Christmas Outreach 2009

December 12, 2009

This morning the awesome folks at New Life delivered Christmas groceries to approximately 40 families in the communities around Woodstock.

The joy that comes from serving in this way is contagious.  It was beautiful to watch everyone work together, laugh, and dream together as they prepared to share Christ’s love in our community.

Did you know that serving and giving in this way is worship?

Jesus said, “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:37-40 NIV).

Whatever we do to serve another, to enrich his or her life, and to bless him or her, Jesus considers it an act of kindness toward Him.  Isn’t that amazing?  By loving you, I’m loving Jesus!  By serving you, I’m serving Jesus!

That means that regardless of how those we serve may respond, we have acted in worship of our Lord.  We have taken on the attitude of the wise men who brought gifts to Jesus as a toddler.

When was the last time you worshipped Jesus by giving to or serving someone in need?

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Posted by Chad Payne

Our Steps are Ordered of the Lord

October 5, 2009

I am continually amazed at both how the Lord orders our steps and how He teaches us along the way.

Today I was supposed to be in Macedonia with our MAPS team from New Life to minister with a missionary for a week.  The night before we were scheduled to leave, we discovered an issue with one of team members’ passport.  Long story short, it didn’t work out for us to make the trip at this time.

Here’s the thing:  Everyone on the team had a peace about.  Our families had a peace about it.  There is a strong sense that this is right and that we were not supposed to go right now.

Why?  I don’t know.  But God knows.

Why then, if the Lord was going to slam the door shut at the last minute, did He let us go through all of the preparation and fight the battles necessary to make the trip?

I don’t know.  But God knows.

And I do have a clue about it, at least for my part.  Through a series of events and trends, a significant financial need arose the week before we were to make the trip.  It was severe enough that I was very concerned, and getting pretty upset.

So what happened?  Well, without going into details, the Lord spoke through a series of experiences and encounters to show me that I was not walking by faith regarding His provision.  Once I came to that realization, I repented and found a good measure of peace.  And then the next day, God supernaturally met the financial need.

I learned something about my own heart and about God’s provision, all in one whack.

Sometimes we are too consumed with what is happening to us and around us, and we miss what God is wanting to do IN us.

There’s a great line in the first Matrix movie (the only installment of the trilogy worth watching, by the way), where Neo is coming to realize that he is “The One,” even though the Oracle had indirectly led him to believe that he was not.  Morpheus says to him, “There is a difference between knowing the Path and walking the Path.”

We don’t always know what path we are on, and we sometimes are on a different path than we believe.  But this I know:  When we commit our lives to Jesus Christ, He orders our steps and directs our paths.

I’m taking great comfort in that today.

(By the way, were were able to keep our plane tickets and are planning to make the trip next spring.  So, now we get to take more people!)

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Posted by Chad Payne

My Buddy Cliff

April 3, 2009

img_0896_2My good friend, Cliff Morrison, ministered at New Life last Sunday.  It was the first time we have seen each other in probably 17 years!

Cliff is the fellow that I credit with leading me to follow Jesus.  He didn’t pray “the prayer” or “close the deal” with me, but it was through watching his life in early high school that I realized it was possible to live differently.

For the past month, I have been preaching a series entitled, “Witnesses.”  So I thought it would be a neat illustration of how important it is to share our faith to have the one who led the pastor to the Lord talk about it.  Cool, huh?

Anyway, thanks, Cliff, for your influence on my life.  And thanks for sharing with us at New Life last week.  And now, I want to go get some chocolate milk (That’s an inside joke from Cliff’s message).

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Posted by Chad Payne

Looking Forward to Sunday!

March 14, 2009

I believe that this is going to be a great Sunday at New Life!  We are beginning a new series entitled “Witnesses,” and I am having a blast preparing for it.

