It's about Building the Kingdom...

We had our first annual Pumpkin Patch during the month of October and had over 200 volunteers who served! Our goal and purpose was to build relationships with the community by providing a service! We had a great time selling pumpkins and meeting new people! I heard many stories from our volunteers who enjoyed meeting people and how they got to share about our church! We sold over $7,000 and got to keep 30% or $2,100, as we exceeded our goal! God is so good and He provided an opportunity for us to plant seeds for the Kingdom!

Our Fall Block Party was a blast as well! We had nearly a 100 volunteers serve and estimated 600-800 people show up as we did not have church in the building, but rather was the church to the community outside our four walls...all for the Kingdom!

We had one of our largest attendances ever this past weekend other than Easter and Mother's Day! We had over 640 come and had our biggest altar call response ever at Heritage Bettendorf Campus! We have averaged nearly 10% more in attendance over the last 8 weeks than what we did the same 8 weeks last year! Praise God for building the Kingdom!

Our Interim Youth Pastor, Wes Alvey, shared with me that we had 3 teens commite their lives to Jesus! 2 were first time and 1 recommitment! Again....building the Kingdom!

I am praying that God will radically change your lives and that we will all be "rich towards God" and surrender our lives for His purposes! I heard a leader say..."we have all of eternity in Heaven to do Bible studies, fellowship, and worship....but we only have NOW to share our life change story with those who are "lost"! Are you building the Kingdom?

Our passion at Heritage is "to meet people wherever they are on their spiritual journey and lead them into a growing relationship with Jesus in order to change the world". How about you. Are you making a difference in people's lives? Are you inviting them to church? Are you praying for those people God has allowed you to influence that are in your family, those at work, at school, at the gym, do life with, or maybe your neighbor? Let's commit to meet them in their spiritual journey in order that we may see their lives changed for the Kingdom!

INVITE someone this week as we continue our series "How to be Rich"! I can't wait to see what God does next to help us all "build the Kingdom"!

Who have you "spilled your guts" to lately?

Who in your life can you be real with? Do you have such a person? Scripture tells us in James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." I had several people "confess" their sin to me this past week and I also did the same with others and it was amazing! It's amazing how God uses that to heal you and to bring a sense of joy, peace, and hope into your life through your obedience.

Our passion at Heritage is to meet people wherever they are on their spiritual journey and to help lead them into a growing relationship with Jesus! We provide opportunities to meet you on that journey and for your to grow. That is why we have small group's of various kinds, (men's, women's, MOMs, couples, singles, bible studies, New Beginnings) and serving opportunities within the church such as ushers, greeters, tech, muscians, singers, children's volunteers, HUB checkin for children and youth, youth volunteers, cleaning, & administrative stuff. We also provide ways to serve the community!

It is through engaging with these small groups and serving opportunities that you are able to form community with a group of people and begin to build trust to be able to practice this Scripture in James! Who have you "spilled your guts" to lately! It is only when we confess the wrongs in our lives to God and to each other that we can have more victory over sin in our lives! As we are tempted, unlike Jesus, we FAIL! When we do, we must confess to God for forgiveness and become stronger as we confess to one another! Our challenge this week as we deal with temptations, is to run. When we fail, confess to God and others so that we may be healed!

Have a great week! Be sure to invite someone to church with you and to connect with people in a group or serving in a way you never have before! I look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Whatever it takes...
Mitch

Rock the River

I just received this message today from Steve Stephens who is the QCAE President (Quad Cities Association of Evangelicals).

“This past Saturday, August 8th, we had a tremendous day praising God and throwing out the net of salvation at the Rock the River Tour. For those who haven't heard, there were 13,800 in attendance and 805 came forward when the invitation was given. Of those 805, 509 were salvations, seventy-seven wanted receive assurance of salvation, 166 rededicated their lives to Christ, twenty-one had inquiries, and thirty-two were marked as "other". Of the 805, 638 were youth commitments. That's 79.3%! There were even four commitments made from attendees over the age of sixty-one! The 805 commitments at the concert plus the decisions made in the Christian Life and Witness Courses totaled 1,224 recorded between May 1st and August 10th. Praise God!”

This is amazing! What an incredible God we serve! It’ great to see the churches in the Quad Cities, coming together to do whatever it takes to reach people for the Kingdom!

Please be praying about those who have made commitments to Jesus. Also pray that we as the church will be obedient in following up with them and helping to develop disciples! Thanks again for all your help, time, commitment, and for serving our community!

Whatever it takes…
Mitch

What it's all about..."setbacks" and "setups"!

This past Sunday, I got the chance to sit at a table with a few guys between services and listen to one of my buddies talk about his relationship with Jesus (who is a Christ follower) how it has not been where he wants it to be! He discussed his passion to know Jesus so much more than what He has been and his desire to be so intimate with Jesus that it consumes him. Well, his friend was one of the other guys sitting with us. He had invited him to church that day and I could tell he was broken!

