Invade the City

The vision for Awaken Church in 2013 is for us to be further invested in our community than ever before. As a church, we got right to work on that by partnering with Hope Pregnancy Center in January and February for a diaper drive, where we collected over 6,000 diapers in just a few weeks! In March, we threw a giant Easter party for the city and saw 14 people come to faith in Christ (many of which I’ve baptized since then!)! Later this year, we’ll be partnering with a few other local churches to host The Uprising – a city-wide evangelistic outreach geared at those who don’t normally step foot in a church. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

This summer, for the first time ever, after 7 months in the making, we’re excited to introduce…

Invade The City is a hands-on way to mobilize the church to meet the needs of others. On July 13-21, Awaken will be partnering with 8 different groups and organizations for 13 unique ways to reach into our city. We never want to forget about the community we’re a part of, and our prayer is that what happens within the walls of Awaken spills out into the streets of Clarksville and beyond!

Swing by awakenchurch.org/invade to read about some of the outreaches we’ll be a part of as we partner with these organizations in July. Signups begins online and at Awaken this weekend, July 22/23!

This is a call to action for the church. Buckle up. Let’s invade the city!

Go Hard.

Some people seem to mistakenly think that life is about comfort and ease. Allow me to burst that bubble.

The Bible compares our lives to a dying blade of grass, a passing shadow, a vapor, some smoke, and it reminds us that God holds our breath in His hand. In other words, our time is limited. Time, like finances and spiritual gifts, is a precious commodity that God has entrusted to us to manage and invest wisely.

At the end of Paul’s life, he said “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race” (2 Timothy 4:7) because during the middle of his life, he said, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15).

Paul got it. He knew that life wasn’t about his own comfort or his own pleasure. There’s nothing innately wrong with taking a breather or enjoying a vacation – we all need some time off here and there. But remember: if you know Jesus, you’ll have eternity to take a breather!

I recently attended the funeral of a pastor from Nashville. He was my pastor when I was real young. He was only 60 years old, and died of a heart attack. He had spent the weekend preaching revival services at a church, then died on Tuesday morning. The funeral closed with a clip of him teaching:

“I want to spend my life well. When my life comes to an end, I want it to be like sliding into home plate. I’ll tell God, ‘Wow God! What a wild ride that was!’” - J.R. Gould

By God’s grace, I’ll spend every last breath I have making the name of Jesus famous. If I have to drag myself over the finish line at the end of my life, that’s what I’ll do. I have eternity to rest and celebrate…but my time here is short.

LoveJoySex

It’s going to get hot this summer at Awaken. We’re about to launch a brand new study through the book of Song of Solomon that we’re calling LoveJoySex. It’s an honest look at the love, joy, and sex that takes place between Solomon and his wife in their young years. People are fine with the thought of love and joy in the Bible, but Song of Solomon also includes two steamy sex scenes right in the middle (read the book for yourself – it’s in the Bible!).

Of course we will cover those chapters tastefully, but I think they’re important to talk about. Statistics say that the average age for kids’ first exposure to pornography these days is 11 year old! Parents may be hesitant at the thought of covering these topics in church, but kids are hearing about sex, talking about sex, and experimenting with sex earlier than ever before. The best place to talk about it is in God’s house from God’s Word. Plus, God has an amazing plan for dating, marriage, and sex. It’s better and far more pleasurable than how the world says it should be done.

LoveJoySex launches Mother’s Day weekend, May 11 and 12. Make sure to watch the featurette below. You can also swing by awakenchurch.org/lovejoysex to invite friends, watch the video, and (soon) download artwork to use on social media!

A New Partnership

The vision for 2013 for Awaken is for us to be further invested in our community than ever before. We kicked the year off with a diaper drive for Hope Pregnancy Center, where we collected over 6,000 diapers! We also held our Easter service on the APSU campus and saw 14 people come to Christ over that weekend. We have more plans for the summer and later in the year, but our current venture is a new partnership.

Awaken will be partnering with the local chapter of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) to begin what they call a “Good News Club” at Rossview Elementary School, here in Clarksville!

Good News Clubs are an amazing way to take the Gospel to kids right where they are: at school. Once a week, kids will have the opportunity to attend this club, immediately following school, where they’ll learn about the Bible, missions, Jesus, and church.

There are currently 14 operating Good News Clubs in our local Tennessee area. Last year, over 700 kids attended the clubs, and over 100 kids prayed to receive Christ! That’s HUGE! Statistics show that if kids don’t accept Christ before age 12 or 13, the likelihood of ever doing so drastically decreases. Elementary age is a crucial time in every kid’s life, and we will now have an opportunity to take the Gospel to them!

I announced on Sunday that Awaken will be the sponsoring church behind the Rossview Good News Club. We need a team of at least 10 people who are ready to commit to the Club before we can start. We filled 7 of those 10 spots in our very first weekend! (I LOVE my church!)

I believe God has great plans for us as we partner with CEF. I love the thought of people serving throughout the week in locations around the city, taking the Gospel to the people. THAT is what the Church is all about!

If you want more info about getting involved, you can find it on the events page of our website.