Also, my good friend, Dr. Bob Whitesel, will be with us tomorrow to help us position ourselves as a chad-and-bob-whitesel-at-golden-gate-bridge-2_21church for continued growth.  Dr. Whitesel was one of my professors at Indiana Wesleyan University, and he is a wealth of wise on growth and management, and he is one of the greatest encouragers I’ve ever known.  So he is going to worship with us tomorrow, and then meet with our leadership tomorrow afternoon.

My feelings on church growth continue to change and develop the longer I’m in ministry.  Pastoring a megachurch is not as important to me as it once was, because having a large number of attendees does not necessarily mean that lives are being changed.  On the other hand, I think that all churches should perpetually grow both spiritually and numerically.

Numbers ARE important.  Think about it.  Somebody counted 3000 who were born again on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.  Somebody counted how many people were fed with five loaves of bread and two fish.  It is important to count, because each number represents one person for whom Christ died!  Numbers matter because PEOPLE matter!

That’s why I want New Life to grow.  There are literally thousands within a twenty mile radius of our campus who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Their lives are broken.  Their families are broken.  They are on a path that will lead them to hell.  And for many of them, one witness for Jesus is all that stands between them and an eternity without God.

That is unacceptable.

That is why our church must grow.

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Posted by Chad Payne

Christmas Outreach 2008

December 13, 2008

Today was our Christmas Outreach at New Life.  We took baskets of food and $25 gift certificates for a local grocery store to approximately fifty families.  Some of the teams that went out came back with stories of how God broke their heart for the families they met.

Isn’t it neat how God ministers to the ministers when they are ministering?

It reminds me of a message Craig Groeschel preached where he said that God ruined him in the best possible way.  When we touch someone at their point of need, it changes us.

Here are a few pictures from our preparation last night:

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The team pictured above put the baskets together Friday evening.  The team pictured below are the ones to delivered them earlier today.

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In Matthew 25, Jesus says that when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the hurting, we are doing those things to Him.  So this outreach was not only about reaching out to people in need, it was giving to Jesus.  It was literally an act of worship.

These food baskets were birthday presents for Jesus.

I’m so proud of everyone who showed up to help this weekend.  We had a far greater turnout than we expected!  I’m pumped now and can’t wait until our next opportunity to serve our community in Jesus’ Name!

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Posted by Chad Payne

Church 101

September 4, 2008

I am so excited about a new development we have at New Life Assembly.  This Sunday evening is our very first “Church 101″ course.  It provides an introduction to our church, its history, and our vision.  It also gives newcomers the opportunity to officially become members of our church family, if the Lord so leads them.

This is the first step in our “Growth Track” process which will serve to help our people to discover their giftings, get grounded in the right disciplines, and find their spot to plug-in in ministry to help advance God’s Kingdom in our community.

Much thanks goes to Chris Hodges and Church of the Highlands for sharing their resources with us.  I estimate that it saved us six months of development.  I am thrilled to have a process to help move people from members to ministers.

It’s all about the Kingdom!

By the way, Chris has an excellent post on his blog today about growing.

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Posted by Chad Payne

Simplify

August 28, 2008

I recently finished overhauling our church website.  I decided to drop the freebie deal that our denomination provides (which is a good deal, by the way), and post a leaner, simpler, easier to navigate site.  It funnels all prayer requests to our staff, automatically updates its church calendar from my computer (yea Mac!), and honestly looks friendlier than the format we had before (no offense, web developers in Springfield).

I am loving simplicity lately.  I am finding that the more we simplify, the easier it is to focus on and accomplish what’s important.

I was listening to Dino Rizzo’s podcast yesterday, and he was talking about this very thing.  He said that he loves drive throughs and pay-at-the-pump, and he never longs for chaos in his life.

Dino, my brother, I offer you a heart-felt “amen.”

What I find, though, is that everything tends toward chaos.  We must be intentional and strategic in our efforts to make things simple.

What are some areas of your life that you can simplify?

(By the way…  if you’re wondering, I used iWeb to create our new church site.  Talk about simple.  That’s why I love Mac!)

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Posted by Chad Payne

To Touch the Face of God

July 10, 2008

This afternoon a member of the church I pastor died.

