Join us : )

train wreck to glorious

Well we are three months in and i am really enjoying our worship and community. i have been pleasantly surprised at how comfortable and relational our worship environment in the auditorium at Blythewood High School has felt.
We sing, praise, cry, laugh and have had good interaction during our worship time.

Sunday a week ago (December 12) was "Train Wreck Sunday." Anything that could go wrong went wrong. Our bass player got stranded in Atlanta because of a three-car wreck on I-85, our keyboard got unplugged as the band was getting on stage and all the pre-sets were lost, when i turned on my lapel mic, i actually turned it off, so when i turned it off after the sermon, i actually turned it on to create some major feedback during the "reflection song," then, i exited and forgot to return to do the benediction which threw off John (our worship leader) who could not figure out the rhythm/tune/melody of the last song and the drummer and electric guitar guys could not get him back on track... TRAIN WRECK SUNDAY!!

Then last Sunday (December 19) was one of our best worship times yet!! We had a full band with a bass player and four vocalist. David Poole shared an original song from the perspective of a shepherd which set up our monologue of a shepherd really well. The service ended with an incredible baritone version of O Holy Night by Dan Reyes. It was GLORIOUS!!

These past two weeks are such reminders that we live in a broken world, but God is at work and gives us a NOW (but not yet) taste of heaven. To God be the glory.

bpc news - November 24, 2010

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We are Discovering, Living and SHARING the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

We had a GREAT Kids Sunday at BPC last week. Click HERE to see our children's video.

Youth (Middle and High School Students) Bon Fire at the Smiths (Lydia & Tuckers)

Friday after Thanksgiving (November 26) 7:00 p.m.

Each family is asked to bring a SNACK FOOD and a 2 Liter drink - to share with others.

Parents feel free to stick around and enjoy this outdoor evening together.

We will have to cancel if it is raining : (

COMMUNION SUNDAY AT BPC - THIS WEEK, November 28

Plus we will have a guest pastor (Paul Sanders, my youngest brother) bringing the message.

BPC Christmas Gathering at Connie Hancock's - Friday, December 11, 2010 - beginning at 6:30 p.m. (food, fellowship and maybe some Christmas Caroling)

Everyone is asked to bring an appetizer and baby gift for Bethany's Clothes Closet (see LIST below)

Offering Box - currently located in the auditorium (back and center)

Remember that in order for us to be visitor friendly, we do not pass an offering plate during our worship service.

But as God prompts you to give, you can drop your tithes/offerings in the box on Sundays or mail to Blythewood Pres. Church, PO Box 789, Blythewood, SC 29016.

Bank Drafts - We are also looking into making bank drafts available. If you would be interested in setting up your tithes through a monthly bank draft, please EMAIL with a "yes, bank draft" message.

Living a Life of Thanksgiving? Remember, whatever situation you are going through, God is present, God is purposeful and God is powerful.

Looking for help with KIDS ROCK!! If you would be willing to help out with our Elementary program on Sundays, please contact Patrick Kelly.

Since November is National Adoption Awareness Month, go linger at the website of Bethany Christian Services.

Also, stay informed at our Website.

rhett

CLOTHES CLOSET WISH LIST:

NO car seats or furniture (do not have space to store, and can be safety/liability issues)

Baby Bath items (baby shampoo, baby wash, lotion, etc.)

Baby Towels and washcloths

New baby bottles

Diaper bags (can be used, in good shape)

Diapers (all sizes)

Baby wipes, diaper rash ointment

Baby Blankets

Pacifiers (new)

Bibles (or printed portions of scripture) or Christian tracts

Clothing up to size 2T (especially newborn – 12 months onesies, sleepers, etc., - used clothing is fine)

Journals to give to birthmothers (inexpensive at places like Michael’s, Dollar Tree, etc.)

Photo boxes or small photo albums to give to birthmothers

$5.00 donation to purchase “Bethany” teddy bear (for adoptive families and birthmothers)

***We run out of diapers, wipes and 0-3 month clothes the fastest****

Thankful for Dr. George Murray

I am so grateful to Dr. George Murray for bringing the message at BPC this past Sunday (November 14). LISTEN HERE. An incredible message from Colossians 2:6, 7 on Thankful for Perseverance. Wow... good stuff.

