(the latest info on WFC can be found here)
SEPTEMBER 14th 2008
Don't miss worship gathering on Sunday morning, September 14th! There will be a new time, a new look, and a renewed focus beginning that day as we worship together at Whispering Oak Elementary School.
The NEW TIME will be 10:00am. If you have kids to check in, please try to arrive a little bit before 10 to get them moving toward their respective compassKIDS areas. The NEW LOOK is the Wildcat Cafe. We have partnered with the Whispering Oak Elementary Widlcat student council and school administrative to create an environment in the "cafetorium" that will be useful for daily lunch and periodic parent/student events, as well as provide a more intimate feel on Sunday mornings. Work is in progress. We need to own this together! With budget cuts for public schools, this comes at a great time to do something for Whispering Oak that will serve them and their families. Please pick up a commitment sheet this coming Sunday from the welcome table and consider how you can help financially with this transition.
The RENEWED FOCUS is an emphatic reminder of our priority as followers of Jesus to BE THE CHURCH and LIVE SENT daily as a letter from God into our culture - family, neighborhood, marketplace, local and global community, and even in your time on the web. We will take a few weeks to pause from the GENESIS project to focus on this renewed focus and commit to continuing to grow in the very mission God has made us to be - His church released to live and love 168 hours per week.
Can't wait to see you there at 10:00am in the Wildcat Cafe on September 14th. Can't wait to see you leave the gathering on September 14th to go and be the church and live sent daily as a letter of Christ's love and hope read by the lives you encounter everyday.
Be the church with Becky Dedo to sufferers of TBI & watch some PGA golf, too!!!
Many of you know Becky Dedo, but not all of you know her story. She is the survivor of a traumatic brain inury (TBI) who now gives herself away inspiring those suffering from TBI. Dedo Outreach was co-founded by Becky to connect and encourage those suffering from TBI, to participate in outreach programs that help foster the vision, “Dedicating Everyone Doing Outreach.” Her vision is a world that acts on this inspiration and dedicates their talents, time, and gifts to helping our youth, wounded warriors, and young at heart be part of a community that is accepting, encouraging, and safe.
Over 100,000 of our returning warriors who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts around the world suffer from this injury (Army Wounded Warrior Program statistic).
Millions of elderly Americans live on the edge as marginal members of society. This accounts for a majority of the total American elderly population (U.S. Bureau of Census, 2005).
As many as 8 of every 100 middle and high school students may experience TBIs of sufficient magnitude to affect academic and social performance (http://tbi.unl.edu/Services.html).
Disney World has asked DEDO Outreach Inc. to partner with them in the Children’s Miracle Network Golf Classic (PGA® sponsored event) sponsored by Wal-mart November 6-9, 2008. You can help by purchasing tickets to the event. When you do, you are buying HOPE for the children and warriors.
Tickets are $20.00 per day and 0rders should be placed no later than August 31, 2008.
Please send your order to the following address or fax and your tickets will be mailed to you upon receipt. Make checks payable to DEDO Outreach, Inc.
14257 Confetti Drive Windermere, Fl 34786
fax_(407) 877-7544
Please join DEDO Outreach in sponsoring this event. Unused tickets will be donated to local disabled veterans groups, homes, and organizations dedicated to helping youth and the young at heart.
House Blend Cafe makes the top 25!!!
There is an international organization called Business as Mission Network that networks and promotes the idea of businesses caring for more than just the bottom line but actually having a heart for local and global community. Every year, they research how companies are doing this and come out with a top 25 of businesses that are living out this heart in the marketplace.
Well, for the 2nd year in a row, House Blend Cafe was listed in the top 25. This year we were at #23 and one of only eleven listed in the United States. Click here to read more about it, and take a sec to check out the House Blend Cafe website, too.
PRAYER_08
WFC has committed to praying together continually for 5 specific items this year. Remember, when you pray, God changes us; we don't change Him. I wonder how He is going to move and disturb and unleash us as we pray together for these 5 focuses:
_for worship gathering to become more and more valuable as a
catalytic element in our weekly focus during which we celebrate together in worship and leave to live sent all 168 hours per week
_that the WFC family would deeply do life together, both with one
another and with the people we walk with in the daily
_that each of us would give
ourselves away, both locally and globally, in some specific way
_for God to provide in miraculous ways for House Blend Cafe as we look to stabilize that marketplace connection point and expand to be the church together through the
marketplace in other contexts
_for the lead team sent to be the church out @ UCF, to love the people of that context as they create solid relational connection and bolster commitment to a unified vision for God to blossom His church in and through the people of the UCF community
How will you be a part of being the church together, living sent daily? Prayer is for sure mostly listening. Lift these up, then listen for His lead. Thanks for committing to prayer together for 2008!
thePOINT (wfc students)
...gathering together on Sunday nights from 6 to 7:30 @ House Blend Cafe! For more details, email Sam and Ali . If you know of families with students who are not connected with a church family or are simply in need of a loving and beyond-self thinking group of students, encourage them to check out thePOINT on Sunday nights!
