Cumberland Church Blog

Johnson brought out of the bullpen for Sunday!

That's right! Andy's been pulled, and our own Eddie Johnson gets the nod. And needless to say, we're all pretty pumped about it! As a matter of fact, when I announced last Sunday that Eddie would be speaking live, a spontaneous ovation arose from the congregation. (Those folks were his relatives in town for a reunion, but that's beside the point. An ovation rung out, indeed.)  Please don't miss this Sunday!

Dare You to Move:

All of us at some point in our lives play the waiting game for clarity, direction and purpose from God, don't we? Well, that may be part of the problem. Join us Sunday as Eddie explores the "what do I do next" question and provides insight into an answer that may be right in front of you. Sunday, we Dare You to Move.

Music:

And equally exciting is our line up and set for this weekend. Our good friend Chrystina Fincher will be leading worship this weekend along with our ever-talented  Cumberland Church band. Seriously, I know I say this every week, but you've got to make it here this Sunday! And I've not even told you all of what's going on. There's actually a short film starring your lead pastor that we'll premier...and then bury. It's setting up to be a fun weekend here at Cumberland and we want you to be a part of it!

You Are God
Marvelous Light
I Stand Amazed

Hope to see you Sunday. And as always, it's a service so good you may want to see it twice!  (Service times: 9:30 and 11:15)

See ya!

p.s. In case you're new to the church, that's definitely not Eddie featured in the picture above.

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Shakin' off the rust. I'm up to teach this weekend!

This weekend, I have the privilege of teaching for the first time at Cumberland Church.  Wow!  It's been awhile since I taught on a Sunday morning but I'm up for the challenge.  I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to share some thoughts on a subject and question that I'm asked about ALL the time.  In fact, what I'll be sharing this weekend is the #1 thing I counsel and meet with people about as a pastor.  Can't wait till Sunday to share it and start the discussion!

Interestingly, I get the question from time to time, "Hey Eddie, as a video pastor...do you even know HOW to teach?".  Well, I'm still not sure how to answer that question and my effectiveness as a communicator is ultimately in the hands of the audience but I can tell you that I have taught a little bit in my past.  In fact, before connecting with North Point, I spoke pretty regularly at Southeast Christian and also at Watermarke Church in Canton, GA.  In case you don't believe me, here is a promo we did for the 2nd series I taught there in 2004 called, "The Rock-and-Rolls of Life".  As I look back at it now, it's a little bit cheesy and '80-ish but you know what...I sure had a lot of fun developing and teaching it.  Andy Stanley I'm not but nonetheless, I enjoy to teach and communicate when I get the chance.  This series brings back some special memories for me in launching Watermarke.  I can still remember teaching each one of these weeks like it was yesterday.  I'm still so proud of what our team did to get that church off the ground and survive those early days.  Watermarke Church is a great story and I was so proud to be a part of it.  Yeah God! 

So...Did the series work?  Was it any good?  Not sure.  But, our church did grow a little bit during the series and not too many people left, so I guess it couldn't have been too bad. (at least that's what my wife tells me!) The audio has been hidden away in a secret vault so unless you know someone who attended Watermarke in 2004 who bought a CD, you'll never see it or hear it again.  I kinda like it that way! ;>)

Hope to see you Sunday at Cumberland!

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How many guests are you expecting this weekend?

This picture was taken in the parking lot of our new 24/7 church building we are leasing here in Franklin.  Before we moved in, a host of other churches have owned/leased this building over the past 20 years.  The last occupant decided upon a church evangelism strategy of "saved parking".   If "signs" are any indication, 2 visitors were all this church (now closed) could seemingly handle or expected.   

Question:  What would these two signs say to you if you visited this church this weekend?  

• Would you really feel excited about parking here?  Or would you feel trapped?
• Would you see this as a growing church?  Or, would you feel like this is maybe an "insider church" where guests are not really expected?
• Even if it's welcoming to the first-time guest, would you still be concerned about being singled-out in the church service if you parked here?
• Here's a thought... When do you start and then stop being a visitor?  Meaning, how long can I keep visiting your church before you make me "decide" something?
• If you attend this church...and saw a visitor parked in one of these spots, would you be wondering how many stanzas of "Just As I Am" will I have to hear before someone walks the aisle so we can go to lunch?
• How would you feel if the family you've been inviting to your church forever finally showed up and someone directed them to park in this spot before you arrived?  How would that make you feel?
• What if no one ever parks in one of these spots?  What does that say to every member of your church about the health and impact of your church in this community?  Are occupied "saved parking spots" the best way to gauge "the wins" of your church?

