It’s on this weekend!!

Fall is here!

As you get back into the swing of things this fall, we wanted to make sure you and your family and friends were invited to our big Fall Kick Off Worship Experience this Saturday night at 6pm! Don’t miss this action packed night complete with a free Cookout for the whole family!

► Join us as we kick off our new series “In good Company…”, an incredible series that will challenge you to unleash more potential in your life for the glory of God than you ever thought possible! Click here to watch the short promo video: http://vimeo.com/14339387.

► GROUPS ARE FINALLY HERE! Also this weekend, don’t miss the debut of our very first semester schedule of LINK Groups! Groups kick off the week of September 12, sign ups are available for the first time this weekend in the lobby as well as an opportunity to meet the fall group leaders at the cookout after church!

► HEY PARENTS! Bring your children to “Newsong Kidz” this weekend as we kick off our brand new curriculum! Your kids will have a blast learning about Jesus and experiencing him in a specialized, creative and safe environment! Complete children’s ministries, as always, are available from birth – 5th grade!

► Haven’t been to church in a while?? Make this your weekend to come back and get involved with what God is doing at Newsong Church! We are committed as a church to see you grow to your fullest potential in Christ. Make this Fall the best season of your life! It’s not too late!

Join us for a night filled with lots of fun and anticipation as we come together to celebrate how good God has been to us and kick off an amazing season of doing life together and growing closer to our great God! We cant wait to see you there!

Let me know how we can serve you and your family! The best is yet to come!

from your pastor’s heart…

God told me when I was 16 years old that I could one day change the world. Not for my benefit, but for His. I thought that meant that for the rest of my life I would be working at a church, for a church. When I was engaged to Jenny, the church I was working for hosted a conference for church planters. (I was a 20 year old lighting guy) God began to reveal to me that one day He was going to use my family to plant a prevailing, audacious, bold, and Christ centered church that would be instrumental to my generation.

I told Jenny, and she laughed.

I stayed faithful for 2 years, believing God, but not finding any favor in my position at church. I found myself confused and hurt, but knowing He spoke to me. Deep down, His call was seared into my heart. God knew what He was doing. In the summer of 2008, frustrated and determined to go my own way, I began to leave my position at church to pursue a nursing career.

Three months into nursing that door was shut abruptly due to the economy. I was working part time for a different church to make ends meet, and decided to put all of my energy there. The church planting call began to rise up in me yet again. I told Jenny in the spring of 2009 that we were going to plant a church in Jacksonville.

This time she didn’t laugh, she got mad.

With a two year old and a new born, the last thing on my mind should have been church planting. Throw in an unstable economy and my young age, and the scale was leaning toward crazy. But God knew what He was doing. That summer we found God pulling us away from the church we were serving at, pulling us away even against our will.

I will never forget driving back from Orlando one August night in 2009. Jenny, with tears streaming down her face, began to share like a bursting water balloon all that God had been downloading into her about the church that we were going to plant. A church that would bring a newness to our community, a fresh approach to even the edgy contemporary church. A new life for so many countless thousands, a new start for the broken hearted and let down. A church that would put a new song in so many peoples hearts for the first time in years. A song of life, passion, purity, and renewal through Christ. A new Church, Newsong Church.

In November, we began to build and gather.

In February we launched.

And now we take our next step. A crazy step, a God sized step. We have had so many miracles over the last couple of months of ministry. Countless testimonies have come in about how God is using our church to change lives. But as we take the next step into making history, we need you.

This Sunday at church I will be sharing what God is calling us to do next as a church. I will also be announcing some very important and exciting news about our next move. If you have missed church lately or have been following us for a while and never actually come to visit, this is your weekend. Don’t miss this incredible worship experience we have planned as we worship together and share the biggest news in our church history. (I know, I’m only talking 12 church services of history!)

God knows what He is doing, and He is calling so many of you to step up. Will you obey His call? See you Sunday.

Newsong Church is kicking off on February 28th!

WE JUST CAN’T HOLD BACK ANY LONGER>>>

Due to much anticipation, quick growth, and interest from all over the community, Newsong Church is excited to announce that we will be launching earlier than expected! We invite you and your family and friends to join us for our kick off service on February 28th! Our kick off day will be filled with amazing live worship from the Newsong band, practical and provocative teaching from our lead Pastor, as well as excellent and fun children’s and nursery environments!

