(YES some things are not worded absolutely correct, but I tried my best to capture it for you – so enjoy)

Main Session #1 - Shawn Lovejoy

(finances during economic times)

Our friends had around $400.00 stolen from their car. We had around $1400 worth of stuff. We normally never leave anything valuable in the car, and it had to be on this night that we did. A new GPS system and a bunch of Tandy’s photography equipment for her business. Wonderful as insurance is, we have a nice little $500.0o deductible… got to love those. Right at a time when we are trying to get our house on the market to sell it, we have all these things popping up, using up every bit of money we need. Not to mention we had a nice little $150.00 fee of replacing the window this morning.

(HALF FULL) Right after this event we went completely on the other side of Orlando to get our windshield replaced. Upon arriving at some hole-in-the-wall windshield repair shop, we were two of only three people in the place. As we sat and waited a guy began asking me about my iphone. We began to engage in conversation. We told him we were both pastors, in which he began to joke about many stereotypes of church and pastors that he had. He had some very comical assumptions and some even funnier experiences. We talked briefly about those with him and truly enjoyed it. He then told us what he does for a living… he has worked at the University of Central Florida for 18 years! What? Right in the area we are looking at possibly planting. I told him about what we are looking at doing, and by the end of the conversation we had swapped emails and phone numbers! 

James 1:2   ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I awoke this morning with this exact verse in mind. I could choose to get upset (which happens a lot) or I could choose to look at the circumstance through a different perspective. Today I chose the later. Yes, we need money. Yes, we are about to start a church off of support. But I serve a big God, who can do “immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine.” I can’t go to bed tonight without wondering about meeting Greg Mason at the window repair shop. Could God be working even in the midst of a trial? Today I choose to see the glass HALF FULL!

www.genesischurchorlando.com

Check out our brand new info site. 

www.genesischurchorlando.com 

“The point of this final section of the book is that a proper grasp of the future hope held out to us in Jesus Christ leads directly and, to many people, equally surprisingly, to a vision of the present hope that is the basis of all Christian mission. To hope for a better future in this world – for the poor, the sick, the lonely and depressed, for the slaves, the refugees, the hungry and homeless, for the abused, the paranoid, the downtrodden and despairing, and in fact for the whole wide, wonderful, and wounded world – is not something else, something extra, something tacked on to the gospel as an afterthought. And to work for that intermediate hope, the surprising hope that comes forward from God’s ultimate future into God’s urgent present, is not a distraction from the task of mission and evangelism in the present. It is a central, essential,vital, and life-giving part of it. Mostly, Jesus himself got a hearing from his contemporaries because of what he was doing. They saw him saving people from sickness and death, and they heard him talking about a salvation, the message for which they had longed, that would go beyond the immediate into the ultimate future. But the two were not unrelated, the present one a mere visual aid of the future one. The whole point of what Jesus was up to was that he was doing, close up, in the present, what he was promising long-term, in the future. And what he was promising for the future, and doing in that present, was not saving souls for a disembodied eternity but rescuing people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose – and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that larger project.” (page 192)

 Just look at the numbers…

58 points vs. Charlotte Bobcats

60 points vs. Memphis Grizzlies

62 points vs. Dallas Mavericks (in just 3 quarters of play!)

65 points vs. Portland Trailblazers

(24) 50+ point games in his career! (4 straight 50+ point games in a row)

9 straight games he scored 40+ points 

Oh yeah then there is the 81 points vs. Toronto Raptors January 22, 2006. Second highest of All-time!

By the way; He is the reigning 2008 NBA MVP & 2008 Olympic Medalist as he personally (don’t believe watch the game) lead USA to gold.

Yep.

“…we (followers of Christ) live between ascension and appearing… the task of the Church between ascension and appearing is therefore set free both from the self-driven energy that imagines it has to build God’s kingdom all by itself and from the despair that supposes it can’t do anything until Jesus comes again. We don’t “build the kingdom” all by ourselves, but we build for the kingdom. All that we do in faith, hope and love in the present, in obedience to our ascended Lord and in the power of his Spirit, will be enhanced and transformed at his appearing.” (page 143)

“More than 1 million people crammed onto the National Mall and along the inauguration parade route Tuesday to celebrate the swearing-in of the nation’s first black president in what was one of the largest-ever gatherings in the nation’s capital… On the National Mall, the crowd stretched nearly two miles — from the Capitol to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial…”- (NBC News and news services updated 10:46 p.m. ET, Tues., Jan. 20, 2009)

Television stations even showed video of other countries gathered around televisions and projection screens as they joined with others to observe this moment. It was as if most the world had paused to listen and wait. But wait for what? Most were waiting for one man to step before them and proclaim a message of hope. Was he going to give them hope? See, that’s what grabbed me! This post isn’t about politics and not really what our new President said or has been saying. This post is more about the people. People who gathered through frigid weather, for countless hours to hear someone talk about “change”. Change that they would interpret to be the hope they needed to survive in what some are describing as “desperate times.”