From Death to Life

Awaken Easter was only two weeks ago, but things have been moving so fast, that it seems so long ago. Not only did we have our biggest service yet on Easter, but on the following weekend, we got to baptize a few of the 14 people who gave their lives to Jesus! There’s no way to tell all of their stories, but I wanted to share one in particular…

A little over a year ago, Michael Graham (now a pro MMA fighter) began attending Awaken. He came a few weeks, then attended our first-of-many Uprising events last March. He was 1 of 40 people who gave their lives to Jesus that night! Life went crazy for Mike after that, and although he strayed a bit, God was right there with him as always! For months, Mike was witnessing to a friend of his, Nick, a fellow fighter, and even brought him to a few events we had at Awaken. Nick wasn’t quite ready to commit, but Mike didn’t give up. He invited him to Easter, and as I gave the invitation that Sunday, Nick was one of the first people out of his chair, making a public decision to follow Jesus!

Last Sunday, Nick was at Awaken ready to take the next step in his walk with Christ: baptism! Nick, along with 17 other people, made their faith public through baptism last Sunday!

Nick (left), Mike (right)

Mike wasn’t done though. This week, he texted me and told me he had gotten to lead another co-worker to Christ. That co-worker, Will, came to church with Mike this Sunday, along with his whole family!

That’s only one of many stories of what God is doing as He builds His Church! When the Gospel grips someone’s life, Satan better watch out!

Make sure to check out the recap of our after-Easter baptism here…

Together We Build

Good Friday and Easter weekend was amazing – we saw lives changed and got to reach more people on one weekend than ever before! It was our biggest weekend (yet). Last weekend (April 6/7) we launched “Awaken All Weekend” as we added a Saturday night service to our 3 Sunday services, making for another huge weekend for our church. We saw almost as many people at Awaken in our 4 weekend services as we did at our huge Easter service at Austin Peay! And if that wasn’t a cool enough weekend, we also baptized 18 people on Sunday afternoon. God is moving in big ways among us, and we’re honored to be a part of it!

But He’s not done…

After a lot of hurdles and negotiation, God has also provided some additional space for Awaken Church to grow into. It’s a Band-Aid, not a permanent solution, but it will help immensely. We’ve finally been given the go-ahead to begin buildout in the adjacent 1200 sq ft next to our current building. This will improve the flow of Awaken Kids and provide some extra work/office space as well, which is much needed.

We’ve had MANY people ask how they can be involved, so I wanted to give a quick update. There are 2 main ways you can help…

Physically

Pastor Nate will be leading our first Together We Build meeting this coming Saturday at Awaken. We’re asking anyone who wants to help us build, lay carpet, put in ceilings, paint, etc. to come. Pastor Nate will be casting the vision for the new space, giving a brief overview of what it will look like, and seeing who can help with what. However you’d like to be involved, come out this Saturday at 11am to find out more!

Financially

As with any building project, it will not only take work, but also money. This is where anyone (in Clarksville or anywhere else around the world) can be involved. You can donate a gift of any size securely online HERE. Make sure to include “Together We Build” in the comment section. Any excess that we bring in will go to our current building fund as we continue to seek God’s provision and guidance for a new building (which is a big need as well!).

I think it goes without saying that we also ask for your prayers. Please thank God with us for providing this new space, and pray for provision and safety as we build.

However you’re involved, remember: we’re in this together! TOGETHER WE BUILD.

This means war!

Last night kicked off the Easter weekend party with our Good Friday service. It was an amazing night – full house, heartfelt worship, Communion, and even salvation! After service, a whole group of us headed over to the Austin Peay campus, where we’ll be holding our Easter service, to pray. We spent about 30 minutes in the dark cold parking lot crying out to the Lord and asking Him to move powerfully this weekend across the city.

Tonight continues the fun as we gather together with the team of servants who are making Awaken Easter happen. Many visitors will show up on Easter at APSU and not even think about the countless hours and team members that it has taken to get to that point. With that  team of servants, tonight, we’re going to worship loud, pray big, and get stoked. This is our version of a tailgate party before the big game. The difference is, we’re not going into it wondering if our team is going to win - He already won!

I’m honored to go into battle with the people of Awaken Church who selflessly serve week in and week out. One thing I love about them is that they’ve caught the vision – they know this is war, and they know that it is won through prayer. One of the items of our CODE at Awaken says…

The Battle Is Super And Natural. God has promised the victory, but that doesn’t negate our responsibility. We will do everything we can within our natural abilities and trust God for the supernatural.

We believe that with all of our hearts. We’ve given our all to this event, but we know that our resources are very limited. Anyone can put on a show and draw a crowd, but only God can change hearts. We’re going into this weekend with prayer and expectation as we give it our all to see God move.

The Easter Team Rally will also get us stoked and warmed up for the kick-off of Awaken All Weekend beginning next Saturday & Sunday. Whereas most churches get a break after Easter is over, we launch into our fourth weekend service and baptisms next weekend! I’m telling you, the people of Awaken Church are nothing short of amazing. They are a gift to me, to the church, and to this city.

This means war. Let’s go into battle in prayer, Awakeners. BIG things ahead!