TRANSFORMATION

Yep... this is what i was trying to communicate last month. Chan says in just over a minute what i tried to say in five weeks. Good stuff : ) TRANSFORMATION!!

Fun Times for Everyone

We had a GREAT time at our first annual BPC - Trunk or Treat this past Sunday.

The hot dog lunch included incredible chili AND coleslaw. There were multiple types of chips and unbelievable homemade desserts (including oatmeal-raisin cookies).

THEN we had tons of fun with unique games that offered LOTS and LOTS of candy.

WOW!! Thank you Rachel Tefft (and crew) for pulling this off and helping us celebrate God's Transforming Love together : )

Good stuff - I love being at BPC.

Trick or Trunk

This Sunday (October 31) we will be spending our Life Group time together as a community!! Following worship, we will go outside for a hot-dog lunch with fun and games that result in CANDY!!

This will be a fun time for EVERYONE... including first timers. A great opportunity to get to know folks and make relational connections.


Plan on joining the FUN and bring someone with you...

rhett

Sunday Corporate Worship

Inaugural Worship Service

Our First Worship Service, Sunday, October 3rd

at Blythewood High School (10901 Wilson Blvd)

10:00 a.m. Coffee & Pastries

10:30 a.m. Encouraging Worship

Nursery provided for 0-5 years old

Children’s Program for k-5th grade

We are discovering, living and SHARING the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

www.blythewoodpres.com

Banner at the T

Have you seen our banner yet? It is flying high where Blythewood Road runs into Wilson Blvd. Swing by and check it out.

Life on Life Evangelsim - 9/23/2010

Our desire is to SHARE the Transforming love of Jesus Christ - as a way of life.
We are being trained and encourage in life on life Evangelism - using the concepts from Jim Peterson's book Living Proof.
Here is a LINK to David Poole's summary of this book.
The handouts we used can be found HERE.
We are His witnesses and His ambassadors - He is making His appeal through us.

Website is up and running!! September 14

Check us out on the World Wide Web

Life Groups Feedback

As mentioned at the service on Sunday, here is the chance for you to give some feedback on your experience with Life Groups to this point. Thanks so much for your help in developing Life Groups into a chance for our congregation to develop into a friendly, authentic community where we are truly living in Christ's love! For the survey, click here.

bpc and Missions - September 8, 2010

As a new church, we have a great opportunity to be a part of the advancement of the Gospel locally, regionally and globally. We need to develop a philosophy and strategy of how we will invest our resources for God's glory. These are exciting times.

Rob Rogers would like to request that anyone who is interested in participating in an introductory discussion about our Blythewood Presbyterian Church mission's philosophy to please email him at rrogers@voa.org. Based on the responses, he will work out the logistics.

Thanks, rhett

Life Groups- Recipe Time!

Life Groups are now entering their second month, and it seems each group has their own wonderful stories of food, fun, and fellowship. It has been exciting to see our body truly come together and become a place where everyone is known and comfort zones are expanded. Most importantly, Life Groups have been an incredible way to see the fulfillment of God's promise that He is wherever two or more are gathered together in His name.

As we continue through this rotation of Life Groups we want to make sure that no one hits a culinary "wall," so we have set up an online "recipe book" in order to help with menu selection. To view it, simply go to tinyurl.com/bpclifegroups and scroll to the bottom. And if you would like to share a favorite recipe with others, just e-mail it to plkelly27@gmail.com.

Children's Message for August : /

This is a building where a steeple may perch
Open the door and see the real Church
Close the door as we love one another
Then may we live and SHARE the Truths we discover

Blythewood Pres Tailgate and Swim - August 26

Saturday, August 26 was a GREAT time around the pool and incredible food at the Hunter's house.

It was a wonderful day of relationship, memories and calories. I sure am enjoying getting to know the families that are partnering with us in this adventure of planting a new church.

