For all our friends and the rest of the world we are using this blog to communicate what was communicated yesterday at Outreach Church over Vision Sunday.

As of 1^st December 2011 Outreach Church will no longer be Outreach Church and will become Everyday Champions Church – one church in multiple locations. Everyday Champions Church is a great church in Newark run by Gareth and Leanne Morgan. After lots of prayer, discussion, meetings, more prayer and more discussion we have decided it’s time join forces and come together.

Can we do more together than we can on our own?

Can we bring strength to three strong churches and make them even stronger?

Can we move quicker and more effectively?

We believe that we can!

The key to all this is relationship. This move is being done out of relationship and not structure. We believe in what we are doing and each other and feel working together is an answer to what we have in our hearts. Our life’s passion is all about extending the kingdom of God quicker and more effectively. In April 2012, Reachout Community Church in Wellingborough (along with a congregation they have planted) will also become Everyday Champions Church to finalise the one church in multiple locations. I can assure you that our vision does not stop there.

We believe that this is an incredible model of church that has huge potential focused on building great local church through the releasing of people into their graze zones. We are very excited about what God will do in the coming months and years. It will result in lots of change and transition but we are prepared and ready for that.

As for myself, Ruth and the girls our role will now be changing. As of 1^st October we will no longer be the pastors of Outreach Church, we are handing this on to an incredible couple that have been working closely with us over the past few years. Gary and Jan Mace will be the Everyday Champions Church, Nottingham Campus pastors. We have loved pioneering and building this congregation over the last few years but now is the time for transition.

Myself, Ruth and the girls will be relocating to Newark in the near future to undertake a mixture of roles working in the church and on the church. Some time will be spent working in the Newark congregation whilst also working on the church as a whole. Part of my role is in developing the three campuses and our multi-site structure and systems alongside many other things.

It’s a journey that we believe God is taking us on as a family and as a church. Gareth and Leanne have been friends of ours for a number of years and this merge comes out of that relationship. We are all committed to building church and seeing people come to know God and if this can be done more effectively then we will do it.

Do we know all the future? Do we have all the answers? NO! This is a faith journey that we are walking along. This is not a common set up and a common move but I love that.

It’s a new season full of opportunity. God will build His church and we just follow His lead. All three congregations in Newark, Nottingham and Wellingborough have great people and great teams. You can now add to that a team that strengthens from an apostolic viewpoint.

We would value your prayers and the rest is simply down to – watch this space.

Much love

Justin

Only 3 days to go after weeks of building up and 100 Sunday will be upon us.

Reading facebook, twitter, e-mails and so on this week I can tell that excitement and expectancy is high. I have heard story after story of people inviting their friends  – how awesome is that.

With just 3 days to go I want to encourage you for the final time in the 3 areas I have encouraged you many times over the past month or so…

1. Pray: Over the next couple of days be praying.  Speak faith and positivity all over Sunday.

2. Be here: Goes without saying!

3. Invite: It has been awesome to read and here about the invites going out. Why not be one of those people? Let’s not leave it to someone else but lets all take responsiblity and play our part in inviting our world to 100 Sunday.

I am so excited and I am so expectant. We have a few hard-core OC-ites praying and fasting today for what is going to be a sensational ‘stake in the ground day’ for OC.

So as Sunday arrives, come ready, come expectant, come pumped for a party as we celebrate what God is doing.

See you Sunday

Pastor Justin

PS. We have Pastor James Galloway from Breathe City Church in the house on Sunday. Get yourself ready because he is going to be on fire!

I just love this passage from 1 Thessalonians, it’s so full of passion and determination. It talks twice of not being pleasers of men but pleasers of God. It’s focusses on living for an audience of one with an understanding that the key opinion that counts is not that of man but that of God.

You can tell from reading this passage that they had faced some serious opposition. They had been questioned, people wanted to stop their work, they were no doubt abused, insulted and told quite clearly ‘you are not welcome’. However, they were not going to be stopped. They were on a mission from God and it did not matter what people said or in fact what they did  – they would not pause, not even for a second.

