• This week was such an uplifting topic. We talked about Death.
• Yep, that’s right. Kickin’ the bucket.
• We started a new series called To Be Continued: Life and Death are Only the Beginning.
• It’s a tough topic but one we need to talk about. No reason to fear it!
• From the oldest Psalm in the Bible we learned a lot about death. Mainly that it is the result of sin.
• But just as Moses wrote in Psalm 90, the reality of death should teach us to LIVE!
• And Paul put it best when he said “For me, to live is Christ.”
• That’s what it’s all about.
• Next week we tackle another fun topic: HELL!
• Is hell real? What do we believe about it? And is this whole series going to be so dang dark?
• NO!
• The last two weeks will be the flip to the flop. We’ll talk about Heaven and Jesus’ return to earth.
• Another cool thing, our OneLife Communities kicked off last night and from what I’ve heard so far, it’s been nothing but rave reviews.
• That’s awesome.
• Keep it up, OneLifers!
• Share those faith stories and invite a friend. You’ll be glad you did!

What an INCREDIBLE day. On more than one occasion I had to fight back tears to not absolutely come unglued. Here’s the story:

• We had one, combined service to celebrate the year that God has given us.
• It was unbelievable to see the auditorium filled with people. So much so that we had to tear down the pipe and drape a few minutes into the service to open up the entire auditorium!
• As I shared during the sermon, just a little more than a year ago I cast a vision to 14 people in that same auditorium telling them that one day God would fill it up. Little did I know that on our one year anniversary, nearly 450 people would be there.
• Here’s the cool thing about that – there is NO way that kind of thing could happen because of me or our staff. Only God can make that happen.
• We saw that first hand in the 20 baptisms that we celebrated. The video testimonies before each baptism were simply incredible. Truly stories of life change that, once again, only God can make happen.
• The reallllllly cool news is that after Sunday, we now have even MORE people to baptize and go public with their new faith in Christ! That’s what it’s all about.
• Having our entire church together to worship like that was amazing. We did a lot more music than normal but it was worth it.
• The band truly led worship and the new stage set helped create a really amazing sense of awe and excitement as we worshipped God.
• The sermon focused on the story of Joshua defeating Jericho. It took a God given vision, a huge faith, and action for him and the Israelites to accomplish that.
• It has taken the same for OneLife Church and will continue to take that moving forward.
• I was so thankful for the attendance and partnership of many of my and our mentors. Pastor Greg Greer from Providence Church, Dan Palmer from Missionary Church, and Lee Dittman from Liberty Church Planters Network were all in attendance. We also had a video from Pastors Ron Stewart, Tim Addis, and Chad Sparks.
• These guys have all been huge in helping OneLife. They – and others – have helped me through tough decisions, answered my quizzing questions, and been prayer support to get us where we are.
• Sunday night was also the kick-off for our fall student ministry. More than 40 teenagers showed up. I stopped by and was amazed at our volunteers and leadership. They’ve got a great thing going that will change the lives of many students in Knox County.
• Next Sunday is just as huge for us. We start a new series that will rock your world: “To Be Continued…” is the name. This is a series about death and the end times. WOAH!
• Next Sunday and next week also launches OneLife Communities – our groups ministry. If you haven’t expressed interest in joining a community, why not?! Go here for more info: www.onelifeknox.com/communities
• Remember, OneLife, we’ve only just begun. Share your faith stories this week and invite a friend to come discover God this Sunday.
• We’re back to two services! 10 and 11:30 a.m. See ya then.

