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Do you remember people asking you the Q – “If you could have any super power in the world -what would you pick”? Now I grew up being totally into Super Hero’s.  I even had the super hero dolls that you could change the costumes on. Have you ever seen the head of Batman on  a Spider-man body…I have-  it’s disturbing.

The fact is I used to  love it when people asked me that question because as a kid  it was so EMPOWERING. Thinking about the possibilities literally blew my mind…flying – shooting webbing from my wrist and dodging bullets…that’s the stuff that dreams are made of.

I have come to grips that I may never soar through the sky with a cape  (and yes I know your probably thankful for that) – When I read the Bible I believe that God has deposited in each of us raw super powers.  The God of the universe has empowered us with unique talents and abilities.  These are the raw powers that if developed and nurtured can help us impact the world and point people to the life-changing power of Christ.

That’s why this Sunday we are kicking off our new series called “Super Power”. It’s all about help us  get up and experience our God size destiny.  When it comes to being heroic – I often can easily talk myself out of being courageous. I know with God age, gender, bank account size or past screw ups don’t matter.  He only sees the gifts that HE HAS put in us and the POTENTIAL that we have to use them for good.  He sacrificed his life so we could have these gifts and discover what real life is!  I can’t wait for this Sunday…

PS – This Sunday 4x MMA Champion Rocky Long will be with us at THRIVE for a Live Interview. For those of you that don’t get out much – MMA is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. and currently draws larger pay perview audiences than boxing.

Bring a friend to church – It’s going to be one of our BEST SUNDAY’S YET!

Tom

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Have you ever been lied to?

I have and at times I have lied. (now I know a pastor is not spoused to be that honest…but it’s true)

It stinks when you find out you have been sold a bunch of half-truths. You were meant to believe something that latter on you find out was made up or filled with a hidden agenda.

Just getting back from LA last week, this topic is on the front burner of my brain.  Over the years as I have tried to move forward with my relationship with Christ I’ve come face to face with some of the un-truths that culture has sold me. It’s caused me to do some soul searching and refocus areas of my life to be more on Him.

That’s one of the reasons we launching a new series this  Easter Sunday. We are calling it “what no one is telling you about..”. We are going to dive into some of the big rocks that make our world roll..like media, sex and wealth.  This series is going to be filled with strait-up, truthful talk and practical help from God’s word.

We are kicking it off with “What No One is Telling you about EASTER” this Sunday. Remember our Easter service times are 9:00 -10:15 and 11:30. If you want to join us for prayer – this Sat. at 4pm. Come join us – it’s open to everyone.

Excited – Tom

Last Sunday at THRIVE, we celebrated our  2nd Birthday.

It’s still hard to believe that 24 months ago, a rag tag group of 35  huddled in circle and prayed. We asked for God do something big in Katy / Richmond TX.

We were not sure how God would answer that prayer….Last Sunday we got a glimpse. Here’s some of my highlights from last Sunday’s 2 yr Celebration.

*     Hearing people go crazy and applaud for the original 35 that help launch our church.  When I asked them to stand and be honored, everyone in the room got the fact that “they went first”.

*     Feeling in serious AWE as our our history video was shown…I realized how far God has taken us…and also being freaked out after realizing that this is just the beginning…

*      Asking people to hold up a Glow Stick Survey to answer Q’s about their faith journey. Imagine a black room and lights poping up all over the place when we asked who committed their life to Christ and who went public in baptism since coming to TC.  It was amazing….in a rave kinda way.

*     Watching my friends Mark and Denna Bridges sitting in the front row as we showed their video story of a marriage that Gods putting back together – God has big plans for these guys! So glad they are part of our church family!

*    Teaching from Colossians about “why we celebrate Birthdays” – here’s the cliff notes:

1.  We Celebrate What we DISCOVERED – Col 1:21-22

2.  We Celebrate How we CHANGED – Col 3:1-3

3.  We Celebrate Where WE ARE GOING – Col 2:5-7

*    Watching people get emotionally moved as the band sang “God of the City” as the closer – That song was powerful….

