As we prepare to celebrate a Holiday focused on giving thanks, my prayer for you and your family is that you would stop and give thanks. Carve some time in your schedule this weekend to pause and share the things you are most thankful for. Before you finish have a family member close in prayer thanking God for your many blessings!
Just a Reminder….Gobble! Gobble!
Gobble!
TOMORROW - Wednesday, November 25th we will distribute our TNC turkeys at North Augusta High School between 11am & 1pm. For those who have pre-ordered, well come and get-em! (all proceeds go to the TNC land fund.)
If you either forgot or just didn’t have time to pre-order, I’ve been told we will have Turkeys for sale. Just come by the High School and pick one up. You can get one for a family member or better yet, bring them with you so they can get their own. The Turkeys are between 12-14 lbs. and cost $25.00. They are AWESOME! So why cook if you don’t have to.
No calls to the church office please…. first come, first get-em! I will see you guys there it’s gonna be lot’s of fun!
DUNK’D this Sunday, November 29. Finish off your Holiday by attending our Dunk’d services on Sunday at one of our three services at 8:30, 10:00 or 11:30 am. Over 30 folks will be baptized as we celebrate men, women, boys and girls going public with their faith in Jesus Christ! It’s going to be a HUGE CELEBRATION so don’t miss it!
Enjoy the Holiday and I will see you Sunday!
Steve Davis, Lead Pastor
THE MESSAGE: Hide Your Heart
Watch messages online throughout the week at http://www.truenorthchurch.com.
God thinks marriage is beautiful, and we need to realize what can wreck it. In the conclusion of How to Wreck Your Marriage, Jay Knotts shared what happens when you hide your heart. Your heart is the most authentic "you." It is where your identity is found. Having "yes, dear" or "if Mama ain't happy . . ." mentalities are not helpful, but very destructible to a marriage and to the individual. They mean your heart (or identity) is being lost in other things.
Uncover your heart. Your identity matters! You have to have a voice, and you have to have a choice. This can't be done when you pile on the problems of those around you to the point they define you. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God made each of us as his masterpieces. We're all unique, and it would be a tragedy if you're hidden. Don't take on everything. What you say yes to and what you say no to defines who you are. This is why dominating spouses can hide your identity.
You marriage needs a pressure release valve, like what is found in Ephesians 4:15-16:
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (NLT)
Marriage is two identities, and it does not work when hearts are hidden. Don't hide your heart behind aggression and defensiveness. Christian research has proven, through case studies followed for 10 years, with 95% accuracy, that you need five positive interactions for every one negative to spiral your marriage back up (The Gottman Ratio). This does not coincide with being aggressive or defensive. Dropping communicative "atomic bombs" only leads to massive explosions. Interactions out of the fruits of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control--are positive and beneficial to your marriage (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV).
Beware of the marital "four horsemen of the Apocalypse." These are criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling. Criticism lies in finding fault and attacking it. Rather than criticize, empathize. Sarcasm, humiliation and insults are all forms of contempt. Not listening to anyone else and relying on your own reasoning alone is a symptom of defensiveness. When you withdraw, lay distance and have a smug, "I'm done," attitude, you are stonewalling your spouse. Don't put these four things into practice, but rather live out Philippians 4:8-9:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (NIV)
Surrender your heart to healing and restoration. When you do this, some amazing things can happen. Look at Ezekiel 36:22-27. In it, we see where God first healed and restored Ezekiel, and then led him to the land of bones. Through Ezekiel, God rode the dry bones, put flesh back on them, and breathed wind into them to bring them back to life. God wants to heal and restore us, and reveal His glory through us; through our marriages. Will we let him?
THE MUSIC: Click "listen" to hear the songs that accompanied the message.
This Sunday is our final message in our “How to Wreck Your Marriage” series. God has blessed hearts BIG TIME in this series and you don’t want to miss the closing message on Sunday! Let’s keep praying and fighting for our marriages at TNC so that God might allow our homes to be bright lights in a dark world.
