Dave Bowman

Quick Hits For The Weekend

Hey New Horizon, here are some bullet point hits for this coming weekend...

• We're kicking off a new series called Miracles. It's about (wait for it) 6 of the miracles of Jesus! We've never done a series like this before and I'm PUMPED about it! It's going to be a GREAT Sunday!

• This would be a GREAT Sunday to invite your friends who need Jesus!

• If you're facing something that seems like an impossible situation this would be a GREAT Sunday to get here yourself!

• If you've ever wondered if God still does miracles this would be a GREAT Sunday to get here! 

• If you've ever thought that God has something better in store than you're experiencing right now this would be a GREAT Sunday to get here!

'Ya get the drift here? It's going to be a GREAT Sunday at New Horizon this weekend! GET HERE AND GET SOMEBODY ELSE HERE WITH YOU!!

Weekend Rewind

Here's a few thoughts on the weekend...

• Hearing hundreds of popsicle sticks breaking at once was an AWESOME sound! It was a truly powerful, humbling moment!

• Jesus calls us to do whatever it takes to bring all of our relationships to a place of healing and wholeness. Is that always possible? Probably not. But Jesus doesn't call us to create perfect relationships. He just calls us to do our part.

• Forgiveness is actually a pretty simple concept: cancellation of the debt. I say to the person who hurt me, "You don't owe me anymore." Simple. Easy? Not always. But here's the deal - Jesus doesn't call us to an easy, comfortable life. He calls us to an OBEDIENT life.

• Jesus made the first move in our direction when we wronged him. (Romans 5:8) We should make the first move in the direction of the person who has wronged us. 

• Got some interesting info from our Groups ministry last week. It seems that we're connecting new people to groups much more quickly. So quick, in fact, that by the time we get around to doing a Grouplink, everyone who wants to be in a group is already in one! What that tells me is that we're building a culture of groups at New Horizon! Way to go Groups!

• And BTW, just in case you might not know, Susan and I are avid attenders of our own group. Our group meets on Sunday evenings and we're excited to be a part of it. It actually gives us a safe place just to be ourselves, which is sometimes hard for a Senior Pastor and his wife to do.

• Are you in a group? Why not? Stop by Next Steps on Sundays and the friendly folks there will get you hooked up!

• Excited about our new series beginning next week, Miracles. We're going to take six weeks to talk about six of Jesus' miracles and what they might mean to us today. And this coming Sunday we're starting with the obvious miracle...the first one Jesus performed...turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana.

• Who do you know who needs to hear this new series? Who do you know that needs to know that Jesus can turn their life into something better than they're experiencing right now? DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THEM HERE!!

Weekend Rewind

Yesterday was a great day at New Horizon. Here are some quick, bullet-point highlights...

• LOVED the worship music. Here's a little inside view on something cool that happened. We plan the worship sets weeks in advance because we have to let musicians and tech people rehearse and program lights and video, etc. However, I don't always know exactly how God is going to lead me in preparing for the sermon. So, we had planned for Yvette to sing Revelation Song before knowing that I would be using Revelation 3:14-20 as my opening scripture. Just goes to show you that the Holy Spirit knows what we'll be doing before we do. I love that!

• Had a tough time in the first service. I accidentally stepped on my shoelace while preaching and untied my shoe. Then, as I bent over to tie my shoe I pulled a muscle in my chest! It felt like someone stabbed me in the chest. I couldn't breath...I could barely talk. It's the first time in all my years of preaching that I wondered if I was going to make it through a sermon. Guess I need to double knot my shoelaces like a little kid!

• Once again, we unpacked some straight talk from Jesus about the fact that no matter what we do on our own, it WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH. We can't be good enough and we can't be religious enough to make ourselves right with God. That's the bad news.

• The Good News? Jesus fulfilled EVERYTHING we couldn't do for ourselves! He was righteous when we couldn't be. He was sinless because we will never be. He was good because we can't be. He was PERFECT so we can be! I LOVE THAT!!

• 19 more people prayed to receive Christ!

• Had something very cool happen after the services. A couple who were first time guests came to Finding Financial Freedom on the spur of the moment.They said they had been fighting about money and decided they needed to find a church (good decision!). So they came to New Horizon and low and behold, Jamie announced FFF. The wife said she elbowed her husband and said, "We need to do whatever it takes to get into that class!" Love it when that happens!

• God is doing some amazing stuff at New Horizon right now. Let's keep praying...keep serving...keep giving...keep inviting...and keep believing that God is just getting started with us! I really believe the best is yet to come!!

• Next week - How to handle the imperfect people in our lives! Who do you know that needs to be in church next Sunday? INVITE THEM NOW!!