After a few moments, this guys was talking about needing this Jesus that was being talked about. That he had a void inside that needed to be filled. I asked him about surrendering to Jesus and that we all are sinners who fall short of the glory of Christ. We must confess our sins (which our pastor had just preached about) to Jesus and to others and ask Him to be Lord of our lives! I went on to ask "why not do it now"? He said he was ready and I asked his buddy who brought to pray with this man to lead him to Jesus! We prayed and then asked this young man to pray and ask Jesus to come in and make him new! He did!!! Praise God! Another one for the Kingdom! That never gets old and thats what Heritage and Jesus are all about!

What about you? Are you reaching out to others as my buddy is....even in the midst of your struggles. I believe Jesus desires for us all to share our stories with those that don't yet know him so that He might use it to bring others to Himself! What we call "setbacks" may be "setups" for God to bring glory to himself! Just as was the case for my friend! His spiritual setback became a setup for his buddy to come to Jesus! That totally rocks!

Whatever it takes...
Mitch

More than the Pastor…

Do you believe that it’s the “pastors” job to do the ministry? Do you find yourself saying “the pastor will do it”? Well, it’s time you begin looking within and see what God is calling you to do! Many times in the church, you believe the pastors will do the ministry and that you don’t have anything to offer! I completely disagree with that! It takes the whole “body” of Christ working together to do whatever it takes to reach people wherever they are on their spiritual journey and lead them into a growing relationship with Jesus!

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth and discusses this very thing. He gives a metaphor of how we are one body and many parts. In other words, it takes all the parts working together to help make the body. It takes all of you working together to make the CHURCH! 1 Corinthians 12:27 says “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”Read the story below and begin to pray about how you may insert yourself into the body so that you might be a part of it!

Story from Pastor Steve….
One of our Hub workers slips me a $20 every Sunday; it’s kind of fun!! He shakes my hand and the $20 is slipped unnoticed to me and then into the “Bible Give Away Fund” (I feel like I need to go park his car or something). Every weekend a teacher in one of our Elementary classes gives away a bible to a kid, free, no strings attached. All because this man gives $20 every weekend. I remember a cold winter day praying with this same Hub worker in the church hallway and we were praying about a job (he was unemployed at the time). A couple of weeks later he was hired on at Deere and wanted to say thanks to God, so he started to slip me the 20’s (that was background to the background story, but a cool story in its own).A couple months ago, a child was given one of these free bibles and also given the Parent Flyer (a handout we send home so we can partner with the parents to review the lesson at home). Come to find out, the father of this child was reading the Parent Take Home Flyer and the Kid's Bible on a regular basis, (he was not a Jesus follower and did not attend church with his family). A few weeks ago the father ended up in Pastor Mitch’s office and accepted Christ to be his Lord and Savior!

“The Story”
The father of the child that received the free bible from the elementary teacher because the hub worker gives a 20 every week, will be baptized this weekend! This same father wants to be a part of the same ministry that brought Christ in his life. He starts in the Elementary class this month and will be a part of the Children’s Ministry Team!Is that the most awesome story of “Passing it On” or what?

This is amazing obedience to do what God has called this HUB servant to do, along with the teachers involved! Thank you, Pastor Steve, for sharing an incredible story of how God gets glory when we come together as a team, or a body, and do our part to minister in the way that meets people wherever they are on their spiritual journey and lead them into a growing relationship with Jesus! This is a great example of how God is accomplishing his vision through Heritage Church! On behalf of our staff, jump into the game. It takes more than the pastor!

Don't forget about ROCK THE RIVER on Saturday, August 8 at Centennial Park (change in venue) from 3:30-9:30 p.m.! Be sure to invite some friends along with you who are not connected to Jesus and we will see you back on Sunday!

Remember baptism is Sunday, August 9 at 2 p.m. in the Rock River. The baptism service will be held at the Backwater Gambler's ski show site. The site is located straight past the Rock Island Campus' parking lot toward the river! We have over 50 people that are getting baptized! Let's celebrate!!

You are the greatest people to pastor that I could ever ask for! You all totally rock! Thanks for being passionate about seeing people come to Jesus! Enjoy the rest of your week and we can't wait to see you this weekend! You absolutely don't want to miss out! Definitely invite someone to church with you!

Whatever it takes...
Mitch

You Never Know...

Do you ever wonder what kind of impact you have on people’s lives? We ask ourselves, “Am I making a difference?” We all want to make an impact in people’s lives for the kingdom and believe that our own lives meant something to someone! Sometimes we see the results immediately that we made a difference and sometimes we simply do not know! Regardless of our “knowing”, do we remain faithful to be obedient in simply being Jesus to others in all circumstances?

