Dave Bowman

Miracle of Life Change

Just in case you missed it last weekend, here's the video story of Karla and Ryan. Enjoy...

Karla and Ryan's story from New Horizon Church on Vimeo.

Weekend Rewind

• I was so pumped coming into this weekend. God had been really driving this message into my heart in a personal way over the last few days and I was really "feeling" it as we came into Sunday. And then Sunday morning about 9:00 AM, it hit. I started feeling sick. Not like pig flu sick, but just sick. I prayed. I tried to clear my head. Nothing seemed to help. So about 9:20 I stepped out into the hallway and Adam was doing something in one of the other offices. I asked him to step into my office to pray for me. And boy did he pray! And God answered. When I walked onto the stage to preach I felt fine. In fact, I felt really good! It was just another reminder to me that this thing is all about God and his plan, not me. What a privilege to preach his Word!!

• In my mind, yesterday's message set the tone for the next few weeks and what God wants to do in our church. It's all about coming to the altar of sacrifice. And not just sacrificing a few dollars, it's about crawling up on the altar and giving OURSELVES as sacrifices to God.

• Jon and the band did a great job of leading us to worship yesterday. The last song, Beautiful Jesus, really grabbed my heart. I know I've said this over and over, but IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS!!

• I introduced our first official "church furniture" yesterday. An altar!

• Loved the video story. I never get tired of hearing how God works in the hearts and lives of people he brings into our church. I'll post it on my blog later this week for those who missed it.

• I took some time yesterday to share my own struggles with doing this initiative. One of the reasons I shared the story is because sometimes people have an unhealthy view of pastors and other spiritual leaders. There's this false perception that pastors are such great people of faith that they never have doubts, fears or questions. WRONG!!! In fact, there's a whole unique set of fears, doubts and questions that comes with being  a pastor. And believe me, I have all of them from time to time.

• So, if you're thinking, "This is just something Dave wants," NO WAY! Trust me, there's no way I would have led us into this on my own. God is all over this thing and I know we're going to step up big!

• Again, if you have questions about Unstoppable just shoot us an email and we'll make sure someone answers your question. 

• This coming week we're going to talk about the big elephant in the room - how do we respond to what God wants us to do in the middle of a down economy? I'll be interviewing a young couple from the leadership team of our church who will be sharing their story of learning to trust and follow God's leading in their lives. Should be GOOD STUFF!!

• New Horizon - I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Unstoppable Pt. 2

Don't Miss Week 2!

NHC Gets UNSTOPPABLE!!

Get here early and don't miss the first song!!!

Where Do You Need To Step Up?

Sunday we looked at the story of Jonathan and his armor-bearer attacking the Philistine camp by themselves with only one sword between them. In the story Jonathan and his armor-bearer stepped up and killed 20 enemy soldiers. And what happened next?

THEN panic struck the whole army - those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties - and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God. 1 Samuel 14:15

Emphasis on "THEN!" God didn't show up until they stepped up. Over and over throughout the scriptures there is a correlation between our willingness to step out in faith and do something, and the miraculous power of God showing up on the scene.

It seems that most of the time God wants us to put our faith on the line and the miraculous shows up on the other side of that line.

- Abraham had to step up and leave his home country before God could lead him to the land he promised

- Moses had to step up and stand up to Pharaoh in order to see Israel delivered

- David had to step up with five stones and take on Goliath

- Peter had to throw his nets over the other side of the boat to haul in the load of fish

It was a matter of stepping up...doing something...acting in faith...obedience...even though at the time it seemed like a ridiculous thing to do.

So where do you need to step up to see God show up?

- In your marriage?

- With your kids?

- Tithing?

- Getting baptized?

- Joining a Community Group or Serving Team?

- Inviting someone to church?

Step up and see what God does!

Weekend Rewind

• This weekend we launched our new ministry initiative, Unstoppable. I preached about the vision of where we're going next as a church and the choices we need to make together to be a Matthew 16:18 church.

* To make a long story short - we're going to make major investments in increasing our ministry capacity, build a 10,000 sq. ft. children's building and make a major investment in local and foreign missions. If you missed yesterday you can check out the video here (it'll be up mid-week), plus we'll be rolling out more details over the next several weeks.

• This is SO much more than just another building program. It's a MINISTRY PROGRAM!! We're going to seriously increase our ability to do ministry by adding staff, adding space and reaching out to the lost both in our own community and in places where we will never set foot.

• And, yes, a major part of this investment will be in our own kids. I have said before and I'll say it till the day I die, OUR KIDS ARE OUR #1 MISSION FIELD. Our kids are not the church of tomorrow, they are the CHURCH OF RIGHT NOW!! They matter NOW and we're going to do whatever we can to reach them and raise them so they don't have to make the same mistakes and live with the same scars we live with as adults.

• Someone asked me, "How long will it be before we see these things happening?" Good question. Obviously the staffing and ministry capacity part of Unstoppable has to happen first. It doesn't make sense to build more space and try to bring in more people if we don't have the staff and ministry capacity to handle them when they get here. So, we'll go to work on that ASAP. As far as the children's building is concerned, we're probably looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 years. It takes time to get the designs done. We'll need to have at least 20% of the $1m set aside in cash before construction begins. And the permitting and approval process with Orange county will take time as well. This is why we're saying this is a 3-year initiative.

• Yesterday we started the process by asking everyone to just pray. We need everyone who considers themselves part of NHC to PRAY! Pray for our church...pray for me...pray for our leadership team...and pray for yourself. I'm asking you to pray and seriously ask God what he wants you to do to help us reach our goal of $2.4 million. I really believe if we will all just ask God what he wants us to do and then OBEY we'll accomplish what God wants us to accomplish.

• Let's face facts - it takes money to do ministry. It just does! How much ministry can we do for $100? About $100 worth! This is why we all have to step up and put our money where our mouth is. Anyone can say, "I love Jesus!" Anyone can clap their hands and carry around a Bible big enough to choke a horse. It takes serious commitment to sacrifice, step up and give.

• And for those who would say, "NHC is just about the money," let me just say, YOU ARE SO WRONG! This is about Jesus. It's not about me or NHC getting the glory. It's about positioning ourselves to share the good news of Jesus Christ with thousands of people.

• I know I covered a TON of info yesterday and we'll be rolling out more detailed info in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, if you have questions shoot us an email at info@newhorizonchurch.tv. We'll make sure someone answers your question.

• One final thought - I love you guys, and it is one of the greatest privileges of my life to be your pastor!