His name is Hugh, and he had been sick for some time.  In the almost nine years I have been at this wonderful church, Hugh is only the third member who has passed away.  I have done many funerals for family members of people in our congregation, but Hugh was one of our own.

Not only is this a rare experience in my pastorate, but today was also a first for me.  It was the first time I have been in the room with someone when they died.

Not to sound morbid or anything, but it is an experience I have wanted to have for a long time.  I am a student of human nature, and I believe that the moment of death gives us a unique glimpse into the nature of our life.  It is part of the human condition.  And if we have put our lives into God’s hands through Jesus Christ, it is a part of our lives that we need not regard with fear.

Hugh confirmed that for me today when he went home to be with the Lord.  I had just arrived at the nursing home, and Hugh’s son informed me that his dad’s breathing had just changed.  Five minutes later, after his breathing had slowed somewhat, Hugh took a deep breath and then sighed.  And that was it.  He was gone.  Just like that.  One moment he’s there, then next he is not.

It was a very peaceful experience.  In fact, the only way I know how to describe the sigh that he made was like a man who had just taken a big drink of cool water on a hot day.  It was a sigh of relief and joy.  If a smile had a sound, that would be it.

I know it may sound sentimental or melodramatic, but I cannot help but think that in that moment, Hugh was simultaneously in two worlds.  He was still here, but was getting his first look at the other side.

Once we were convinced he was gone, I had prayer with Hugh’s wife and son, and God’s presence was so sweet in the room.  It made me think of Ronald Reagan’s speech after the Challenger disaster in the early eighties.  He “slipped the surly bonds of earth, and touched the face of God.”

Psalm 116:15 reads, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (NIV).  I think I understand this verse a little better today, thanks to my friend Hugh.

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Posted by Chad Payne

The Grill Out

July 3, 2008

Good Cooks Make For A Happy Congregation

Ah, Our Future Leaders

Wednesday evening we grilled out at church to celebrate Independence Day.  We had a blast!  It’s amazing to me what a good time good people can have when they get together.

Sylvia, our preschool director extraordinaire, set up some games and activities for the young ones.  It actually kept them occupied for the two hours we were there (And some people say miracles don’t happen today…)!

The teens needed no such prearranged activities.  All they needed were some water guns and space with which to use them.  Ah, our future leaders…

I cannot tell you how thankful I am to pastor a congregation that actually enjoys hanging out together.  I must have walked around with a big, goofy smile all evening, because I was bubbling over with joy to see the large turnout, watch everyone enjoy themselves, and see our teens becoming a united group.  God is doing great things.

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Posted by Chad Payne

Healing, Part 2

June 26, 2008

Another interesting aspect about healing in the gospels and in the book of Acts is that is almost always connected to evangelism.

In the Pentecostal / Charismatic movment, there is a statement that we often hear:  Healing is part of our right in Christ’s atonement.  Yes, I believe that Christians can and should pray with the faith-filled expectation of God’s loving and powerful healing touch on our lives.  This includes spiritual healing, emotional healing, and, yes, physical healing.

But when I read of Christ’s activity and the actions of the early church, most of the people that were healed were not already following Jesus.  And the result of such healings was often that a crowd gathered so that Peter, Paul, or someone else could preach Jesus to them.

Thus, it is important that we realize that healing is a sign.  Signs are a means to an end, not the end itself.  I don’t drive down the interstate looking for a Cracker Barrel sign so I can rejoice over the sign itself.  I rejoice when I see the sign, because I know that it points me to where the food is!

Likewise, we as Christians are not to chase after signs.  Signs are supposed to follow us.  Healing points people to Jesus.  Healing is not the meal, but it shows who has the meal.

People sometimes ask me if it is okay to pray for nonbelievers for healing.  Well, of course!  Jesus did!  Paul did!  Peter did!  What better way to point them to Christ?

By the way, I think street preaching would be much more effective if we took this approach in ministry, don’t you?

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Posted by Chad Payne

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