What we say to people and our actions with people, matter in the big scheme! Jesus invested his life into the disciples, into sinners, the crowds, and into the disenfranchised! As a result…he commissioned the disciples to go to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth to teach about Jesus and speak truth into people’s lives! They saw some immediate results, sometimes a little later, and some they never knew! But look at where we are now! Over 2000 years later, you and I have benefitted from their faithfulness! Who in your life can benefit from your faithfulness?
I went on a missions trip to Ecuador in 2002 with a group of friends to do worship and a youth camp. While there, I met a young adult who was “passing through” on a bus from Argentina making his way up into Mexico. He met us along the way and decided to come to the camp and hang out for the week. By the end of the week, I got to pray with him to ask Jesus in his heart! I gave him my Bible, and we exchanged emails! We passed a few emails back and forth for several months and helped to disciple him via email occasionally for another year. I have not really heard from him in nearly 5 years. I found his email a few weeks ago and decided to send him an email to find out if he would get it and if he was still a follower of Christ! Read below Jose’s response! Yes…he got my email! That is really sweet.

“of course i remember you bro. the best christian drummer in the world (yamaha).. hahaha, im living in spain now with my wife, she spanish. is a long and beauty story, you know, the ways of life. I told to my wife the story in ecuador and she knows you, and derrick jeff aaron and the ladys with the angel voices. Im so glad to play for God with yours, ever you'll live in my heart and my memories, you're a great friends and brothers for me. Blessed for all and specially to your family, wife and daugther... the peace be in your heart.” Jose. no matter how far...

I share this because “you never know” what impact you have in people’s lives and fortunately, I got to be reminded of that nearly 7 years later! God is so good! He simply wants us to be obedient as he and the disciples were of sharing the love of Jesus in our lives with others….because you never know! Who can you influence for Jesus this week? Who can you invite over for a cookout, coffee, games, movie night, dinner, walk in the park, movie, or to church? You never know what God might do through that act of obedience!

We had two young men ask Jesus to be Lord of their life this weekend! Praise God for that!

Don’t forget to come to one of the small group informational meetings after service Saturday night or in between services Sunday morning if you are not yet connected in a community of friends.

Enjoy your weekend and I look forward to seeing you at church!

Whatever it takes…
Mitch

Who wins?

"We talk of the second coming, while half the world has never heard of the first." Oswald J. Smith

My great friend and a faithful servant who is our Volunteer Connections Coordinator at Heritage Bettendorf campus wrote the following and I thought it was just what we all needed to hear! Rena Gainey wrote:

“Do you ever find yourself struck with these questions:
· Who is out there I am not seeing?
· Who have I given up on?
· Who are the people I am stepping over, crossing the street to avoid, turning a blind eye to, forgetting...?

I encourage you to take a relationship audit of those you touch. Are there folks you are missing? Invite them to Heritage! Are we the ones that are "missing"? Commit to taking a new step. At church this weekend, notice the person, not just the body. Look into their eyes - who is hurting? Who needs encouragement”?

“Rena's blog: We help each other in the small picture--being supportive in times of trouble, giving advice about sticky situations, sympathizing with this world's hard knocks--but we are not helping in the big picture. We don't do enough rainmaking. We don't provide adequate leadership. We don't go out of our way to help the forgotten. We must change all that, because like it or not, we are all called to reach out. It's time we realize that whenever the woman down the hall, or the man on the street, or in an office next door, wins the battle, we win the battle too. Because when they win, He wins. Our Lord wins. His Kingdom wins. It's that simple”.

Ouch! That hurts! Who wins? Those not yet reached for the Kingdom, we do, and most importantly, our Savior wins! What a personal challenge and the truth hurts! Who are we influencing with the love of Jesus in our lives? We all have those opportunities, but we ignore them. We are not asking ourselves…who wins? If we did, we would be reminded of the “prize” ahead of us. My favorite passage is found in 1 Corinthians 9:19-24. Paul writes “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize”.

Let’s be reminded this week to do “whatever it takes” to “win” some and to finish the race well!

Thank you all for your kindness and congrats, as I graduated with my Masters of Arts in Ministry of Organizational Leadership this past weekend! You all are the greatest ever!

We had one of our larger crowds again this past weekend with 648 in attendance! I also had the opportunity to pray with a man who is retired, to receive Christ! He walked in Monday morning wanting to fully surrender his life to Jesus! Praise God!

One more really cool story. I was at the RI campus on Tuesday and a young girl in her mid 20’s walked in the lobby and requested to see a pastor. Our receptionist called around and I got the opportunity to talk with her. As I walked up, our receptionist was sharing Jesus’ love with this young girl. She and her boyfriend were at their last resort and really searching for help! They realized they needed God to intervene. They have 2 small children 2 and 1, and never really attended church. I talked to the two of them for about 30 minutes or so about Jesus, the church, and marriage mentoring we offer. They were interested in getting married. I eventually led the girl to talk with our Congregational Care Pastor about some things and found out later that evening that the girl committed her life to Jesus! Wow!! Praise God! God used our receptionist to plant some seed, I came along and “watered” it, and then our other pastor “harvested” it through the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit! Who wins…? The girl wins, we win, our Jesus wins, and the Kingdom wins!

I look forward to seeing you all here at church this weekend! You don’t want to miss it! We are starting a 5 week series on Vision! You will hear from Pastor John’s heart and will experience and witness some incredible things that God is doing at Heritage! Invite someone and let’s begin meeting them on their spiritual journey and lead them into a growing relationship with Jesus!

Whatever it takes…

Mitch