*     Eating the some of the BEST BBQ ever during our Cook Off competition…All of our teams deserve a HUGE THANK YOU . It was all  good…really thankful I was not a judge. Loved watching people hang out together as a church! It felt good!

* Hearing ONE youth had one it’s largest attendance on a regular night…If you have a teenager and they are not in ONE youth – let me be honest with you….your kid’s missing out.  Do something about it!

I can’t wait for this Sunday…SOMETHING BIG is going to happen on Easter at thrive.  I am personally praying for every person that is bringing friends, inviting their neighbors, unashamedly sticking yards up and egging peoples houses. Thanks for going for it with us.  I’m excited to be on the journey with you guys…

PS – If your a regular, FYI -because of the number of guests that are expecting, we are asking you to park around the back of the building. We appreciate you making it easy for a guest to get connected.

PSS – We are getting together this Sat at 4pm to pray for our Easter services. We will meet in the auditorium. Love to have you join us…It will last 30-45 min, then volunteer teams will set up for Sunday services

See you Easter at 9:00 – 10:15 or 11:30

Tom

What a ride

This Sunday will mark the two year point of THRIVE being in existence as a church. That’s caused me to do something thinking and look back on our journey so far…here are some things….

*   I see God writing stories that include -forgiveness, second chances, freedom and confidence. That 100% why I believe that God has something HUGE for us as we move forward. I’m seeing lives changed and rearranged by God’s grace….sadly I know that not every church can say that. I’m glad ours can!

* Our staff and volunteer team is  GROWING and having FUN. One of my prayers when we started was “God bring people to Thrive that are good at what I’m not” – thankfully I see that prayer being answered again and again. That’s what makes ministry rewarding – a bunch of people with unique gifting’s sharing them to accomplish something HUGE for God.  If you went with us to the “All Access Conference” in Baton Rouge, two weeks ago, you know what I’m talking about…we had so much fun I think at one point I about wet my pants. That’s not a common thing…

* We laugh at ourselves – a lot! – I’ve discovered that the best teams are the ones that can laugh at their mistakes and mess ups. I still have people come up on a regular basis and ask me when I’m going to fall off the stage during a message again….they ask so often….sometimes I think I should “throw one in” just for old times sake – j/j  They also love to remind me of our “almost move” to Beckendorf Jr Hi. I don’t mind at all. The point is the right laughter keeps all of us on the same level and keeps a healthy dose of humility  and WE HAVE IT! (was that humility to say we HAVE humility…hmmm)

* We are ON MISSION! We started the church to reach the 70% of families that didn’t care about church in the Katy-Richmond area. We launched Thrive not to be a social club for the religious – but to be a hospital for the hurting. Thankfully that’s happening.  I love it when people come up to say “this is my friend ____ they came with us today”.  I am so proud when I hear those words because it means they are caring about what God cares about – lost people.  I believe this Easter we are going to see more people coming to Christ and experiencing Thrive than ever before!

So as you can read I am PUMPED ABOUT OUR CHURCH. This Sunday we are going to celebrate the last two years of our journey. Our creative team has decided to do our “best of songs”, we have a recap video sharing some great memories and in addition we will be sharing Mark and Deena Bridges story of a marriage that was on the brink of being blown up…It’s powerful.

After service we have Blow up games and face painting for the kids and a three team “BBQ Cook OFF” competition. There will be enough brisket to feed a stadium….I am excited to look back together. See you Sunday!

Tom

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OK -It’s true when I was a kid I would often fall asleep when I attempted to pray. for years it kept me from having a meaningful connection to Christ.  Last Sunday we talked about How to Pray and mean it.

Over the last few months I have been trying to teach my  7 year old how to pray and “mean it”.  On a whim I decided to teach her the ACTS model of prayer. By the way, this is one of the only things that I learned in Bible college that I still use today…so that means I paid a lot for this learning.

