The creation accounts make clear that we have been fashioned for relationship. We are meant to be in relationship – to share community – with the created order. As God evidently desired companionship, so God created humanity for companionship: women and men together sharing life and love, caring for the world, its bounty and vitality. Our essential nature binds us in shared responsibility for one another and the entire created order. Thankfully, we are not meant to take on these awesome and wonderful tasks alone.

The church, the husband, the wife, the children, the friends, the church all live in relationship with God and each other.

Join Generations Church this Sunday 10:30 AM! www.gcfarmville.com/sunday

You are invited to Experience the Nativity Story.

Wednesday December 21st
Refreshments at 6:00 PM
Movie at 7:00 PM
Free Admission

From November 27th to Friday Dec. 23rd, Generations Church Farmville will be immersing ourselves in the Nativity narrative. Our hope is that you may experience the Hope of Christ in a fresh, new, and powerful way. This series will include a viewing of “The Nativity Story” on Wednesday December 21st at 7:00 PM, and end with a candlelight service Friday December 23rd 2011. There will be no formal worship service Christmas morning, although the people will be gathering from 11:00 to 12:00 for fellowship and the singing of Christmas Hymns! We want to invite you to experience the Coming of Christ our Lord!

Generations Church meets at 382 Fairgrounds Rd., Farmville VA 23901
Sunday School 9:30 Am
Worship 10:30 AM

The Generations Church 2011 Harvest Festival will be held on the RAIN DATE!

The festival will be held:

1:30 PM to 5:30 PM SUNDAY October 30th
We will meet right after church at the YMCA!

We hope you all can attend! If you are a helper, please be sure to take note of the date and time change and be prepared to help with your area right after we breakdown from Worship on Sunday!

If you want to enter your dessert in the cake-walk, be sure to bring one. Also, if you would like to enter a Chili into the Chili Cook-Off, be sure to bring your best, hottest, tastiest chili!!

• FREE Food
• Lion Bounce House
• Chili Cook-Off (bring your own chili if you want to enter)
• Pony Rides
• Cake-Walk
• Carnival Games with Prizes
• Music

Blessings,

Pastor Paul
________________________

Paul D. Willis
Lead Pastor, Generations Church
(434) 390-4066
pwillis@gcfarmville.com

www.gcfarmville.com
www.facebook.com/gcfarmvilleva
www.twitter.com/gcfarmville
www.youtube.com/gchurchva

Answer: The Mormon religion (Mormonism), whose followers are known as Mormons and Latter Day Saints (LDS), was founded less than two hundred years ago by a man named Joseph Smith. He claimed to have received a personal visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ who told him that all churches and their creeds were an abomination. Joseph Smith then set out to begin a brand-new religion that claims to be the “only true church on earth.” The problem with Mormonism is that it contradicts, modifies, and expands on the Bible. Christians have no reason to believe that the Bible is not true and adequate. To truly believe in and trust God means to believe in His Word, and all Scripture is inspired by God, which means it comes from Him (2 Timothy 3:16).

Mormons believe that there are in fact four sources of divinely inspired words, not just one: 1) The Bible “as far as it is translated correctly.” Which verses are considered incorrectly translated is not always made clear. 2) The Book of Mormon, which was “translated” by Smith and published in 1830. Smith claimed it is the “most correct book” on earth and that a person can get closer to God by following its precepts “than by any other book.” 3) The Doctrine and Covenants, containing a collection of modern revelations regarding the “Church of Jesus Christ as it has been restored.” 4) The Pearl of the Great Price, which is considered by Mormons to “clarify” doctrines and teachings that were lost from the Bible and adds its own information about the earth’s creation.

Mormons believe the following about God: He has not always been the Supreme Being of the universe, but attained that status through righteous living and persistent effort. They believe God the Father has a “body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.” Though abandoned by modern Mormon leaders, Brigham Young taught that Adam actually was God and the father of Jesus Christ. In contrast, Christians know this about God: there is only one true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6-8), He always has existed and always will exist (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; 1 Timothy 1:17), and He was not created but is the Creator (Genesis 1; Psalm 24:1; Isaiah 37:16). He is perfect, and no one else is equal to Him (Psalm 86:8; Isaiah 40:25). God the Father is not a man, nor was He ever (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Hosea 11:9). He is Spirit (John 4:24), and Spirit is not made of flesh and bone (Luke 24:39).

Mormons believe that there are different levels or kingdoms in the afterlife: the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, the telestial kingdom, and outer darkness. Where mankind will end up depends on what they believe and do in this life. In contrast, the Bible tells us that after death, we go to heaven or hell based on whether or not we had faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. To be absent from our bodies means, as believers, we are with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Unbelievers are sent to hell or the place of the dead (Luke 16:22-23). When Jesus comes the second time, we will receive new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). There will be a new heaven and new earth for believers (Revelation 21:1), and unbelievers will be thrown into an everlasting lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). There is no second chance for redemption after death (Hebrews 9:27).

