Real Life Youth Movement – I believe that God desperately wants to and is raising up a younger generation that is completely sold out for Him.  His heart is that this generation would not be ashamed of the gospel but seek to live it, share it, breathe it and own it!  Young people today are pulled and stretched from so many directions that without God in their life, it’s almost certain a downward spiral will occur.  This is the kind of world we live in but I believe God has a greater plan for today’s generation.  Because of that, we will be launching the “Real Life Youth Movement” in just a few months.  Our desire is to build up young people in Christ, then release them to make Him known.  We currently don’t have an official vision, logo and all that jazz in place.  However, we are praying and really seeking God’s heart during this time of foundational development.  God has blessed our church with a good core of young people ranging from 6th-12th grades.  We are excited to kick off our Youth Movement and give them a place to belong where they can grow in Christ and be sent out to make a difference for God in their world!

Young Adult/College Movement – LifeStone Church is a younger church with many college students and young adults that call it home.  We have attracted college students from several local institutions such as: Point Park University and the University of Pittsburgh.  Many of these students are on fire for God and ready to begin reaching their campuses for Jesus.  Our desire for this movement is to see three things happen on a regular basis: 1) A weekly small group discipleship system.  2) A bi-weekly “connection or social” event. 3) A monthly worship experience right on one of the campuses.  We currently have tremendous leadership in place along with many of our college students and other young adults in the church stepping up to develop this.  Our hope is that over the next few months, our hard work combined with God’s supernatural favor, power and direction, we will see this (un-named a this point) Young Adult Movement be set in motion with the purpose of reaching the lost, discipling the saved, and creating genuine opportunities for authentic relationships to develop.  Not to mention, having a blast while doing all of it.

10 prayer focus points for Youth and Young Adult Movements:

1.  We are in need of the RIGHT and “God-chosen” Student Ministries Pastor to oversee, lead, build and develop both movements.

2.  Pray for a venue for our young adults to meet in on a monthly basis for worship.

3.  Pray for those on leadership that they would continue to fuel the fire in them to reach teenagers and young adults for Christ.

4.  Pray for favor with the universities we will be trying to get on and do ministry.

5.  Pray for Holy Spirit to open doors that no man can shut.

6.  Pray that our hearts would be in tune with Him and we would have clear vision for the future.

7.  Pray for our current teenagers that they would own this and continue to grow in Christ!

8.  Pray for our college students that they would own this and continue to grow in Christ!

9.  Pray for those teenagers that have not been connected at this point!  Pray for the teenagers we will be reaching this year!

10.  Pray for those college students and young adults that have not been connected at this point!  Pray for all of those that we will be reaching this year !

The other great news I was able to share about is that God has already given us our first church planters!  Please welcome Jared and Heather Lanza!  Jared and Heather have been on staff at LifeStone Church since we launched in 2010.  Jared has served as the Leadership
Development Director and Heather has served as the Kids Life Prek Director at LSC.  God has placed a call on their lives to plant this first church and we couldn’t be more excited!  I believe that Jared and Heather will be the first of many church planters that will come out of the LifeStone Church family.  One thing we do know is that this first church plant will be in Pittsburgh, PA.  However, we don’t know of its specific location based on neighborhood.  That is something we believe God will give us the answer to as we seek him this year.  We will be doing all we can from now until January of 2013 to prepare Jared for this new adventure and hope to begin the one year out pre-launch process sometime in early 2013.

Again, we are very excited about this and look forward to what God is going to do through this first church plant out of LSC.  Please be praying for us that we hear from God as we are developing our system this year!  We appreciate all of your prayers and look forward to the future of church planting through LSC!

Below are the two parts of the 2012 vision series at LSC called “New Year’s REVOLUTION” (I mention this several times in both messages):

1.  To see PERSONAL lives at LifeStone Church to be awakened to new levels in God.

2.  To see Him do greater things in and through LifeStone Church CORPORATELY.

I anticipate that a strong majority of the people who call LifeStone Church “home” will participate in this season of 21 days of prayer and fasting and that really excites me!  Some will fast for the very first time.  Others might not be new to fasting.  But whether this is your first or umpteenth time to seek God through prayer and fasting, I believe that Hebrews 11:6 says it all, “He will reward those who diligently seek him.”  All God wants is for ALL of YOU to want ALL of HIM! And when you do that, God promises he will be found, Matthew 7:7 “ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.”  We are going to shake heaven with our prayers and our heart for God to move and God is going to show up in amazing ways during between January 15-February 4.  But I also believe that we are also setting the tone for the entire year!  So, God is not just going to move during the fast, but he is going to move in 2012 like we have never seen because we are diligently seeking him and putting him first in this new year!

