Our visit to Northpoint Community Church

On our way back from vacation, our family stayed in Atlanta so that we could attend Northpoint Community Church yesterday. I've listened to Andy Stanley for several years now and I have witnessed our church (Southeast Christian Church) copy many of Stanley's methods and sermon ideas. I think Andy Stanley is one of the best preachers in the country and I have been curious what is was like to experience the Northpoint typical Sunday. Now I know and I liked it.

We arrived at about 10:15 as the 9:00 service was letting out. My first impression was how easy it was to get into the parking lot. I figured we would have to wait a while since we were so early. When we pulled up to the church, I at first thought that we might be at one of the satellite churches since it wasn't very big. Southeast is a massive church and it is very intimidating in size. Northpoint is essentially a one story building. The auditorium is the tallest part of the building being a 2-story section but it doesn't stand out. We parked right up front and went inside.

The main entrance takes you into a large hallway that feeds all of the different areas that your family will need to go. There is the main East Auditorium to the right, Waumba Land (Preschool) to the left, and Upstreet (Elementary) straight ahead at the end. The hallway meanders around to the right past the East Auditorium where you can access the West Auditorium and The Attic (Middle School). All of the individual kids' areas are colorfully decorated in themes and give you a feel that you are entering a different world.

We stopped at the guest help desk and got a brochure and headed back to Upstreet to check things out. We were greeted by a volunteer that was very helpful. She handed us off to an Upstreet volunteer who got our elementary kids checked in while she headed over to the East Auditorium to reserve seats for us. Once we got the kids checked into Upstreet, we headed to The Attic to drop off our middle schoolers. The Attic was definitely geared to the Starbucks generation with lots of couches and "hang out" areas stationed around the stage and main floor. With them checked in, we headed over to our reserved seats.

Most of the service was conducted in the East Auditorium but the West Auditorium also broadcasted the service on the screens. The East Auditorium has a small balcony and will hold about 2700 people. The West Auditorium has no balcony and will hold about 2300 people. Not what I expected from the 2nd largest church in America considering Southeast will hold about 9000 people. Regardless, we had a seat down front where we could choose to watch the band and speakers live or on the two large screens flanking the stage.

About 5 minutes before 11:00, and announcer began talking about their summer series and began to do a short biography of Tom Petty. Afterwards, the band played Free Falling. That caught me a bit off guard. My immediate thought was that if our band tried that at Southeast we would lose about 2000 members overnight. But I thought it was cool and not a bad idea to fill the time before the service began. However, at 11:00 the announcer came back on and began talking about the summer series and how to request your favorite '80s song via twitter for next week. He then began to do a bio on Bon Jovi. When he finished, they turned out the lights, turned on the show lights and jammed out to Livin' on a Prayer. Now I'm thinking that this is a church way out of the box.

Following the concert, a female emcee came on stage and proceeded with a greeting and some announcements. She then turned the floor over to a male emcee in the West Auditorium to make a few more announcements while they showed them both on a split screen talking to each other. I felt at this point like I was on Good Morning America or something similar. This did not feel like church. After announcements the band played a couple of worship songs which led into their two baptisms.

In order to be baptized at Northpoint, you have to make a baptism video that is played prior to your baptism. It's a short video a couple of minutes long that talks about your journey and ends with your profession of faith. Then the camera is turned on to the baptistry where the pastor says a few more things about you and then baptizes you. There is a lot of cheering because the audience feels like they know you at this point since you have shared your story with them. It is a really unique way of presenting baptisms and I personally liked it a lot. I wish we would do this. It takes up precious time but it really does show you that these people are real people with real problems and is very powerful.

After the baptisms and offering (no communion), the preacher took the stage. This week the sermon was given by Rodney Anderson who leads Buckhead church (satellite). The sermons was about the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector both going to the temple to pray. It is a contrast of prayers. Anderson is an excellent preacher and this sermon was particularly good. I was disappointed that Andy Stanley wasn't preaching but I was pleasantly surprised with Rodney Anderson. I got a kick out of the fact that he didn't use any notes (inside joke). Once Anderson finished his sermon, he said thank you and dismissed the service (no alter call).

A few takeaways. One - the atmosphere was very casual. Everybody on stage wore jeans - even the preacher. You would be very out of place if you wore a tie to church there. I believe that kind of atmosphere is very inviting and breaks down some of the barriers that keep people from going to church. Just come as you are because we do. Two - Jesus is front and center. The entire service was very Christ-centered and they made it very clear that their goal is to get you in a relationship with Jesus. I especially enjoyed the sermon because it focused on the simplicity of Jesus. The main point was that God hears our prayers because of Jesus and nothing we do earns God's ear. I encourage you to listen to the sermon (http://northpointministries.org/messages). Third - traffic was a breeze! Wow we could do so much better than we do at Southeast. We got on campus in about 5 minutes and got off campus in about 10 minutes. Fourth - if you attend Southeast, you are spoiled! Our facilities are so awesome. Northpoint doesn't even begin to compare with our sanctuary, atrium, the Block, fitness, etc... If I hear anyone complain in the least little bit about any of our facilities (other than traffic), I will lose it. We are plain and simple spoiled rotten!

