Mike Henderson

Best Day Ever

Best Day Ever.  OK, to be fair I just happened to hear someone say that today.  Here's what I do know.  Much of what happens on a Sunday morning goes unnoticed.

Yes, today was somewhat of a microcosm of what the church is all about.  People inviting others.  We as a church creating an environment that unchurched people want to check out and come back to, and invite their friends also. And then watch life change happen. 

Today I wrapped up our two-part series on parenting and will post links to the three books we gave away.  If you are parenting, you should purchase these three books.

It was exciting to see people engaged in all that went on.  While it was the first weekend of the summer as all the schools are now out, we had what I would call an incredible day.  It was the stories that made the day special.

Of course, I would never publicly share someone's story until the appropriate time, but there were at least four stories from today alone that reminded me why I love what I do.

Following the service we went to Darden Towe Park for a baptism and a picnic.  We had a great time and people were able to meet and connect with some who they did not know. 

Of course, being next to the river on a hot day worked out well for some of the kids.  They stayed in the water the entire time.  Fun times.

Mike Collins was in his element manning the grill.  He is the ultimate grill-master.  Since I was baptizing, I left my iPhone in the truck, so I don't have any pictures to upload right now.  However, we will have pics up shortly.

 

Sound, Smells, Smiles, Sermon, and Sunday Experience

This morning during the Sunday service at New Hope I first noticed two things and then four things that make a difference. 

Smells.  At first glance that sounds a little odd.  Here's why.  As I turned the corner this morning in one of the hallways at the school, I was hit with the smell of coffee.  I told Jen Muse, and at first she felt bad as she was making the coffee.  I quickly reminded her that the smell was a good thing. Even people who do not like coffee still love the smell.  The right smells are a good thing.

The following is a quote from Be Our Guest, a book about the customer service at Walt Disney World. "There are about 5 million receptor cells in the human nose and it is only a short trip from there to the brain.  Smells are stored in our long-term memory.  In fact, scientists have found that if you associate a list of words with smells, you will better remember the words.  At Walt Disney World, smells are used to help deliver magical memories."

Sound.  When I commented to John that his guitar sounded very full (best way I could describe it in my nonmusical vocabulary), he mentioned that it was due to his new strings.  Now I know that guitar strings matter and make a difference.

Smiles.  All you have to do is look in the mirror.  Look at yourself with a smile and without a smile.  Which one looks better?  It's a wonder we don't smile more.  At any rate, I saw lots of smiles today.  Michael Eisner said, "Each contact is a chance to win over someone...a frown, indifference...is an intrusion in the magic world that our theme parks (Disney) are designed to create."  Smiles are huge and everyone can do that and make a difference. 

Sermon.  Today we began a brand new series, 5 Things That Will Destroy Your Marriage.  I love teaching on the topic of marriage and I believe we got off to a good start.  Sereral told me that they were bringing someone next week, others wish someone they knew were there.  Week 2 should be fun. 

Add all four up and it leads to a great Sunday experience at New Hope. 

Easter Reflections

WOW!  What an incredible day.  It all began with lots of volunteers showing up early to get ready for Easter and the Egg Drop.  My hats are off to them for a great job.

Here are just a few of my thoughts from the day.  I may sound a little disjointed.  Tired, but wanted to comment on the day.

Let me say we have never had that many show up on a Sunday ever.  We have not figured out all the numbers due to the size and the chaos.  We had over 300 show up and somewhere above 200 actually attend the service.  Some came late, etc. so to get an actual count was hard.  Who do you count as attending the church service and who don't you count.  But with those two numbers you get a pretty good idea.

The auditorium was full and we had to set up a couple more rows of chairs.  The unique part of the day was that 90% of the crowd I preached to I had never met.  They were all new and we had most all of our regular attenders serving outside the main service. 

To give you another idea, Melody, who does a great job in our children's ministry said she could not have handled any more kids.  And she had extra help!

Also we began the day with four or five rooms for nursery and preschool.  Everything was full.

Then the band.  They absolutely knocked it out of the park.  John did a great job putting it all together for the day. 

We had people make commitments to Christ and baptism. 

We had friends bringing friends.

We had recent guests return and bring family and friends.

Then there was the Egg Drop.  A BIG hit.  Even made the evening news as cameras were on the scene.  CBS 19 came out. 