I am also excited to begin the “Awakening” message series this Sunday, January 15 as we talk about how prayer and fasting opens the door to clearer vision in your life.  Below is a schedule for the entire season:

January 15 – Teaching on Prayer and Fasting and how it is essential to receiving clear vision from God (Communion Sunday)

January 22 – Teaching on Fasting

January 29 – Teaching on Prayer (Held at the Sheraton Hotel at Station Square)

February 5 – Teaching on Worship –  To be awakened is to worship (“Winter Splash” – Water Baptism experience)

I don’t know about you, but I’m expecting God to “awaken personally” and “move corporately”!

Vision works a lot like a funnel.  That’s right, a funnel.  The purpose for the funnel is for transfer.  The only time you use a funnel is to transfer some kind of an ingredient or liquid from one place to another.  And that is simply how vision works.  Vision is clear purpose and direction that already exists in God’s realm and in his heart, and all he wants to do is transfer it to our realm so it can become a reality.  So, God pours his vision, direction, purpose into the top of the funnel of our church, it gathers and begins to circulate amongst us, then is to be released in our world.

Yesterday I spent time pouring vision into the top of that funnel in our church.  God has given me some specific direction and clarity for 2012 and how we are going to continue to grow his “Revolution”.  Each one of us has a role and responsibility to be the other end of that funnel and make this vision become a reality by releasing it!  I pastor an AMAZING CHURCH and PEOPLE and have no doubt in my mind and heart that with God’s help and our commitment to releasing this, we will see this vision become a reality in 2012 and beyond!

SPECIFIC VISION FOR 2012 at LSC:

God spoke loudly and clearly to me about this new year and he said, “DON’T GET COMFORTABLE….DON’T GET COMFORTABLE”!  For this will be a year of DEEPENING and EXPANSION!

That is what I heard from the Lord and I am committed to making sure that we don’t get so comfortable in our own church that we don’t continue to work passionately and tirelessly to advance his “Revolution”.  We have to stay on our toes and the edge of our seats ready for whatever God throws at us this year!  I believe we are going to see a corporate depth to the organization of LifeStone Church and also personal depth in the lives of those who will hunger for more of God!  I see it as a high rise building.  The higher you go, the stronger and deeper the foundation has to be.  This is what I see God doing amidst all the expansion and growth we will see this year.  I see a deepening of spiritual development in the people and a deepening in all we do as a church.

Now, the EXPANSION side of things is where most of the change and development will come into play.  Let me take a minute to share with you what this EXPANSION is going to look like in 2012:

1.  LSC Teaching Team – We have developed a team from our staff that will be committed to teaching and communicating God’s word at all of our experiences.  Myself included, there are 4 MAIN communicators on this team.  Because of this approach, the church will only be more challenged as they are taught from some of our gifted communicators who have a passion to teach the word!  Beginning this month during the Awakening series, we will implement the LSC Teaching Team into our flow of Sunday mornings.  Of course, I will continue to do a strong bulk of the teaching, but the team will only add to the effectiveness and variety of our communication of God’s Word. Pumped!!

2.  New Departments in 2012 – This year we will be adding several new ministry departments to the church:

• Spiritual Formation Department – A department that will be primarily focused on the discipleship ministries of our church.  This will include things such as: an entirely new “Small Group System”, Awakening every January, new believers courses and additional events throughout the year to give you opportunities to grow in your walk with Christ!  I can’t tell you how excited I am for the Spiritual Formation Department to get moving!
• Student Ministries – Early on in 2012, we will be launching our “Student Ministries Department” which will included Youth Ministries and College/Young Adults Ministries.  Our youth ministries will be called “Real Life” and will begin meeting on Sunday nights.  We have a strong number of teenagers connected to our church that we are excited to begin providing ministry for them and avenues of invitation for their friends! We certainly have a strong number of college students and young adults and look forward to providing consistent ministry for them and also look forward to doing ministry on the college campuses.  Student Ministries at LSC will begin sometime in the next few months.  We are excited!
• Pastoral Care Department – We will very soon be launching a department that will specifically focus on counseling and hospital/nursing home ministry.  There will be other aspects of this ministry but these will be the two primary purposes.  This will provide structure and leadership to needs that come up often in the life of a church!

