Sunday Thoughts

• Great crowd today
• Had Mike and Donna Collins from Village Church, a new church plant in Thorold, visit today with some of their people. They are doing a great job connecting with the community of Thorold.
• Had 4 or 5 people commit their lives to Christ today.
• Lots of people said they want more margin in life. as result the talk today. Margin in finances, time and talent - so they can give it is away as God leads.
• The band continues to amaze me - great talent and humble hearts.
• We finished our series, "How To Be Rich" - I heard so much positive feedback about this series. The truth is, we are all blessed and we need to see ourselves that way and live that way.
• It has been great to partner with Life Church and we will continue to do so with the next series. We are working with LC to make the content more globally focused and really value this relationship. Who knows what God will do in the future.
• Got up bright and early this morning and traveled with the truck and trailer to theatre. Glad I did, I enjoyed doing this along with two of our great servants.
• I am thankful for those that have given to our Christmas Fund - this Sunday we need to blow the doors off it. We want to bust through the $1200 mark.
• Glad to meet some new people today - it was a great day.
• God is at work in people's lives.
• We are on the verge of some great things.
• God will use CATF to touch many lives this Christmas.
• Excited to see many of the "Purpose of Christmas" books were picked up today. I pray that the books are gifted to just the right people.
• Despite the overcast morning, their was an air of excitement that permeated the theatre this morning.
• Can't believe Christmas is just 31/2 weeks away.
• Remember, invite a friend to hear our Christmas series starting next week. It will be great.

Sunday is Coming

Sunday is coming and it will be a great day! Here's some thoughts for you.

• We will continue our series, How to Be Rich - you don't want to miss this final part of the series. It will impact your life like never before.
• You have two more weeks to give towards our Christmas Project - caring for deserving families. We have a ways to go this year and need to see many people step up and give. Last year $1200 was raised and this year so far $170.00. We have one family that we want to care for directly to the amount of about $400. We need you CATF - let's make a difference.
• Pick up a copy of the book, The Purpose of Christmas, this Sunday and give it as a gift - $10 each.
• Friend Day is coming up on December 21 - lets pack the place.
• December 7th we start the Christmas series, He Will Be Called. A life changing look at the one born in the manger over 2000 years ago. Life will never be the same now that Jesus has come - but what difference does the celebration of his birth mean to you? You don't want to miss it and bring a friend along - did I say that already:-)
• Don't forget - please fill out the connection card each week when you gather with us at CATF.

I am so excited about what God is doing through all of you. You are part something that has never been done before in Niagara Falls and we are making both local impact and worldwide impact with the CATF / Life Church partnership. I can see us making huge steps forward as you invite friends and family over this Christmas season.

Thanks for your investment in lives. You are making an eternal difference.

Grace

I have adapted this from http://connexuscommunity.typepad.com/carey_nieuwhof/

I added a few thoughts (the words not in italics)

Why is it we can treat strangers better than we treat the people we know best? Likely because we haven't judged them yet.
That's why so many couples find the early years are the best years - no long history of judgment there. What if we lived every day with our spouse like it was our first date? How about our own kids, why do we judge them with a different standard than our friends kids? Or that co-worker or boss we have worked with for 10 years? Why is it that we can extend grace to those that are down in out in society but not those that are down in out in our own family? What if we gave everyone we knew the benefit of the doubt - the same courtesy most of us would extend to strangers? What if we forgave the past in a way that allowed us to be truly alive in the present? What if we extended grace to those we love most?

Some challenging thoughts for each of us to consider today and in the days to come.

Friend Day

This past Sunday was friend day at CATF. We had 91 people gather together, you are making a difference, you are inviting people, we are growing and if you aren't careful we are going to have to open up some more seats (wouldn't that be a good problem). So you might say, what's the big deal. Well here's the big deal, 2 people raised their hand to accept Christ this past Sunday. That is why we are so passionate about getting as many people out each week. In addition a bunch of people raised their hands to say they wanted, with God's help, to be more generous givers. Lives are being changed at CATF and that's why I keep encouraging you to invite someone to come along.

We have 26 more prayer days until our next Friend Day, December 21. Will you start praying for 2 friends, by name that you want to bring to CATF. I know God answers prayer so I challenge you to pray for your friends, coworkers and family members to attend December 21. My prayer is for 125 people on that day.