At OC we are committed to living for an audience of one. We have a vision that God has given us for our church and our city and we are 100% driven by that cause. We can face opposition, we can come up against mountains and giants but the truth still stands – He will build His church!

May is proving to be an excellent month for OC so let me encourage you today, enjoy the journey, know you are part of something special and be part of what God is doing. Live to please God, live to make His name famous and get ready for May to go from strength to strength.

It’s going to be an absolute stormer of a series and I am so excited about bringing it to OC this week.

Rob Tyrrell and team have done some more excellent work on the promo for it and you can view it here: http://www.vimeo.com/22930292

So get ready for another outstanding day in God’s house. It’s going to be a jam-packed day with our 11AM Main Event Service, followed by a Welcome to OC lunch, ending with Sunday Night Live.

Make sure you are part of it and don’t come alone – bring your world.

See ya Sunday

Pastor Justin

Philippians 3:12-14 ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

I cannot help but get enthused and motivated when reading this. Paul talks of pressing on, straining towards and moving ahead. Going backwards is not an option for Paul.

As we move away from the Easter and Bank Holiday season we are now moving into an important season for Outreach Church. May and June are two pivotal months where we want to press on, move forwards and progress. In fact I am operating with a belief that these months are going to be our best months yet; they are going to be record breaking months. In both May and June we have two what I have called ‘stake in the ground days’. Both 100 Sunday and Miracle Offering 2011 are days of pressing on.

In our nation they say that church does not grow quickly. The average size church is no more than 70 people and the media states that ‘the church’ is in decline. Sunday 22^nd May we put a stake in the ground and show that church can grow quick. We will show that a church can grow from 40 or so people to in excess of 100 people in just 8 months.

In our nation you turn on your television screens and you hear about the recession and we read constantly about poverty and redundancies. Sunday 12^th June we put a stake in ground and we will receive a mind blowing miracle offering towards the vision of Outreach Church that shows God is bigger than any recession.

We have decided that May and June are press on months. It’s full steam ahead, it’s no looking back and progression is the only item on our agenda.

Let me motivate you today just like the Apostle Paul did with me; get ready for two incredible months. Don’t miss out, jump on board, be in church, bring your world and you just see what God does.

See you Sunday.

Pastor Justin

So here is the truth… I am 100% pumped and ready for this weekend!

Saturday is going to be immense as we take on our first ever I Love My City EXTRA. With over 30 volunteers we are tackling 6 projects with one aim in mind – to serve our great city. Projects include a park makeover, car washing, face painting, giveaways, OAP home tour, police and fire station tour and more.

Next week we will post some pictures and feedback but I am just so excited about what God is going to do and the amount of people we are going to be loving on and serving. If you are not already signed up to be involved in this then why not? Get signed up today and join the party!

Then on Sunday we have week 2 of Jesus Is… I am telling you right now this is going to be powerful stuff. You just have to be at OC this Sunday and more than that – bring people. We are going to focus in on Jesus and when we do I know God is going to do some incredible stuff in people’s lives.  I truly am so excited. You just wait and see. When you point the way to Jesus – things happen!

All in all this weekend is going to be awesome and the question is – are you ready?

10. Never underestimate prayer

I don’t know if I should admit this but in the past I have not made prayer a priority.

Over the last 12 months things have drastically changed. I don’t for a second believe that all we need to do is pray but I do believe we must pray and believe God is going to answer. OC is now a church with prayer at the core of who we are and will continue to be so in 2011.

In others words – we just gotta pray!

OC – I want to encourage you to pray like you never have done before. We have enjoyed a great start to 2011 and now is not the time for seeing that slow down. We have some huge dates coming up in the OC diary that we want to 100% drench in prayer.

Right now take some time to pray. Tomorrow do the same. The day after do the same…. (you get the picture)

This Saturday we have over 30 volunteers taking part in 6 projects as part of I Love My City as we serve and love on our city. Let’s make sure that we provide a great foundation for the day by backing it in prayer.

