J.R. Lee

I love what God is doing in and through the people that make up Freedom Church right now.  Last week you brought friends and family members to the extent we ran out of parking at 11:30.  Forty people accepted Christ and lives were changed!  Don’t ever take what God does at Freedom (and around the world) every single week for granted!  God’s doing something special here and I couldn’t be more grateful!

The next several weeks are going to be more of the same!

This coming Sunday we celebrate our 4 Year Anniversary!  Bring as many people with you  as possible as we celebrate in style all that God has done in our past as we believe it is a preview of what He is going to do in the future!

The following week we are kicking off a brand new series entitled “Not a Fan“.  Earlier in 2011, I spent some time with a 5-6 other guys and an incredible Pastor named Bob Russell.  Long story short – he gave us a book entitled Not a Fan and after reading I knew we would eventually make it into a series at Freedom.  I can’t wait to see what God is going to do during these 5 weeks!  Trust me.

I haven’t preached since January 8th and I can’t wait to give you what God’s given me for Sunday!  See you then!

I was in a conversation recently when I was asked the following question about someone I know very well.

“Tell me what distinguishes him from so many others”.

I had never been asked that question about this particular person so I thought about it for a few moments before answering…

1.  Good communicator?  Yes.    Distinguishing characteristic?  No.
2.  Good leader?  Yes.  Distinguishing characteristic?  No.
3.  Engaging Personality?  Yes.  Distinguishing characteristic?  No.

After a couple minutes of thinking through some of the potential answers, I blurted out the following.  ”The distinguishing characteristic of that man is that when I am around him it is evident that he has been with Jesus.  As a matter of fact, I want to be more like Jesus every time I am with this person.”

I am not sure that there was a greater compliment I could have given him.  I am not sure there is a greater compliment that anyone could ever give us.

That said, what is our (yours and mine) distinguishing characteristic?   I am not sure what it is right now but I know what I desire for it to be.

Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

I am out of town until Friday; however, I wanted to give you a heads up on something we are doing this weekend because I need your help!

At Freedom Church we believe that God has called us to impact the world with the Gospel. We believe that the message of Jesus Christ can and will change lives!

• No matter how far you/they have gone…
• No matter how bad it’s become…
• No matter how long it’s been…
• Our God can make ALL THINGS NEW!

We have seen it happen hundreds and hundreds of times and that is going to continue this Sunday in a powerful way!  Here’s where I need your help.

You do a fantastic job week in and week out by bringing friends and family with you but beginning this week I want all of us to step it up even more.  The next couple of weeks are going to be some of the most powerful we have ever seen and I want as many people in our city as possible to experience it with us!

• Make phone calls.
• Send invites via Facebook/Twitter.
• Do whatever you have to do.

Let’s pray that the people we bring with us will be impacted by the message of Jesus and I guarantee your life will be impacted in the process as well.  You don’t have to do this alone.  God is with you in your invitation!

Acts 1:8 And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I love what God is doing during this season and I look forward to seeing you – and those you bring with you – on Sunday!