3.  Additional Pastoral Staff – Along with these new departments and other things, we will also be welcoming new pastoral staff to the team this year.  We look forward to the growth of our staff/leadership and the ministry we can consistently provide for the church.

4.  Two Sunday Experiences – With the growth we are currently seeing, we are projecting that by March of 2012 it will be time to create a second Sunday morning experience.  We don’t have the times of the two experiences nailed down yet, but will be working on nailing down all the details over the next few months.  We are excited for this big step and look forward to the additional space that will be made for new people to get connected, make commitments to Christ, and grow in their walk!  Excited!!

5.  New Building for the Fall of 2012 – In July of 2011 we launched a future facility campaign called “Building On The Dream”.  Our goal is to raise $200,000 for a permanent facility that LifeStone Church can call home.  In the last five months, we have seen a strong increase in giving for BOTD and we currently sit at almost $100,000 either given or committed.  Since I only committed for BOTD to be a one year campaign, I am believing that as soon as BOTD comes to completion at the end of July, we will be ready to make a move and begin the process of getting into a building for the Fall of 2012.  This largely depends on how God provides financially but we are believing God for the $200,000 by July.  Should we not get to $200K, then whatever we have is what we will move on to find a facility and begin to develop. Praising God for a permanent facility in 2012.

6.  Church Planting – I’m excited to announce that LifeStone Church will begin developing strategy and structure to what will be our first church plant in two years.  God has already given us an amazing family who are called to plant and are currently a part of our staff at LifeStone.  Jared and Heather Lanza will be the first church planters out of LSC in just two years!  How exciting?  This year is crucial for us as we begin to hear from God about what his heart for church planting is for our church and what our strategy will be.  I am excited because from the very beginning, we knew LSC was going to be a reproducing church and a sending church!  I am committed to that and this is one way we can continue our influence for the Kingdom of God and advancing His revolution!  Im excited to see what this life-giving church will look like, where it will be, and who will be called to go and reach more people for Christ!!!

2012 is going to be an unbelievable year as I am committed to making sure we are following the heart of God for this church, staying committed to our vision, and doing whatever we can to increase our influence for God’s Kingdom and see more lives change through Christ!

DON’T GET COMFORTABLE….DON’T GET COMFORTABLE!!!

As we launch into the new year of 2012, many people’s focuses are on “resolutions” that typically fade out and never bring fruit. “Resolutions” are not bad, just usually not productive for the long haul. With that said, I believe our time in 2012 will be best served if we focus on the “New Year’s REVOLUTION”. You say, what is the Revolution? As we start the new year, how great would it be if people would ask the question, “God, what can I begin to do this year that will further your kingdom?” as opposed to “What should I do different to make my life better?” Do you see the difference? The RESOLUTIONS are typically “ME” focused and the REVOLUTION is all about advancing God’s Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven”.

Jesus was a revolutionary figure who started a revolutionary movement that has brought change, freedom, healing, belonging, salvation and eternal life to humanity. What is this movement? It’s the Church! The church is not just a building, its an entity designed to be the hands and feet of Jesus until he returns. The church is not to remain stagnant or luke warm, it is designed to grow and thrive in the world we live in!

LifeStone Church and YOU are designed to be a big part of God’s Kingdom. When we all focus on the revolution that Jesus started, imagine what God could do through our church and in us in 2012?

Here is what “New Year’s REVOLUTION” will look like:

Sunday, January 1 – “Funnel Vision – the dream continues” – I will be sharing how LifeStone Church is going to continue to grow and thrive in 2012. I will be sharing some BIG VISION for the church and where I see God leading us this new year. I will also be making some big announcements about new ministries, departments and other new things you will see this year!

Sunday, January 8 – “The End of the Funnel” – I will be sharing about the personal role each of us have in his REVOLUTION. In other words, how we personally can partner with God to continue the REVOLUTION in our community, our city and our world!

What a great start to the new year this will be!! Oh I can’t wait!

December 4 – We are excited as we have the honor of hosting our friend and guest Speaker Daniel Elvelyck.  Daniel is a pastor at SOS Church in Stockholm, Sweden.  He is a gifted and passionate communicator of the Gospel.  Daniel also has the privilege of traveling the world to preach God’s word and see the lost come to Christ!  Daniel is a good friend of LifeStone Church and has spoken here before!  We are excited to have him back.