All in all, Northpoint is a fantastic church and I can see why so many people attend. They use the satellite methodology much more effectively than Southeast and it allows them to keep each campus from being so massive. The service is definitely more laid back than I expected but in some ways I liked it better. I missed not having communion and the alter call but I really enjoyed the baptisms and the sermon was fantastic. You should check it out the next time you find yourself in Atlanta on a Sunday.

Free Indeed

Hey Church! Listen up because I want you to hear me clearly on this one. Today is Easter. Today is the day Jesus walked out of his own grave, conquering death, and proving to the world that he was who he claimed to be - God in the flesh. But you, Church, know that already. That's not the part I want you to hear. This is the part. Jesus loves sinners. Yeah you read that right. Jesus loves sinners.

Now on the surface you may know that is true. But in your heart of hearts, do you really believe that? Yes I am talking to you. Do you know deep down that Jesus loves sinners? I don't mean the petty sinner that stumbles on the path of righteousness. I mean the adulterer. I mean the prostitute. I mean the compulsive liar. I mean the professional thief. I mean the murderer. Jesus loves sinners.

Now why would I say that today and why would I address this to the Church? Because today is the day that Jesus set you free and you, Church, are found sitting in your prison cell wondering when the sinners will wake up, confess their sins and join you there. I have discovered something profound that I want to share it with you. Get over yourself Church and be free. You are no better than anyone else. Look at your divorce rate, your abortion rate, your charitable giving rate and compare it with the world. See? What makes you think you are better than them? You certainly don't act any better. The only real difference between you, Church, and the world is that they sin and enjoy it. You sin and keep it locked deep down inside so that no one will find out about it and then declare yourself better than everyone else. So you stay locked inside your little prison of guilt and shame hoping to do better next time while the world mocks you for doing so.

Let me tell you a secret. They can see through you. You're not really hiding anything. And it's not very attractive. Do you realize that Jesus was very attractive? He was a magnet! People flocked to him from everywhere. Why? Because he told people how sinful they were and told them to be ashamed of themselves and join a church? NO! Because he loved sinners - and he didn't condemn them! He forgave them! He was real with people. Real sinners fell at his feet to confess their sins because they could be real with Jesus and he never condemned them. He showed compassion, gave them hope, forgave them, and they followed him.

Church, this is our opportunity of a lifetime. We are no better than the world. We sin all the time! Quit hiding it! Tell the world that we are no better than them. But then tell them that we have a hope. Tell them that we have a peace that passes understanding. Tell them that we are free indeed because Jesus set us free. We are not weighed down by our sins anymore because Jesus paid for them on the cross. Quit trying to get better. Just follow Jesus. Jesus will love you whether you get better or not. The world needs someone to tell them that the only difference between you and them is freedom - freedom given by grace.

Now Church, come out of your self-inflicted prison, and enjoy your freedom. You are free to live because Jesus set you free. And do you know what else? Jesus loves sinners. Good thing, isn't it?

One, Not Everyone

I am a very big fan of Andy Stanley. He recently did a stand-alone sermon about doing for one what you can't do for everyone. If you missed it, I have reposted it here so that you can listen to it. I pray that you will be given the wisdom to know what to do with what you hear.

Podcast

Live a Praying Life - Lesson 4

Lesson 4 of our now 5 week series on prayer. What is faith? How does faith affect your prayer life? How do you get more faith? Faith is the key element of prayer. Have a listen.

Lesson 4
Lesson 4 Slideshow

Live a Praying Life - Lesson 3

Lesson 3 of our 6 week series on prayer. Just a note that if you would like to dig deeper into our study on prayer, much of the material we are going over can be found in the books and bible studies by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. This week we review the process of prayer. In a nutshell, if you want to have more prayers answered, you need to have the heart of God. How do you do that? It's a process. Have a listen to this week's study.

Lesson 3
Lesson 3 Slideshow

Live a Praying Life - Lesson 2

Lesson 2 of our 6 week series on prayer. The spiritual realm is reality. The material realm is an image of that reality. Prayer is essential for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Prayer first affects the spiritual realm. Then when the time is right, the material realm displays the effect of that prayer on the spiritual realm. Got it? If not, have a listen.

Lesson 2
Lesson 2 Slideshow

Live a Praying Life

How is your prayer life? Do you have prayer time or a prayer life? Do you want a prayer life? If not, would you like to want a prayer life? Prayer is essential. It is the connection we have with God. It is our lifeline. Prayer is also the means in which God's will becomes reality in the material realm. In the first lesson of our 6 week series on prayer, we ask the question, "Can you change God's mind?" Because if we can't change God's mind, then why pray? Or is there another reason to pray?

Lesson 1
Lesson 1 Slideshow

Relational Resolution

Tony Gore concludes with part 2 of Relational Resolution: Resolving More Than Conflict

Lesson 2

Relational Resolution

Recently we were pleased to have Tony Gore teach two lessons on Relational Resolution: Resolving More Than Conflict. Tony is a counseling minister at Southeast Christian and has a heart for Christians building strong relationships with each other. Please download part 1 of 2 and begin building stronger relationships.

Lesson 1
Notes Part 1
Notes Part 2
Slideshow

Why Worry? Part 2

We continue our lesson on worry. Why do we worry? Ultimately, because we don't trust God. Can you overcome your desire to be in control?

Lesson 2
Lesson 2 Slideshow