We are continuing to seek God's leading for what He wants His church to become.

There are more pictures on our fb group page.

Sermon Prep Team - August 16

One of the things we are committed to at Blythewood Presbyterian is strong teaching in our Sunday sermons. To help accomplish this goal we are wanting to put together a Sermon Prep Team. The idea is to get a variety of folks in prayer, in the Word, and in conversation leading into our sermon series.

The plan is to get the team the biblical texts (with possible sermon titles) two months out. Each of us are to go before the Father, through Christ with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and study the text (writing down insights, thoughts, promptings, etc...). Then a month before the series begins the team will get together for interaction and discussion. This process will be supplemented with emails and consistent communication.

If you are interested in being a part of this team, email me at rhett@blythewoodpres.com.

Soft Launching - August 16

We are off and running. Blythewood Presbyterian Church Plant is currently meeting at St. Marks church on Sunday afternoons.

We are planning our public launch on October 3 in the Blythewood High School auditorium.

If you are interested in getting connected, feel free to contact us at info@blythewoodpres.com - we would love to have you join us.

This is a church and this is a steeple, open the door and see... The Church.

First Month - a soft launch - 8/5/2010

How exciting!! August is here and we are launching... softly.

A soft launch means that we will be discovering, living and SHARING the transforming love of Jesus Christ as a core group of believers. We will continue to become trained and unified in our mission and mode of operation.

Our corporate worship will be on Sundays from 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. (with childcare provided) at St. Marks Lutheran Church (105 Main Street or Wilson Blvd, Blythewood, SC - just north of Blythewood High School). Our worship experience will be followed by Life Groups.

If you are interested in more information, please feel free to contact us at: info@blythewoodpres.com.

Calendar Events for August

7 Youth Swim @ The Smiths

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Middle and High School pizza and swim gathering

8 Worship @ St. Marks and Life Groups

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Vision and Evangelism

6:00 p.m. Life Groups – supper and relationship

15 Worship @ St. Marks and Life Groups

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Vision and Evangelism

6:00 p.m. Life Groups – supper and relationship

20 Pre-School Fun Night @ The Sanders

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

22 Worship @ St. Marks and Life Groups

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Vision and Evangelism

6:00 p.m. Life Groups – supper and relationship

27 Elementary Fun Night @ The Sanders

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

28 Tail Gate and Swim @ The Hunters

3:00 p.m. Swim and Pot Luck tailgate favorites

29 Worship @ St. Marks and Life Groups

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Vision and Evangelism

6:00 p.m. Life Groups – supper and relationship

rhett

Evangelism

To recap what we've learned and discussed thus far. In week 1, we learned that coming to Christ is a process or a series of mini-decisions that a person must make as they move towards asking Jesus to come into their life.

In week 2, we discussed how difficult and intimidating it can be to find common ground with unbelievers.

Last week, we discussed how to be a good testimony, and in essence "raise the flag" by making it known that we are a believer in Christ.

Finally, yesterday, we discussed the fact that we can't please everyone, and that at times our decisions to spend time with unbelievers can cause both internal and external strife as we figure out how to cope with their offensive habits or with other believers that take issue with our efforts to associate with unbelievers with offensive habits.

We were left with four (4) principles to consider: 1) let the Holy Spirit clean up the unbeliever's act; 2) be God pleasers, not man-pleasers; 3) get God's point of view on ethical issues from the Bible; and 4) learn to apply your own convictions gracefully, without alienating others.

I would encourage each of you to simply strive to be open to whatever God lays on your heart in the area of evangelism.

Rob

Administration

Greetings everyone. While we continue to work on completing things like the web site and church logo many other items have been completed. One such issue, as reported in a previous blog, is that of Blythewood Presbyterian Church's first home. Could I get a drum roll please. As of today, July 26th, we have finalized an agreement to begin meeting at St. Marks Lutheran Church beginning August 8th. The red brick church is located on Main St. (Wilson Blvd or 521) immediately to the right of Blythewood High School's football stadium. We will meet at 4:30pm on Sunday afternoons. In addition, we have secured the use of Blythewood High's auditorium and are tentatively scheduled to begin meeting there in October. Both locations represent answered prayers. God has opened these doors and we have been welcomed with open arms. Check back often for more exciting news.

