The Old Testament tells the story of a nation of slaves that God took and formed into the nation of Israel. As slaves, this people had no real concept of how to live as a society of their own. So we have the Old Testament law, over 600 commands given to help shape and guide this new nation. But of the 600 plus commands we’re all familiar with the top ten, the Ten Commandments. Many of them we know by... Read more
One bag for soccer, one bag for baseball. Another bag for swimming, then there’s karate and gymnastics. Our closets and our schedules are bursting. Many families are faced with a unique problem in human history: too much of a good thing. In a society that offers so many genuinely good things for us to do, how do we filter out the good from the vital and keep ourselves from becoming overwhelmed by our schedules? Our busy schedules can be driven... Read more
Yesterday at staff meeting (whoop whoop!) we went around the table and shared stories about how Mt Vernon is living out our purpose of “creating contagious communities of hope.” The stories I heard reminded me why I love to do what I do. Here are a few of the stories we shared: We have a relatively new family that is becoming a strong beacon of hope in their community. They brought nine kids with them to church Sunday, most of... Read more
Several years ago LifeWay Research conducted an online research project to determine the top issues facing Christian families today. Here are their findings (along with quotes from everyday parents): 10. Materialism. “Materialism is being hurled at us in every television, billboard, radio, and internet screen we encounter, not to mention peer pressure. Too often parents substitute “presents” for “presence” which, I think, lead children to value things more than people.” Vickie, Springfield GA 9. Balance of Work and Family. “Mom comes home... Read more
This Sunday at Mt Vernon we’re starting a brand new series, “Picture Perfect Family.” We’re looking at the tension we face when it seems like everyone else’s family is doing well while ours is barely holding together. Facebook is a huge culprit in perpetuating this myth. Why is it always the ideal Facebook statuses that make it on our newsfeed? Why is it that we only read about other families when their son hits another home run, when their daughter gets... Read more
In last week’s message at Mt Vernon (watch it online here), I cast a vision for what our church could look like if we truly united around this phrase “Creating Contagious Communities of Hope.” Here’s the text of the vision I cast for Mt Vernon: Imagine . . . living rooms, soccer fields, work offices and classrooms becoming contagious communities of hope where the power of the gospel broke out of the four walls of this building. Imagine . .... Read more
Yesterday at Mt Vernon we unveiled a phrase (some might say purpose statement) that will guide us in the months and years to come: Creating Contagious Communities of Hope. That’s what we’re about at Mt Vernon. That’s what drives us, shapes us, and forms our DNA. Let me break down the meaning behind each word: Creating – Creating is all about intentionality. We believe we live in a fallen and sinful world, one that is irrevocably broken. To simply sit... Read more
I promise this picture is not moving. Your eyes just think it’s moving. It’s called an optical illusion, when your eyes play tricks on you. Spiritually speaking, our eyes can play tricks on us. It usually starts when we promise ourselves not to watch the news anymore. We’ve all been there at one point. We can’t handle hearing about another murder, another crime. We vainly try to shut ourselves off from the depravity of the world, but we realize we... Read more
Twelve years ago this morning I was sitting in a seminary classroom, beginning work on my Master’s degree when our class was interrupted with urgent news of an attack on United States soil. Within the hour all students were released for the day to be with their churches, and the rest is history. Looking back on the infamous 9/11 attacks, here are some lessons we’ve learned in the intervening years: 1. Religious extremism has always and will always exist. There... Read more
Mt Vernon Church is big on LifeGroups (our uber-hip renaming of Sunday School), and here’s why: real community happens in circles, not rows. Our Sunday morning services are obviously the front door program to our church, but we work tirelessly to move folks from worship (rows) to LifeGroups (circles). Several years ago we moved away from a traditional Sunday School, transitioning to a hybrid format. We have LifeGroups that meet on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and all throughout the week.... Read more
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