Starting Point begins March 8th

Where do you go when you have questions? What about when you were exploring faith, God, or Christianity? I see too many people in churches NOT get their questions answered because they have nobody to ask.

At Watermarke, we are launching an environment called Starting Point, which is a conversational environment for people that are:
1. Seekers: people who just have questions about Christianity
2. New Believers: people who are new Christians and want to learn more about God and the Bible
3. Returners: people who are returning to church after a long period

If you are one of the people above, you need to be in Starting Point. Please be sure to attend the Starting Point orientation after either service on Sunday, March 8th. You can read more about Starting Point at www.watermarkechurch.com.

Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

Starting Point: The Series and the Environment

I am very excited to announce that we are launching a new series and environment called Starting Point at Watermarke Church. More details can be seen below.

New Series: Starting Point

This Sunday, we begin a new series by Andy Stanley called "Starting Point." For the next three weeks, we will look more at our story and talk about how frustrating it can be to try and live the Christian life, how we desire to rebel, and how our life fits in God's story.

New Environment: Starting Point
Starting Point is a 10 week conversational environment where people can explore faith and experience community. Starting Point groups are a safe place for people with questions about faith as well as those who want to learn about the Bible and Christianity. Groups consist of
1. People who are curious and investigating Christianity
2. Those who have recently started a relationship with God
3. Those who are reconnecting with God after being away from church for a while.

Starting Point Orientations will be held on Sunday, March 8th, following each service. If you are in any way interested in joining a Starting Point group, please plan to attend this orientation. Or, you can just skip the orientation and register online at our website.

Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

What occupies your life?

There is a place that I love. A place that had an incredible impact on my life. A place where I really first experienced God and watched God reach into others hearts. A place where I first sat with a person and led them through a prayer as they accepted God's gift of eternal life.

And now, that same place seems to have changed. The place that was so attractive to everybody and created such an amazing environment for God to do what only he can do is not the same. Now I know...everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And staying the same may be worse than changing, but the questions is HOW are we changing and to WHAT are we evolving?

This idea is extremely important to our church. As we evolve and change, I hope more than anything that we always are more preoccupied with those we can reach rather than focusing on those that we can keep. Not that I want to run the Christians off, but if we have to focus on ONLY one group, I hope we always lean towards those people not sitting in our seats on Sunday mornings. It just drives me nuts to see churches or other Christian organizations intentionally, or more often subconsciously, make decisions that revolved around making insiders happy at the expense of the outsider. And when this happens, the church can quickly become an insider focused organization, also making it an outsider irrelevant organization. I never want to lead or be associated with an organization that looks like that. That sounds like a Christian organization that is very unChristian.

I hope we never become irrelevant or incorrectly focused as a church. Who are the people not sitting at Watermarke on Sunday mornings...let's be sure we are focused on them, not us!

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor

GroupLink at Watermarke Church

DON'T MISS GroupLink at WATERMARKE CHURCH
Saturday, February 7th, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Wellesley Club House in Towne Lake (1000 Wellesley Crest Drive)

This Saturday, many Watermarkers will take a risk and attended our GroupLink event. I say it is a risk because you will show up not knowing who you will meet. For the extroverts, that's called an adventure. For the introverts, like me, that's called a risk.

I just want to thank you in advance for taking that risk. We believe it will be well worth it. And thank you small group leaders for stepping up to lead and helping us create healthy group environments all over our community.

As we just learned in the Five Things God Uses to Grow Your Faith series, "providential relationships" are critical catalysts for spiritual growth. We have been working and praying for these types of relationships to form this weekend. All we now need is you to take a risk.

If you have not yet decided to attend GroupLink, I hope you do, because it will be worth it. To learn more about Community Groups, GroupLink, or Watermarke Church, please visit www.watermarkechurch.com.

If you are planning to attend GroupLink, you need to first register.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR GROUPLINK.

GroupLife Milestone

I have some exciting news to share. As a lot of you know, we are a part of a larger organization and movement called North Point Ministries (NPM). We have the privilege of partnering with 17 other Churches all over the USA and Canada, with 5 more being planted this year! As an organization, we recently reached a milestone with over 31,000 people within NPM Churches connected into Community Groups. Amazing! Our goal is to see 50,000 people in groups by the end of 2010. The question is, are you experiencing the life changing dynamic of sharing life with other couples or singles in the context of a small group? If not...GroupLink is your next step.

What is GroupLink?
GroupLink is a two-hour, interactive event to connect you with others in your area of town and stage of life to form a Community Group.

After meeting with the other people and finding others like you, we will form groups. And don't worry, our staff and volunteers will walk you through the entire process. Our Lead Pastor will spend some time talking about Community Groups then time will be provided for you to get to know the people in your newly formed group.

If you are planning to attend GroupLink, you need to first register.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR GROUPLINK.

Thank You!

I love having the opportunity to share what God has been brewing in my soul for weeks or months. This past Sunday, I had just that opportunity and I was so grateful to all of our Watermarke people who came out to hear from my heart. To each of you, thank you for making me feel so welcome and for the continued encouragement. I am very glad to serve along side of you and I look forward to being a part of what God is going to do through us and our church as we create environments that lead all people in our community into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

How Did God Do It

The older that I get, and the more I read and learn about God through His word, I am more and more amazed. It is just impossible that this stuff was made up.

My favorite thing to find are verses and scriptures that all relate to each other, but are found throughout the Bible. It is awesome to read something written by Solomon in Proverbs that comes through so clearly in a story of Jesus and his disciples. Just awesome stuff.

I also love it when God reveals those little nuggets of wisdom in a story that we have read many, many times. This week at Watermarke Church, I am excited to share what I have been learning in the past couple of months and how God has become more personal than I can ever remember. Join me this week as we think about this one, powerful piece of scripture that everyone would LOVE to master in our life: Proverbs 3:5-6; 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor

gadams@watermarkechurch.com