Bert

Worship/Prayer - July 19

Things are moving forward and it is exciting!

We are continuing with the Daily Prayer Focus to help unify us in prayer throughout the week.

Worship Service!!!!! Our "soft launch" worship service will start on Sunday, August 8th! Details of time and location are still being finalized and will be communicated asap. This will be a simple service for our core group to praise God together, pray, fellowship, and be encouraged prior to moving towards a more public launch (called a "hard launch").

Be thinking of ways that you can get involved in planning and participating on Sunday's (once we start the "hard launch"). Here are some decisions that are being finalized:

• Children's Sermon! We will be incorporating a time for our kids to hear a short creative lesson directly from Rhett. This will be neat for our kids to get to know Rhett.
• BP Kids Worship Service - once a quarter our worship service will be 100% kid friendly! This will be fun to worship together as a family. We will be meeting to brainstorm the details and planning.
• We will be forming some teams that are needed for the "hard launch". Some of the teams are - A/V Team (sound/lights/slides), Creative Worship Team (videos, creative ways to do creeds, etc), Sermon Prep/Study Team (study the next sermon series and provide suggestions), Greeters/Welcome Team, Prayer Team.

These are exciting times and I can't wait to see us celebrate the transforming love of Jesus Christ together!

JP

Church Life- Focus on "Living"

As I listened to Rob's presentation about evangelism last Sunday, I couldn't help but think on how interconnected "living" and "sharing" are in our mission statement. If we are going to engage in "lifestyle evangelism" as a church, it becomes absolutely essential that we are living lives that reflect the power and grace of Christ's redeeming love. However, I think our society has done a good job distorting what it looks like to "live in Christ," so we as a church need to recapture the Biblical truths of living with our Savior.

One way I hope we can do this is through Life Groups. The Church Life team will be sharing more details on these groups in coming weeks, but as I stated in an earlier post, Life Groups will meet for food and fellowship at the conclusion of our Sunday worship services. In looking through the gospels, it is clear that Christ took a very relational approach to ministry....he was constantly with his disciples, sharing the joys of a wedding, the agony of a funeral, and the simple fellowship of a meal. In this spirit, the goal of Life Groups is to give us the opportunities as a church to grow in our relationships with each other.....to share in all of life's ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and through it all, to have people to walk with as we seek to live in the path of our Savior.

Transforming Love of Jesus Christ

...the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

Do not conform an longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

(Romans 12:2)

In this verse, the concept of "be transformed" comes from the Greek word that we get the English word, "metamorphosis" which means:

a profound change in form from one stage to the next in the life history of an organism, as from the caterpillar to the pupa and from the pupa to the adult butterfly. (Dictionary.com)

Our brokenness, selfishness, pride, deceit, anger, hurt... need a profound change from complete yuck to conform more to God's Image (how we were created). This transformation comes from the love of Jesus Christ which gives us the best view of God's mercy (of which Romans 12:1 refers).

Our desire is to discover, live and share how we can be transformed from crawling on our bellies (caterpillar) to soaring with wings like eagles (butterfly). There is something beautiful about this.

rhett

Administration

The admin team has completed most of the necessary "paperwork" functions. We are now a proud banking customer at First Citizens Bank on Blythewood Road and will be meeting this week with 2 locations in our attempt to finalize our first home. A team is working on web site development, and another group is focused on a logo design. As we continue to work through the details involved in our church plant it is encouraging to see the passion and enthusiasm grow. We are now in a position to receive tithes, gifts, donations, and special offerings. We are preparing to meet the immediate needs and ask you to give prayerful consideration to whether you may be able to support the new church and provide assistance to the start up phase of our journey. We acknowledge the loving generosity of those who have already come along side us as we are discovering, living, and sharing the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

Offerings may be made payable to: Blythewood Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 789
Blythewood, SC 29016

Check back often to get the latest information and updates.

