This is why I moved to Myrtle Beach
This is why we set up and tear down
This is why we have ushers and a parking team
This is why we work so hard to have a great environment for kids
This is why we have bright lights and loud music
This is why we invite
This is why we serve
This is why we give
This is why Wellspring Church exists…to see those that are far from God become passionate followers of Jesus Christ.

Jay and Shannon, thanks for sharing your story.

Who will you invite to join us Sunday…whose life will God use you to change?

It’s hard to believe that Wellspring Church is turning 2!

Two years ago we started in the movie theater at Broadway at the Beach.
Two years ago we had a group of 20-30 people that took a chance and believed God could radically transform Myrtle Beach.
Two years ago I had no idea what God wanted to do with us and through us.

God has done some amazing things over the past two years, lives changed, marriages healed, people finding purpose for their life…and now it’s time to CELEBRATE!

On Sunday, September 18th we are throwing a party for Wellspring…and you don’t want to miss it!

During our normal service time we’ll be celebrating all that gone has done so far on the Wellspring journey. You’ll hear stories of lives that have been changed, we’ll look back at what God has done and prepare for what’s next.

As we get ready for that day, there’s a few things I’m asking of all Wellspringers:

Invite everyone you know to join us on September 18th
There’s no better way to “get a taste” of Wellspring than to to join us on that day…your friends will experience what it means to have a new life in Jesus and they will hear stories from real people, just like them, that have been transformed by Christ and are LOVING their changed lives.  I’m not sure there has ever been a better day to invite people than this celebration.  Begin praying now and ask God who you can bring with you.

Come ready to party
We have some surprises planned for that day that you won’t want to miss. Before the service, during the service…THE END of the service.  We take seriously the idea that what is happening here is not normal and we will celebrate with God what he is doing. Don’t miss the beginning and make sure you stay until the last note…it’s going to be awesome!

Bring your BEST GIFT
As I announced on Sunday, we are going to take a special offering on this day as our way of saying “thank you” to God for all that he has done.  Through out history, God’s people have often taken moments to reflect on all that He has done and to say thanks…that’s what we will do on the 18th. It’s important to remember that this is a gift, an offering, which means that it is above and beyond what we would normally bring back to God. If God has blessed your life through Wellspring, this is your shot to give back to him, to say thanks and to invest in the next season of Wellspring’s ministry.

I’m super-excited about this celebration.  I know you’ll make it a priority to attend, celebrate, invite and give back.  I love you Wellspring and I LOVE being your pastor!

The best is yet you come!

This weekend we continued our series Love Revolution (if you missed it, catch the podcast here).  We focused on this verse from Jesus:

³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.–John 13:35

Now Jesus could have literally said ANYTHING there…but he decided that the hallmark of his followers would be our LOVE.  Since Wellspring takes God seriously, we want to be people that are KNOWN for our LOVE for others.

Which is why this weekend, each person was given a LOVE REVOLUTION starter kit as they left. (If you missed Sunday, don’t worry.  We have more to hand out this weekend.) We want to unleash a wave of love and service on Myrtle Beach.  The kit contained

• A list of 100 creative ways to love and serve others
• Kindness Cards to use when you bless others.  We want you to love people and let them know WHY you love them…because Jesus loves them.
• A “Back to School” card detailing a list of supplies needed by the students at Myrtle Beach Middle School. 
  

We call the middle school home every weekend.  It’s a blessing for us to meet there and also a HUGE opportunity.  We want the students, faculty, staff and parents to know that we LOVE them.  When asked, the administration overwhelmingly stated their biggest need was adequate school supplies for their students.  Wellspring can’t solve every problem in Myrtle Beach…YET! But this is one we can solve.

For the next two weeks (Sept 4 and Sept 11) we will be collecting the supplies listed here.  If you can provide a full packet, that’s what we are asking.  Bring as many as you can. If you can’t, what they need the most of are 3-ring binders…so feel free to just bring a ton of those also.

We are doing this because it’s a tangible way for us to show the love of Jesus to people that desperately need him.  I can’t wait to see what God does through you Wellspring.  You always rise to the task and I know you will now.  There’s no reason a student at Myrtle Beach Middle School should ever be without supplies while we there.

Get busy this week loving and serving people, go out and buy some school supplies for our middle school, invite people to join you this weekend and get ready to see God move in ways you’ve never imagined.  It’s worked before and it will work again…when God’s people get serious about being known for their love, the world responds.

