation He has given us and is allowing us to share with the World!  May we be faithful, intentional and determined greater than hell itself to reach people…for Jesus Christ fame & renown!

THURSDAY: No Turning Back.

Jesus knew from the beginning of time and eternity that this day would come.  A day where He would sit down with the people who he was closest to in the World, eat with them, drink with them, and, i would imagine, want to laugh with them…but he couldn’t.  The passages speak for themselves of what Jesus faced out of Love for you and me!

Luke 22:1-65

John 13 – 18:27

Mark 14:12-72

Matthew 26:17-75; 27:1-26

What a Savior!

-Live reckless for my Jesus!