Its been about 3 months since I have sent out a Netcast Update. On February 5th, Netcast moved to a new space since we were averaging well over 200 people in our services but only had 140 chairs. It was a pretty exciting problem to have.
Our new facility has really helped us to enhance every area of our ministry. Since we are renting a middle school auditorium on Sundays only, our expenses are still minimal and our space has gone from being able to fit 150 people comfortably to about 600 people comfortably. With the move, Netcast has seen another explosion of growth. At one time had almost 360 people in a single service. Our Children's Ministry went from about 20 kids on average, to at one point we had 70 kids in there. Almost all of this latest growth are by local families. This means that Netcast is really impacting our community and is becoming a more stable ministry.
With all of this excitement, we have also seen some real challenges. Because so many of the people are new, we have had to spend a lot of time and energy keeping our vision at the forefront of the church. Starting in February, I was taking the church through the Gospel of John, but to help keep a clear mission / vision and unity within the church, I recently started a series called "Netcast Identity" that will clearly define who we are as a body to all of the new people. As a church planter, I feel like I am in the core group phase again.
Another challenge has been that assimilation and pastoral care has been a growing difficulty. The difficulty of pastoral care has been hard because there are just so many people to care for and so little workers. The assimilation has been a real challenge because the way people are assimilated into a small church is drastically different than how people are assimilated into a medium sized church. Although we have a great number of people in community groups and serving positions, we need to continue to do better. Because of this, the majority of my time right now is being focused on organizing the internal structure and systems, leadership development and the preaching and teach of Gods Word.
Financially, Netcast is still doing very well when it comes to actual dollars. However, right now about 10% of our church is providing for 70% of our budget. So, in essence it seems we have about 30 people who cover the majority of our ministry expenses. I praise God for them, however we need to mature in this area as a church. We currently have very low fixed expenses and ZERO DEBT!! This has allowed us to continue to create a very generous culture within Netcast as we are giving away a high percentage of our budget to the Kingdom and are able to meet financial needs of our community when necessary.
Beth and I are still fundraising for about 66% of our annual income. At the beginning of 2013, I am hoping that that number will significantly decrease. Hopefully down to about 33%. In the past year a few of our supporters have stopped sending in support and honestly, I have been so overwhelmed with ministry responsibilities that I have not even followed up with them. I am looking to the summer as a time for me to refocus on some of my fundraising.
I praise Christ for all of you. You have been such a gift to my family and the Netcast Community. Please stay in touch and check us out at www.netcastchurch.org
Matt
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Matt Chewning
Netcast Church - Lead Pastor
netcastchurch.org matt@netcastchurch.org
Netcast Identity: The Mission of God and His Church
The mission of God is the demonstration of His own glory. God creates, calls, rescues, redeems, saves, and restores so that that He might be glorified in those things. His desire, which He will surely fulfill, is that the understanding and knowledge of His glory would be known throughout the world. In other words, God’s underlying mission on the earth is to make known His magnificence. Therefore, the church is called to be the means of making his glory known. But how? If God can be glorified in an infinite amount of ways, than what is the primary mission of the church? How are we, as the church, to pursue the glorification of God?
After Jesus fulfills the gospel by living the perfect life that we are called to live, dying the horrific death that we deserve and then raises from the grave; He proves that he is the Messiah, the glorious one. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature and He is to be exalted high above all things. In Matthew 28; the glorious Jesus, give us the commission on how we (His church) will glorify Him. We are told to go and make disciples throughout all the nations. God is most glorified by His church as the church preaches and lives out the gospel, while making disciples within the earth.
After Jesus fulfills the gospel by living the perfect life that we are called to live, dying the horrific death that we deserve and then raises from the grave; He proves that he is the Messiah, the glorious one. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature and He is to be exalted high above all things. In Matthew 28; the glorious Jesus, give us the commission on how we (His church) will glorify Him. We are told to go and make disciples throughout all the nations. God is most glorified by His church as the church preaches and lives out the gospel, while making disciples within the earth.
Netcast this Sunday with Pastor Andy Thompson
I am really excited to have Pastor Andy come and visit us on Sunday. It isn't everyday that a small church plant like Netcast gets the opportunity to have a mega-church pastor visit and teach.
Pastor Andy has been a huge Netcast supporter from before Netcast was even a reality. He and his church have given a significant amount of money and other resources to help Netcast get started. Lets bless him back by making sure we are there to receive a word from him and thank him if we get the opportunity. He is one of the most dynamic speakers I know and you wont want to miss the service.
College Students…This is your last weekend with us until next semester. Looking forward to seeing you guys.
Pastor Andy has been a huge Netcast supporter from before Netcast was even a reality. He and his church have given a significant amount of money and other resources to help Netcast get started. Lets bless him back by making sure we are there to receive a word from him and thank him if we get the opportunity. He is one of the most dynamic speakers I know and you wont want to miss the service.
College Students…This is your last weekend with us until next semester. Looking forward to seeing you guys.
Forgiveness: Those who don't ask for it and those who don't deserve it.