December 11 – I will begin a two part message entitled “Saviour King – Diving into the depths of the incarnation”.  We will be looking at how God sent his only son Jesus to earth to be our Saviour and our King.  This particular week I will be sharing how the incarnation brought us the lamb of God who would give his life to become our Saviour.

December 18 – I will continue the message “Saviour King” by speaking on how the incarnation brought us the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  How Jesus was our KING!  On this specific Sunday, we will also be blessed by our KidsLife kids as they sing Christmas songs and share the birth of our Lord during the morning experience.  It will be awesome!

December 24 – This year we will be having two Christmas Eve experiences at 5pm and 6:30pm.  We are excited to be celebrating God and putting Him first on Christmas Eve for the first time in the short history of LifeStone Church.  This experience will include some powerful yet worshipful Christmas songs, candlelight and a special message.  We will only be offering nursery for children 0-24 months during these experiences so all families can enjoy the Christmas Eve experience together as one.  Bring your entire family and as many friends as you can fit in your car.  These experiences will be one hour in length so you will be out in time to spend a majority of the evening alone with your families.

THERE IS NO SUNDAY EXPERIENCE ON CHRISTMAS DAY DECEMBER 25. ENJOY THAT DAY WITH YOUR FAMILY.

Each ministry has what we are calling “A Cause”.  LSC KINSMEN has “The Kinsmen Cause” and LSC SISTERHOOD has “The Sisterhood Cause”.  In other words, in each ministry there is one specific focus, drive and desire that they possess that goes way beyond just getting everyone together to worship, talk and even pray.  There is one “cause” that exists to unite every single man, and one “cause” that exists to unite every single woman in ministry and to keep there eyes and hearts focused on a bigger dream and vision.  I love how the “cause” for each ministry brings people together who are all so different and begins to develop in each of them a heart for ministry and to be the hands and feet of Christ in our world.

“KINSMEN CAUSE”:

Just a few weeks ago at the launch of the LSC Kinsmen, Fernando DeCarvalho, who is our LSC Kinsmen director, announced to the men of the church that the “Kinsmen Cause” will be ………CHURCH PLANTING.  That’s right, church planting.  The men of our church have felt a commission by God to specifically build and take on the heart of a church planter and financially, resourcefully, and relationally begin to plant churches so people can encounter Jesus Christ as God and Savior of their lives.  Sounds like a big vision huh?  You got it!  What kind of vision do you have if you don’t have BIG VISION?  The men are partnering with several organizations to begin raising funds and resources to plant churches in two specific countries: Bolivia and Cuba.  Currently, LSC Kinsmen will be planting three churches in 2012 (Cuba church plant in Spring, Bolivia church plant in Summer, Cuba church plant in Fall). Their plan is to send LSC Kinsmen to at least two of these church plants to begin building foundation and training leadership.  I am so pumped to see the men of this church rise up as Spirit-filled ministers to plant churches and take the Gospel to people who need to experience Christ.  LSC Kinsmen will be raising money all year along with giving percentages of their monthly offerings towards new churches.  I’m excited to see the day when they will also be resourcing and helping plant churches, right here in America too!  That day is coming!

“SISTERHOOD CAUSE”

My wife announced at the launch of LSC Sisterhood that their cause will be ABOLISHING HUMAN TRAFFICKING.  Outside of salvation, I’m not sure if there is any other cause that is in greater need of more people to rise up and make a difference in than this.  LSC SISTERHOOD is going to be partnering with “The A21 Campaign” to help abolish human trafficking around the world.  We have also found out that Pittsburgh is a “Hot Spot” for human trafficking…(yeah I know, surprised us too) and they will be doing what they can to help eradicate this culture in our own city!  The ladies of our church have a HUGE heart to see and help women and girls set free from sex slavery and released into God’s destiny for their life!  That is the “cause” of LSC Sisterhood.  Doesn’t it just get you fired up to hear about people who see social injustice and feel compelled to step up and do something about it?  The women of LifeStone Church want to help the A21 campaign to “Prevent Trafficking, Protect and Support Survivors, Prosecute Traffickers, and Partner With Others”.   I am so proud of my wife who is being the “champion” to make sure the women of LifeStone Church know the problem and that we can be a part of God’s solution.  It is really neat to see the momentum that has picked up with this ever since Jamie announced it at the first Sisterhood experience.  Come to find out, many women in the church already have ministry experience and big hearts for eradicating this evil practice from our culture.  It seems as if God has been planning this all along!