Mormon leaders have taught that Jesus’ incarnation was the result of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary. Mormons believe Jesus is a god, but that any human can also become a god. Mormonism teaches that salvation can be earned by a combination of faith and good works. Contrary to this, Christians historically have taught that no one can achieve the status of God—only He is holy (1 Samuel 2:2). We can only be made holy in God’s sight through faith in Him (1 Corinthians 1:2). Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16), is the only one ever to have lived a sinless, blameless life, and now has the highest place of honor in heaven (Hebrews 7:26). Jesus and God are one in essence, Jesus being the only One existing before physical birth (John 1:1-8; 8:56). Jesus gave Himself to us as a sacrifice, God raised Him from the dead, and one day everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:6-11). Jesus tells us it is impossible to get to heaven by our own works and that only by faith in Him is it possible (Matthew 19:26). We all deserve eternal punishment for our sins, but God’s infinite love and grace have allowed us a way out. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Clearly, there is only one way to receive salvation and that is to know God and His Son, Jesus (John 17:3). It is not done by works, but by faith (Romans 1:17; 3:28). We can receive this gift no matter who we are or what we have done (Romans 3:22). “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Although Mormons are usually friendly, loving, and kind people, they are deceived by a false religion that distorts the nature of God, the Person of Jesus Christ, and the means of salvation.

Join Generations Church Sunday 10:30 AM at the YMCA in Farmville! We can’t wait to meet you!

First and foremost, as a pastor looking to grow your church, make sure you’re always asking yourself the right question about growth.

The Wrong Question: How do I get my church to grow? Your job is not to force growth. When you think growth is your responsibility, you will inevitably make bad decisions. Church growth is ultimately not about what we can do in our own power; it’s about God’s power and His choice to work through us. Refuse to settle for anything less than God’s vision for your church.

The Right Question: What is keeping my church from growing? Healthy organisms grow. If you feel stagnation setting in, barriers are inhibiting your growth. Implement a plan to remove them.

Now that you’re asking the right question, I encourage you to make two affirmative decisions.

Decision No. 1: I believe God wants to grow my church. 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) tells us, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” Your church is part of that redemptive plan. Of course God wants it to grow. Growth signals repentance and life change.

Decision No. 2: I want to see my church grow. Does thinking about the next barrier you’re facing scare you into inactivity? Don’t get discouraged. God never gives us a vision without supplying what we need to fulfill it.

When you’re asking the right question, and you know in your core that both you and God want your church to grow, nothing can stop you—but growth barriers can definitely slow you down. So whether you are growing a small church in the suburbs or a megachurch in a big city, you need to be able to recognize the top five growth barriers and know how to meet them head-on.

Growth Barrier No. 1: Space

Space is the most fundamental barrier we all face—and the easiest to overlook. As church leaders, we love full rooms, so we say, “Pack ’em in, there’s still a few seats!” But the truth is that when a room reaches 70 percent of its seating capacity, it’s full. Period. Here is a four-step exercise to perform frequently as your church grows:

Step 1: Determine how many seats you have in your main worship space.
Step 2: Multiply that number by 0.7 (70 percent).
Step 3: Determine how many people you averaged in attendance over the
last month.
Step 4: Is the number in Step 3 greater than the number in Step 2? If the answer is yes, you’ve got to open up more seats or find a larger location—fast.

At The Journey, I learned this lesson the hard way. Our first location in Manhattan was at a small comedy club-type theater. At capacity, the space could hold 110 people. Seven months after our launch, we were averaging close to 80 people each week; we would bump up to 100 every now and then, but our number would always return to below 80.

Why? It’s because we were full. We just didn’t want to admit it.

People stopped inviting their friends because they perceived there was no more room. Some regular attendees stopped coming because it was hard to find a seat. Eventually, we caught on and moved to a space that was three times bigger—and our church began growing again.

I’ve seen many pastors of churches with fewer than 250 attendees start second services in an effort to circumvent this barrier. Starting a second service too early usually does more damage than good, so don’t think of it as an easy fix. For example, let’s say a church of 120 decides to start a second service. Inevitably, one service will have 100 people and the other one will have 20—it’s impossible to equally divide two services, although careful choice of service times does play a part. Over time, the 20 people will be disappointed with the small crowds and filter back into the larger service.

The better choice for a church of 120 is to find a larger space and grow to 300 or 400 before starting a second service. I encourage churches to be willing to move.