Believe or not, we decided to take down the parking signs before we moved in and decided upon an alternative evangelism strategy.  We have this crazy idea that church should be for EVERYBODY and believe that just about EVERYBODY would love Cumberland Church if they gave us a shot.  In fact, we are counting on it!  We expect our partner attenders to "invest-and-invite" their friends every week and we are preparing as if a slew of them are coming this weekend.  For us, having guests (not visitors) are more than just "good parking"... we've designed our whole church around their visit.  They are the primary reason that this church exists.

Is your church dreaming of and preparing for more than 2 visitors this weekend?  For what's at stake, I certainly hope so!

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This Sunday @ CC

'Sup?!  This Sunday Louie Giglio wraps up the Indescribable series at Cumberland.  And by the way, the imagery of this message should not be missed. Seriously, if you're not able to see it with us this weekend, then order it online, or go up to Louie sometime and ask him for the pictures and the explanations that go along with them...or maybe just order it online.

Music at Cumberland:

This week, our buddy Ryan Stuart's back to worship with us. Ryan's a super cat and I'm as excited to hang out with him as I am to have him worshiping with us! So looking forward to this Sunday. Hope you can make it!

This week's set:

Indescribable
God is With Us (Michael Olson)
How Great Thou Art
God of Wonders

Head's up on next week:

Eddie's speaking live next week (October 28th) and you really need to be here for this one. Not just to see that he can do more than announcements, but to hear some really cool music that I can - with 100% certainty - guarantee will not be played at any other church that Sunday morning. See ya!

The "Reunion" Tour comes to Cumberland this weekend

Question:  How do you correctly pronounce the capital city of Kentucky? 

Is it:

A.  Louisville (pronounced "Lewis"-ville)
B.  Louisville (pronounced "Louie"-ville)
C.  Louisville (pronounced "Lou-a-vul")

The correct answer is....Frankfort. ;>)  Sorry for the trick but I love that joke.  Why am I talking about Kentucky and Louisville?  Well, it involves a story about a GREAT church, a great band and a great worship service being planned for this Sunday at Cumberland Church.

Here's the story...

Two weeks after 9/11, I left Nashville for an exciting ministry position as the Young Adults Minister in Louisville, Kentucky at Southeast Christian Church.   For those of you who may not have heard of Southeast Christian, it is one of the largest, most influential and dynamic churches in the United States.  A typical weekend at Southeast usually sees more than 20,000 people come through their doors.  More than the numbers though, Southeast is a unique place that is very hard to describe.   Their members and attenders are like Chick-fil-a (there's that connection again ;>) customers in that their people are "raving fans" of their church.  Their people truly LOVE Southeast Christian.  They serve and support thier church in ways I've never seen at another church.  It's really hard to explain.   I often tell people that the leadership and the volunteers who make up Southeast are some of the best people on the earth I have ever met.  Simply, it's an amazing place.

So since I arrived back here in Nashville a year ago, I've been working hard with Billy to find a way to partner with Southeast and bring in The Vine worship band here to Cumberland.   Well, we're excited to announce that we finally we're able to make the calendar work and "The Reunion Tour" is complete!   This weekend, Daniel Dabney and The Vine worship band will be here for the services at Cumberland Church!  Man, I can't wait.  It's going to be awesome!  Louie Giglio and The Vine worship band here at Cumberland...wow! 

To tell you a little bit more about The Vine (see picture above)...It is the college/young-adult ministry at Southeast.  The Vine worship gathering on Sunday evenings is the main event.  Daniel is on staff at Southeast and serves as the primary worship leader there.  Over 2,000 people now experience The Vine each week and they had the privilege of experiencing worship leaders like Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Delirious and Charlie Hall.  They also have had teachers like Louie Giglio, Lee Strobel, Mike Breaux and others be a part of their services. If you've never been to Southeast and The Vine, you really need to go.  It's an amazing experience.