I believe when a group of people get behind a cause that God is already behind, the change they can initiate and bring will be beyond what their minds could conceive or understand.  Look at the early church in Acts, lead by the greatest “cause” you could possibly imagine, salvation in Christ and the growth of Jesus’ Church.  When Jesus commissioned the disciples and early church leaders in Matthew 28, there had to have been no doubt in any of their minds that the difference they would be making for Christ would be huge, WHY, because they were about what Jesus was about…salvation!  I believe when the men of this church get church planting and the essence of its purpose deep in their hearts, WATCH OUT!  I believe when the ladies fully get the heart of God for the girls and young women in sex slavery, they will begin to make a difference where people have given up hope for rescue, healing and restoration.  God will use our men and women for his Kingdom work through “A Cause”!

1. This is the FIRST EVER Christmas Eve at LifeStone Church – As you can imagine, as a new church we love the word “FIRST” because it symbolizes the new things and new seasons that God is bringing us into.  This will be FIRST of many Christmas Eve experiences we will share together in the future and let me tell you, it will be awesome!  A Christmas Eve Experience at LifeStone Church will be designed to fill exactly 1 hour of your evening and will include the elements of: worship, special music, candlelight, offering and a special message.  We will have a nursery available for infants and children ages 0-2, but there will NOT be KidsLife Pre-k classes or KidsLife Experience.  We want this to be an experience that the entire family can enjoy together. A Christmas Eve experience at LifeStone Church will be more traditional than what you are typically used to in comparison to our Sunday experiences. However, you can be certain that it will be all about Jesus and giving you opportunities to “Experience”  and celebrate Him with your family!
2. We will be having TWO EXPERIENCES – For your convenience and family schedules, we will be offering two experiences “back to back” on Christmas Eve at 5pm and 6:30pm.  This will hopefully give you the freedom to choose an experience that best fits the schedule of your evening, but still making time to put God FIRST!

Let me share with you a few things the enemy was working through to discourage and bring this down:

1.  There was a big storm that was sweeping through right during the 5-7pm time slot where prep, set up, practice and desserts were all happening.  Needless to say it really hindered attendance and involvment.

2.  The Traffic was ridiculous.  Due to the awful weather at rush hour time, so many ladies who were planning on coming couldn’t make it because they were stuck in traffic and again, the weather was a big part of that.

3.  Another big part of the traffic problem was there was a Penguins game that night that we weren’t aware of.  Gotta love that, eh?

4.  Due to all of the above, those who were supposed to be there for set up, many didn’t show up till right on time so it pushed the start time back about 30 minutes.

5.  There were some kinks to be worked out in the Worship Experience (that is typical and we counted on that to be the case).  Thank you Lord for evaluation and the Sisterhood leadership team has begun that already!  Go Girls!!!

So needless to say, the unforeseen circumstances created some hinderances for people and the smoothness of the night.  However, the enemy’s plans did not foil or distract God from doing what he wanted!

Here are some of the awesome things about the night:

1.  Even though there were many unforeseen interruptions prior to the Experience, we still had almost 30 women show up.  So excited!!

2.  My wife, Jamie (LSC women’s pastor), shared the vision behind LSC Sisterhood and all that she sees God doing through this ministry to reach and encourage women for Christ! Vision plants seeds!  Seeds were deposited for God’s plans and heart beat for this ministry to grow and thrive for His Kingdom sake!

3.  My wife share the “Sisterhood Cause”.  LSC Sisterhood has developed a heart and passion to help free women from human trafficking all over the world and even right here in Pittsburgh.  All women are different in (looks, social status, family, etc.), but there certainly is a common ground at LSC Sisterhood: they are sisters in Christ, and they are developing a heart to bring freedom and healing to women and girls who have been forced into a lifestyle of torture and brokenness.  Just wait till you here who LSC Sisterhood is going to partner with to invest and help eradicate this major problem in our world!?!?!  The Sisterhood leadership will be sharing that at the next worship experience on Thursday, November 3.

4.  One amazing woman drove two and a half hours through rain, traffic and everything else just to make to the worship experience.  She said she felt like the enemy didn’t want her to go so that is why she kept trucking along even when it seemed like it would have been impossible for her to make it on time or at all.  She made it on time and heard the Sisterhood heart to end human trafficking and her heart melted!  God certainly wanted her to be there.  There were several other “God” stories similar to this one where God use the Sisterhood Cause to speak excitement and passion into their hearts for purpose!  God is going to do some big things through LSC Sisterhood!