As I sat and watched all the people who gathered around the National Mall, I was taken back at the picture portrayed by how much people will persevere to hear of hope. Distance, weather, packed parking lots, traffic, even close quarters with total strangers. So why doesn’t this happen in the one place they can find true hope… the Church? Why is it that people won’t persevere through these types of things to be in Church? (Disclaimer: Church is not merely a building, because people are the church, but in this post we are talking about gathering together as a body) Think about it; every Sunday we give excuses as to why people won’t come to church… “it’s raining”, “the leafs changed color this weekend”, “its a beautiful day to be on the lake”, “hunting season”, “the big game”, “parking lot was too full”, and on and on the list goes. We often find ourselves giving excuses for people as to why people can’t or would not attend Church. But they do it! They do it in moments like we saw on Tuesday. Why? Because it oozes with passion. You may not like our President, but he surely articulates with passion. Passion is what makes people persevere because if the “messenger” believes it, then it funnels into the audience. Does it sound like passion, when we are quick to excuse?

Think about the many things people persevere for stuff they are passionate about. They do it for a Friday night football game or Saturday baseball tournament. They do it for their favorite concert and movie. Cold weather… no problem. Rain… no problem. Walk a few blocks to the ball field… no problem. Cheer, hug, and hi five total strangers… no problem.

Do you see what I am getting at? On Tuesday I realized, people will persevere any obstacle if they truly believe they what is taking place will “change” them. A moment that will force them to walk away and never forget what just took place. Millions of people were brought together by a “message” of change. A man was passionate about the “change” he had to offer. We can blame the media or whom ever, but the truth is that for a moment people thought they were going find the hope that deep down inside their soul craved for. Did they find the True Hope? No, but maybe that’s where the Church should start? Instead of giving excuses for why people won’t get out of bed and go to Church, maybe we should see first if our message of hope actually has a passion that makes others want to follow. Do others feel and realize that we as the “messengers” truly believe in the hope we are offering? If it’s not then it only feels like another Sunday program. Who would want to come to that?

Wayne Coderio once said; “if you bake fresh bread, they will come from miles to eat it”.

Agree with it or not, isn’t that at least the campaign that was told to them during this political season? “A ‘fresh’change is coming”. So what about the Church? Are we making “fresh bread” that oozes with “change”/hope, or are we simply willing to except the excuses?

I heard stories of Billy Graham preaching in places that looked much like the National Mall did last week. Maybe, just maybe because his passion was a clear picture of his hope, and that made people come from all over to hear it.

We left at different times on Friday and stayed at my boy Chad’s house. Yep. He put us up and found housing for all of us! It is amazing to have people we know who are helping us in anyway during this process. 

Woke up Saturday morning and I got to share my heart and passion for what we believe God is leading us to do in this city. Then we got to tour Chad’s church. They are a church plant in Orlando and have been in their location for somewhere around 3 years. Running 3 services (one on Saturday night) and have around 700 attending. The lead Pastor is Rodney Gage and they have been incredible already during this time. Touring and hearing their story got our thoughts swirling! We look forward to working with them and gleaning from them in the future. 

We spent the afternoon driving around what we believe is the quadrant of the city God is placing us in. We don’t know an exact location right now, and may not for a while. However, we do feel like we keep returning to the same area every time we come back. I saw this area over a year ago as God began to work on me. I love the area, the diversity and the feel of being near the pulse of the city. 

We spent Saturday night simply enjoying each other. We had a blast with the group. They were fun to get to know more and it seemed as if we meshed well. Mexican and then to Downtown Disney…

It’s crazy to think that some of the people in this picture will soon be relocating and eventually will be part of the very first stories we tell as the beginning of Genesis Church. Also crazy to think that many of them will find new homes and new careers just to play a part. 

On Sunday we went to Fellowship Orlando where many of us will attend until the launch of our church. Rodney did a great job teaching and really encouraged our team with some of his own personal stories. We look forward to working with them in the city of Orlando. 

As Sunday continued to unfold myself and some drove around more and got a better glimpse of housing and neighborhoods in Orlando, others took the time to just enjoy the many perks of living in a great place. One being the fact that Cocoa Beach is just a 45 minute drive from where we are at. The kids with us had a blast. It was 71 degrees on Sunday in Orlando and 14 back in Atlanta – Crazy!This trip was to take those interested and let them get a glimpse of what it means to leave home and sacrifice everything to be a part of this. Myself and my two future staff members have been praying that God would send people not just from here, but all over to play a part in being the core foundation of Genesis Church. What is God up to? I don’t know. But that’s part of the joy in serving a God who is full of mystery, because when it all reveals itself, He gets the glory.

Please pray for those who went that God would give them clarity and truly allow them to see the sacrifice and reward of doing something like this. Pray for us as we continue in the process. I have a house to sell, money to raise and a lot more ahead of me.

May God be made famous through this process and may we stand in amazement of what He does. 

*If you would like to find out more about Genesis Church click HERE.