Cumberland Church Blog

Celebrating "Bridge The Gap"

In August of this past year, we presented to you our need to raise $300,000 by the end of December to build-out our new building and "bridge the gap" between our year end ministry expenses to monthly tithes and offerings. 

Well, I'm writing to you today to share and celebrate with you some very exciting news. Amazingly, God has used your generosity to help us meet our goal...and then some!

As of today, we have received over $365,000!  That's right $365,000! Woo Hoo!  Can you believe that!?!

This is exciting news for several reasons. Let me share why.  First, when we were informed that our former meeting place (The "W") was being sold, we were not sure that we would be able to find a new home.  I'll be honest enough to tell you that I had a few sleepless nights.  But with God's help and your investment we found a solution...our current building here at 415 Franklin Road. It may be just an old church building to some but for us, we see our new home as a direct answer to prayer.  We literally had NO other place to go.  God showed up for us in a big way!  As a 10-month old church plant, it's still HARD to believe we have been blessed with this leased building we are currently occupying.  What a blessing and opportunity it has been already for us to make a difference in peoples lives here in the community.  (In case you're curious, $150,000 out of the $365,000 went to renovating and building out our new building.)

Secondly, the response to this opportunity is evidence that you, our church family and partners here at Cumberland, are committed to do whatever it takes to accomplish our mission and strategy of leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ by creating engaging, helpful, relevant environments.   We're seeing and hearing life-changing stories already out of UpStreet, Waumba Land and our Community Groups because of the environments people are experiencing here at Cumberland. Now that is exciting.       

Last but not least is that this generosity allows us to move more quickly towards our goal of becoming "break-even"  as a church. Currently we are averaging about $25,000 in monthly offerings and have right at $50,000 in monthly expenses.   We needed to raise $150,000 from August to this December to help "bridge the gap".  Thanks to your help...we did it!  The extra $65,000 will go a long way in helping us start off the new year right with some momentum and a much needed cushion in our church bank account.

I hope this news encourages you to see God's hand at work and that you feel like our staff does that it is such a privilege to be a part of what God is doing here at Cumberland Church. Please know that God is using your gifts to impact the lives of children, students and adults in our community.  You are truly making a difference!  Our prayer is that God blesses your sacrificial giving and that 2008 is an incredible year for you and your family as well as ours here at Cumberland.  Merry Christmas!       

Gratefully yours,       

Eddie Johnson - Lead Pastor

New Teaching Series by Andy Stanley starts this week...

Christmas time is here...

...happiness and cheer. It's tIme for a Charlie Brown Christmas at my house! Don't know about you, but that show never gets old. And I dig the "soundtrack" as well. (You might even hear a little bit of it if you come this Sunday.) Speaking of this Sunday...We're beginning a dramatic 4-part sermon series titled:  Christmas with Grace. In this series, Andy will explain that the message of Christmas is God giving us what we deserved the least, and we needed most...grace. Jesus extends grace to all who seek Him. We need to learn to do the same with those around us. Nothing shapes the human heart like grace.

So we invite you to join Grace and the Anderson family as they search for the Merry in Merry Christmas.

Tunes lined up for this Sunday:

You Are
Mighty to Save
Wonderful Maker

Josh Bayne and the Cumberland band will lead us Sunday morning through these...and maybe another.

Do your friend a favor, will you? Invite them to church this Sunday for Christmas with Grace. It's a great way to start the season! Come check it out. We've even got a tree. See? What else could you want? Coffee, you say? And munchkins ?  We've got that, too. A little...Christmas with Jo, if you will. See you Sunday!

Thanksgiving at Cumberland

'Sup everybody!?  Hard to believe we're already talking about Thanksgiving. But then again, my kids have been talking about Christmas for the last month so I guess it should come as no surprise. This Sunday Andy delivers one of the best messages I've heard on giving thanks...strike that - returning thanks.  Is it possible to be so very thankful for what someone has done to the point that you're exclaiming it at the top of your lungs yet you still come across as an ingrate?  Yes, indeed. And it's easy to do. So why is it then, that telling someone "thank you" has become a lost art? How can you be a "Returner"? Come to Cumberland this Sunday morning and find out!

Chrystina and the guys will lead us in worship this Sunday. Here's the set:

You are God
Everlasting God
How Great is Our God

And by the way, we'll close out the Mythbusters series on 11/25 featuring local worship leader Michael Spooner. (Played with this dude in Dothan, Alabama. Super super super. We're excited to have Michael join us!

p.s. So what am I thankful for?

Among other things, I'm grateful that Vandy's going to clean UT's clock this weekend and put to rest the question of who has the better program...there, I said it.

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"I loved Sunday's message..but I still have a question about Heaven"

Wow!  The response and questions are pouring into my email box and the church office this week after week 1 of our current series, "Mythbusters".  It seems our guest teacher, Jeff Henderson, really tapped into an area of spirituality and life that everyone is wanting to discuss.  How exciting!  As Jeff mentioned this past Sunday, I think the subject is the most misunderstood, most confusing, most avoided and most untaught subject in the church today. To be honest, Heaven seems boring to even most Christians!   It's hard to be excited about and be longing for a place that we don't even understand and appreciate.   I'm so glad that we chose this series.  It seems like this topic could be a WHOLE series in the future, doesn't it!?  I'll put the word into Andy and Jeff for us!