Isn’t that awesome?!  We love what God is doing through LSC Sisterhood and all that he has planned for them!  If you are interested and want to know more about LSC Sisterhood, you can contact them at LSCSisterhood@lifestonechurch.com

Since we are committed over the next five weeks to really seeing and seeking God’s heart for our finances and generosity, we (church leadership) felt inspired by God to lead the way and begin planting seeds of generosity and “Kingdom Investment” into those that attend our church.  With that said, this past Sunday, we launched “The Blessed Life Experiment”. Throughout the month of September we were consistently sharing with the people of LifeStone Church that on Sunday, September 25 we had a very special gift we wanted to give them.  Here is what this gift (The Blessed Life Experiment) is all about:

We gave an envelope to every adult in attendance this past Sunday (which was almost 100 adults).  Inside the envelope were two pieces of paper:

1. One ten dollar bill
2. An instruction sheet

The instruction sheet was very simple:

First, each person has to use this ten dollar bill to bless someone else that does not attend or has ever attended LifeStone Church.

Second, each person has to get creative with how they use it (i.e. not just passing it along to someone else, but finding a way to make it special).

Third, each person has to record and share their story and testimony on www.facebook.com/theblessedlifeexperiment

I will personally be taking time during my messages each week to share the testimonies on how people are using “Their Gift” to sow and invest in others”.

HERE IS THE PURPOSE FOR THIS:  This $10 bill doesn’t belong to the LSCer who received it, we are getting this money TO YOU, so we can get this money THROUGH YOU.  Because here is the reality; this is exactly what God does for us with our finances.  Our finances don’t belong to us, they belong to God.  He is simply getting them to us so he can get them through us for Kingdom purpose.  Sure we have bills to pay, food to buy, children to raise and certainly have fun, HOWEVER, God has a life planned for each of us regardless of the large or small amount of income we receive, and it is a “Blessed Life”.  Jesus said in Acts 20:35 “It is MORE BLESSED to GIVE than to receive”.  God is always committed to taking care of how finances get into our hands, but we must commit to investing them into eternal purposes!  Remember, it’s all his anyways right?  That is what “The Blessed Life Experiment” is all about.  Taking something that does not belong to us and getting excited to sow it into someone else for the purpose of making Christ known and blessing their life!

Yes, I recognize this is a major investment into our people, but I honestly can’t think of any better way to invest this money THAN IN OUR PEOPLE! If we all could truly understand generosity and kingdom investment, our kingdom impact as a church would be much greater and more widespread than if we just put that money into a bank account.  We are excited to see how people not only bless others this month with this gift, but how much of the heart of God they are going to gain for their personal finances!

P.S. We as a church were also able to sow into each person/family a copy of the book, “The Blessed Life”.  Our entire church is going to be reading this together as we embark on the journey of learning, growing and applying God’s word and heart to our life throughout the month of October at LifeStone Church!

So, this series launches Sunday, October 2.  The whole idea behind “The Blessed Life” comes right from the lips of Jesus in Acts 20:35 “It is MORE BLESSED to give than it is to receive”.  In other words, Jesus is saying that you will live a life that will be MORE BLESSED when you become GENEROUS and give!  If you want God to bless your finances and your life, generosity is the key!  It doesn’t begin with receiving, it begins with giving!  We are going to unpack this concept throughout the entire month of October and I challenge you not to miss A SINGLE EXPERIENCE at LifeStone Church!

We are also excited to announce that during the last Sunday experience in October, we will be taking a very intentional step of faith towards investing in “Building On The Dream” by receiving a special offering and what we are calling “A MIRACLE OFFERING”.  We are believing that this offering at the end of the month will be of MIRACLE PROPORTIONS and will assist our church in acquiring a permanent facility some time next year.

Listen, I know that when we, THE CHURCH, come together with hearts of generosity spurred on by God’s word and our heart to see God’s Kingdom grow, THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE and there is no miracle that is too big for God to do!

Will you join me in prayer during the month of October that as we seek to get our finances right, we would see financial miracles in people’s lives and GENEROSITY MIRACLES as people strive to bless others and touch the heart of God?  It is going to be an amazing month at LifeStone Church!  