THANKSGIVING is next week, have you purchased a TURKEY yet? Remember Sunday is the final day to turn in your orders for TURKEYS!!! All money raised goes to the TNC LAND OFFERING!!! Your 12-14 lb smoked turkey may be picked up on Wednesday (Nov. 25) from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at North Augusta High School. Call some friends and family members and invite them to purchase a turkey for $25.00. I also encourage you to BLESS ONE this Thanksgiving by purchasing a turkey for a family at Ridgeview. All you have to do is purchase it and we will take the turkey to them. We need over 80 turkeys to provide for every family at Ridgeview!!! Buy One and Bless One this Sunday! All orders and forms need to be turned in to Guest Services on Sunday.
DUNK’D is coming next Sunday, November 29!!!! We will be having a huge DUNK’D (Baptism) service for all those who want to GO PUBLIC with their faith in Jesus Christ! We are having a BAPTISM CLASS this Sunday at 10:00 am for all those interested in following Christ in baptism. The class meets above the gym, just follow the signs on campus. Dunk’d Sunday is always a huge celebration at TNC invite your friends and family members to join us for this SPECIAL DAY!
God is alive and well at TNC! I’m praying that you will open your heart to all that He is doing in our lives and our church. I love you and thank God for you!
In His Love,
Steve Davis, Lead Pastor
THE MESSAGE: Watch online at http://www.truenorthchurch.com.
Expecting your spouse to be like you is an unrealistic outlook of marriage. Your spouse is not like you because men and women are not alike. A man's brain is like an arrangement of boxes--it sectionalizes activities, emotions, deep thoughts, free time, etc. A woman's brain is like a ball of wire with all of these things running together; each can easily segue to one another. This creates a need to be intentional about meeting each other's needs, as the deepest needs of a wife and husband vary. "A man should fulfill his duty as a husband and a woman should fulfill her duty as a wife, and each should satisfy the other's needs" (1 Corinthians 7:3 GN)
Husbands, your wife needs your affection: "Husbands, give your wives much love; never treat them harshly" (Colossians 3:19). They need to feel like they are No. 1 in your life. Four ways to show your affection to your wife are by your words, by your actions, by the way you touch her and by focused attention.
Your wife needs conversation with you: "Reliable communication permits progress . . ." (Proverbs 13:17). Your wife is less interested in you telling her the answer to her issues and more interested in your listening and communicating with her. Intentionally hear her heart. This is one of your wife's biggest emotional needs.
Your wife needs your honesty and openness: "Insincere talk hides what you are really thinkin . . . It brings nothing but ruin" (Proverbs 26:23, 28). Always be sincere. Be your wife's friend. Be there for her with financial security and support, and commitment to the family as well.
Wives, your husband needs your affection, too, including sexual fulfillment. This is one of the biggest crossroads in wives understanding husbands. It comes from men trusting their wives to be the only one to fulfill this need for them (1 Corinthians 7:4-5). It is also the one need only a wife can meet unless the husband goes outside of the marriage.
Your husband needs admiration. The emotional need is huge, and the absence of admiration is often what a husband looks for outside of marriage when he is not adequately receiving it. From doing the laundry to sharing about his career, husbands what to know they are appreciated in this regard. (See Ephesians 5:33.)
Your husband needs an attractive spouse. This doesn't mean you need to feel like you're supposed to measure up to women in store window displays. What it does mean is to take care of yourself. Men are visual, but should not compare their wives (Ephesians 5:21-25). Your husband also needs your domestic support and recreational companisionship. How that looks needs to be determined among a husband and wife, as it varies.
Knowing your spouse's deepest needs will help you connect with each other on a powerful level. This is a fleshed-out way of living out Ephesians 5. Love your spouse the way Christ loved the Church. He did so be sacrificing His all. Give up yourself. It is a constant thing for us to be who God wants us to be, and the only way to do it is to be ultimately committed to Jesus.
THE MUSIC: Click "listen" to hear the songs that accompanied the message.
Rise and Sing by Fee [listen]
Awesome is the Lord Most High by Chris Tomlin [listen]
Savior in Me by Joseph Christie Band [listen]
How Great is Our God/How Great Thou Art by Chris Tomlin [listen]
Everything Falls by Fee [listen]
About the team from TNC that recently helped with disaster relief after the September SE Asia earthquake...
http://bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=31625
We’ve been encouraging you to invite your friends, family members and co-workers this month for our series, ‘’How To Wreck Your Marriage’’ and you have responded! The past two Sundays our attendance has spiked to an all time high at TNC! The 10 am & 11:30 am services this Sunday were full! We had over 1,500 on campus, a non-holiday record for TrueNorth Church! Our services have been powerful, moving and convicting; you can sense God’s Spirit working in hearts and minds!
