Fighting for the Family

To follow our Easter services we will launch a series that will be all about the importance of family relationships and the importance of fighting to have strong family relationships.

Here is some copy that describes this series. It will be largely based on the series by Northpoint called Fight Club.

Of all relationships in life, few are as important or as complicated as the relationships between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, or sisters and brothers. These relationships impact us more than we want to admit. Although we are tempted to write these relationships off when they are painful, we still know that there is something in us that needs that connection.

The week titles will be:

It's worth the fight
Get in the ring
Choosing Sides
The Final Round

What creative ideas do you have for a title for this series?

What marketing suggestions do you have?

Easter Services: The Wall

This Easter we will be using a service called The Wall. Here's some copy explaining the concept behind it:

Some of us bump up against walls where circumstances in our lives seem too much for us to overcome on our own. God is very available to help us conquer any of those walls. And one wall that we all face, even if the rest of life has been smooth, is the mortality wall. To break through this wall, each individual has to make a personal decision as to whether they'll respond to Christ's resurrection power and reach out in repentance and faith to take his hand and accept his offer of a glorious eternity with him. This message encourages each person who is up against any wall to ask, seek, and knock—and be assured that God will answer.

What ideas for creative elements would you suggest?

Year at a Glance!

For 2010 the Planning Team that decides our service and series topics met and decided to put together a plan for the entire year.

While we reserve the right to change things if we feel necessary, this does give us a plan to work from and gives you services and series to begin cooking up ideas for way ahead of time.

I have posted the series in the right column of Muse under the heading: Future Series. But I will also list them here for ease of communication:

• February - Balanced
• March - A Place for Everyone (artwork is from LifeChurch's series of the same name)
  
• April - The Best of Me (working title-a series re: potential, purpose) or a series on Family
  
• May/June - Characters of the Bible (possibly based on UnRated by Granger)
• July - Summer Series (multiple teachers, multiple subjects)
• August - Spiritual Formation Series
• September - evangelism series
• October - Fall Big Push Series on Family or Relationships
• November - Person of God/Attributes of God series
• December - An Unexpected Christmas

Please go ahead and let your wheels start spinning and start commenting your ideas for these series. I will post series postings as we approach the individual series and know more.

Thanks again for your ideas and your time! Together we can create services that use the arts to reach people for Christ!

[image by redstamp.com]

March 28, A Place for Everyone: Everyone is Invited

The final week of A Place for Everyone we are going to take a look again at how important it was for Jesus that we all know that we are invited to share this life and eternity with Him. It was so important that He gave His life to make that possible.

We are all invited to do life with Him. Will we?

What arts elements could help us tell this incredible story on Palm Sunday?

March 21, A place for Everyone: Everyone is Included

Imagine a church where people - all people - are welcome. Not a church just for church people. What would that look like?

What if church really was designed to be a place where everyone could come and not feel judged, not feel excluded but instead feel like they are a valued participant?

Cypress Meadows strives to be exactly that sort of a place.

What arts elements do you think of that would communicate this mission?

March 14, A place for Everyone: Everyone is Important

We say it all the time,

"there's not a person you will lock eyes with that is not important to God."

What does that look like in how we treat others? What does that look like in how we live our own life?

If we are important to God, if we are so important to God that He has a plan for our lives are we living our lives accordingly. Are we investing ourselves, our gifts and our strengths in His plan for our lives?

What arts elements can you think of that would help raise these questions?

Orange - what happens when red and yellow work well together!

Something BIG is happening at Cypress that is going to really impact the smallest people at Cypress!

Sunday, March 7 we will hold a service that will cast vision for our new family ministry at Cypress, Orange.

I've talked with Chuck Deitch, our Community and Family Ministry Leader, and here is a little about what you can expect with Orange.

Red is the color that represents home, love. Yellow is the color that represents church, light. When you combine the two of them you get Orange!

The church and the family are designed to work together to teach, shape, love the kids in our lives. When they work together well it sets our kids up for a true win.

What songs, videos, dramas do you know of that would work well to help cast vision for this exciting next step for Next Gen?