Growth Barrier No. 2: Self-Development

Growing churches are led by growing leaders. So, if you’ve stopped progressing personally, your church is not far behind. Jimmy Britt, pastor of Rocky River Community Church in Concord, N.C., recently realized the power of this truth. Jimmy had grown his church to 150 when he got stuck. After learning about the barrier of self-development, he set up a personal growth plan for himself, focusing on leadership ability and spiritual maturity. Sure enough, when he started growing as an individual, his church started growing again. An organization can never outpace the inherent qualities of its leader.

When a pastor isn’t growing:

—The sermons are stale.
—The congregation’s passion for ministry wanes.
—The staff stops growing.
—The church stops growing.

An intentional reading plan is the single best avenue for personal growth. Set a reading goal that will stretch you—perhaps a book a month—and spend focused time in the areas of theology, church history and philosophy, in addition to reading your Bible. Also schedule time to attend key conferences and plan opportunities to seek out and meet with mentors. Personal development is essential not only for your own health and balance, but also for the growth of your church.

Growth Barrier No. 3: Sharing

Churches stop growing when they become inwardly (instead of outwardly) focused. If you notice a decline in your number of first-time guests and an increase in discussion of inwardly focused programs, beware! You are about to fall victim to the sharing barrier.

In my experience, healthy growing churches will have a ratio of five first-time guests to every 100 regular attendees. So, if you are averaging 200 people per week, you should average 10 first-time guests per week. Watch this ratio carefully, and take its waning as a warning sign. When this barrier starts blocking your growth, here are some ways you can break through it:

—Teach on relational evangelism.
—Set an example by telling stories of how you’ve invited people to church.
—Do servant evangelism outreach.
—Challenge staff, volunteers and attendees to invite friends.
—Read an evangelism or church growth book with your staff and key volunteers.
—Ask someone who has experienced life change to share his or her testimony.

Growth Barrier No. 4: Worship Service

Your weekly worship service is the front door through which people are introduced to your church. If not done correctly, it can become a big barrier.

To keep your service strong, always try to look like a church twice your size. If you are a church of 100 people, intentionally create a worship service that looks like it’s for 200 people. Take your preaching up a notch. Energize your worship time. Create the excitement that would be present in a bigger crowd. Moreover, it’s essential to get in the habit of looking at your service through the eyes of your guests and regular attendees. What kind of impression are you giving them?

Improve the quality of your service in the following ways:

—Tweak your transitions.
—Set up feedback and develop evaluation mechanisms.
—Visit larger, growing churches and benchmark against what they are doing.
—Attend cutting-edge seminars and leadership conferences.

Jeff Gunn, pastor of CrossWalk Lutheran Church in Phoenix, saw incredible growth when he was able to overcome this worship service barrier. A few years ago, Jeff started a new congregation in a long-standing community that was being transformed by new development. As a strong communicator, he grew the church to 100 people in no time. But Jeff didn’t have a worship leader. In his Sunday services, he was cueing up and playing recorded music.

When Jeff made the decision to improve his services by bringing in a worship leader, he quickly broke the 125 mark and grew to more than 200 people. As he’s learned, sometimes you have to get out of your own way and do what needs to be done to create a quality experience for your attendees.

Growth Barrier No. 5: Staff

If your congregation suddenly doubled in size, would you have the necessary staff members to serve them? To keep your church moving forward, you will need to hire people on faith, so you’ll be prepared to receive the harvest God wants to send you.

Hiring staff is truly a faith issue. Many pastors want to put off staff hires until they have the money in place to support the positions. Sounds like a practical plan, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work. You will never have enough money in advance to hire the staff you need.

To overcome this barrier, change your perspective on what it takes to hire a new staff person. Say you need to fill a position that would require a $48,000 salary. Don’t look at it as a year-long position. Instead, think in three-month blocks. If you approach the new position as a three-month, $12,000 risk, instead of a $48,000 risk, you will be more comfortable filling it. Then, if the staff person you hire is good, the position will begin paying for itself after three months.

When you approach staffing with a faithful heart, you’ll be much more prepared to handle the growth God brings you.

All Grown Up

In our journey from 35 to 1,200, our church had to break through every one of these barriers—most of them more than once. Thanks to that process, I have come to understand that staying ahead of growth barriers is the most effective way of dealing with them. When we cooperate with God by taking action for His church, He will bless our efforts. As you learn to identify and diffuse growth barriers before they get you stuck, you’ll be able to keep your momentum and effectively expand God’s kingdom for His glory.

Nelson Searcy is founding and lead pastor of multicultural, multisite The Journey Church in New York City, which as of March 2010, had four sites and 1,500 attendees. Searcy is also founder ofChurchLeaderInsights.com, a resource site for pastors and church leaders. He is the author or co-author of multiple books, including Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church (Baker, 2009), a 2010 Outreach Resource of the Year, and Launch: Starting a New Church From Scratch (Regal, 2007).

