5 Points Dream Video

Check out our Bay Area Fellowship 5 Points campus conversion...day one May 9th...to July 19th. We showed this on our first Sunday worship experience.

A New Beginning Bay Area 5 Points

Today, July 20th @ 10 a.m. begins a new chapter for our campus. We have been madly working since May 9th with hundreds if not thousands of volunteer man hours to open our Bay Area Fellowship 5 Points campus.

Today was a huge success for our soft opening. Let me give you a run down.

• 121 people...with no advertising and really without us telling anyone. This blew me away. Especially since our grand opening/ribbon cutting is at the end of August.
• Band did an excellent job even though they were not able to practice as much due to us finishing up the campus last night...but that is why we are doing a soft launch. This week they actually get to get in there with our sound techs and we will pull it together tightly. The great task is merging the sound and the music/voices. That takes time together.
• We had a parking plan and our guys out there pulled it off...seeing how we don't have an actual parking lot we had to have a plan and it worked.
• Sound ended up having a speaker decide to unplug itself half of the way through the morning...it was one that was about 10 ft over the stage so we couldn't trouble shoot it until after. Still have to figure this one out.
• Children's area looked fantastic...kids were having fun and learning. Our Bay Area Kidz workers did great.
• Our greeters created a wonderful and friendly atmosphere.
• Did I say I was blown away by the response???? And we haven't really told anyone. Crazy...
• As a fun side story...last night one of our volunteers went to pick up food and a couple in there overheard we were doing the church. They ended up following her and catching her at a light to ask where the church was....they came out and took a tour and then volunteered to help today as greeters. I love it when a plan comes together.
• I love leading in the trenches...I often think it wins the hearts of your volunteers. Over the past three days I think I worked around 36 hours...so did many of our volunteers and it paid off...the campus looked great...I was really unsure if we would get those layers of grime and dirt out...but we did and it was money.
• We are actually redeeming this building...at one time it was an adult game room that got busted. It was all over the news. The original property had a bar at one time which has been torn down many years ago. It is so exciting to know that this property is now going to be used for the Kingdom of God. The best is yet to come.
• Pastor John coming out today was great...he got sick this week and it was all his wife could do to tie him down and keep him from coming to help...it was driving him crazy. He has been out here almost every day of this process working to make this dream a reality.
• Pastor Bil gave us a great shout out in the video...our campus was pumped. And the message was so on point. I got so much out of it. Who says a video campus doesn't work.
  

Here is a little slide show of the day:



Many thanks go out to all of the people who helped all along the way.

{UPDATE} Just got a call this morning that six people checked off that they prayed to begin a relationship with Christ on our first Sunday. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KJV or Bust

Is it me...or are there any others out there who find it extremely hard to read the King James Version.

I know there are people out there that argue it is the only version we should read...BUT...is it even in English. Maybe I'm under-educated and just don't know some of those words. Maybe it's because I just can't understand the old English. All that and I've pastored for 14 years.

Am I the only one that struggles with it?

[photo credit flickr.com]

A Desire To Reach People

Personally, I don't fight back the desires that I know God has placed in me. Fifteen years ago I would not have cared a single bit about someone going to a church and following Christ. Now, that's a different story.

The desire to reach as many people as possible is not a desire that I came up with on my on. It's not about a show. It's not about being famous.

It honestly comes from a desire to help others move from one road in life to a better road. I have know hundreds of people who have had their lives changed. I'm also one of those people who changed roads. It is not about us being "right". It is about helping people see what they may not already see.

Some people say as a pastor I just need to be content and let God bring in those He will bring in. Personally I don't see that. He said, "Go into all the world". He said, "bring them in." (I know that second example is within a parable, but "for me" I take that one personally as a charge to bring in people to church.)

I don't want to push my giftings on any other person reading this...but...I don't think it is about giftings as much as it is about COMMAND. That is why we do what we do...it is why I push so hard...it is why we must reach this world.

Honestly if every church would wake up and just go for it...well I'll leave you to wonder about what the results might be.

[photo credit flickr.com]

Launching Sunday

I'm so excited...this Sunday July 20th we are launching our campus. We still have lots of work to do to get it ready but the time is now and it is here.

Be praying for us and believing great things. The two zip codes our campus is near combined have near 50,000 people. 16,000 of which are teens and children. What that means is there is lots of ministry out here. Lots of people who are not in church and who I believe are ready for a church like ours.

We have lots planned and have a grand opening/ribbon cutting set for August 24th. Much thanks to everyone who has worked on our campus....the best is yet to come.

Go To or Come See

When it comes to evangelism there are two perspectives...wait...there are two ways it can happen.

Go To
In practically all of the Gospels, Jesus said "GO". We are commanded to go into the world, to be the salt and the light. When it comes to evangelism as it pertains to the church, we must go out.

Come See
The flip side is "Come See". Philip told Nathaniel to come see for himself what was happening. I think that is huge as well. Many people say evangelism should all take place outside the church. I don't feel that is even a totally biblical point.

This is huge for a church. If you can effectively equip your people to go out and tell people to come see, you can reach your community.

Question is what are we giving them to come and see? Are they seeing the gospel in action? Are they seeing lives being changed? Are we effectively developing them to live a life of purpose?

Thoughts????

[photo credit by flickr.com]

BAF 5 Point Work Night Video

Here is a video that Brandon Cunningham, the Men's Ministry Director for Bay Area Fellowship made at our July 9th work night.