Christmas Care

Here is a great article that will give you some cool ways to show care for people at this Christmas Season. Show God's love by serving your community (click on the link).

Sunday Thoughts

• Great but strange day today!
• Couldn't believe our video equipment wouldn't work today....so that meant no teaching video and I had to jump in and teach without any preparation. Not what I was planning on doing today. Pushing play on the DVD player was as far as I thought I might have to go today. I didn't even plan on doing that to be honest. Strange but turned out good.
• Band did great a usual...Jay broke the same guitar string twice...strange.
• Great crowd today. Lots of guests and lots of regulars back in their seats.
• Big group of kids with lots of energy.
• We talked about giving today. Just for the record...pastors are on edge talking about this subject because we all struggle with the love of money. Hope some lives were changed in the area of giving...I believe they were.
• A couple people raised there hand to accept Christ today. That's the ultimate. That's the bomb. That's the big one.
• We could use a few people helping with tear down each Sunday. If you can help for 20 minutes that would be great.
• Did our first child dedication today....it went well.
• We have five people that show up early every Sunday: Terry, Ian, Jack, Julie and Chris. Thanks for your dedication. Not only do each of these people come early for set up, they also volunteer in other areas throughout Sunday morning. In addition to the ones mentioned we have a bunch of other people that roll in during the following hour and they are the stuff that CATF is made of. I have never been part of a church that had a greater group of volunteers. This is how we roll at CATF.
• New series starts on December 7th - "He Will Be Called." A very practical series that will make a difference in your life as you enter the holidays.
• That's all for now.

Here's the link to watch today's message:

Rich Givers from Life Church

See you Sunday

I fully intended to have this video out to you earlier, but had some tech issues.

God is amazing

Got a call this afternoon from some who is part of CATF. They were facing cancer. I say "were" because the test results today show NO cancer. The doctors explanation was that the first test that showed potential cancer must have been wrong. Maybe so, but we serve an awesome God who answers prayer. As far as I am concerned, God healed her and that's amazing. The even greater miracle is the work God did in this person life over the last few weeks, as she learned to trust him during difficult times. That is always the greater miracle!

OLD COUCH - FREE TO A GOOD HOME

Andy Stanley had this to say about churches that hold on to broken church programs and out of date traditions. He used "the old, ugly couch" as an example.

People keep the old, ugly couch – even when they move! It doesn’t even occur to them that they could just leave the couch and walk away. The couch is now filled with memories. They originally bought the couch because it was a place to sit (it had a purpose and was functional). But, over time, they fell in love with the couch. It is not carried with them because it still serves a practical reason…it now has memories attached to it. It is loved. It is cherished. Yet, the average person could walk into your house…and draw very different conclusions!

When we fall in love with programming (how we have always done it), we keep it around even when it no longer serves a function. Over time we all have couches we have got to get rid of. If we believe eternity is at stake, the couches need to go! Identify the couches that need to go. Get them out of the house (the church). Some will protest."But, everyone is in love with the stupid couch!" We must get our leaders to see these things for what they are! Identify the ugly couches in our ministries and get rid of them.

We don’t have time to drag around expensive, ineffective couches!

At CATF we work hard to keep moving out what doesn't work and adding what will work. Gone are the days that a church has tons of programs just because the church down the street has them or because "we have always done it that way". WE are called to be what God has called us to be.

So, what's the old ugly couch that you are holding on to. Let's all leave that couch behind. Let's be mean and lean - reaching and raising up disciples for Christ.

NO UGLY COUCHES ALLOWED!

Friend Day

Hey CATF,

This Sunday is friend day, so do what you can to bring someone along. Pay them to be your friend if you have to. Seriously though, I hope to see some new faces and lots of, not so new faces at CATF this week.

If you haven't hung out with CATF for awhile, why not make the effort to be out this Sunday. It's the best place you can be on Sunday. God has something for you every Sunday.

See you then!