The Conference Center at Ramada Inn
3130 Hartley Rd.
Jacksonville, Fl. 32257

Every Sunday Beginning February 28th @ 10:30am
Full Nursery & Children’s environments
A great experience for the whole family!

Finding God In The Snow- Video Blog Series Part #1

Join Pastor Ryan as he shares in this new video blog series about how Jesus shows His love for us even in creation. God is in constant pursuit of His children and He uses the beauty of creation to demonstrate His perfect character and creativity. “Finding God in the snow” is a three part series.

Live from the great Midwest!

We wish you and yours the best this holiday season! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

New VIDEO BLOG SERIES coming next week: “Finding God in the snow”

Newsong Church Christmas Party & Info Meeting Recap!

Join us for our next informational meeting on Sunday January 17th. Visit http://newsongchurchorg for details!

I Believe!

Special guest blogger: Tanya Schoenherr, Newsong Church team member

John 20:24-29

Today, I took my two children to the mall to do some Christmas shopping and to deliver their wish lists to Santa. It was so precious to see them talking to Santa about whether or not they had been good this year and if they would be deserving of all the gifts that they taken the time to write down on their lists. But I was reminded that so many people celebrate Christmas, exchange gifts and believe in Santa Claus but they do not understand the true meaning of Christmas or what it means to “Believe”. How tragic to move through the Holiday season without realizing the ultimate purpose!

The disciple named Thomas has been labeled, “the doubter”. He has been seen as the prototype for all who dismiss the reality of Jesus Christ. Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus came, so the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house and Thomas was with him. Jesus came and stood among them and he said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Then Jesus told him, because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? The term “believe” is used 98 times in the 21 chapters of the Book of John. It is amazing that one book of the Bible would use the same word almost one hundred times. To believe in Jesus, means to acknowledge that what the bible says about Jesus is true. I see him as more than just a good man, more than just an outstanding teacher, more than just an extraordinary servant. I acknowledge him as the Son of God, who died so I might live. But it is more than just relying on those facts; it is trusting in him for salvation and strength for living. I commit my life to him, I abandon myself to him, I place my hope, my trust, my confidence in him, I will live for him and thereby I believe!

Have you ever wondered if maybe your belief in the Lord Jesus isn’t just some great exercise in futility? Facing struggles that make it seem as if God is more absent in your life than present? Dealing with disappointments that have led you to question the validity of your relationship with God? And in those doubting moments when the lights have gone out and the pit is so deep and there’s nobody around and tomorrow seems bleak, you and I are very tempted to say, “He’ll have to prove it to me next time before I can ever trust him again. And he does. He does! He comes in like a flood of grace and compassion, and he shows you his hands and he shows you his side. And he says, Here, my child, here is proof. I am alive, and I live forever! And I will never leave you or forsake you.

Blog Series Part #3: UNLEASHED.

What does it mean to be unleashed?

I often think about how we portray Jesus versus who Jesus actually was in his time.  If you ever look at a classic painting of Jesus, you will notice a beautiful, white-robed, blond hair and blue-eyed gentleman with a halo around his head. In reality, however, when Jesus walked the earth he was such a polarizing and controversial figure that most people either loved him or hated him; and by the time of his crucifixion, most hated him.

In those days, religious leadership was all about law. Jesus walks on the scene and says your motives are more important than the law you follow. In a culture of class division and forbidding religious people to associate with sinners, Jesus approaches prostitutes and poor people.  He tells devoted Jewish followers that the only way to life is through Him. He mocks pharisees (religious leaders of the day) and walks into a Jewish temple and overthrows tables and the entire setup of the marketplace in the temple.  He tells people that he is sent by God as authority and that he will destroy temples and rebuild them. He tells people that if you hate someone than you are a murder; if you lust, than you are an adulterer. He says if you truly love him, you would sell everything and give it away; that the way to serve him is to take care of widows and orphans.

These are all common things we know that Jesus said and did. But in his day, before the concept of freedom of speech and individualism… you could not speak of such issues publicly without being completely shunned from the community. His words were so refreshing, so convicting, so unleashed that you could not help but notice him.

So what about you? Jesus also told us that we would do even greater things than he was ever able to in his short time.  Are you the average joe? Do your neighbors, co-workers, classmates or family know you to be such a breath of fresh air? A city on a hill or salt to the earth? Do you speak of things in your everyday conversation that are not of this world? Do you refuse to give in to the constant perversion and erosion of our modern culture? Or are you content to be just another burnt out bulb in a dark and decaying world, afraid to speak of the God you serve.