We want to thank you for your patience in the parking lots as our parking team handles the crowds particularly between the second and third services. They are working hard to maintain the madness and excitement! We are praying and expecting even bigger crowds the next two Sundays of this series as you to continue to invite friends and co-workers who want to take their marriage to the next level.
On that note, I am strongly encouraging every regular TNCer that could attend the 8:30 service the next two weeks to do so. We need your seat in the 10 & 11:30 service for all of the newcomers that our coming. We’ve always been a church that’s been willing to do whatever it takes to ‘’REACH OTHERS’’, let’s keep doing it TNC! God is doing some big things in the hearts of people! Let’s keep making room for them and let God work! Thanks for your Kingdom Heart ahead of time.
This Sunday in our MARRIAGE SERIES, I will be joined by a special guest on the stage as I share the third message in this series. My wife, Cheryl, will join me for a portion of the message as we share some info, that has made A MAJOR DIFFERENCE in our marriage. I can’t wait and you don’t want to miss it!
TNC, I am so pumped about what God is doing in us as we continue to UNITE together to be a people that LOVE JESUS and OTHERS! May we continue to LIFT UP, LOVE IN and LIVE OUT! See YOU and a FRIEND Sunday!
Steve Davis, Lead Pastor
THE MESSAGE: Watch online at http://www.truenorthchurch.com.
Other than Jesus Christ, marriage can be one of the greatest refuges there is. Statistics for successful marriages, however, are staggering. It is said that roughly 2 out of 10 couples experience marriage the way God intended. Over half of marriages end in divorce, and the ones that do last may not be the strong, loving relationships among two people they were meant to be. One out of four marriages go through affairs, thus affair proofing your marriage is vital to its survival.
Although affair proofing a marriage is not entirely possible, measures must be taken to make it last. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Guarding your heart means staying in the game and not building walls. Marriage takes active participation between a husband and wife. Spouses must be a refuge and a source of strength and encouragement for each other. Don't be the opposites of these things. A blueprint to this is Ephesians 5:25-33.
When you're not a refuge to your spouse, their ability to be themselves goes down. Numbness enters the picture, and affairs follow the pain that was experienced. Fight. You can either fight for your marriage or fight in divorce. The passage in Ephesians states that married couples are united as one. Respect each other. When disrespect enters marriage, it's gasoline on a fire.
Seek intentionally to address and heal the major wounds in your life. Do you have pain from past experiences that is leading you to wrongful behavior? Share this with someone. Seek godly counsel and work it out. These things can ruin a marriage when not dealt with properly. God gives example of His healing in 2 Kings 20:5 when this happens. You have to trust in others to make your marriage work, and you must confess (James 5:16). Don't allow these wounds to sit in darkness and lead to darkness.
The environment necessary for love to grow in marriage is one of freedom and responsibility. Don't control your spouse's every move. Love can't be experienced without giving someone freedom to love you. Control leads to escape being sought, and in marriage, that escape is often an affair. Put boundaries in place, and don't overburden your spouse. A tired spouse will fantasize about what else can be.
When you're bound in God and each other, nothing will destroy your marriage.
THE MUSIC: Click "listen" to for links to the songs from Sunday's message.
Sing, Sing, Sing by Chris Tomlin [listen]
Beautiful Jesus by Kristian Stanfill [listen]
Everything Falls by Fee [listen]
Your Grace is Enough by Chris Tomlin [listen]
On Sunday we continue our series, “How To Wreck Your Marriage.”
You better get to church early if you’re coming to the 10:00 am service, it was
STANDING ROOM ONLY last week! Better yet, if you have been a regular TNC
attender at the 10:00 am service how bout attending the 8:30 or 11:30 am
service. We have open seats in both services. It will open up seats
for guests in the most popular 10:00 am time slot. Thanks in advance for
helping us continue to reach others for the Kingdom!
