Dave Bowman

Two Ministry Milestones

This week marks 2 ministry milestones for New Horizon:

First, this week marks the one year birthday of Celebrate Recovery! CR has been growing steadily, and last week had their greatest participation yet. It's just a testimony to the powerful healing that is taking place every Tuesday night at CR. So if you've got hurts, habits or hang-ups you can't seem to beat on your own, check out CR!

Second, this weekend is our second M25 Food Drop. Because of your Unstoppable giving we're once again able to feed hundreds of hungry families with the help of Feed The Children. On Saturday a contingency of NHC'ers will be handing out boxes of food and toiletries that will supply a family for 30 days. What an awesome way for us to love on our community!

Needless to say, these are two milestones that make me very proud (in a good sort of way) of our church. Way to go NHC!!

Weekend Rewind

Week Three of God is Great, God is Good...

• This weekend we wrapped up the Habakkuk series. I have to say this has been one of my favorite series that we've done. I've never taught through the book of Habakkuk before but it's quite a story of how God sometimes works in our lives.

• Jon and the band led us in a great worship set. "Never Let Go" is just an awesome song, but when you tie it to what we were talking about yesterday it was like a 1-2 punch - "I can see an end to this trouble but until that day comes, STILL I WILL PRAISE YOU..." Wow!

• I taught on what to do while you're waiting on God and there's no miracle on the horizon:

- REMEMBER how good and great God has been in the past

- ACCEPT what God is doing in the present

- TRUST that God is going to be great in the future

• Results? I don't have the numbers but I'm guessing somewhere around 15-20 people prayed to receive Christ. Awesome!!

• If you missed the message be sure to check it out here. (Actually you can see the whole series.)

• Next week we begin a brand new series called JUMP. And we're kicking it off with a Baptism Sunday, which is always an exciting day at New Horizon. Can't wait!

• On another note, 19 awesome New Horizon volunteers showed up Saturday to begin our latest Habitat for Humanity house. I know every pastor feels this way, but I think we have the most awesome, giving, serving church around! Way to go Community Impact team!!

• NHC'ers, I love you guys...I love our church...I love being part of it...I love leading it...and I can't wait to be with you all again next weekend!

Promises, Promises

During Sunday's message I quickly read through a list of promises. Evidently I read through it a little too quickly for some of you, so here's the list with links.

Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Jeremiah 29:12,13 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Romans 8:28,29 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son…

Weekend Rewind

Well, it was a great Valentine/President's weekend at NHC. Even though it was a 3-day weekend, attendance was strong. I think folks WANTED to be here for Pt. 2 of God Is Great, God Is Good. So here are a few reflections on the weekend...

• God seems to be doing some great things through this series based on a really obscure guy and a really obscure book in the Bible - Habakkuk.

* I've heard lots of comments about how this series is "right on time."

* And the results speak for themselves - 21 people  prayed to receive Christ yesterday! (And no, that never gets old and I never get tired of saying it!)

• Here are a few bullet points from the message:

- When we're stuck in a crisis of faith sometimes we just need to position ourselves to hear from God and then shut up and listen. Let's be honest, most of the time when we're in a crisis we're so busy complaining to God that he can't get a word in edgewise! God wants to speak and he will speak into our hearts, lives and circumstances, but we have to make sure we're ready to listen.

- Sometimes when he answers the answer is - you have to WAIT!

- And what do I do while I wait? I learn to trust the promises of God. 

- When I get my head and heart wrapped around God's promises it changes how I view my circumstances.

- Sometimes when I'm arguing with God he just whispers, "Have I ever lied to you?" And the answer is always, "NO." If that's true, then I just need to trust him.

• I rattled off a list of just a few of the many promises that God has made in the Bible and I've had some requests for the list, so I'll post that tomorrow.

• If you missed the services yesterday, you can check out the message video or audio here. 

• Lots of new stuff happening in NHC Kids starting this week. We're doing a make-over on the kids' environments and in March we'll be kicking off a new kid's series that will feature a visit from Woolly Bull of the Durham Bulls! Should be some really fun stuff!

• On a more personal note, our small group met last night for the first time since before Christmas. Susan, Arianna and I really enjoy our group and we missed being with them, so it was just good to be back together again last night. Which reminds me - are you in a group? No? Stop by Next Steps on Sundays and they'll hook you up. I highly recommend it!

God is Great, God is Good Pt. 1

The Sunday messages are always here on the website, but I wanted to make sure you didn't miss the first installment of God is Great, God is Good. So if you missed last weekend go ahead and log in right now. Get a cup of coffee, settle in and enjoy.

Then be sure to be at NHC this weekend of Pt. 2! (And bring a couple of dozen friends with you!)

Weekend Rewind

It's Monday and the holy hangover is kicking in full force. But I wanted to download some of my thoughts from the weekend, so here goes...

• Attendance was way up, especially in the first service. Guess everybody was tired of being cooped up last week with the snow and ice.

• Jon and the band did an awesome job of leading a great worship set. I have to admit, I love our band and I love Jon's heart and what his leadership is doing with our worship. We're connecting with God in worship more and more every week and it's creating an environment in which God is moving in some incredible ways. Love it!

• Leah introduced us to the family we'll be helping through our next Habitat for Humanity project. It was not only exciting to meet this single mom and her kids but it also put a face on this project for us. And I was glad to hear that so many of you signed up to help build this family a brand new home. Once more, so many of you seem to be grasping what it means to BE the church and not just COME to church.

• We kicked off our new series - God Is Great, God Is Good, a series based on the book of Habakkuk. Here are a few bullet points from the message:

- Sooner or later we all face the big question: Is God really great and good? Let's be honest; sometimes what we see with our eyes doesn't match up with what we have believed in our heart.

- That leads to a crisis of faith where we start to doubt what we've believed - that God is great and good. 

– What we have to learn is that God sometimes answers our prayers and plays out his plan for our lives in ways that we don't expect...in ways that sometimes don't make sense to us.

- Why? Because he's God and we aren't. He sees things we can't see and knows things we don't know. 

– That means I have to learn to trust God when I can't see all the details. It also means I never judge God's greatness or goodness by my faulty view of this world or my circumstances. If I really want to judge God's greatness and goodness there's only one place to look - to the cross!

– We ended the day with one of my favorite hymns, It Is Well With My Soul. It's such a classic hymn, but when you understand the story behind it, it just takes the song to whole 'nutha level.

- Lots of emotion in the room in both services, myself included. Great day. God showed up. He spoke. He moved in our hearts. And once again, people got saved. It doesn't get much better than that! I'm ready for Part Two!

If you missed yesterday be sure to check out the message here.

Snow Make-Up Day

This Sunday is snow make-up day at NHC! The streets are clear, the parking lot is clean and we're kicking off God Is Great, God Is Good! So invite your friends and lets rock it out this weekend!

God is Great, God is good promo from New Horizon Church on Vimeo.