Check out this awesome guest post from OneLife Kidz Director Cris Patterson. Then get involved making a difference in the next generation!

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As I look around at my to do list, it seems neverending. As a multi-tasker, I sometimes tend to start lots of projects and not finish them. But this season of my life has been different. God has handed me a position of leadership that may seem overwhelming to most as I take on the leadership of OneLife Kidz.

To me it is a dream come true, a welcomed challenge, and most of all a time of growth and drawing near to Him. As the Halls building was completed last month, I could have focused on the exciting transformation of our Onelife Kidz area with all the murals being painted, projects being completed to help us stay organized, the awesome curriculum plans, and making sure we had everything we needed in order to launch.

But the focus I believe God wants for us is this: What is so different about OneLife Kidz? Why would families come back? Is this the best hour of the week for the kids? So as we start this new journey as a multi-site church, what will our culture be for kids ministries? Will families be impressed by the enviroment? The logo? The freshly painted walls? Or will there be more to it than that?

In order for our ministry to be built with excellence and a strong foundation, these things won’t matter as much as the one thing that matters most: the condition of our hearts. Will families trust us? Will they see Jesus in us? That is what will make OneLife Kidz a success – you!

Families come to OneLife Kidz and get connected to life change. A mom drops off a crying baby only to come back to a smiling face. A dad leaves his elementary kids in a shy, quiet state to find them excited about church. That’s why a huge difference can be made by rocking a baby, coloring with toddlers, teaching a bible story to preschoolers, and dancing/singing with Elementary kids, because it is much more than that!

But this difference is so much more than one hour on Sundays. It takes a team of focused players who are all-in and believing our vision of leading kids to become fully devoted followers of Christ! If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, waiting to get involved at OneLife, there may be no better place for you than in OneLife Kidz. From checking in families to rocking babies to hanging out with older kids to pressing buttons on the Kidz Tech Team, there is a place for you! Find out more by emailing me at cris@onelifeknox.com or by talking to the pastor at your location.

The best is yet to come in OneLife Kidz! Come be a part of it with us!

Choosing a church to attend can be like picking out a restaurant. Questions like “Which one has the best service?” “Which one is best for my kids?” and “Which one will feed me the best?” seem to be what gets asked the most. Oh yeah, and “Which one will be the cheapest?” probably factors in there, too

But those questions only get asked by people who like going to restaurants already. Or in this case, people who like going to church already. The question that gets asked by people who don’t already go to church is much different:

“Why in the world should I?!”

And I believe that’s how the already-convinced should choose a church. By answering that question with another question of their own: “If I go to this church, how will I play a role in changing the lives of those around me and seeing them become part of the Church, so they can then play a role in even more lives being changed!?”

It is for that very reason that OneLife has adopted this vision of having multiple locations in communities across Knox County and ultimately East Tennessee. We want to see OneLifers connect to people in their own communities where they live, work, and play. We believe you can make the greatest difference at home. So why drive 30 minutes to church when your biggest influence is right across the street?

We are taking our first step in making this happen with the opening of OneLife Halls on August 19. And that is why we are encouraging any current OneLifers who live in Fountain City, Halls, Corryton, Maynardville, or other communities northeast of Knoxville to plug in at the new location. Because we believe strongly that it will help you become even more effective at reaching the people in your very own community.

If that’s you and you’re ready to be connected to OneLife closer to your own community, we want to hear from you! Go here and fill out the form to let us know that you will be attending OneLife Halls on August 19 and beyond, and making a huge difference in the lives of those around you! www.onelifeknox.com/halls And if you’re staying at the Powell location, get ready to join us in reaching Powell – and the rest of Knoxville – like never before.

The best is yet to come!

Three years ago, OneLife Church was getting geared up to have our first preview service. I remember the feelings of excitement and anticipation of being one of the first people to experience this new church as being overwhelming! The reason I remember them so vividly, is I am feeling them all over again!

In 8 weeks, OneLife Halls will launch making us one church in two locations. It’s scary, exciting, and a huge rush all at once to be essentially starting a new church all over again! I walked into the building yesterday as it is being framed and drywall is going up, and I could “see” what it’s going to be like as hundreds of new Christ followers gather to worship. It fired me up!

So I want to invite you to join me in this experience. Especially if you live in Fountain City, Halls, Coryton, Maynardville, or any other North or East Knox communities. We are praying for 100 of you to make OneLife Halls your place of worship. Not only that, but we want you to be in your community reaching those you work and live with on a daily basis. The best way to do that is go to church in your own community!