Better yet, I got an idea for you.  If you're in Nashville this weekend....come by Cumberland Church this Sunday in Franklin and experience it all for yourself.  The Reunion party starts at 10.  We would love to have you. 

Hope to see you then!

 

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October 14 @ Cumberland

Hey, what's up?  You don't want to miss this Sunday at Cumberland! Louie Giglio begins an awesome series titled Indescribable. Indescribable takes us on an image-rich journey through the Cosmos, allowing us to peer into God's universe to discover the amazing magnitude of His greatness and grace. This two-parter begins this Sunday.

Music:

Daniel Dabney and band, from Southeast Christian Church, will be leading worship for us this weekend. Eddie and Daniel know each other from "way back in the day" and we're honored to have them make the trip down from Louisville to be a part of what's going here in Franklin!  Check out Southeast when you get a chance!  The set, by the way, is as follows:

Indescribable
Beautiful One
Holy is the Lord

We're all very excited about this weekend!  The weather's getting cool, Notre Dame won a game last week (and Eddie's hoping for yet another miracle this weekend), Bruce got a new calculator and I've got my son's last regular season football game. Speaking of Bruce, he's the Administrator at Cumberland Church and he happens to be our employee of the week. When I asked him about the award and what that might mean to a young man from north Atlanta, he replied with, "If you want your check at the end of the month you'll get that microphone away from me."

The interview abruptly ended. See you Sunday! Go Buffs!

New Teaching Series @ Cumberland: "Indescribable" by Louie Giglio

He's fighting for you

Not sure how late to the blogosphere I am with this video, but I just saw it the other day.  It so moved me that I felt like I had to share it with some other people.   What a powerful and amazing dramatization.

The song is "Everything" from Lifehouse.  By the way, if anybody knows the name of the group that is performing this skit...I sure would love to know.  Can't find it anywhere.  Thanks!

How accessible is a video teaching pastor like Andy Stanley?

I was having coffee the other day with a new friend and the question came up, "Hey, how often do you and Andy Stanley get together?".   Without missing a beat, I replied, "You mean like this year or ...ever?". I think he understood my point....Andy and I don't have a regularly-scheduled tee-time and "lunch-date" at the Alpharetta Country Club for deep theological discussion and leadership tips. (not that Andy is hanging out at "the Club" anyways)

So, here's my question.  Does my lack of face time with our primary teaching pastor and leader make him less influential in my life as the Lead Pastor of Cumberland Church?  How about those who attend Cumberland Church or any other North Point strategic partnership church?   Don't we all need to personally "hear" and speak with our key leader?

Tricky question but here's a thought to ponder as you think about an answer... I was reading Steven Furtick's blog the other day and I thought he gave some GREAT food for thought with his post about a seminary student who called into Andy's office at North Point to schedule a phone appointment. (smile)   Great post!  You gotta check it out.   As the Lead Pastor of the 3rd fastest growing church in the U.S., I found Steven's thoughts very insightful and intriguing.

You can read it here.

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@ Cumberland on October 7th

This Sunday brings to a close the Everybody series here at Cumberland. To some extent, the American dream can be summarized in one word: autonomy. In our society, people are on a quest to be completely independent - to be free to do what they want when they want. At first glance this may appear desirable, but it is actually an empty destination. As we take a look at 1 Corinthians 12, we'll discover  that fulfillment is not found in isolation, but in becoming an integral and important part of what God is doing in the world. Join us this Sunday as Andy demonstrates how  Everybody is Important.

Josh Bayne (in the above picture) will be leading us in worship this weekend. Josh has led for us before and it totally rocked. We're so excited to have him back. This week's set:

Salvation is Here
Everlasting God
How Great is Our God
(And we may throw in another little ditty - never know.)

So come check it out this Sunday why don't ya? And if you like what you've heard and wish you could have heard the entire 3-part series, tell the Host Team you read it here and they'll slip you some CDs. And make sure you're here on the 14th!  We start Louie Giglio's two-part Indescribable series. And if you've never heard Louie speak, then you're in for a treat.

See ya Sunday!

Oh, and how about those Buffs!  Look out Baylor!