I love pastoring The Creek Church. We have a young church. From March to November, we will have had 8 biological additions to the church. We have already had 4 to this date and have 4 left.
Also, we have our first marriages coming in September and October. The young congregation provides so much encouragement and excitement to me. There is new life happening all over. The marriages and babies are a blessing. What a great place to teach.
153 Look upon my suffering and deliver me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
154 Defend my cause and redeem me;
preserve my life according to your promise.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek out your decrees.
156 Your compassion is great, O LORD;
preserve my life according to your laws.
157 Many are the foes who persecute me,
but I have not turned from your statutes.
158 I look on the faithless with loathing,
for they do not obey your word.
159 See how I love your precepts;
preserve my life, O LORD, according to your love.
160 All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.
Authority. Some obey it, some resist it, and some flat our deny it. In this Psalm the writer pleaded with God to provide life according to His rules (twice), promises, precepts, and steadfast love (my favorite). Authority is hard to deal with at times. My son Luke often asks me, “Who says so?” after telling him to do something. The sin nature (thanks Adam) has caused us to question and push back on authority.
This Psalm was encouraging to me as the author was asking God to give him guidance based on His standard.
Don’t push back but ask God to give you the standard to live by. His ways are higher than our ways.
Summer is a great opportunity to spend time with family. We got to go Myrtle Beach for a day with my family. Here is a picture of us sporting The Creek t-shirts. Yes, I am blessed.
If you need a plumber, I have one. Why? Luke tried to flush the play dough container down the toilet. Don’t do that, Luke. It will not fit. We had to call Barnie to come fix the problem. Enjoy the pictures of Barnie’s truck and the infamous play dough cup.
I heard Mark Driscoll preach on idolatry at the Advance 09 Conference in Durham last month. It was an incredible sermon. He said, and I agree, that idolatry is the number one sin facing us today. Sure we are not carving out statues, carving out images or the like as they did in the Old Testament.
However, what we are doing in the west is taking a good thing and making it a God thing, which equals a bad thing. Clothes. They are a good thing, can become a God thing and this is a bad thing. Your spouse. A spouse is a good thing, can become a God thing and that is a bad thing. You get the picture.
God is a jealous God. He created us to worship him. Let’s enjoy the good things but not worship them. That would be a bad thing.
Worship God. That is a Good Thing.
I have dreamed of being a camp pastor. I went to Lakeside Christian Camp from 7th grade to 10th grade in Pittsfield, MA. It was a great experience. The camp speakers had a profound impact on my life. I have to say it was more than the emotionalism of the activities, being away from home, the campers (ok girls), or the smores at the campfire. I was so challenged by the counselors, speakers, and to live for Christ.
Dreams do come true. I was able to be the camp speaker June 14th – 20th. I preached 9 times during this time. I had 197 middle school boys and girls. They blessed me incredibly. My two favorite parts of Camp Willow Run:
1. My daughter Mollie got to go with me the whole week. Dana and the kids came up for two nights and Mollie stayed with me. We had a blast. We ate oatmeal cream pies, ate ice cream at the canteen, did devotions together, rode the red shark around Lake Gaston and just loved on each other. Mollie said to me everyday, “Daddy I just love you. You are so cute.” I love my boys but I am sure glad God blessed me with Mollie.
2. My Buddy Alex. I met Alex early in the week. He walked with a limp, is very articulate, and always added something insightful at the end of my lessons. On Tuesday I was playing a game with the campers to help them review our lessons. I asked a question to the girls who got it wrong and then asked a guy to answer. I said, “I am going to call on my BUDDY, Alex.” He was raising his hand like Arnold Horshack on Welcome Back Kotter. He stood up and answered correctly. At the end of camp he came to me at the traditional campfire and said that this week started really rough for him. People were calling him names like dork, nerd, Steve Erkel, and telling him he walked funny. He said, “Matt it all changed when you said, ‘I am going to call on my buddy, Alex.’” He continued, “This week was great and I learned a lot. Can you please hug me?”
This week was a defining moment for me. Thanks Mollie and Alex.
Crossroads Camp is a great camp. We had 6 kids attend this year. Three were not saved and one gave his life to the Lord on the first night. He said, “It is like my shoulders are much lighter.” I have been meeting with this kid, praying for him, and love what has happened. This is what it is about.
The Hope for RDU has been great for our church. Here is a list of activities we were able to do at The Creek for our community:
1. Picnic Tables. We bought, delivered and assembled 10 picnic tables to Green Hope Elementary School for their new outdoor classroom.
2. BBQ on West Lenoir. We held a BBQ for neighbors of a church member in downtown Raleigh. We cooked hotdogs, gave away chips, cookies and drinks and just loved these people in Jesus’ name.
3. Mulch at Carpenter. We bought, shoveled and spread mulch all over the school we meet in.
4. Cookout at Neighborhoods. Two of our Huddle Groups did a lunch BBQ at the neighborhood pools.
5. School Supplies. Mills Park Elementary School needs supplies for needy kids. We are collecting supplies over the next two weeks and donating them on August 3rd.
Why are we doing this? We love God and we LOVE the people he loves. Also, we want to make a difference in our community. I am proud of The Creek Church. You Rock.
In Matthew 6 Jesus teaches the disciples (and us) how to pray. Before he does that he reminds the Jews of the proper motivation. Some were praying on busy street corners to be heard and others we basing their prayers on the amount of words they used. Jesus rebuked them and taught them how to pray known as The Lord’s Prayer.
When we pray just do it. Forget all the flash/hype and just pray……or you may get knocked out.
June 28, 2009 was the one- year anniversary The Creek has been on her own. We left Apex Baptist and took over Carpenter Elementary School in Cary. I thought it would be good to go over some of the highlights this past year:
1. Numerical Growth – we are growing. We had 65 when we started and are hovering around 95. Numbers are not everything but do help us see where we are.
2. Biological Growth – now this is one way to grow a church. We have two new additions to The Creek this past Spring with 6 more coming by November.
3. Huddle Groups – We are having leadership meetings with our huddle group leaders and we can see our groups really diving into God’s word and seeing community take place.
4. Outreach – HOPE for RDU was a huge success. We have made a big difference in our community by loving and serving them.
5. Prayer Ministry – We started a monthly corporate prayer service at a local business on Mondays.
6. Easter Egg Hunt – This was a defining moment for our church. God blessed and The Creek represented.
7. Crossroads – We took our first group to youth camp this summer. We had 6 kids.
8. Salvation – We have seen 3 people give their lives to Christ this year. 2 of the 3 were unchurched before God brought The Creek into existence.
9. The Creek Members – the best group of people to pastor. I love what I do and am honored to be the pastor of The Creek Church.
10. Baptism – On July 26 we will hold the first baptism service at The Creek. We have 5 to be baptized.
11. Discipleship – I see our people growing in the word and applying what they know.
I love this!
