So this is Christmas

As the song says, so this is Christmas, What have you done....it seems as we get to the end of the big Christmas celebrations, that we have to ask ourselves what have we done? While we all often say "Jesus is the reason for the season", we do so while rushing to Wal-mart for one more gift, cutting someone off on the way Grandmas, or trying to out do the neighbors light display.

So what have we done?

You see, God said in Deuteronomy 30, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life

So are we choosing life?

There are many good things that Rejoice is doing, but the question needs to be turned inward; What have you done?

Have you nominated someone on UcanRejoice.com, Have you reached out to the homeless, have you volunteered at a shelter, have you shared the gospel with those fellow workers or friends that need to hear, have you opened your heart just to listen to someone else’s problems and not judge them, have you invited 5 friends to the South Campus Launch, have you volunteered to serve in a ministry, …….

For me, this season has been about serving extended family, family that we rarely see, but do to death and illness are compelled to serve. Some of them look at Christmas and say nothing good ever happens, they want little to do with the season. To simply say Jesus is the reason for the season would only drive them further from God – instead we offer them comfort, care, and compassion – all motivated by Christ.

We must choose life, life that starts with Jesus in us, and continues by doing those things that give life….

So what have you done?

tomorrow night/great christmas concert

Everyone loves Christmas music! Have you ever met someone who doesn't like solid, professional, Christmas music? Quick, name your 3 favorite Christmas songs of all time...Jingle Bells, Here comes Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Mary-Did you know?... Tomorrow night at 7pm Rejoice South will be hosting 3 incredible artists to remind us of some of the greatest Christmas songs of all time. Tickets are just $5 and proceeds go to help WorldVision-one of the largest compassion ministries in the world. See you there!

michael boggs/seth and nirva ready coming saturday night

Here is an interview that a group called EPK recently did with Michael Boggs. Boggs and Seth and Nirva Ready will be performing a christmas concert at the Rejoice South Campus this Saturday night at 7pm. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door. Rejoice South is located at 12200 E. 86th St. N. in Owasso, OK Go to this site to watch the interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEuaNwX32YY

rejoice student ministry continues homeless ministry during cold weather

This past weekend, a huge number of students from Rejoice Church continued their homeless ministry by preparing needy people for the cold weather. Between our 60 students and Airport FWB Church's 20 students, they handed out almost 100 backpacks with gloves, scarves, blankets, and anything else that will make someone warm during this cold Christmas season. Many of our friends downtown commented that this was a huge need especially since John 3:16 and the Salvation Army beds were full and downtown Tulsa has been eliminating some of their homeless shelters. I'm so thankful for teenagers and adults who care to give to people who will never be able to give in return! How do you plan on giving this Christmas? Who could you give too that could never pay you back?

2009 vision of granduer

Have you set any new year's resolutions yet? I just finished my last physical therapy appointment and now it is time for me to exercise without a professional making me! Let's see if I can do it. It will probably come down to daily choices, just like the picture above! What choices or resolutions are you hoping to make new in 2009? -see you soon, casey

christmas concert this saturday night at 7pm

This Saturday night at 7pm, live at the Rejoice Church South Campus, is the Acoustic Christmas Tour with Michael Boggs, Seth Ready, and Nirva Ready. Michael Boggs, has been a singer/song writer with FFH and one of his songs was featured on the family movie, Facing the Giants. Seth and Nirva have traveled with the likes of Toby Mac, Kirk Franklin and other well known artists. All 3 of these artists have a heart for world missions as they partner with WorldVision, an international adoption/compassion ministry. You can meet all three of these Christ followers this Saturday at the concert. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at www.itickets.com or call 918.272.5291 and pick up tickets before the show. If you have not purchased tickets but plan on attending you can email Chris Larson at clarson@rejoicechurch.com To hear their music go to the following: www.myspace.com/nirvessence or www.michaelboggs.com

ucanrejoice.com entries coming in!