So I want to invite YOU to be one of the first 100 to make up OneLife Halls. A launch team of close to 50 is already meeting, so we simply need 50 more of you to say, “Yep, I’ll be there on August 19 and beyond!”

If that’s you or you just want more info, go to onelifeknox.com/halls, and if you’re gonna be one of the first 100, simply fill out the form there to let us know!

On Monday, the Generosity Challenge kicked-off with an honest discussion of why it’s so important to put God first in the area of finances. As God Himself said, we are robbing him when we don’t give back at least a tenth of what he gives to us first! (Malachi 3:8-10)

So today we take the most practical approach yet to the Generosity Challenge. One of the greatest hurdles to people being committed to giving God a tenth first is simple discipline. So in step two, we help you make that much simpler!

Step Two

It’s happened to all of us. It’s 2012, which means the only time you have cash is that lucky day you find a $20 bill in your coat pocket from last winter, and the only time you have a checkbook is when you need to level out the wobbly kitchen table. Then Sunday rolls around, it’s time to give God my tithes, and all I have is a debit card and some crinkled up receipts. And – if you’re like me – even if I did carry a checkbook or a wallet full of Benjamins, missing Sundays would make it hard to keep up. You know how it is: The kids get sick right after vacation, which also fell right after Aunt Bessie’s funeral, so we’ve now missed church three weeks in a row. And we’re three weeks behind on our giving.

So what’s the best solution? We call it “Automate the Important”. The best way to stay disciplined and guarantee God gets my first ten percent, is to treat it like I do my mortgage payment, gym membership, or utilities bills: make it automatic. If I’m willing to automate those other things, shouldn’t I automate what is most important?

As you take this Generosity Challenge seriously, I encourage each of you to Automate the Important. Once you’ve determined how much ten percent of your family’s income is and how often you will give (once a week, two times each month, or once a month), go to onelifeknox.com/give and set it up to be automated. My family made this our method of giving over two years ago, and we love knowing that God get’s our best and our first without having to remember our checkbook each week, and even if we are out of town or sick and don’t make it to church.

There’s only one step left after this one, so I’m trusting and praying that you have budgeted to give your ten percent and that you’ll now take the next step of Automating the Important! I’ll keep praying for you until you get the third and final step on Friday.

An overwhelming majority of our church committed to joining the Generosity Challenge this past Sunday – a 90 day “test” to see if God will really take care of us when tithing. The rules are simple: give God your FIRST ten percent over the next 90 days and if he doesn’t provide all your needs, OneLife will give every penny back to you. No questions asked.

We all committed together saying, “I’m all in!” and committing to take this chance in response to the idea that Jesus sacrificed for us and called us to do the same. Sacrifice is giving up something we love for something we love even more. We all love our money and stuff, but we love seeing lives changed through the Church even more! It is this kind of sacrifice that will allow us to start our second campus, other future campuses, and partner with church planting around the world.

If you signed up for the Generosity Challenge, you’ll be receiving a series of practical emails and encouragement over the next 90 days, along with healthy accountability so you can track your giving. If you did not sign up or were not at church yesterday to do so, go to www.onelifeknox.com/generosity to sign up today!

Step One

The first step toward completing the Generosity Challenge is to budget for it! Believe it or not, you don’t have to pray long for God to tell you how much you should give. It’s all throughout His Word! The first tenth of everything he gives to us is to be given back to him. If you’re like me – that sounds like a lot. And it is! Because he wants us to depend on HIM, not our stuff. So here are some practical steps to budget for giving God your 10%.

1. Determine needs versus wants. Nearly every American family has “fat” in their budget. These are things we really don’t need, even if we might think we do. For example: we don’t need cable TV, smart phones, internet at home, meals at restaurants, vacations, sports tickets, multiple cars, new clothes, Dollywood trips, hair and nails done up just right, and the list goes on and on. Are these things bad? NO! God wants us to enjoy life and his creation! But they become bad when our first tenth goes to pay for them instead of going back to God. In fact, God says it even harsher. “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings.” Malachi 3:8. By paying for other things with God’s 10%, he says we are robbing him.

2. Give to God FIRST. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God” and THEN all the other things will be added to you. If you take the Generosity Challenge seriously, you will give FIRST instead of paying bills, buying things, or investing. Then you’ll do everything else with the 90% that’s left over and watch God take care of you like never before!

For so many people, this is a radical idea. That’s why we are giving you the opportunity to test God and see if he doesn’t take care of you. I know he will, and I can’t WAIT to hear your stories of how he does!