Here is what we want to see happen on Sunday mornings: We want to give people opportunities to experience God in a way that will change and alter the direction and dna of their life.  This is the kind of change we pray for, expect and are seeing on any given Sunday morning.  A true experience.  However, by using the term “service“, it seems we are conveying the exact opposite of that.  The way I see it, a “service” is something you typically observe much like a wedding or a funeral.  I think of : stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, observation not encounter.  But when I think of the word “experience“, I think: action, involvement, encounter, tangible, real, and more.  Those are the words I want to describe what we do on Sunday’s.

So, LifeStone Church officially has “Sunday experiences” now.  Not “Sunday services”.  It’s as simple as this, we want people to experience God in our times of worship, messages and relationships!  We spend time praying, preparing and creating culture in what we do to make sure when you arrive and go through an “experience”, you will truly have that very thing, AN EXPERIENCE!

RELATIONAL REHAB MESSAGE SERIES:

During the entire month, I will be teaching a series on how to rehab our broken and struggling relationships.  How to overcome and breakthrough barriers on our way to healthy  and Christ-centered relationships!  During this month we will be talking about several topics, such as: Un-forgiveness, Neglected communication and the differences between men and women and how all of these areas can be barriers to God’s healthy relationships in our lives.  It will be a powerful series for someone who is struggling in their relationships.  This will be a great teaching for them to hear!

BLACK AND GOLD SUNDAY:

On Sunday, September 11 we will be kicking off the start of the Steelers football season with our first Black and Gold Sunday of the year.  What an awesome day this is going to be!  The whole house filled with Steeler jerseys, crazy amped up videos, giveway’s (Authentic Steeler jersey), and a very special tailgate party right after church with food, music, pre-game video.  But don’t worry, we will be done and packed up long before you need to be home in your comfy chair ready to watch the game against the Ravens with your family!  Take a moment this week and INVITE YOUR FAMILY to attend Black and Gold Sunday with you.  Then hang out at the tailgate party before heading home to watch the game.  What a day huh?  Gonna be exciting!

BFF DAY:

On Sunday, September 18 we will do doing our second annual BFF DAY!  Yeah, you heard it right!  BFF DAY.  Last year we did it and it went so well, we thought we would do it again.  This day is designed for you to BRING YOUR FRIENDS (Specifically your BFF aka “Best Friends Forever”).  Cheesy, I know.  But memorable.  I guarantee you wont forget BFF DAY.  Immediately following the Experience Sunday morning, we are going to have what we call a “Pittsburgh Potluck”.  A free meal for all in attendance.  This meal will consist of all of the traditional Pittsburgh food!  Oh my, it will be an unbelievable spread.  Don’t miss it and make sure your friends and BFF doesnt miss it either!

HONORING TEACHERS EXPERIENCE:

On the final Sunday of the month (25th), during the Experience we will be honoring all teachers.  There are several teachers at LSC that will be in attendance, but we want you to invite and bring friends, family, neighbors, co-workers that are teachers to church that Sunday.  We want to bless and honor each one of them for their commitment to the education of our next generations!  WE WILL ALSO BE GIVING AWAY A VERY SPECIAL GIFT TO EACH PERSON IN ATTENDANCE DURING THE EXPERIENCE.  Something like we have NEVER done before!  Don’t miss this final Sunday during “Invitation Month”.

Hope to see you this month at LifeStone Church!

I believe that this series will be life changing for many people (and I don’t say that lightly) as we navigate through the four volumes of HONOROLOGY:

Volume 1 – The Need For Honor

Volume 2 – The Love of Honor

Volume 3 – The Responsibility of Honor

Volume 4 – Creating a Culture of Honor

This year’s festivities will include:
- Free Backpacks & school supplies (for elementary age students)
- Chiropractic adjustments
- Food & drinks
- Face painting
- Dental and Vision Screenings
- Grocery Distribution
- An inflatable obstacle course
- Makeovers
- Music & More!

We will also be joined by WISH 99.7 radio DJ’s who will be live and on air from our site all afternoon!  So awesome!

Doesn’t that sound like an awesome day of initiating “Lasting Change”?  H4TB will be taking place at Armstrong Field (13th & Sarah St) from 12-4pm and no pre-registration is required! All volunteers should arrive at the field by 10:30am.

Got questions? Check out the below video and for more information contact: tiffanyh@lifestonechurch.com or visit www.lifestonechurch.com