“What happened with the building? Did we get it or no? TELL US!!!” Here’s the update you’ve all been waiting for – the latest on our attempt to purchase a building for God’s sanctuary in Arlington.
1) We officially made an offer (YAY...EXCITING!!!!!).
Read MoreGet ready for a celebration! It's the final week in the Build Your Kingdom campaign and yesterday's message answered the question: "WHAT'S NEXT?" Check out the video above to see what I mean.
And keep laying those BRICKS! The Sunday series may be complete, but the campaign to build the Kingdom in Arlington is NOT! I'll post an update tomorrow. But in the meantime, KEEP ON BUILDING!!!
In case you missed my announcement yesterday, check out the video below and see how you can add your name to the BOOK OF STSA.
Want to read a boring chapter in the Bible? Go to Ezra 2. It’s everything you DON’T want to find when you open your Bible in the morning.
“Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: the people of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two; the people of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two…" (Ezra 2:2-4)
Want more?
“…; the people of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five; the people of Pahath-Moab, of the people of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve; the people of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; the people of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five; the people of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty" (Ezra 2:5-9)
Had enough yet?
Read MoreA special message from me to all the "extended" STSA family - our friends, followers and supporters from all over the world. Take a look at this short video clip and please consider lending a helping hand as we seek to BUILD GOD'S KINGDOM.
For more information, check out this blog post from last week.
Read MoreONE WEEK LEFT in the Build Your Kingdom campaign! As we approach the end and our goal seems nearly impossible, this week we got a reminder of what a true Kingdom Builder mindset looks like. Focus on BRICKS, not BUILDINGS. Or as Solomon put it "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:31)
And keep laying those BRICKS!!!
Over the past few weeks, you've heard me talk a lot about our Build Your Kingdom campaign and about how we're trying to build a house for God here in Arlington, VA. You may be asking yourself "Why? Why do you need a building? Why do you need it now? And why this particular building?" Well here's your answer!
Below are three videos that will answer your questions: Our Story,Our Need, and Why This Building (this third one is the longest but it's my favorite because in it I tell the story of how we came to know that God wants this building - very personal, very moving, don't miss this one!).
Enjoy!
Read MoreDear loyal blog reader and friend,
What I’m about to do isn’t something that I do very often; those who know me can attest to how rare it is. I generally don’t like asking for help (remember this post?); it’s not something I’m good at.
I don’t like asking for help because I know that everyone already has enough on their plates. The last thing you need is some priest to leverage his spiritual authority to make you feel guilty about not doing more or giving more. Am I right?
But that’s why I don’t want you to take this as a request for help. Instead, I hope you see it as an invitation to be part of something great…really great!
Read MoreDiscouragement: we've all been there. We've all faced it. We know how it feels and how paralyzing it can be. The only people who avoid discouragement are people who never attempt to do anything hard/great in this world.
So what happens when a kingdom builder gets discouraged? Is that even allowed? Aren't the "spiritual" people always supposed to be upbeat and positive? What happens when the "good guys" get down?
That's this week's topic in the Build Your Kingdom series. Check out the video above and watch as I share how I personally went through some discouragement recently and how I dug my way out of it. Trust me, if you're feeling down or discouraged, you MUST watch this message.
And I pray that God uses it to pick you up as He did me as well.
“The great people of the earth today are people who pray. I do not mean people who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time and pray. They have not the time. It must be taken from something else. This something else is important. Very important, pressing, but still less important and less pressing than prayer.” -- S.D. Gordon
Which is harder – to pray or to work? Be honest. Which comes more natural when you have a problem that you can’t solve: to get up and try to fix it? Or to kneel down and spend some time praying about it?
For me, it’s a no-brainer. The harder task is prayer...by far! I know it seems counterintuitive, but it's true.
Read More"No praying man or woman accomplishes so much with so little expenditure of time as when he or she is praying." A.E. McAdam
Part 2 of the Build Your Kingdom series and this week we looked at our most important tool when it comes to building God's Kingdom. Not money, not manpower, not experience or intelligence... our most important tool is PRAYER.