In the past, I have been wronged by many people have never asked for forgiveness from me. As I think of my own story, I am reminded that everyone has been wronged, offended, and sinned against at some point. The question for you and I is different than the rest of the world because we are Christians. So we must ask; How are we as Christians to respond when such offenses occur? According to the Bible, we are to forgive all offenses. Ephesians 4:32 declares, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 proclaims, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
The key in both Scriptures is that we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. So, what is the reason that we forgive? Why do we forgive if people don't care if we forgive anyway? I think there are two answers.
1. Because we have been forgiven! Those who are not Christians, however, have not been forgiven by God and have neither the power nor the desire to forgive other people. Often times, it is simply the Holy Spirit that convicts us of our sin so without the Holy Spirit, a person my be totally blind to their wrongs.
2. Forgiving others frees us, not just them. If we are honest, our lack of forgiveness towards others has us absolutely enslaved to the hurts that have been done to us. We can't stop thinking about what has been done to us, we demand that we get justice for the hurt people have caused us. We wish the worse against the people who hurt us. And, all of that thinking keeps us a slave to our hurts and keeps us in bondage to our past.
Forgiveness would be simple if we only had to grant it to those who come asking for it and have repented. The Bible tells us that we are to forgive, without condition, those who sin against us. That goes for those who want our forgiveness and those who don't care if we forgive them. Refusing to truly forgive a person demonstrates resentment, bitterness, and anger, none of which are the beautiful traits of a true Christian. Jesus teaches us that, we are to ask God to forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those who sin against us (Matthew 6:12). Jesus also said in Matthew 6:14-15,“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” All this is saying that when you and I refuse to forgive others, it is a good eye opener that we are not aware of the depths of Gods forgiveness towards us.
When you and I can consider the extent to which God forgives all our sins, we realize that we do not have the right to withhold grace and forgiveness from others. We have sinned against God infinitely more than any person can sin against us. And I say that as one who has been been horribly sinned against by others. If God forgives us of so much, how can we refuse to forgive others of so little?
The big idea that I can't get away from is that in order to truly be free from our past hurts, we have to forgive others. God always commands us to do something because it is in our best interest to be obedient. God doesn't want us to forgive others for the sake of others. That may be a benefit, but not the main purpose. God simply wants us to forgive others because it is going to be most freeing for us. We are his children and he delights in freeing us from our bondage.
The key in both Scriptures is that we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. So, what is the reason that we forgive? Why do we forgive if people don't care if we forgive anyway? I think there are two answers.
1. Because we have been forgiven! Those who are not Christians, however, have not been forgiven by God and have neither the power nor the desire to forgive other people. Often times, it is simply the Holy Spirit that convicts us of our sin so without the Holy Spirit, a person my be totally blind to their wrongs.
2. Forgiving others frees us, not just them. If we are honest, our lack of forgiveness towards others has us absolutely enslaved to the hurts that have been done to us. We can't stop thinking about what has been done to us, we demand that we get justice for the hurt people have caused us. We wish the worse against the people who hurt us. And, all of that thinking keeps us a slave to our hurts and keeps us in bondage to our past.
Forgiveness would be simple if we only had to grant it to those who come asking for it and have repented. The Bible tells us that we are to forgive, without condition, those who sin against us. That goes for those who want our forgiveness and those who don't care if we forgive them. Refusing to truly forgive a person demonstrates resentment, bitterness, and anger, none of which are the beautiful traits of a true Christian. Jesus teaches us that, we are to ask God to forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those who sin against us (Matthew 6:12). Jesus also said in Matthew 6:14-15,“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” All this is saying that when you and I refuse to forgive others, it is a good eye opener that we are not aware of the depths of Gods forgiveness towards us.
When you and I can consider the extent to which God forgives all our sins, we realize that we do not have the right to withhold grace and forgiveness from others. We have sinned against God infinitely more than any person can sin against us. And I say that as one who has been been horribly sinned against by others. If God forgives us of so much, how can we refuse to forgive others of so little?
The big idea that I can't get away from is that in order to truly be free from our past hurts, we have to forgive others. God always commands us to do something because it is in our best interest to be obedient. God doesn't want us to forgive others for the sake of others. That may be a benefit, but not the main purpose. God simply wants us to forgive others because it is going to be most freeing for us. We are his children and he delights in freeing us from our bondage.
Jesus: Outrageous Claims
Of all the things that Jesus said during his 3 years of ministry on earth, nothing is as outrageous as his claims to deity. Here in John 5:1-24 we get our first glimpse of Jesus speaking as one who is equal with God. As a matter of fact, He was so persistent in his claims that the Jewish leaders went from persecuting him for his words to scheming on how to kill him. Beyond his claims to being one with God, he also claimed that whatever our view is of him, that is our view of God. In other words, unless we honor Jesus, we cannot honor God. This would be an outrageous claim if this were not true.
However, not only did Christ claim these things but he also proved it. He proved it through his power which he showed in his miracles. He proved it with his wisdom which showed his remarkable knowledge. And he showed it through his resurrection and assention which proved that he had power over life and death.
As outrageous as his claims were, they proved to be true. He is exactly who he claimed to be; God incarnate, the Messiah, the 2nd person in the trinity.
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