Ucanrejoice.com officially launched a few days ago, and the entries are coming in very strong. So many people are nominating friends who have be faithful, co-workers who have been gracious, family members who have been giving, and neighbors who are in need. One of the great things about this project, is that it allows us to take some time to hear the stories of those across our communities and it gives each one of us a chance to be thankful for those around us. Make sure to tell someone about the ucanrejoice.com grocery giveaway that will be announced Friday, Dec. 19th at 1pm. live at McDonald's on 76th Street in Owasso, and the ucanrejoice.com website. Don't forget that each person who submits an entry gets a McDonald's Mccafe drink coupon in the mail! Thanks also goes out to Sav-On printing, Reasor's, and My Generation Design.

Ucanrejoice.com

michael boggs and worship music

Hey everyone,
Here is a quick clip of a recent interview with Michael Boggs, his ministry in Nashville and what God has been teaching him lately. The Acoustic Christmas Tour is only 9 days away! Don't forget you can purchase tickets for $5 at both Rejoice Church campuses or at www.itickets.com

Have you bought your ticket yet? Click below to watch the video.



Michael Boggs Video

Student Ministry Shift and Downtown Missions

Hey guys,
Here is what is happening in our student ministry right now with missions. Also, a preview of what to expect for the launch in 2009.

RC Kids on South Campus

If you have any questions about the RC Kids Ministry, please contact me, Ryan Golightly, at rgolightly@rejoicechurch.com OR check out the rckids.net website for other updates and info!

Bio of Nirva Ready

Hey guys,

  Thought you might want to check out the biography of Nirva Ready.  Nirva will be joining her husband, Seth Ready, and their friend Michael Boggs on Saturday, December 20th at the Rejoice South Campus for "An Acoustic Christmas."  Tickets are $5, benefiting World Vision.  

An Acoustic Christmas with Michael Boggs and friends

Do you love Christmas music?  Are you like my mother, who pulls out her Christmas tape collection in July and pops in either Chipmunks Christmas or Mariah Carey Christmas, or even John Tesh Christmas.  In July!  Well, if you are, then we have a treat for you.  On Saturday, December 20th, at 7:00pm at Rejoice South Campus, we will host Michael Boggs, and his friends Nirva and Seth Ready, for An Acoustic Christmas Tour.  If you currently attend Rejoice, you may have seen Michael as he led worship for our adult services a few times last year.  If you're new to Rejoice, you are in for a real treat this Christmas!  And the cause couldn't be better! Michael, Seth and Nirva are touring to benefit World Vision!  World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.  World vision is so excited to be joining Michael on this tour!  His heart for the poor and vulnerable is sincere and is truly evident in how he lives his life.  

    So please, don't miss this wonderful opportunity to hear Michael's music, testimony, and heart for poverty stricken children and families.  Tickets are only $5 and can be purchased by calling 272-5291.  Don't miss "An Acoustic Christmas" with Michael Boggs and Seth and Nirva Ready.  Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 7:00pm.  Rejoice South Campus.  We'll see you there!

Interview with Leonard and Casey in the Owasso Reporter

Hey guys,

  Here is the link to check out the interview of Leonard and Casey in the Owasso Reporter.

Owasso Reporter Interview

And then he just dropped.........

I so wish that we had been video recording the service today, I would have my You Tube celebrity status right now... It was quite the tumble I'm glad I landed on my big.....ego.... Anyway good thing it was me and not Casey, he would be headed back to the hospital for another round of surgery and LP - who knows what would have happened.

The good news is at the south campus the stage is permanent so I can only fall off it, or on it, but it wont collapse... that's a relief.

Speaking of the South Campus.....

Don't forget, this Saturday at 9am at the south campus is Clean it up and make it shine day.....should be lots of fun and get a lot of work done.

See you there
Tom

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

    Psalm 98:4 says, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth: make a Loud noise." 

Think about that.  God is inviting us to worship him whole heartedly with singing, praise, music, and our lives.  Does he need us to really make a LOUD noise to Him? No, not really, but He delights in the fact that we are singing before Him.  He anxiously awaits our praise to Him.  Our praise is pleasing to His ears.  He is blessed by it.  