The weather was perfect.  Here is a link to the video:  Charlottesville New Hope Egg Drop

To give you an idea of why the numbers tend to be a little fuzzy, we had 300 water bottles to give to the kids and they are all gone.  So does that mean we had over 400, counting parents?  Don't know.  As I said, some stayed for the service, and some came in to register and then just hung outside until time for the Egg Drop. 

Here is what I do know.  It was the largest day in the history of New Hope and perhaps the most memorable.  And it was our people who made it all happen.

 

Sunday Reflections

Last week was time change Sunday and I was not particularly thrilled with my message last week.  So I was looking forward to today at New Hope.

And you have to admit, the mood on the Sunday following Time Change Sunday is going to be better.

So in one sense everything will feel better whether it is or not.

Today's message should be online by Tuesday evening and everyone needs to hear it.  Actually it's just a great reminder of three things.

1.  God is generous.  It is so easy to forget that in our easy credit, impulse buying, high inflation (although the government takes out food and gas--ridiculous because we all eat and drive), and troubled world.  Theology is not determined by circumstances.

2.  You know people with incredible needs or at least those kind of people cross your path on a regular basis. From experience I know that it's easy to have an entire month go by without even realizing that. 

3.  You are the conduit for God meeting the needs of others.  Jesus told a story to remind us of the role we play.  This week someone will cross your path.  Will you notice, or will you be moving at the speed of light.  The faster you move, the less you see.

Easter is now less than five weeks away.  We have lined up the helicopter, the eggs, and all the trimmings.  John is working on the music.  I am personally praying for and will be inviting at least five families. 

If you were there it worked out good to have Adam up on stage to punch me in the chest.  It worked out well because it was not planned ahead of time.  If you were not there you will have to watch the video. But I wanted to visibly illustrate that people are hurting and they have been punched in the gut, at least emotionally.  

As Sunday night winds down, I am trying to finish off this cold and watch a little basketball.  I may have to stay until midnight to see who wins the Notre Dame-Florida St. game. Maybe not.

Looking forward to the coming week and next Sunday.

 

Time Change Sunday

Who ever came up with the idea to change the time on Sunday morning?  Why not Saturday morning?  My guess is most people who decided have little interest in spiritual matters.

One of the things that crosses my mind is if I were Satan I would certainly choose Sunday morning, because that gives people a reason to skip church.  While we had a solid day at New Hope time change does affect the day.

Let's just traverse the entire country and think about the effects of time change.  If attendance were to drop off by just 10% that adds up to lots of lives, marriages, and teenagers who miss out on the Sunday morning service.  That means a marriage that would have been healed perhaps misses the very message or word of encouragement it needed.

And we could continue to list a series of fallout.  I am sure Satan was happy today over everyone who missed out.  Afterall, Satan is your enemy, not your friend. 

Personally I think we should make time change Sunday a permanent "Can't Miss" Sunday.  Who's with me?  I have heard it said that it is hard to swim against the current and you have to work with the calendar.  But, as in football, nothing is happier to an offense than to rip off a big pass play when the defense is blitzing (sending extra players to rush the quarterback).  And I think it would just be a blast to outdo Satan on time change Sunday. 

At New Hope we celebrated the Lord's Supper.  And Lauren Phillips broke out her guitar for the first time.  Not that was cool.  I love to watch people try new things.  But while we had a good day, I will admit the mood was a little different.  To lose one hour of sleep does have an effect, there is no way around that.

Before I wrap it up, let me add this.  I love time change in the fall on Sunday.  Does that make me a hypocrite?  Then everyone gets an extra hour of sleep and it's turns out to be a great day to invite a friend to church.  After all, after getting an extra hour of sleep it's hard to turn down an invitation.

Next week we start talking about Easter.  Can't wait! 

 

Sunday Reflections

I know I have said it before, but I love Sundays.  Here are a few things that stood out to me today.

John has done a good job with the band and has written some of the songs we sing.  The second song today was one he wrote.  A great song.

Enjoyed the conversations before and after church.  I know we tend to rush through life, but I try and talk or at least say hello to everyone present. 

You can never have too many first time guests.  Today got a couple of fascinating comments.  One student came and said it didn't feel like church.  Good.  Mission accomplished.  We'll take that a compliment.  Another said the atmosphere was uplifting and life-changing. 

Every week we are trying to creat an environment where people who don't go to church will want to come to, and those who come will want to come back and bring their friends.  If we can do that we can lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  Mike and Amiko did just that today as they do a great job with first time guests who may arrive late.  They always treat our guests with excellence.

