mike adkins | grace•ology

Back from South Carolina

The staff and I went up to the Unleash conference in South Carolina this week. It was unbelievable. I don't think there's one of us who didn't hear directly from God. Perry Noble is doing amazing things at Newspring Church. Or I should say that God is doing amazing things through Perry Noble.

By Perry's own admission this week he said that he was not smart, not trained and not educated. What he said that he was is open to listen to God and do whatever He says without hesitation. Perry is a man of huge risks. God is meeting him in what he is willing to give up for the cause of Christ.

Some things that stuck with me:
"If you're not offending someone, I don't think you're preaching the Gospel."
"We do not get to where God wants us to go by playing it safe."
"Don't sell out to another agenda other than Jesus."

We're taking a big risk ourselves next week with Easter at Eola. We've never done anything like it. I don't know any church that's done anything like it, turning their Easter service into an actual chance to serve. It could rain. People could stay home, not find it, not find a parking space, or miss the announcement totally and go to our regular church location. But God is teaching me that He will not produce great fruit without great faith.

The event is growing day by day too. Now do we not only have the Destiny Foundation with us, we have Rock for Hunger from UCF, the Orange County Public Library System, and Home Sweet Homeless coming too. There will be tons of opportunity for us to show people in our church and who visit with us how they can help people in our community. I'm encouraged that these organizations are still ready to partner with the church when we are ready to answer Jesus call to serve the poor.

I'm ready to step out. Are you?

service time change

We announced this week that we are moving our service times to 9am and 10:45am as of February 3rd.

When we made the decision, we wanted to let the people who will have to come in a half hour earlier to serve know first. So Beth, Chad and Jason sent out the information to their teams and I followed up with a letter explaining our thoughts and planning behind the decision. I wanted to share some of the unsolicited responses we got back with you.

Wanted you to know "we're all in"!!  Remember we can sleep when we're dead!!
We're all so very excited about everything that's happening at Grace and in our lives, and the lives of others!!

just wanted you to know that, 30 minutes ealier doesn't matter to us... we're just waiting for the third service... and fourth and fifth... whatever we need to do, we're there to serve!

Thanks for keeping me posted. This seems like a well thought out move. I value the time and consideration you take in making decisions that involve all of us.

I love it that you guys are so intentional!  That is what drew me to be a part of this fellowship.  Keep up the good work, and I see that God is blessing Grace because of your faithfulness and intentionality.

I think the uniqueness of Grace is that it is not just a church for the current members- That Grace can be flexible to change to meet the needs of the community- Praise God I found a place that is not afraid or resistant to change, growth, and ministry opportunities. I know that whatever decision that your team made has been prayed over and will be pleasing to the Lord.

With attitudes like that, my job is easy, and God's job is too.  He  will use your surrender to do great things for His kingdom.

Grace Holiday Worship Schedule

We’ve been publishing our holiday service schedule for a few weeks now, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give you a reminder on the blog since there are so many changes from the norm. Here it is:

• November 25th: Thanksgiving service at 9:30am (one service only that weekend)
• December 1: Grace worship band headlines at Holiday on the Drive
• December 9th: Regular worship at 9:30am; Jingle Jam family service at 11:15
• December 23rd: NO worship services on this Sunday
• December 24th: Christmas Eve Services, Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Margeson Theater, Identical Services, 5pm and 7pm
• December 30th: One service only at 9:30am
• January 6th: New Year’s Prayer and Communion Service and the kickoff of our January series

I'm excited about the new stuff we're doing over the holidays to get out into our community, like having our worship band and booths at Holiday on the Drive, having our Christmas Eve services at a community location in Loch Haven Park, and hosting our first ever huge family worship experience with Jingle Jam on December 9th. I've been seeing the work and creativity that's going into that event and if you miss it you will be sorry! You'll be even sorrier if you don't invite a family to come with you....

iMarriage Group

Kelly and I hosted our iMarriage group last night at the new offices (which are really cool, by the way. If you haven't seen them yet, you should definitely drop by). We had a great time with our group. A really cool, humble and authentic group of people who started sharing their stuff in hopes of helping as much as healing. Our group was pretty large and that didn't stop anyone, either, everyone from newlyweds, to long-time marrieds, singles to someone who doesn't even come to church.

These iMarriage groups have already blown the leaders at Grace away -- we originally planned for 90 people but suddenly had 190 people signed up before the first one last week! Here's something cool: when we called some people on the list to see if they'd be willing to come to a training within 48 hours and lead a group at the last minute, not one person hestitated for a second to say yes. We established something like eight or nine new groups in less than a day.

These groups haven't been just filled with married people either. Singles, divorced, separated, they've all come to learn more about relationships. The reports have been awesome:

"Our group was fantastic!! Lots of discussion, interaction, laughter, dialogue. We felt great about it and can't wait for next week. God is moving!!"

"A leader told me about a couple who attended Grace for the first time last week and already plugged into a small group. It is awesome to see someone brand new get connected so quickly." (that's happened a lot, actually)

"We are excited about how the message of contractual v. covenant marriage is being received. I think we will be seeing some changed lives here - give glory to the Lord."

Give glory to the Lord indeed.

From today's inbox

"Thank you again for helping me see how incomplete my life was without God in it."

"I saw an old friend and she told me that she is going to be baptized the next time there is a baptism!!! I was blown away by that."

"At other churches that I have been to, I am always waiting for the service to end....not with Grace Fellowship. I did not want it to end. Our kids enjoyed the kids program too."

I tell you these because they have nothing to do with me, really. God is on the move at Grace, and I want to thank Him for it. I also want share them to thank those of you who serve -- this is the kind of eternal thing you're a part of making happen. They are now your stories, too.

Walking Through the Lobby Sunday Morning

One of the things I love about our church is walking through the lobby area and seeing so many people engaged, excited, and having a great time. I remember going to church when I was a little kid (very seldomly), and always being told to be quiet and sit still. I remember thinking that if God was so boring, I wasn't sure I wanted to get to know him more.

I think every day of our lives should be a reflection of God's goodness toward us. How we live on the outside is a reflection of the spiritual momentum we have on the inside. So what does your attitude say to others? Do others see Jesus in you? Remember, people are watching to see if what you believe is worth following.