In Him,
Bert

2 Corinthians 9:7

Evangelism

Today we learned that coming to know Christ is a process or a series of "mini-decisions" on the way to conversion. There are many obstacles to be overcome along the way, and people will be at different points in the process when they come into our lives. Keep Matthew 13:1-23 and the parable of the sower in mind as you move forward.

As believers in Christ, we are called to present an accurate picture of Christ through our witness to others. God will use many resources or believers as a person moves along through the process to accepting Christ. Your role many not be to "close the deal" so to speak.

Your role may be to simply reflect God's love through your life, thereby serving as a witness. For others, your role may be to share how Jesus has impacted and transformed your life. Still others, may have the opportunity to read the Bible with this person or perhaps you will be blessed with that rare opportunity where you are actually present when the person gives their life to Christ. Whatever your role, take heart, God has a plan to use you in a mighty way for His honor and glory.

Rob

Worship/Prayer - July 5

My first Blog ever!

A quick update from our launch team.

Prayer - We have been sending out the daily prayer focus emails to help each of us to corporately join together as we prayer for the many different aspects of the church plant. We are exploring and brainstorming other ways to encourage corporate prayer because prayer is the fuel behind God's work!

Worship - We went on a field trip last Sunday (June 25th) to Cornerstone Baptist Church in Florence, SC to give us some ideas outside of our current frame of reference. We have had great conversations thus far and we will be working towards more specifics on how we can FRAME up our worship service. I can't wait to see how God forms our time before, during, and after our worship service.

Praise be to God!

JP

Chuch Life Update- July 5th

Here is a quick update on what is going on in the world of Church Life for Blythewood Pres. Currently, the Church Life group is working in five different launch teams to develop the programs needed to help our new church live out our mission of discovering, living and sharing the transforming love of Christ. Here are the teams:

1) "Life Groups"- This launch team is developing a program to help our church engage in authentic, life-on-life relationship building. In a nutshell, Life Groups are Sunday lunch or dinner groups that will immediately follow our regular Sunday worship service. The unique element of these groups will be the fact that membership of groups will rotate every three months to make sure that we are all getting a chance to invest in the lives of everyone else at BPC. Just as importantly, the simple chance to share our homes and lives with each other should provide a great, inviting environment to engage in some "lifestyle evangelism" with those that might be less willing to set foot in a traditional church setting. Just as Christ openly shared his life with his disciples, our hope is that Life Groups will give people at BPC the chance to gain encouragement and wisdom from the full body of believers.

2) "Discovery Groups"- Instead of Sunday School, we are working on a Wednesday alternative to provide chances for folks at BPC to further their discovery of the depth of Christ's love for them. Once these are up and running, Discovery Groups will give us a group of electives to choose from that will be relevant to where you are currently in your walk with Christ. As with Life Groups, Discovery Groups will rotate every few months to give everyone fresh perspectives and a chance to interact with fresh faces.

3) Pre-school and Nursery- This group is working to ensure that we have quality care for every child that sets foot in BPC (wherever that may be!)

4) Student Ministries- Working to create authentic and memorable opportunities for our youth to grown in their knowledge of and relationship with Christ.

5) Congregational Care- Working to establish the programs needed to care for those in need AND to establish the events that are so essential to Christian fellowship.

If you have questions about any of these groups or would like to get plugged in to one of them, just let me know and I'll be happy to help! Also, please be on the look out for a brief survey from Church Life in coming days that will help all five teams.

Patrick

SHARING

We are SHARING the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

Then they said to each other, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves."

(2 Kings 7:9)

Good News is to be shared with others. I grew up in a home of eight children. It was awesome to come home with good news (i.e. a good grade or making the team) and have a chance to share it with the family. I got to tell so many people. It was even better if the good news was also good news for them (i.e. we are going to Captain's Kitchen or we're having ice cream after supper). It energized me to share something that brought joy to others.

The wonderful Truths of the Gospel are what we should be most excited about sharing with others. How awesome that God loves us so much that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him can receive forgiveness and GRACE instead of the punishment we deserve!!