We have more to do and are pushing to begin our soft launch on July 20th....PUMPED is an understatement.

Bay Area Fellowship and Multi-Site

One of the "challenges" or "complaints" that is often heard from around the country when it comes to multi-site ministry goes something like this.

"You big mega-churches are just moving in to steal all the people out of the churches in this area and are going to put them out of business."

First and foremost, let me tell you that from our perspective at Bay Area Fellowship and from many other churches who also have campuses around the country this statement is so far from the truth that it is absurd.

Pastor Bil Cornelius wrote about this in a post called "No More Competition". Here's a little excerpt:

addressing a concern that someone has that Bay Area is going into new areas with video-venues and are going to “steal people from other churches.” The truth is, and I mean this in a good way….we don’t want them! Long term Christians who either grew up in church or have been a faithful part of another ministry typically give us problems, because they keep comparing where they came from with where they are now. They almost always complain about our worship style, insist our small groups function like the “Sunday school” they used to attend, and wonder when the pastor will get “deeper” for them. As they are complaining, someone (either a member or a pastor) will challenge them to serve, lead a group, and tithe (which they almost always do not do!) and then they leave in a huff, angry that we did not “meet their needs.”

Pastor John Atkinson who leads our churches multi-site strategy wrote a great post called "Taking New Ground". This explains a lot of the reason of our "why".

Tough thing is...we can't control how other churches handle it or how they criticize what we are doing. We can only manage our motives. I can tell you the motive for our campus is to reach out to the un-churched population that is already out here.

There are more than 50,000 people within about 15 miles of our church. In that number includes around 16,000 teens and children. There is no way that our church can do it by ourselves anyway. We are not coming out here to shut down any churches. That would be counterproductive anyway. Our purpose is to simply make a difference in this area.

What A Difference A Year Makes

My wife is hijacking my blog today as we reflect where God has taken us since this time last year. Enjoy her post.

What a difference a year makes.....heard it so many times and thought honestly does that really happen?

Well I can officially, honestly, and whole heartily say, "WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES"

If anyone would have said this to me last year I would have laughed. I mean laughed hysterically to the point of tears. I would have never thought that we would be at this place in one's years time.

Let me say that I know God is capable of above and beyond anything I can comprehend. I also know to dream bigger then my little brain can wrap itself around but, this time last year didn't feel this way.

I knew God had nothing to do with what happened but it was hard to see through the storm. Little did I know that God in His infinite wisdom had big plans for our lives.

It has been a year now since we left our last church. It's no secret it was not in the best of terms and it was not by our choosing. Many things have come out of that time in our lives. We were able to take a step back and realize that God is not a controlling, manipulating God nor is He arrogant or prideful. He is a God of choices, love, and mostly great humanity. He showed us how much He loved us and how much He believed in us.

After the storm cleared, the sun starting to shine again. We got the awesome privilege of meeting some great friends along the way. People who were unpretentious and love God with all their hearts. Pastor John Atkinson came into our lives and Pastor Bil Cornelius and his beautiful family took us under their wings and allowed us to heal and gain our confidence back. They loved us through the not so pretty times and accepted us right where we were. We were able to see Jesus in them and a new picture of what it meant to be the family of Christ.

We started to see God in a different way. A way of great patience, great love, and most of all a true hunger for the lost. Many churches say they want to reach the lost but it has been my experience that that is not so. It actually is the furthest from the truth. What they really wanted is to keep God in a box and pad there lifestyles. For the most part they just loved the control and the position not the people.

I know it seems harsh but it is what it is. Sometimes the truth is staring you in the face but most people choose to ignore it. I guess in some ways it's easier for them that way.
I guess you can say they are deceived?

I always want to be known as someone who challenges the truth and never compromises no matter what the cost. We can look the other way for convenience but at some point it does and it will affect you. It will affect you in your walk or even in your relationships. After all it's the covering your sitting under that sets the tone for all you do.

In saying all that I came to one realization that God loves me beyond my comprehension. I also know that we are at a place in our lives that we are totally in love with.

It is the satisfaction of knowing God is for you and the satisfaction of having His favor on your life. In the storm he built character, in the storm He built confidence, and in the storm He brought us home.

In a few weeks we are launching Bay Area 5 Points and I cannot put into words the excitement I feel. The anticipation is ridiculous. I literally feel like I am bursting at the seems......How crazy is that? In all the years of ministry, never have I felt such peace and joy over what I was doing. I can honestly say I found peace at BAF.

We have an amazing support system. Pastor John has been amazing and Pastor Bil Cornelius in one of the most amazing leaders known to mankind. Anyone who says differently is seriously just a hater...LOL...if you knew the man, you would see what I mean.

He is truly a humble guys who simply loves God and surrounds himself with people who love God too.

So in saying that.........wow what a different a year makes!!!! We are launching in two weeks and grand opening in August and boy are we going to take this town by storm.............I advise you to hold on to your seats.........

With God all things are possible and with great leaders at the helm they get even better.

Much love
Robbie Curlee

Multi-Site Resource

Ever want to keep up with the day to day of a Multi-Site Campus?

You can check out a lot that goes on at Northpoint's Buckhead Campus. The blog is a place where you find them celebrating stories, sharing the latest news, and capturing what God is doing in their midst.