Why? Because "unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1)
In this week's message, we look at Nehemiah - a man who led God's people to accomplish an incredible feat - as a model of the kind of prayer that builds kingdoms. We'll see what was Nehemiah's secret to success and see what four factors make up kingdom building prayer.
Ready for my answer? In my previous post, I posed the question “why does God care so much about having a home on earth?”
Whether it was the Garden of Eden, or the tabernacle of Moses, or the temple of Solomon… God placed a lot of emphasis on having a physical building/place where His people would gather and worship Him. Why is that? Why would a spiritual God care so much about a physical building?
Why? Because our God is an INCARNATIONAL GOD.
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You’re trying to build a “home” for God by buying a church building? Are you serious? Does God really need a physical building to have a home? Isn’t the entire universe His home? Why does He need a building? And how does that building have anything to do with the Kingdom of God?
Those are some of the questions you might be asking as you hear about the BUILD YOUR KINGDOM campaign which kicked off last weekend at STSA.
And those are all fair questions. Does God really NEED a building? Does He even want one? Doesn’t God care about spiritual buildings more than physical ones? Who cares if there’s a building or not?
Read More"Consider now, for the Lord has chosen YOU to build a house for the sanctuary;be strong, and do it.” 1 Chronicles 28:10
The Build Your Kingdom series officially kicked off yesterday with a message titled "THE CALL TO BUILD." We looked at why having a visible building is so important to a invisible God (hint: it isn't for His sake as much as it is for our sake).
- God built a home for He and Adam (the garden of Eden).
- God commanded Moses to build a home for Him among the Israelites in the wilderness (the tabernacle).
- God put it on David's heart to build him a permanent home in Jerusalem (the temple).
- And when that temple got destroyed, God moved in heart of the king and in the spirits of His people to rebuild that home and restore His sanctuary (see the book of Ezra).
And now God is putting it on our hearts at STSA to build Him a home as well - not for the purpose of building a building, but rather for the purpose of BUILDING HIS KINGDOM.
Check out part 1 of the series above and let's get ready to build!
BYK = Build Your Kingdom and the Kickoff event is TONIGHT at 8 pm (doors open at 7:30).
The theme of the night is "God Building His Kingdom through STSA." We'll have LIVE TESTIMONIES from people whose lives have been transformed at STSA and hear how God is working in our church. We'll also have the music team rockin, we'll be giving away prizes (like 4 tickets to a Christian concert coming to DC) and of course yours truly will give a brief message (as I always do) kicking off the 4 week BYK campaign.
So get excited and come on out tonight! If you’re local, come join us in person; the event is free and all are welcome. If you’re not local, then be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and simulcast the event live as it happens.
Either way, don't miss out on the fun tonight and find out how God wants to use YOU to build His Kingdom wherever you might be.
BUILD YOUR KINGDOM HERE!
You’ve seen the tweets and you’ve read the Facebook posts. You read yesterday about the BUILD YOUR KINGDOM campaign launching on Friday night and by now you’re probably asking the same question I’ve gotten from many over the past few days…WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS ALL ABOUT?
What is Build Your Kingdom? What is #OneBrick? What are you guys trying to do here?
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What are you doing on Friday night? Whatever it is, I guarantee that it won’t be as uplifting, inspirational, and downright FUN as what I’m doing. That’s because I’ll be attending the “Build Your Kingdom” Kickoff Event and I’m inviting you to join us as well.
The kickoff event is where we’ll be launching a 4 week campaign to BUILD GOD’S KINGDOM all around the world. We’ll talk about some of the ways that God is building His Kingdom here in the DC area and we’ll show you how you can get involved and become a kingdom builder as well.
And if you’re not local, we’ll be simulcasting the event live online and hopefully inspire you to build God’s Kingdom wherever you might be.
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