WHAT IS UP with the compassKIDS?
:: SUNDAY MORNINGS - join us each Sunday morning for loads of fun as we play, learn, grow, and share!!!
:: PLAYGROUP is a rockin' time for parents and kids alike!!! It's Wednesday mornings at 10. Contact Jen Dukes @ 407.654.4364.
:: Print out your TRAIL GUIDE compassKIDS volunteer schedule by clicking here. If you have any questions, please email Ali.
get to DLTing
Check out the latest on some of the ways you can be "Doing Life Together" through WFC's DLTs by clicking here. Please email us if you have questions.
add to your BACKPACK for the journey of marriage and parenting
Get equipped for parenting & marriage on your own time (and even in your underwear if you want to). NO, it's not a coed, almost naked small group. It's through WFC online.
Moms and dads and couples just like you are sharing insights and lessons learned posted EVERY TUESDAY so that all parents and spouses can be sharpened as we journey together. Click here to check it out. Read through and be encouraged. Read through and share your own comments of encouragement. Either way, you will find equipment to add to your backpack as you journey through marriage and parenting.
Becoming (wfc Women)
There are 3 women's groups that get together weekly:
:: TUESDAY NIGHTS at 8 @ House Blend Cafe in Ocoee.
:: WEDNESDAY NIGHTS at 7 @ Jen Dukes' home (in Summerport).
Please email us with any questions or for directions.
The journeyMEN (WFC men)
Whether admitting it fits our macho-ness or not, guys need each other. That's why there's journeyMEN. There are 4 opportunities to get together each week for the men:
:: TUESDAY NIGHTS at 9 @ Beef O'Brady's in Winter Garden on Hwy 50.
:: WEDNESDAY MORNINGS at 6 @ House Blend Cafe.
Email Jason if you have questions about Wednesday mornings. Email Sam if you have questions about Monday nights.
are you blogging?
...you can! Check out the following blogs connected to WFC life:
...wfc's backpack
...live sent to be the church
...jim's blog
...michael's blog
...ali's blog
...jason's blog
are you being the church? HOW?
We've talked about it now for 4 years. You can't gather with us on Sundays and not hear about it. You can't do life with us and not hear it emphasized. You can't come to the website and not read it. It's been redundantly taught. It's been redundantly taught (couldn't help it :o)
So here's the question: HOW ARE YOU BEING THE CHURCH. We've talked about so much and for so long that it's easy to feel like "I do that." So, not saying you do or don't, but evaluation never hurt anyone. Just stop and think through - HOW?
Don't do this to keep score or try to measure for self-actualization. Simply do it to stay focused on following Jesus daily listening for and consciously looking for ways to be the church.
BELONG TO WFC
As we are being the church, you may be asked, "How can I belong to WFC?" The answer is simple. If you want to belong, you do. You belong with a people who are doing life together, no matter where you are in life, because that's how it is with Jesus. What happens next is important, though. Part of following Jesus means not staying where you are. So, as we belong together, as we do life together, our values and beliefs about life and God and one another are shaped.
As WFC, we encourage you to consider the following 4 thoughts as principles to highly value. We believe Jesus modeled these and valued them at His core. As you are becoming every day what God made you to be, we encourage you to:
1 - listen to Jesus and follow Him. Read His Word for nourishment in your life and to help you discern His voice among the many voices calling for our attention. Pray like it's breathing, never stopping, always listening for Him to lead and love through you. Worship like you were made for it. Listen and follow, no matter what.
2 - be the church in your various spheres of daily life. Intentionally and creatively cherish your family. Simply love your neighbor and do life with them. Take time to care for and listen to your co-worker or classmate as you walk in the marketplace. Look for ways to serve the world around you, your local and global community. Even think about ways to encourage others with the hope of Christ, the relationship they were made for, while interacting with folks on the web. Be the church in your spheres.
3 - do life together, both with Westpoint and with the people in our community. For real, though. Not just surface. Actually know your neighbor's names, pray for them, support them. Do more in gathering than asking "great weather outside, huh?" In the New Testament, the early church broke bread together, both remembering the Lord's final supper as well as simply eating together. So, gather on Sundays, but also grill out with your neighbor. Just do life.
4 - give yourself away, in every way. Treat everything you have like it was given, not your own. Scriptures teach this. And, the early church "shared everything they had as anyone might have need." Finances. Time. Intangibles. Own the cost of our local expression "Westpoint" by giving into this catalyst for daily following and everyday living. Be willing to share the strengths you have and the resources you possess as we do life together. Give.
In our 5th year, let's be reminded of being the church, refreshed, together. We are all going somewhere together. Christ's vision for us here continues. Facilities and ministries will come as we are becoming together. Most importantly, though, we are all "Westpoint," following Christ as the church here to this community. What you are doing in all 168 hours of the week matters. You are not obligated to partake in "church activities and services." You are called, made for, transformed to be the church in all of your activities. So, in everything we do together and everything we do for this community, remember to be the church, and invite others to join us for this journey they were made for.