Let’s give, let’s serve, let’s start a LOVE REVOLUTION because THAT is how we are going to change the world.

Note: this is a guest post from Eric Colquett, our Pastor of Connection at Wellspring.

We love Community Groups at Wellspring! In a couple of weeks we will be starting a new semester of our CGs. I wanted to give you a few good reasons to join a group.

First, by joining a CG, you will be joining a group of people where everyone will know your name. Our groups provide an excellent way for you to meet others and connect on a deeper level.  This means that when a crisis occurs in your life you will have a group of people that will love and support your through it. As our church grows these CGs will be the care function of the church.

Not only will you connect and be cared for, these groups also provide another opportunity for you to be plugged into what God is doing at Wellspring. We are very intentional with the topics we discuss in our groups. The things you will be discussing will not only be very relevant to your life but will also align with the vision of Wellspring and what God has called us to do here in Myrtle Beach.

Another reason we love our CGs is what I just alluded to. Our groups discuss things that are relevant to your life. We encourage you to share from your life and how God working in your life. That helps others learn and relate it to their life. For example this semester one of the topics is going to be Prayer. We will look back at Trey’s message from High Fidelity and apply what we learned during those messages about prayer and apply what we learned to our lives.

Finally we love our CGs because they are easy to fit into your schedule. Our groups meet every other week at a time and place convenient to you and your family. Most of our groups have childcare provided as well.

So there are many reasons why we love CGs and why you should be apart of a group. This coming Sunday we are making it super easy for you to join a group. You will have a chance to join a group before and after the service on Sunday. When you arrive in our Wake Up Zone you will see tables representing the different groups. You will be able to meet leaders,find out details, and join a group. Dont miss this Sunday at Wellspring!

The Community Group semester begins the week of September 11th. For more information email me at eric@wellspringchurch.tv

Momentum |mōˈmentəm| (noun)
The impetus gained by a moving object.
The impetus and driving force gained by the development of a process or course of events 

People use the word “momentum” a lot…in sports, in business, while accomplishing projects.  We all want momentum in our lives, in whatever area it is we are focusing on at that moment.  I think it’s because we innately realize that things just seem to come together and get done faster when we have momentum.  The football team becomes unstoppable, you knock out 4 projects at home on the same day, the brainstorm meeting results in 10 new actionable ideas, the sales calls just make themselves, and on and on.

Momentum doesn’t just happen…as the definition says above, it is gained by the development of a process or course of events.  It starts small, the step are put in place, the process begins, develops and grows.  And before you know it, it’s moving faster than you EVER thought possible.  That’s momentum.

I bring all this up to make an observation: There is momentum at Wellspring Church right now.  There’s just a buzz, an energy, an excitement in the air.  Wellspring is moving, Wellspring is growing…and I believe this is just the beginning.

Since our move to Myrtle Beach Middle School this Spring, we’ve seen God move in unprecedented ways for us.  We’ve grown over 75% since the move and I am confident that we will be even higher this Fall.  When you go back to January, we’ve more than doubled in size…again!

We’ve also seen God moving in the lives of the people at Wellspring.  Each Beach Baptism this summer has been amazing, we’ve baptized over 20 new people this year and I am boldly asking God to at least double that number by the end of the year.

Why am I bringing this up?? Because what we are experiencing at Wellspring is NOT NORMAL and I never want us to forget that.  We are growing at a rapid rate ONLY because God has seen fit to bless us in unimaginable ways.  I firmly believe as long as we honor God with what he gives us, he’ll keep pouring out his blessings.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want this stop.  I want to keep seeing God move in ways I’ve never imagined.

So how do we do that?  We KEEP DOING what we’ve been doing…serving, inviting, praying and doing whatever it takes to carry the life-changing message of Jesus to a world that needs him.

We’ll continue our series Big Church this week and I’ll continue challenging you to live the life Jesus designed for us.  In 2 weeks we are going to reveal our entire Fall Series Calendar, our strategy for making Jesus known in the Grand Strand.  You should know that I’m more excited about this Fall than I’ve ever been.

I love you Wellspring and I LOVE how God is using you to make a difference.  So keep it up!  Keep praying, keep inviting, keep serving…keep the MOMENTUM going because this is just the beginning.  This is how we change the world.