Imagine if we all became unleashed, set and determined on reaching those in our sphere of influence, our circle of friends. Our nation’s foundation is being shaken, the idol of money is being dethroned and we better be ready for the people looking for something real, something unshaken and able to stand the test of time. We have Jesus. Unleash yourself on the world church!

Check in on Sunday, December 13th as we begin a brand new video blog series!

Blog Series Part #2: ALIVE.

I remember when we brought home our firstborn baby boy from the hospital. I remember thinking to myself… “All he does is eat, sleep, and poop.” Parenting was simple and easy. I kept telling my parents how easy it was to raise kids, that I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. I look back on those days and now know the difference in a baby and a toddler: he came alive.

Sometimes, to be frank, it seems like the church today is nothing but a baby. We eat, sleep and poop; or should I say: we do services, weddings, and potluck dinners. While all those things are great, I cannot help but wonder if just like a baby  lives severely below its potential as a human, the church lives severely below its potential as the kingdom that the gates of hell will not defeat. Just imagine if we came ALIVE!

Jesus said “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” Notice he did not say I might, I can, or I am able to, He said “I WILL”. Then why are 3000 churches closing their doors every year in America? Imagine if the church creatively elevated the word and presence of God in such a fresh and living way that local communities could not ignore it. Imagine if we viewed the hour and a half we have together on Sunday mornings as an opportunity to present the most passionate, all knowing, all loving, all forgiving, and most relevant God to a captive audience, instead of just “doing a service”. Just imagine. Imagine if we preached out of conviction and boldness, not worrying about the popularity we have but a sincere passion for His word and a love for the things happening in our culture? Imagine a place and people with so much energy and love that people actually feel compelled once again to invite neighbors and coworkers and friends to church again. Imagine a place with a foundation so solid, a vision so clear, and a message so alive that thousands of hearts are turned back to God and buildings constantly struggle to maintain the increase of it’s size.

This is a church that is living. This is why one of our describing words for Newsong Church is ALIVE.

Check back on Friday, December 11, for the final installation of our blog series: UNLEASHED!

Blog Series Part #1: BOLD.

Welcome to Newsong Church, a group that is drop dead serious about this thing called the church. A few families and friends decided about a year ago that we were brought together for a mission of changing the face of a city. You may think we are crazy but we think the local church is the best thing going when it is done right.

We had nothing but an idea and a call less than a year ago and today we have already held a live event with over 70 people, we are blessed with first class marketing, dozens of people involved, multiple churches and hundreds of people interested and socially connected to our team. And were not slowing down…

We are recklessly passionate about presenting the gospel of Christ with boldness and clarity in every pocket of North East Florida. We are doing it boldly. We would rather be known for what we love, than what we hate. We would rather be known for what we are for, than what we are against. That’s who we are.

Our generous people will invest over 10% of everything we take in as a church to be a light in poor communities. We believe that because our God is the author of all things creative, the church of Jesus Christ should be the most creative entity on the planet. Our worship experiences will overflow and ooze with life and passion and they should represent the epitome of excellence more than MTV, VH1 Disney or American Idol.

We are not content to live in the confines of the ghetto that is subcultural Christianity. We are image bearers of God, determined to represent Christ in all things that is industrial, educational, medical, corporate, legal, financial, and yes political. We proclaim Christ in all things. We will richly, boldly, provocatively, and wholeheartedly preach the word of Jesus Christ that will cut deep into the depths of our soul. And we are not alone; there are thousands of pastors and churches all across this country who are rejecting meaningless methodologies and refusing to back down to the face of a perverse culture. We will embrace, harness, and ultimately shape culture and we are building the Kingdom of God together.

Our message, the message of forgiveness and grace in Jesus Christ is the most relevant message in the history of the world, and we wont be silent about it. We know what we believe, why we believe it, and we are determined to live it out with all of our hearts. We are not perfect, but our passion is sincere to the bone. We are not here hear to condemn or merely survive the world, but to transform it for the glory of God. We are the living, breathing, forcefully advancing, church of Jesus Christ. That’s who we are.

Check back on Wednesday, December 9, for the next installation of our blog series: ALIVE!