As I looked over my notes this weekend prior to the service I realized that they are just words unless the Holy Spirit anoints them.  So I was pleased that several felt like God spoke to them through the message today.  The message should be online by Tuesday evening.

Following the service Mike and Debbie Collins treated us to lunch at Panera Bread for Pastor's Appreciation Month.  That was a great way to finish the month.

As a bonus one more thing always make Sundays a little extra special:  A Dallas Cowboys' loss.  I just had to throw that one in.  Sorry.  Actually, I'm not, but it sounded polite. 

One final note.  While I was talking with several other pastors in North Carolina this past week the topic of living week to week came up.  That is, if it is a good day then pastor's have a good week, and if Sunday was not so good, they tend to have a bad week.

With that said, while I try to avoid that trap, I will admit that I too am human.  However, if today was any indication, I will have a good week.  I definitely loved the vibe and the overall atmosphere today. 

 

Sunday Reflections

- Fantastic day today!

- We could have used a few more chairs, but I think overall everyone was comfortably seated.

- We ran out of bulletins...oops.

- It has been a blast teaching thru 1 Peter.

- Next week is Mother's Day.

- Next week is also the day we tackle perhaps the most difficult text in the New Testament.  Should be fun.  So don't be afraid to invite someone to come with you.

- We are planning a baptism June 6.

- Carol, Rachel, and I wound up the day at Barnes and Noble.

- I know it's still Sunday, but I can't wait until next Sunday.

- The title of next week's message is "Jesus."  Enough said.

Sunday Night Reflections

As I begin a new week I thought I would comment on my battle with busyness and share with you how it plays out this week.

The morning started out with a tire issue on my truck so I was unable to drive it this morning.  Nothing like a positive start to the day, but then I am preaching a series on 'Trials' and so this was really not 'unexpected.'  They actually do happen, and when they do they are on their time not ours.

Following the service we relaxed at the house a little, but then I went to town with Carol and Savannah for some shopping.  Actually, I went to Barnes and Noble while they shopped.

After they were done, Savannah went to her youth meeting, and Carol and I went out to dinner.

Since I had taken the time to spend time with my wife, and I was patting myself on the back for not being too 'busy' I went home to begin work on an upcoming message on the topic of 'marriage.'

The day ended with watching 'Undercover Boss' with the family.  Thus after one day I can say that I did not let busyness get in the way.  No medal yet as there are six days to go.  Let's see how it plays out.

Sunday Reflections

We have had a very good start to 2010.  The atmosphere has been upbeat, the crowds have been up, and the number of first time guests continues to grow.

Today I finished talking about the vision for the new year.  I am very excited about the journey that we are taking thru this year.

When the day started I thought the rain would affect our attendance, but that did not happen.  We had a good crowd and our middle school boys were in the parking lot with umbrellas as the people arrived. They offered a 'dry' walk to the building.  We like to start people serving early at New Hope.  Serving is something they can do the rest of their lives.

Setup is something I look forward to every week.  I love to arrive early, help with the setup, and watch and listen to the musicians get ready.  Also it's been nice to get the lighting down to a fine science for us.

Regarding the situation is Haiti I would recommend that you give to www.samaritanspurse.org.  They are already on the ground and do incredible work. 

This coming week we start a brand new series entitled "Hope Again."  I am a huge fan of hope.  It's even in the name of our church.  My desire is to be able to communicate that our hope is in Jesus Christ and a relationship with Him and how that plays out in life.

God actually wrote a letter to people who lost their jobs, income, homes, and were looked down upon by the rest of society.  What did God have to say?  That's what we will be talking about.  It's a great series to invite someone to.  I have already had someone say they were coming just for this series.  Why? Because everyone needs hope!

Sunday Reflections

Sundays are always too short.  I think one thing I like about setting up and tearing down is that it lengthens the time at New Hope and being around others.

Coming early and hanging around afterwards gives us time to talk about life, catch up, and even get into some football talk.

Speaking on the End Times is always challenging and fun.  I love the subject, but it is more teaching than applying the Scriptures.  My passion is to have people wanting to come every week, engage with the Word of God, and then use that information for life change and life enhancement.

Because prophecy contains so many details it can seem daunting.  But all biblical truth is not grasped overnight.  Yes, salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ can be digested in a matter of moments. However, even that subject is like a swimming pool.  There is always deeper waters to explore.

This Sunday I will be wrapping up the series "What in the World is Going On" and tackling the subject of Armageddon.  Should be fun.