Weekend Rewind

This was the last weekend of Spring Break, but it was still a great day at New Horizon...

• Week 2 of No Perfect People - Not Good Enough - Today we unpacked some straight Jesus-talk from Matthew 7:21-23

• Here's what Jesus said to church people in the crowd - You can say all the right things and do all the right things, but in the end it won't be good enough. What matters most is WHO YOU KNOW. He said that to CHURCH PEOPLE! People who are supposed to know Jesus.

• Biggest question of the day - HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN? Not are you a good person...do you go to church...do you claim to be a Christian...

• AND...another 24 people prayed to receive Christ!!!

• If you missed this weekend, be sure to check out the message here.

• Hearing lots of great reports about friends and family members who are coming to Christ in this series. God is really using it to change lives!

• Jon and the band, along with our growing tech team, did another great job. I'm really loving the sense of worship that is developing in our services.

•  Coming next week - Not Religious Enough. Be sure to get a dozen friends here!

P.S. Someone threw a t-shirt to me in the second service. I thought it was a Carolina t-shirt, so I threw it back. It was a Duke t-shirt. MY BAD!!

Easter Rewind

WOW...just WOW! What an awesome Easter weekend...

• This year Easter fell right in the middle of Spring Break and I personally know tons of NHC'ers who were out of town for the weekend. BUT...attendance was still off the charts! Our Peeps showed up!

• Thanks to everyone who stepped out and invited someone to New Horizon this weekend. Eternal destinies were rerouted this weekend because so many of you put a silly little box of Peeps in someone's hand and asked them to come to New Horizon. Now, whatever you do - INVITE THEM BACK NEXT WEEKEND!!!

• Results? OVER 100 PEOPLE PRAYED TO RECEIVE CHRIST THIS WEEKEND (INLCUDING 32 KIDS!!!)!!! (Just in case you're wondering, that's more than ever before on a single weekend!)

• HUGE props to all of our volunteers! We had more volunteers serving this weekend than ever before on a single weekend. And I've heard so many stories of volunteers who stepped up and served above and beyond the call in so many ways. I've said it before and I'll say it again - New Horizon volunteers are the BEST!

• How about the dueling drummers and light show? Was that cool or what?

• But here's what was even better - the worship was unbelievable! I felt like when I got up to preach that the ball was on the 1 yard line and all I had to do was nudge it over the line for a touchdown.

• Jesus did so much for us on that first Easter, didn't he?

- He was pierced for the times we cross the line

- He was crushed for our gross violations

- He took the punishment for our sin

- And by his wounds we are HEALED! (Isaiah 53:1-6)

• And here's the deal - Jesus didn't do all that so you and I could have our nice, comfortable, cultural Christianity and go to church every once in a while and continue to live like hell outside the church. He did it all for us so that we would surrender to his LORDSHIP!

• If you weren't able to be here, the message can be viewed here. Check it out.

• I have to say I believe this was the best, most Spirit filled Easter we've ever had at New Horizon.

I know I've said this before, but I felt this again so intensely this weekend - I love our church! I love being in a church full of imperfect people who are trying our best to reach other imperfect people with the message of the Perfect One, Jesus! I count it as one of the greatest privileges of my life to be your pastor. 

And this was a great weekend. Key word there - WAS. Easter 2010 is behind us now. And what lies ahead is the task of reaching more people with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. New Horizon,  WE WILL NEVER STOP TRYING TO REACH MORE PEOPLE FOR JESUS! I don't believe for a minute that God is through. I believe we're just getting started, so let's look forward to next weekend and what God wants to do next!

Only one more thing to complete the weekend - BRING IT HOME BLUE DEVILS!!

Pray Like Crazy!

This afternoon I spent some time praying with the staff and just walking through the building looking at all the last minute preparations that are underway for Easter Sunday. I feel led to ask you to PRAY LIKE CRAZY for this weekend's services!

I mean, like NOW!! Stop what you're doing and ask God to do something awesome this weekend at New Horizon. Ask him to bring in people who need Jesus. Ask him to open up their hearts. Ask him to change their lives. PRAY LIKE CRAZY that God will do something that only he can get the glory for.

We've worked hard, planned hard, recruited new volunteers, rehearsed the music, cleaned the building and just about anything else we could think of that would help to create an environment where unchurched people can encounter God. BUT...if God doesn't show up none of it will mean anything!

So, PRAY LIKE CRAZY!!

AND...INVITE LIKE CRAZY TOO!!!

See 'ya Sunday - 8:00, 9:30, & 11:00! Get here early so  you don't miss the opener!!

PRAY LIKE CRAZY!!!