If you struggle in prayer like I do, I reccomend trying this way and see what happens. My Hope is you connect to God in a whole new way…

ACTS Model of prayer

A = ADORE God

This is simply sharing with God why you think HE’s Amazing…for me it’s when I drive down the road and see a TX sunset or reading a passage in scripture and having a “a ha” moment.  Starting like this starts you with the right mindset – it reminds you your talking to a BIG GOD….one that’s loving and yet still powerful

C = Confession

Take a few moments and ask God to “search your heart”. King David prayed this in the OT and the bible described him as a “man after God’s heart”. When we leave our sinful junk untouched it builds a barrier between you and God.  God will move and remove it – but he has to be asked….confession does simply that.

T =  Thanks

We live in a world that tells us we are don’t have enough – we are lacking because…..Taking a few minutes and begin thanking God for the good things in your life. It will bring your heart back to center.  I often find myself thanking God for my family, health our church, our team….I’ve realized God moves in our lives when we are THANKFUL!  Most of all I am thankful for grace – still stops me in my tracks

S = Supply

I used to think that God would get upset If I ask Him for things…When I read scripture, nothing could be farther from the truth.  God wants us to look to him for our needs – that doesn’t mean that If pray for a Mercedes that one will pop up in front of my house tomorrow. He wants me to pray with His will first and count on Him as my source.  Starting Thrive Church has pushed me many times to count on God first. He has never disappointed! He won’t disappoint you…

PS – Easter is coming – I know it’s going to be our best yet. Jackie and I are talking about who we are going to invite.  Easter is one of the moments on our calender that people are open to checking out God. Let’s make it happen and invite our friends and neighbors…

Tom

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No one loves to Confess there junk!

Last Sunday at THRIVE we talked about the “old school” practice of confession. Whether you grew up Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian or any other church background…or no church background.  You  grew up forming an opinion about this.

I see so many people carrying around extra weight of shame and guilt in their life because they were trained to HIDE their sin. You can be real in any other group whether a bar or a sports team but….NOT AT CHURCH.

When I read the NT I get an incredible sense that God wants us to experience FREEDOM from shame and yes the long term pain that often accompanies us carrying around our failures.

Here’s 3 steps to REAL FREEDOM…and yes the “Old School” term is  called confession

1. AGREE with God about your sinful junk

- This can be tough because we grade other people on their actions and we grade our self by our intentions. We have to get honest and say to God “this is me”. It’s not until then that our sin BECOMES REAL – That’s when we see it as God sees it. Often we feel our sin is  distant and manageable. We treat our sin issues this way until it causes us enough pain for us to take notice.

2. Thank God for FORGIVENESS (Col 2:14)

- You don’t get forgiveness because you confess – you get it because of the cross. All our pain and failures Jesus took with Him to the cross. It was there that gave us the ultimate act of love.  It was in that act that FREEDOM was ours. It was nothing we could do on our own or earn.  Too any times we tend to want to “work’ for forgiveness.

3.  REPENT – walk away! Take action…when it comes your sin issues.

-  If you really want to be free , find someone you can share it with (James 5:16)

- meet with them on a regular basis and let them ask you the tough Q’s. This can sound difficult but the question you have to ask is…”how much do I want freedom from this”.  No matter how tough it is – remember that when we concealing we aren’t’ free…Jesus gave us His love to free us not chain us.

- Pray for each other…they need to be there to support and encourage you and you walk toward real freedom

So….who do you need to talk to today? Is it God or someone else? When you do your setting yourself up to experience the life described in John 10:10 – “life and life to it’s fullest”

Go old school today – confess, get it out, release it and start living….

Tom

Here’s another reason that leasing offices was a good call…

Our office is jammed today with people coming in to help out and make it easy for people to find and follow GOD. It’s amazing to see how much energy this place has. I even lost my normal parking spot…(wow -do I sound like an  entitled church member or what?)

If your interested in volunteering during the week – stay tuned we are announcing “OPEN OFFICE PARTIES” this week.  It’s 2-3 days during the week that you can just drop in and help out. There’s no time commitment – all you have to do is show up and do some ministry with us. It’s that easy….

This is getting fun!

Tom