The Gospels in 30 Days

Yesterday Northwest started a new journey together. We committed to reading the 4 Gospels of the New Testament together over the next 30 days. Currently we are learning in our Grow series that one of the things God uses to grow big faith in our life is a consistent diet of practical, biblical teaching combined personal readings of the Bible. In an effort to make 2012 a year of growth, we want to get in the habit of daily reading the Bible with a HEAR & DO attitude...HEARING from God through the teaching and reading of the Bible and then DOING what it says. Pretty simple, right?

There are 2 easy ways to follow along and get involved.

1. Download the You Version Bible App and begin The Gospels reading plan.
2. Pick up a copy of the reading plan at the Connection Center on Sundays or download one from our website.

Do not miss out on this opportunity for growth. In addition, don't forget to subscribe to the blog in order to hear stories of what others at Northwest are learning during this 30 day journey.

Should the Church Create Raving Fans?

Last night I read a leadership/business book that has been in print for almost 20 years entitled "Raving Fans" by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. It's a short read and contains simple yet profound principles related to customer service. The 3 basic points of the book:

1. Decide what you want...What is your vision for the organization?

2. Discover what the customer wants...Where does your vision and the customers' needs overlap?

3. Deliver the vision plus one percent...Exceed your promise and the customers' expectations.

Another valuable principle from the book included The Rule of One Percent: When dealing with a monumental task, strive to improve your organization/group by one percent each week. No more. No less. This will allow you to overcome the temptations of trying to do too much at once or being immobilized because of the size of the job ahead. Consistency creates credibility.

The bottom line is that Raving Fans puts forth the argument that great companies are built on the foundation of service...not just average, crappy service. Rather the kind of service described is real, care about your needs, I'm here to serve you kind of service. As a Christ follower this type of lifestyle should not be foreign to us. We are called by God to be servants. When people encounter the Church they should be blown away by how much we care about, serve, love, protect, and cherish other people. In fact, I believe that healthy local churches should create raving fans better than the greatest business or organization. My hope and prayer is that when people walk into Northwest Community Church on Sundays, attend one of our community groups, or live next door to a Northwester that they encounter people who are the friendliest, most servant oriented people they have ever met and it causes them to become raving fans of NCC. The stakes are much higher than turning a profit. We are called to create raving fans in order to point people to Jesus Christ...the one who modeled servanthood better than anyone in all of history!

Specific Prayers for Northwest

This past Sunday was an especially great time of worship together at Northwest as we concluded our study of Nehemiah and prepared for our move to Cooper Elementary. At the close of the worship service our church spent some focused time in prayer asking God to give us a radical obedience to his leadership in our lives and to use us to make his name famous in Bella Vista and to the nations. Here are the 3 prayers we prayed:

1. God help us remain desperate for you and your word.
2. God draw families to Northwest and give our church new eyes to see people we can invite to come experience what you are doing here.
3. God please allow Northwest to be involved in a movement that makes your name famous in Bella Vista and among the nations.

During your quiet times with God this week we ask that you partner with us and pray similar prayers over Northwest.

Moving to Cooper Elementary

Northwest Community Church is excited to announce we are moving our Sunday morning worship services to Cooper Elementary beginning Sunday, November 6th at 10 a.m. While we have been very grateful to lease the Bella Vista BGC over the past year and a half, we are pumped about the new location for the following reasons:

• Cooper is centrally located in Bella Vista – allows greater visibility of our church
• Over 700 children attend Cooper – opportunity for investment in more young families
• New, spacious building – allows our children’s ministry to grow
• Drastically reduces setup and teardown time due to available storage space

As we make the transition, we are asking our church to pray in the following ways during the month of October in preparation for the move:

• Pray that our church would continue to give generously as we take a financial step of faith to afford the new lease.
• Pray that all the logistical details would go smoothly
• Pray that more volunteers would step up to serve as we grow
• Pray that we will remain patient with one another in all circumstances

Cooper Elementary is located at 2 Blowing Springs Rd Bella Vista, AR 72714.