GIVE

Thoughts from HWP’s Project Manager

Water is vital: the human body contains 50% to 60% water and a child’s body contains 75%. A person can live several weeks without food, but he cannot live without water for more than a few days.

However, 880 million people in the world lack access to drinking water.

Consequently, every year more than 1.6 million people, mostly children, die from diseases related to contaminated water.

In the midst of these disasters, Haiti is no exception.

As pointed out by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), some 47% of the estimated 9,000,000 people in Haiti have no access to drinking water.

The cholera epidemic has killed nearly 5,000 people across the country since mid-October 2010, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Public Health and Population. Since the arrival of the rainy season, the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and several towns across the country are facing serious leaps of cholera.

Everyone knows that “water is life”, but water can also cause death if it is contaminated. The recent outbreak of cholera has painfully reminded us of that.

This critical situation makes us aware that the majority of the Haitian people lack access to clean water.

With 25 wells completed, 21 cisterns built and about 359 biosand filters installed in 9 out of 10 departments in Haiti, HWP is empowering the Haitian people to meet the needs around them.

In the next few months, HWP will drill more wells and build more cisterns in Lagonave, Port-au-Prince, South, Southeast, North and Artibonite.

HWP is not only providing clear from cisterns and wells, but also safe drinking water from filters. To keep responding to the cholera outbreak, HWP aims to reinforce the water filter program in the communities throughout Haiti.

Each time we distribute filters, build a cistern or drill a well, we know that it has been a partnership between our donors, the HWP, the people of Haiti and God. Today we thank you for your part in this great work and we ask you to join us in praying that God will help the Haitian people to have easy access to clean water.

For each well drilled, cistern built or filter installed HWP saves the lives of more than a thousand Haitians!

–Piard Alcegaire

August 1-3, 2011 :: District Conventions and Assembly

August 3-7, 2011 :: Deeper Into God Campmeeting

Schedule of Events
* updated July 28, 2011

Delegate’s Handbook (This is a large file, please be patient)

:: DIG Students ::

Events and programs are available for students entering the 6th grade through students in their first year of college.

There is a $50.00 registration fee for each student.

Students may register for the events and activities at the Thompson Family Life Center on the following days:

Monday, August 1 :: 3:30 – 6:30pm

Tuesday, August 2 :: 8:00 – 9:00am

* Please note that each student must have an adult sponsor present during Camp.

:: DIG Housing Options ::

RV Park on site:

Contact Bill Jerrell: ajtaxlady@aol.com

Camping Sites:

Contact Bill Jerrell: ajtaxlady@aol.com

Dormitories:

Contact the Roger/Linda McKinley: rogerlindamckinley316@comcast.net

Local area hotels:

Star Motel – Dillwyn (434) 983-2365

Hampton Inn – Farmville (434) 392-8826

Comfort Inn – Farmville (434) 392-8163

Days Inn – Farmville (434) 392-6611

Super 8 – Farmville (434) 392-8196

Super 8 – Appomattox (434) 352-2339

Longwood Inn B&B – (434) 395-2617

Longacre B&B – (434) 352-9251

_____

Nazarene Days at King’s Dominion

DIG Campmeeting – August 3-7

Urban Camp – for children ages 7-16 – August 22-26

CAMPAMENTO FAMILIAR 2011

Hispanic Family Camp – September 2-5

Convenciones y Asamblea 2010

Attorney Jimmy Bell from Blessing and Bell – Attorneys at Law will be speaking during this LifeTIME class on the importance of a Will or Living Trust.

As Christ followers we are called to be good stewards of all that God has blessed us with! We are called to care for our families. 1 Timothy 5:8 tells us that we need to make provision for those dependent on us. “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (NASB).

Join Generations Church this Wednesday at the YMCA in Farmville from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM as it hosts the LifeTIME class on “The Importance of a Will”

Through a will or living trust, you can:

• Ensure your property is distributed according to your wishes. Without a will or living trust, your property will be distributed according to the laws of your state.
• Save on taxes and probate costs. Estate planning can make more money available to loved ones.
• Protect your loved ones by designating who will care for your minor children. Without such designation, a court will do so.
• Remember friends. If you’re single, you may wish to leave property to people who have rewarded you with friendship.
• Contribute to charities and other institutions. A college or university may have had a significant impact on your life. A church might have provided spiritual support. You can honor them through a contribution made through your will or living trust.

Download the full Wills & Living Trust Outline Here

For more information on the LifeTIME program at Generations Church, click here>>

For Information on Blessing and Bell – Attorneys at Law and to schedule the preparation of a Will or Living Trust, visit their firm online, click here>>

Informational Purposes Only: The provided outline and LifeTIME classes are for informational purposes only and should not be considered paid legal advice. Please contact Blessing and Bell Attorneys at Law to schedule a time to discuss the preparation of your will, living trust, and associated legal advice and questions.