As I mentioned we were packed last week as we kicked off the
marriage series. It’s going to get more intense and practical this week, you
don’t want to miss it! (I’m not going to tell you the topic-you will have to
come and find out.) If you have friends or family members struggling in their
marriages please get them to TNC this Sunday, they will be glad you did! Trust
me!
Last Sunday I shared these words from Nehemiah 4:17, as God’s people were rebuilding the walls of their city and their enemies opposed them."Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." As our enemy (Satan) seeks to divide and conquer our marriages and homes we hear Nehemiah’s words echo in our hearts, “Don’t be afraid. Remember your God who is GREAT and AWESOME and FIGHT FOR YOUR MARRIAGES and YOUR HOMES.” We are doing this series because we want to help and equip you in FIGHTING FOR YOUR MARRIAGE! We must never give up the FIGHT! I encourage you and challenge you to FIGHT for your marriage and FIGHT for those that you LOVE who are struggling at home. Invite them to TNC in November! I can’t wait to see you Sunday!
Fighting for our Marriages,
Steve Davis, Lead Pastor
THE MESSAGE: Watch online at http://www.truenorthchurch.com.
Marriage can be crazy; especially when we embrace unrealistic expectations.
Do any of these sound like you?
- If our marriage is hard work, we must not be right for each other.
- I shouldn't have to change who I am to make our marriage better.
- My spouse is responsible for my happiness.
The truth is: marriage is hard work. Because your marriage is hard does not mean you do not belong together. We are different as individuals, and families, children and careers add to those differences. Where is hard work needed in your marriage? Spouses are constantly having to change for the betterment of the marriage. This is no different than improving in your career or anything else in your life. Marriage is two people coming together, helping each other change. What is it in your marriage that needs to be changed? Although only Christ will complete you, your spouse is there to compliment you. However, your spouse is not responsible for your happiness. We need to be committed to the person, and not the expectations.
Our expectations are born as natural desires in our hearts, and when realistic are very rewarding. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12). How do spouses merge the pictures of their expectations? By being aware, reasonable and clear about what they expect, and through their willingness to listen to the Lord. Have a tender heart towards God. Nehemiah 4:14 tells us to remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and to fight for our wives and homes. Satan is the enemy to your marriage, and fighting for it is vital to its longevity.
Marriage is going to take hard work. It means giving time, energy and sacrifice. Keep these things up with your spouse.
THE MUSIC: Click listen for links to the songs that accompanied Sunday's message.
Solution by Hillsong United [listen]
Alive and Running by Kristian Stanfill [listen]
You Never Let Go by Matt Redman [listen]
Love Story by Taylor Swift [listen]
How He Loves by John Mark McMillan [listen]
Halloween Weekend is upon us! Along with "Trick or Treating" we have lots going on at TNC this weekend!
Class 101 will meet tomorrow (Saturday) morning at the Depot from 9:00 AM to Noon. Breakfast is provided, but childcare is not. If you want to know more about the what and why of TrueNorth or want to become a member, this class is for you!
A TNC GUATEMALA MISSION TEAM made up of 14 TNCers flies out of Atlanta tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Please be in prayer for our largest team ever, as they take it to the streets and minister in San Pedro, Guatemala. They will join 14 others from our mission partner, El Camino Church in Guatemala City. Pray that God would use them in a mighty way and bring them back to us safely next Saturday.
DON’T FORGET TIME CHANGE SATURDAY NIGHT! After trick or treating be sure to move your clocks back 1 HOUR and get that extra hour of sleep! You DESERVE IT!
DON’T MISS SUNDAY MORNING as we begin a new series, “HOW TO WRECK YOUR MARRIAGE.” Join us as we take an intense and practical look at building a healthy, Biblical relationship with our spouse. Singles and students you need to be here to get the scoop on how you can prepare for a marriage that rocks for a lifetime! By the way this is a great series to invite a “fish” that might be struggling in their marriage so bring someone with you! DON’T MISS SUNDAY, YOUR’E INVITED TO A WEDDING UNLIKE ANY THAT YOU’VE EVER ATTENDED!!!! It’s going to be another SPECIAL DAY at TNC!
Praying for you!
Steve Davis, Lead Pastor