    As we approach the launching date of January 4th, for the South Campus, I want to take the time to invite you to take part in this opportunity to help worship the Lord with a LOUD and joyful noise, in our corporate worship experience.  If you would like to be a part of the worship band, I would love to sit down and talk with you and get you plugged in.  You don't want to miss out on this!  This is part of Rejoice history!  Please feel free to email or call me so that we can talk about being part of the worship experience at Rejoice South.  So the next time you are driving in your car, sitting in your office at work, or just enjoying life, remember that we serve a God who loves to hear us sing, and sing LOUD!

email:jalexander@rejoicechurch.com

phone: 918-272-5291

Trunk

Was it just me, or did Ryan say we don't need "junk in our trunk" while telling us we need to put candy in our trunk? Doesn't it take a lot of candy to get junk in your trunk......can you say that in church?

See you all Friday night at the South Campus - 6pm

Be there

Tom

11 Weeks and counting

11 weeks.. 11 weeks.. 11 weeks

If the launch of Rejoice South is only 11 weeks away, then Christmas is only 9 weeks away - YIKES - that may be more scary than the thought of the new campus to some of you.

In between your Christmas shopping, We want to invite you to participate in one or more of the opportunties coming our way at the south campus in the next few months -

Friday October 31 - is our annual trunk or treat and this year it will be held at the South Campus - we need candy and trunks, so lets step up, step in and serve at this first major event on the South Campus - if your interested in helping

contact ...Ryan Golightly at rgolightly@rejoicechurch.com

if you can't do the trunk thing, did I mention we need candy, lots of candy, so bring a several bags of candy and just be there. We will be handing out flyers about the launch to everyone who comes and serviing the community.

Saturday November 8th - Campus Work day 9am-noon at the south campus - general clean up and such to get ready for Rejoice Sunday - Lunch will be provided for those who can help get the campus ready...if you can come

contact ...Casey Cariker at ccariker@rejoicechurch.com

Sunday November 9th - Launch Team Lunch - Pizza Lunch in the cafe on the NORTH Campus after the 945 service, If you are one of the launch families, we want to see you there. (please rsvp by comment to this post so we can get enough Pizza) Everyone should bring a dessert to share and will talk about the launch and get to know each other better. Kids welcome...

Wednesday November 12th - Prayer Launch - join us from 7:15pm to 7:45pm for prayer for the campus, the people, and the community. Meet at the SOUTH campus in the main lobby.


Sunday November 16 - Rejoice Sunday, one service, one place - 10am at the South Campus - this is the big celebration for what God has done, is doing, and will do through Rejoice.

The excitement is building - my question to you is simple, where will you serve?

Would you?

Are you ready?

Why another campus just 3 miles away?

Some people ask me throughout the community "Why would Rejoice Church do another campus just 3 miles away?" An easy response could be, Why not? or "To reach more people" or "Do you have any friends or family who do not know Christ?" and that sometimes tells them why...but today I would like to explain it in another way by comparing it to other types of organizations.

Let's say that you worked in the hospital industry and you were involved in strategy planning or building new hospitals in growing areas in the Oklahoma. Suddenly while you were doing your study one of the fastest growing areas in Oklahoma showed you that there were over 100,000 people in the "green country area" who had to drive over 25 minutes to get solid healthcare, or for doctor's visits. If you were willing to expand you could meet that need. Would you do it? Well, recently two major hospitals in Owasso already did just that. Let's say that even after building that hospital you discovered that your rooms are full, doctors are booked, and that even you emergenices rooms were maxed out (Owasso's are not yet thankfully! I know this by experience now.). Then suddenly another building became available in which you could provide the same patient care and services that you provide currently but you could expand for 25% of the cost to expand on your current campus. Would you do it?

Or for example...

Let's say that you worked in the education field and you knew that a community was providing solid education, but the hallways were way too crowded, the classrooms were full, the teacher/student ratio was too high and there were still thousands of students that needed a solid education. Would you provide it? At the same time, people argued that there are already good schools in the area, but you knew that the demand was still there, families were still looking, and children still needed to be education. At the same time, what if another building became available and it would cost the taxpapers a minimal fee compared to the other option, and you knew that you could still provide great education. Then suddenly, when the word got out you had conversations with 20 or more teachers who wanted to be a part of a new project, who wanted to teach in another environment, yet still wanted to be under the direction of the overall school system! Would you provide it?

Or for example...