• God has a sense of humor.
• This was a holiday weekend which should have meant low attendance, no energy, and a Sunday to “re-group” getting ready for next week.
• WRONG!
• God showed us Who is really in charge.
• We had our highest attendance since EASTER! That’s right – Easter. The holiday people are SUPPOSED to come to church. On LABOR DAY! The holiday people are supposed to be on the lake!
• Another high was first time guests. We had 34 fill out cards! WHERE DID THEY ALL COME FROM?!
• They came because lives are being changed by the Gospel and THAT is contagious! OneLifers – keep sharing your faith stories and keep inviting people to come worship with you!
• Speaking of worship, it was amazing. We also got to celebrate communion together, which is always one of my favorite things we do.
• I took this Sunday as a chance to clear up our beliefs about baptism during the sermon.
• The sermon had been planned for months, but in just the past couple of weeks I’ve had multiple conversations with people wondering why we do baptism the way we do it.
• So we answered that question and the question of what is the significance of baptism?
• The main significance is going public with your faith. And next week, we have 20 people going public through baptism!
• Let me answer somebody’s question now: “Why does he talk about numbers so much in this blog?”
• Because they matter! Just like I talk about the 60,000 people within 5-miles of Powell High School who are unchurched and need Jesus!
• Next Sunday is a day I’ve been looking forward to for months. OneLife turns 1-year old!
• We’ll be celebrating all that God has done over the past year in ONE combined service at 10 a.m.
• It’s going to be PACKED so you better come early to get a good seat.
• Or better, come early to volunteer and serve all of our guests who will be there to hear about us thanking Jesus.
• Or even better, get up early, go pick up a friend, and bring them with you to hear about Jesus getting the victory.
• It’s going to be incredible! See you there – at 10 am ONLY!!!

• Best news from the day, another person gave their life to Christ!
• We wrapped up a worship series that was a good change of pace, focussing on what it means to worship.
• The main thing God wants from us is for us to be true worshippers.
• If the Samaritan woman had been from Powell in 2010 when she met Jesus, she would have asked “Some say we should worship with piano, organ, and choir robes. That crazy church at the high school says they worship with guitars, drums, and skinny jeans. Which is right?!”
• Jesus would answer: “My Father seeks true worshippers who worship in spirit and truth.”
• In other words – the method doesn’t matter! It’s the heart of the worshipper that matters.
• The way true worshippers worship is with awe, abandonment, and intimacy.
• We wrapped up the service worshipping with all three thanks to a song that has hit home with our church – With Everything. Look it up on iTunes and download it today!
• This coming weekend we celebrate communion and talk about the importance of baptism.
• And then next weekend we celebrate one year at OneLife with nearly 20 people being baptized!!!
• Start inviting your friends and family NOW for next week. One HUGE service at 10 a.m. DO NOT MISS IT!!!
• Sunday was also our second Partnership Class. Between the two we had somewhere around 80 people join OneLife!
• We also had some great conversation after each of the classes as people wrestled with their salvation stories, baptism experience, and other spiritual issues. Some great ministry happened!
• Up next for our church is the start of OneLife Communities. Get more info or sign up today! www.onelifeknox.com/communities

Wow. That word sums up this week at OneLife. I believe it was our best Sunday worship experience yet. Here’s why…

• The energy in each of the services was through the roof.
• We started a two-week series on worship, so we reversed our order a bit.
• We started with just a couple of songs, jumped into the sermon, and then wrapped up with an incredible worship set.
• We responded through worship to the following questions: Who is God and what has He done?
• The answer to that question will drive us to worship.
• We cleared up the fact that when we come to worship, we should come worshipping. And we don’t come as an audience to watch a performance. Instead, we are all the performers!
• Check out the video of the sermon here: www.onelifeknox.com/watchonline
• Sometimes things aren’t planned that I say. This week sounded like a middle school playground with “poo” “holy snot” and quoting a friend’s experience when inviting a very unchurched person to church. Haven’t gotten any hateful emails yet, so I guess nobody was offended!
• Our college students were back in full force and so were a lot of our families. It showed as attendance was at its highest in more than three months!
• Best of all, I saw lots of second time guests who came for the first time last week.
• We also had several college freshmen come early and jump right in volunteering on their first Sunday of college. Incredible!
• Our first partnership classes are this week and we get to talk about worship again this weekend. It’s keeping me busy but I’m loving every second of it.
• Our staff is doing an incredible job leading each ministry and building leaders along the way.
• The proof is in the pudding as volunteerism continues to grow and grow. On top of that, people are “getting it.”
• Kydon talked about our culture of valuing rest and creating a culture where no one is anonymous during our VIP meeting. He got a call today from a volunteer wanting to make sure Kydon was being taken care of and getting a chance to rest. That’s a huge win!
• This is only the beginning, OneLife! The future is bright because HIS is the VICTORY! Bring someone with you and let’s experience it together this Sunday!