Well, one reason I’m blogging today is because I want to share a resource with you that has really encouraged me and helped me grasp a better understanding of what Heaven is really going to be like.  I thought since I'm getting so many questions about this subject I would pass it along to you.

If you have questions about Heaven, then you need to read this book by Randy Alcorn.  In my opinion, it is THE best and most comprehensive look at Heaven I've ever read.   Check it out!  It would make for a GREAT small group study. That's exactly what our staff team is doing every Thursday at lunch.  We're working our way through this incredible book.  We're learning a ton and loving it.

If you don't have time to read a book right now but still have a specific question about Heaven that you would like answered from a biblical perspective, then please let me encourage you to visit Randy's Alcorn website for a full look at the most commonly asked questions about Heaven.  For that list, please click here.

Mythbusted @ Cumberland

This week, Buckhead Church Campus Director Jeff Henderson uncovers a myth that has done a considerable amount of damage when it comes to our relationship with God. And ironically, the Church at large has been one of the greatest purveyors of it. But as much as this myth has done to alienate us from God, once this myth is exposed, it can be one of the most freeing things you will ever hear about your Heavenly Father. Join us this Sunday for Mythbusters: Organically Grown.

Music:
Michael Olson and the Cumberland Church band will lead us this Sunday through a kickin' worship set. Michael's a super super guy -as we've said before -and I hope you have the opportunity to worship with him - if not here, then somewhere. By the way, he says he sings better when he's in our church than he does anywhere else. He didn't really say that, but I've seen him in other places and it was horrible. Nah, come on, he's awesome. It's an experience, to be sure.

God is with Us (One of Michael's own)
Faithful
Mighty to Save
And maybe a little sump'n sump'n to send you off with!

And check out the MOTS (Man On The Street) video linked in Eddie's post below. Just our way of giving back to the peeps. So what does Franklin,TN. think about heaven?  Check it out.

See ya Sunday. Out.

Mythbusters Series: What will Heaven be like?

To find out what "everyday people" in Williamson County think, we sent out our very own Billy McCarthy to hit the streets of downtown Franklin to investigate the myth of "what will Heaven be like?".

How would you answer that question?  What do you think Heaven will be like?

In many ways, how we answer that question determines how we live our lives. If we think Heaven is distant, boring, cloudy and fuzzy, we will have the tendency to live our lives for the present and focus our energies on things that won't stand the test of time. Scripture teaches that Heaven not only has staggering implications for our future, but also dramatic applications for this week

In case you missed the message this past weekend at Cumberland Church, you can catch Jeff Henderson's myth-busting message about Heaven right here.

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Wouldn't it be cool if all "church splits" were a good thing?

That's the question that has been stirring in my heart and mind the past few days after reading a recent blog post by Scott Tanksley.  Check this out.  A very thought-provoking conversation we need to have more of these days.

Scott serves on staff at North Point as the Director of Strategic Partnerships and has recently started blogging with a VERY ingenious and insightful blog named, Hippo Church.  Scott explains his blog by saying,

This site is meant to encourage the Church. The idea is that as we try to introduce people to a relationship with God, that we would first, do no harm, a phrase borrowed from the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take as they commit to care for their patients. Most Christians sincerely want this, but there is a legacy of tradition that, unfortunately, has proliferated some of the poorest methods of any organization that’s ever tried to communicate its message.

Welcome to the blogosphere Scott!  Looking forward to many more insightful thoughts and conversations with you.

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Here is the church, here is the steeple. Open the door...will there be any people!?!

So, I came into work late last week preparing for my first-time speaking at Cumberland Church.  For some reason (see above), I became increasingly insecure about whether or not God REALLY wanted me to teach or not. ;>)  It seems lightning and/or high winds hit the building and knocked "the steeple" off it's base. 

Trust me, things like this don't encourage you much as you go into a very important weekend at your church.  I'm glad Billy and Bruce were able to fix it in time.  As you know, in the South...church can't happen without a proper steeple in place.  I think that's in the book of 3 Chronicles or something. ;>)  Or so I've been told.

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"Rudy" delivers a hit!

Well, it was actually Eddie that delivered the hit last Sunday! If you missed last Sunday's service at Cumberland, you missed something special. Eddie's Dare You to Move message challenged all of us looking for "what it is we're to do next"  to just get involved with what God's already doing and not wait on something to happen. For 2 Chronicles 16: 9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose hearts are fully His." I watched from the balcony and could see our folks fully engaged in the message. Pretty cool stuff. And hopefully soon, you'll be able to hear Eddie's message from our website at www.cumberlandonline.org.  And, if you act now, you should be able to click on "Rudy" and watch our lead guy's debut on the big screen!

Great Sunday with a great message; nice job Eddie

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