What if you owned your own business. Let's say you had a certain product that was growing at a strong rate, and the demand was continuing to grow even as your business grew. As you surveyed your business, even though times were tough, you realized that the supply needed to be expanded since the demand was still there. Recently you did a financial survey and the times were tough, but everytime you tried to expand on your current business property there were "walls" that blocked your expansion. Maybe the city wouldn't allow it, maybe the cost was too significant, maybe the key leaders weren't mentally understanding...then suddenly over about a 15 month period, another business building opened up, and it provided the square footage that you needed for a fourth of the cost. After praying about it for a long time, some of your own staff said they would be willing to take on the extra work if it meant that the product would impact more people. Even thought you told them it would be tough, they still offered to put in the extra time and to work differently in order to make it happen. Would you risk it? What if your business even had a group of volunteers and those volunteers who work so diligently and for free then came to you in large groups and said they were willing to work the assembly line in order for the product and the business to impact more people! Would you risk it?

Many of these same scenarios have happened at Rejoice Church. In many of our ministry areas we have hit a growth lid due to spaces and people. In much of our planning we hit "walls" that we could not control. As we looked at other options the cost was way more than we wanted to spend while remaining good stewards. Even our best plans were not quite good enough. Then God gave Rejoice Ministries and opportunity to expand with about 30% cost of the other options...Then the Rejoice Church congregation about 400 of them said no matter what we must move forward. Key volunteers have now said they will rise to the occasion like never before. Rejoice Church staff have been willing to work in new ways and involve new people. As of Oct 1st over 50 families have now committed to helping with the launch...and Rejoice Church continues to say, we will provide it, we will risk it, and we will do it! January 4th, 2009 is just around the corner.

If we can go across the world, surely we can go across the street!

Casey Cariker

Humming Birds

I love humming birds, that whole fly forward and backwards thing is amazing, they are one of God’s really neat creations. Anyway I had a hummingbird trapped in my garage. I opened the door wide open and waited for the bird to fly out but nothing doing. I even tried to shoo it out waving my arms (looking much like a crazy man) but that didn’t work either. The bird just stayed on top of the garage door, refusing to move.

Every time the bird would try and fly, its instincts told it to fly upwards, so it would skate all over the ceiling, buzzing its wings furiously against it, chirping all the way until it would tire and come to rest on the door over the wide open area to escape. I left it alone for a while to see if it would eventually discover the open door, but each time it took off to fly, it flew upwards and skated on the ceiling like before. It was frustrating, almost tragic, to watch it sit over the open door, catching its breath, oblivious to the fact that freedom lay only a few inches below. I finally succeeded in freeing it by literally sweeping the hummingbird off the ceiling with a broom. It took a number of tries, and it hit the door jam on the way out, but it flew off unharmed.

Imagine yourself as the bird were that bird…(humor me for a moment) I am trapped, and I am trying to free myself the only way I know how, when this giant comes after me, waving its arms and screaming shoo, shoo. This giant then begins so sweep at me, swatting at me with a broom. I don’t see that what the giant wants is what is best for me; indeed, he is the only one who can set me free. Finally he succeeds and sweeps me off the ceiling and I slam into the wall, and then out through this invisible barrier. It is only then, in my attempt to recover from that trauma, that I find I am suddenly free.

OK you’re no longer a humming bird…..It occurred to me that this kind of parallels our experience with God, he is the giant sometimes. He throws some pretty scary stuff at us, and it’s hard to believe He has our best interests at heart. He may even be telling us to fly down, but we don’t hear Him, so He brings something into our lives that force us down, and only then do we find that down was the way out.

Is that where you are in your life right now, experiencing some scary stuff and not understanding it?

What we have that the bird doesn’t have is a word from God that He is in control.

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:9)

Wasn't that cool!!!

Talk about fully engaged... Tiffany took the plunge with no prior planning, which is so God honoring, I just love it. Of course, there was no prior planning on her part, she just heard the call and responded. There was prior planning on our part, we had to first be in prayer about the day, be obedient to God's direction and prepare for as many as will respond, and then we needed to celebrate what God did.

So we are celebrating with Tiffany as she continues her walk with God, with this next step of Baptism. And we are celebrating with God, as he moves and rejoices in the obedience of his kids.