We are hosting 100 Sunday on Sunday 22nd May – this we just have to drench in prayer. (for more info on 100 Sunday follow this link http://outreachchurch.co.uk/100sunday.shtml)

I have literally just been preparing my message for this coming Sunday as part of our ‘Jesus Is’ series. I am telling you it’s going to be powerful so get praying for this Sunday. I am believing and praying for God encounters, salvation and more!

OC must be a house of prayer and that all starts with me and you making a commitment to being people of prayer. It is and will never be about just praying and taking no action. It will never be about having a Tuesday night prayer meeting, same time, same place and same people just for the sake of it. It will never be a weekly occurence of ‘God bring revival’ but we never reach our neighbour or work colleague.

OC is a church of action.

OC is a church of vision.

OC is a church of passion. 

OC is a church committed to serving its city.

OC must also be a church of prayer…

Have a great day.

Pastor Justin

This week this blog is undertaking a re-launch. Aimed at communicating primarily to those that call OC ‘ home’ each week this blog will be updated with news, inspiration, nuggets of thoughts, wisdom, updates and much more.

So get ready as in the next few days we will go live…

In the mean time make sure that you subscribe to the blog by following the instructions on the right hand side of the page. That means that every time this blog is updated you will get an e-mail telling you so. Never again will you miss out on news coming from the heart of OC.

Enjoy!

1. OC Teams – if you are a volunteer at OC or interested in volunteering then this is a must attend event for you. A mix of sessions to help you volunteer well plus some time with your own teams for teaching and internal housekeeping. OC Teams is tonight at 7.30PM.
2. Baptism Sunday – if you have never been baptised then now is your chance. Sunday 6^th March is Baptism Sunday and what a party it’s going to be. If you are interested in being baptised and want to know more then drop us an e-mail at info@outreachchurch.co.uk and one of our team will be in touch.
3. New Teen Connect Group – attention all teenagers! We have a brand new fortnightly Connect Group starting just for you on Thursday 3^rd March @ 7PM. You will be meeting in the Nottingham Ikea restaurant and you just cannot miss out!
4. Edge City Kids Holiday Club – a brand new initiative of Outreach Church is Edge City Kids Holiday Club. With all sorts of fun and activities planned for primary school children we are all set for an awesome first event. Tuesday 22^nd February (10AM – 3PM) is the date and if you have kids at primary school then register them today by e-mailing sarah@outreachchurch.co.uk. Cost is £2 per child.
5. Sunday Night Live – kicking off on Sunday 6^th March is the brand new and exciting Sunday Night Live. SNL is fully geared for you to bring your friends into a relaxed and chilled environment where we provide excellent entertainment and as much coffee as they can drink. This truly will be a great night, taking place on the first Sunday of every month at Costa Coffee in the Nottingham Victoria Centre (doors open at 7PM).

How many times have I been where Saul was?

Saul panicked and he rushed the process that God had put in place. He saw things around him were not going to plan, people were leaving him and things were falling apart, his army was fearful, so he decided to put his own plan into action instead of sticking to Gods plan and process.

In 2011 we have a very clear plan, process and strategy for Outreach Church as we pioneer a new church in our great city. The plan is clearly laid out and we have a number of goals attributed to that plan. In the first month of the year we have had a fruitful and productive few weeks and we truly are excited about what God is doing and going to do.

I do however know that there will be times in the year where things may not be so smooth. What if things look like they are not going to plan, what if we are struggling to hit a particular goal, what if people leave, what it we are nowhere near budget?

I don’t want to be a Saul where fear sets in and I move away from the plan that God has given us. I don’t want to panic and start to put my own new plan in place. My job is to trust God with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding. My job is to know that God is with us and that He is building His church.

We are in exciting times, I am loving building church and I know that God has a plan and a process. I want to walk with him step by step and build church brick by brick as we progress through 2011. I want to see His process outworked and the growth come in our mission to build a large and significant church in our city.

The journey of 2011 is truly underway – watch this space!