Sunday

• Someone commented that my video blog was really great and there were no spelling errors. :-} Unlike what you will likely find today as you read this. I think my problem is more grammatical, because I do use spell check - honest.
• Very fun day today.
• Great opening song by the band.
• Great life changing stuff happening - people getting bibles in the their hands for the first time, people committing their life to Christ, others asking for prayer and people seeking baptism.
• I loved the interview with "the devil" and Craig - great truth done in a humorous way.
• Great to see some new faces.
• Missed a bunch of regular attenders today.
• Our church will have a part in the Buffalo Sabres Alumni game coming up on January 18th in Fort Erie. We will receive a portion of the funds raised, I will drop the puck at the beginning of the game, our band will provide music and the will sing the national anthems. Fun stuff and a chance to get the word out about CATF. We will have tickets available for you to buy for $5.00 a piece.
• In 3 weeks we will start a series of Christmas Talks - start planning on inviting a friend along.
• Watch for a volunteer appreciation dinner in January for everyone that volunteers at CATF.
• A big thanks goes out to Jack and Chris for trouble shooting our lighting problem today - it was great to see two guys go running out of the theatre the minute the lights went out. I thought they had to go the bathroom! Thanks guys for being a key part of all we do, you are making a difference.
• Thanks to the Host Team, especially Lynn and Roy for placing the pencils in the theatre so you could easily fill out the Connection Cards.
• Thanks for filling in so many connection cards today, I will be praying for you and getting back to those that asked questions.
• Remember to consider what you can sacrificially give to the Project Share Christmas Basket Program - last year we raised $1200.00. Remember, you are rich.

Video Message

Hey Church at the Falls, here's a video message just for you.

Christmas is Coming

As we approach the Christmas season, one of the best times for a church to reach the community, I want to bring a few ideas your way.

• Who can you invite to church in the month of December and then offer to take them out for lunch afterwards?
• Would you consider hosting a holiday party with the purpose of building relationships with neighbours and over time inviting them to church?
• Would you consider buying a $5.00 Tim Horton's gift card and giving it to a friend, neighbour or coworker along with an invite to CATF?
• Would you consider caring for a needy child or family this Christmas and using this opportunity to show the love of God?
• Would you be part of our annual Christmas giving to Project Share, to help deserving families?
• Would you give up some of your Christmas presents and have the money donated to World Vision?
• Get creative at sharing God's love this Christmas season.

Obviously no one person can effectively do all these things, but each of us can do one or two to help put Christ back in Christmas. Would you pray and ask God what you can do?

In addition we want to get the word out to the community about our Christmas series, "He Will Be Called". This will begin on December 7 and wrap up on December 21. Three weeks to get the community to gather with CATF. We will have the invites available on November 23 and 30. In addition we would like to get a billboard up in a prominent place within the city. If you would like to offset the expense of the billboard, please let me as soon as you can.

We are the light of the world - let's shine bright during the Christmas season.

Sunday

• We are using a Life Church series, How To Be Rich. Great stuff! Highly recommend their stuff to any church considering video teaching. I am thankful for the Life Church team, they have really helped me a lot. We wouldn't be the church we are without their involvement.
• I'll be honest the attendance was down today and that discouraged me, especially at the start of this new series. The root of my discouragement is all the great stuff people miss when they don't show up. God has something for us each and every week. It's like God throwing a party for us and we don't show up. No guilt intended...just the facts.
• The band sounded outstanding. Great job - loved the opening song.
• Got to meet some new people today - always love that.
• Also got to share the salvation story one on one with a newer person - praying that he makes his commitment to Christ real soon.
• Thanks for the many words of encouragement that so many have passed our way. Brenda and I love CATF. You are an incredible group of people.
• If you missed this week please take a moment to watch the video, it will get you ready for next week. Here's the link: http://open.lifechurch.tv/apps/preview.php?item_id=1893

Sunday Thoughts

• I am totally sold on leaders being transparent - today really further reinforced that for me.
• I know more than ever that when we are weak, He is strong.
• I felt that today's final message in the House of Blues series really hit home.
• Great to see a few new faces.
• The band did a great opening song and really pointed us to God today.
• Great vibe in the place today.
• I really got pumped up encouraging you to invite people to the next series, must have worked because every single invite card was gone. I've got to get some more printed so I can have some - that's a good problem.
• I am thankful for Terry Pierce, he drives our truck and trailer each week. He also helps me in some little but big things. Every Saturday gets the truck and I will usually get a call and he will say, "Brandon I'm gonna pick up the truck so you don't have to worry about dropping it off". It's one of those little things that just helps out. Thanks Terry for your servant attitude. You always go out of your way to help me.
• I love being part of church where a boy a 12 year old boy can come up to me and say, "race me from one end of the theatre to the other." I want to know how many pastors were racing 12 years olds today? Because we want to take you on.
• Looking forward to next Sunday - thanks for a great day today.