Access Church

Raise your hand if you believe the moon landing in 1969 was faked. Yeah, I knew at least one of you were out there.

Psychologists tell us that some things are too big for our comprehension, so we look for alternative explanations.

But a friend of mine was a NASA propulsion engineer, who spent years doing very sophisticated math calculating how much thrust was necessary to send a payload to the moon, Mars, and beyond. For him, no alternative explanation is needed. Sending humans into space is just like going to work every day. (And as he often tired of hearing me say, "It's not rocket science, ya' know! Oh, wait...")

Prayer is one of these things--so hard to understand that it becomes difficult to believe. I am fascinated by it, and believe in it, but am so far from understanding it. Can my prayers really move the heart of God?

Jesus tells us that:

• Prayer is an intimate conversation between you and the Creator of the World! Wow! Best done in a quiet, undisturbed setting. (Matthew 6:6)
• Prayer isn't about the words we use, but about the condition of our hearts. It's relational. (Matthew 6:7-8)
• Prayer reminds us of God's greatness. (Matthew 6:9)
• Prayer is about submitting our will to God's will. (Matthew 6:10)
• Prayer is about declaring our dependance on God. He provides, he protects, he pardons. (Matthew 6:11-13)
• God values persistence in prayer. It moves his heart. It's okay to ask again and again! (Luke 11:1-10)

Knowing all this, will you commit to pray for Access Church on a consistent basis?

Pray that:

• We will never sway from our mission
• God will give us the resources we need to be effective in our city
• Our staff and leadership continue to live and lead with integrity
• God grants our leadership wisdom as we chart the future of Access Church
• Our entire church would be bold and gentle in fulfilling our purpose as salt & light
• God will move the hearts of men, women, and children to understand his love & grace in a new way

We'd love to have you praying with us! Access began as a group of people doing just that--praying that God would use them to change this city. It's the first sign of health in our church.

Pray together with us, and when you see God doing amazing things in our midst, you won't have to look for an explanation, you'll know: God's people prayed, and God responded.

It's not rocket science.

This morning I had a great dialogue with David McDaniel, Donald Wise, and Gavin Adams. We spent part of our time talking about assessing the health of our churches. It was a helpful and encouraging conversation!

From the beginning, we have looked to four questions when taking the pulse of Access Church.

1. Are we a praying church? Do we recognize from the outset that this is God's venture and not ours? Are we aligning our heart with his heart, our mission with his mission, and our vision with his vision?
2. Are we a generous church? Do we understand that all we have comes from God and belongs to him? Do we give back a priority percentage every month? Are we willing to increase that percentage as we mature in our faith?
3. Are we a serving church? Are we joining the mission in whatever role is most helpful? Do we understand that the environments we're creating serve a greater purpose? Do we give of our time and not just our finances?
4. Are we inviting? Are we willing to leverage the relational influence God has granted us to lead others into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we truly understand the urgency of our mission here on earth?

While we initially received funding from North Point Ministries to launch, for the last 12 months Access Church has relied entirely on your prayers and financial support in order to accomplish our mission of leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. As you can see from the graph to your right, our giving has not yet risen to meet our expenses. We are still heavily dependent upon "visionary giving" from those outside the Access family who believe in our mission.

Dramatic progress toward our goal of financial independence has been made in the past several months! Expenses have been dramatically reduced, and more than 85 singles and families support Access Church each month. Thank you for giving to help us reach a point where income consistently meets or exceeds expenses, and ministries can continue unhindered. We're almost there!

Thank you for supporting Access Church!

Okay, a little Friday fun. You either get twitter or you don't. If you do, you'll find this Ben Stiller video pretty funny.

The most dangerous lies are the ones you never notice—common but deadly deceptions.

They can twist your thinking in ways you’d never expect and leave you with a life you never imagined.

Each one has the potential to destroy your relationships, cloud your decisions, and distort your perception.

Do you see them? Your ability to recognize them can spell the difference between happiness and the loss of all you hold dear.

Join us September 6 for the launch of Twisted, a five-week series. Andy Stanley will help us discover the ways God's truth gets twisted in our lives and culture and, more importantly, how we can recognize and overcome them.

See you there!