This is not just good news - it is critical news. If, when growing up, our house caught on fire - I could not imagine hesitating to share the good news that there was a way of escape. This is the mission of the Church- telling others of God's Transforming Love that rescues us from sin and death.

We are not to keep the Good News to ourselves... we are to SHARE.

rhett

Living

We are Living the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

(2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Truth is Truth. And what we proclaim (and nod our heads to) on Sunday should impact who we are and how we live on Monday through Saturday. A surveyor has to find a benchmark (point of reference) to get his bearing, so that he can then have a better understanding of the terrain, surroundings and situation in which he finds himself.

The transforming love of Jesus needs to be our benchmark (reference point) for our lives. As a spouse, parent, son, brother, follower of Christ... the Truths of the Gospel are to impact (compel) the decisions I make, my responses to my circumstances and the way I love (the way I live).

We are committed to be a church that together - lives the transforming love of Jesus Christ. This will be exemplified in our life on life approach to ministry.

rhett

p.s. Emily Curry's dad (Mike Mills) says that there is a benchmark in Longcreek. Whoever sends me a picture (and location) of it, I'll buy a milkshake :)

A GREAT sign of a Healthy Church

We had our first BPC fellowship at Tim and Tammie Hunter's on Saturday, June 26. We were joined by an intense thunderstorm - but still got in a fun swim.
The pot-luck meal was INCREDIBLE!!!
I think a GREAT sign of a healthy church is the quality of a pot-luck.
Great food, Great fun, Great fellowship... and the Gamecocks beat Clemson on their way to an NCAA Baseball National Championship!!!
I believe we are on track for something quite special :)
rhett

Administration

The administration committee has been busy taking care of the behind the scenes details. Banking, Federal ID number, non-profit status, etc., etc. Things are coming together nicely - one of the exciting things is that we actually have a mailing address:
Blythewood Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 789
Blythewood, SC 29016
In addition, we have set up an information email address in case you are more comfortable asking your question(s) in a more private setting. You can contact us at info@blythewoodpres.com We are developing a web site, and working to coordinate all of our publicity to effectively communicate our values. High on our current list of priorities is finding a location for our corporate time together. The list has been trimmed down and we look forward to announcing or new home as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

Bert

Discovering

We are Discovering the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)

If you have ever done an Easter egg hunt in your backyard like I have, you continue to discover little eggs with wonderful treasures for years to come. One of the joys of yard work is coming across an egg with chocolate or $ (not that I'll eat it or have enough $ buy anything - it's just fun to discover a treasure).

Well, the Truths of the Gospel are like those eggs in that we can spend a life time discovering more wonderful treasures. But unlike our dated Easter eggs, the Gospel is fresh, relevant and awesome. Our journey with Christ (as a church) is a treasure hunt - where we are constantly discovering the Truths of the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

rhett

Beginning July 11th, the Evangelism Launch Team will be presenting a series of brief, but effective, educational sessions to the Church body. The sessions will hopefully give each of us some comfort and direction in terms of how we can share our faith with others.

Please keep in mind that coming to Christ is a process or a series of mini-decisions that a person must make on their way to conversion. The process can take a while, may involve contributions from many believers in Christ, will be full of struggles, but ultimately is in God's capable hands. He will handle the transformation of the heart.

Rob

Welcome and Vision

Welcome to the Blythewood Presbyterian Church (mission) Core Group Blog. The purpose for this blog is to communicate who we are and what we are doing.

Palmetto Presbytery has ask Ann and I to take the lead in planting a PCA Church in the Blythewood area. We have felt God's Hand on our backs as we have taken steps of obediance and faith.

Our Strategic Leadership Team (Bert, David, John, Patrick, and Rob are heading up our launch teams and will keep us updated as to what is going on.

Our Vision:
We are Discovering, Living, and SHARING the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.

Our Core Values:
While being true to the Reformed Faith, we want to be and be known for being Friendly, Relevant, Authentic, Memorable and Encouraging.

Join us on this adventure... rhett