God is Good, All the time

coming to grips with being helpless

About 6 months ago, my ongoing back problems began to rise its ugly head. Due to 24 years of jumping, running, hitting, falling, playing tackle football, jumping for a basketball, 4 years of traveling across the country playing ball and then getting into a 15 passenger van sitting in a coccoon shape for another long days drive...do you remember those days, where your body could take all the abuse you could give it and then suddenly you would hit a dead end, in which your body would say "now you will pay".
Well since about May I have been getting cortizone shots, doing stretching exercises, going to physical therapy, and doing my best to stretch back into flexibility. After getting back to what I thought was 100% on Labor Day weekend, I celebrated by swimming with Candry for 2 hours...then sitting on a hard chair and typing out a 5 hr paper. The next morning, my body screamed its loudest-snack, crackle, pop, and 4 days later I laid in the hospital waiting to get the ole' Cariker family special-a lumbar laminectomy...fancy for hiernated/ruptured disc...(I'm now home in recovery...)

The main point today is that before I finally gave in to the horrible back problem, I had to admit one thing: I was helpless~On my own I could not get up, could not crawl, could not sit on my bed, could not even eat...totally helpless! Their was nothing in me but could cure my problem on its own.

This is one of the reasons why Rejoice Church is planning on launching another church campus in January 2009. We are willing to do whatever it takes, to whomever will hear, as many times as possible to reach those who are "helpless". To supply those who realize they can not "do life on earth and life for eternity" without the help of Christ. Who do you know that is helpless? A friend? A neighbor? A family member?

Wrong Questions?

Almost every teacher or professor I have ever had said that there are no wrong questions. Well maybe they said there is no such thing as a stupid question or dumb question....stupid and dumb have become less politically correct in recent years so I imagine most now use wrong...probably not it's still ok to call a question stupid just not a person.....anyway.

I used to think that statement was something they told you to say in "teacher school" because it made your students feel more comfortable. After all, we all knew someone who would ask a stupid question (I think I was that someone most of the time) like "what is the homework assignment" when it was 2 minutes to class ending and the teacher had gotten way off track....

Well here is the deal, when it comes to this whole two campus thing, there really are no wrong, stupid, or dumb questions. Everyone looks at things from their location in their Christian journey, we aren't all in the same location, thus we see things different, which is good. So any question is a good question.

So you may ask, where do I get my questions answered....well the answer is, if you're reading this, you have found the question asking place - just comment on a post, and we will get you an answer.

I can't promise you will like all the answers, but I can promise we will respond to you..

so looks like the teachers are correct, there is no such thing as a wrong, stupid or dumb question...ask away my friends.

In the middle?

So saw this one on God Tube - I hadn't heard this song but it seems to be a bit appropriate for where we are.

You may find yourself in the middle, not knowing if your a south campus person or a north campus person. Could be quite the fight if you and your spouse or kids don't have the same view.

So what are you going to do? The question is real, the answer complicated - you don't want to split the family.....

We may not have all the answers, but rest assured, that as far as weekend services, it really doesn't matter if you go south or north - they will both be the same. The only deciding factiors will be where you meet with your small group, if your on campus then that campus would seem to be the logical choice. If you're off campus then it doesn't matter.

The only time things will get complicated is on Wednesday nights, when the senior high "GZ"service will be on the south campus, and the Junior High "Fusion" service will be on the north.

So how will you handle it?

In or Out?

When you think of the possibilities of having this much space, in this big of a town, in one of the fastest growing areas in the state. And then it is all focused on shairing the gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone and everyone that comes in contact with it - the mind begins to spin.

Just think, 110,000 sq ft of space to do ministry, 7 days a week, as much as we can. The potential is amazing - but the question I am asking is this,

Are you in or out?

It really doesn't matter where you plan to put your butt on sunday mornings, or sunday nights, or wednesday nights....the question is the same

Are you in or out?

To make this thing we call multi-campus do what it has the potential to do, reach the community with the good news of Jesus Christ and lead them to a deeper relationship with Him, his word, and his people... It's going to take all of us. Working where God has gifted us....

Did you read that, W O R K I N G....that means all of us jumping in and getting our hands dirty, inviting friends and neighbors, serving in ECM, RCkids, Youth, Sunday School, Small Group, Welcome teams, you name the ministry they all need our help... and when we go to two campuses, it will take all of us. So

Are you in or out?