Northside turns the big 02

Jamey

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Feb 20, 2022

Northside's 2nd birthday celebration

10:00 Slide show Matt Kimmell

10:05 Worship (celebration) Matt Kimmell

10:15 Jamey Shares

NORTHSIDE… you guys are looking better every year.

If I were to ask you… why would you say God is great in one or two words… what would you say? Don't say it… think it… remember it for later.

Northside is two… Look at you!!

What a two years it's been!!

According to the internet… now that you're the big 2… we should be able to…

Stand on tiptoes.

Kick a ball.

Start to run.

Climb on and down from furniture without help.

Walk up and down stairs while holding on.

Throw a ball overhand.

Carry a large toy or several toys while walking. Set up a team…. Man we’ve been doin that from day one…

A year ago… I remember coming up and standing on a Bright blue gym floor at another church… celebrating our 1st birthday… and the only thing I could say or think was… God has been so incredibly good to us.

I remember I called the staff up to share with you all… they played such a huge role in Northside's ability to pivot through all of that… stuff. And still do to this day. I absolutely LOVE the staff I get to work with here.

Would you guys stand… up…

The last three weeks we have been in a sermon series called abide…

Abide has to do with being firmly connected with… planted in… remaining in… this life giving relationship with Jesus in such a way that leads to Him producing lasting fruit in our lives…

And to me… a HUGE and often forgotten part of that is the idea of celebration.

And frankly it’s something most churches… and many believers don’t quite get…

There is something about knowing Him… Knowing you are forgiven and the target of his love and grace… to rest in the assurance of the promises of God… experiencing His faithfulness and leadership… that you’d think leads to a life of and a heart of celebration…

And the truth is… that is the precedent I believe God set… God wants us to know and experience this truth… that what we have in Him… is life changing… eternity changing… and if there was ever anything in life worth celebrating… here it is. I do believe it is what God desires

Over and over… the bible talks about how God leads his people into feasts, celebrations, commemorations… as a way of reflecting on and remembering the greatness of God.

Celebration is one of the surest signs that we get it… that we understand the weight and the gift of it. What it means to be forgiven… what it means to be the target of his love and grace, to be called His children…

If celebration is not a part of who we are, we are among the most miserable people on the face of the planet… and I can’t think of much that would be a worse witness to the true greatness of God.

It reminds me of

Psalm 145:1–7 NLT

I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness. Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness. Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

Psalm 145:1–7 NLT

(NLT)

1 I will exalt you, my God and King,

and praise your name forever and ever.

2 I will praise you every day;

yes, I will praise you forever.

3 Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise!

No one can measure his greatness.

4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;

let them proclaim your power.

5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor

and your wonderful miracles.

6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;

I will proclaim your greatness.

7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;

they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

God put Northside on our hearts about 12 years ago… we didn't completely understand it.

About 3 years ago… Suburban Christian Church agreed to partner with us to plant a Church in North Albany…

Originally it was going to be called Scenic Church… thankfully, God saved us from that. LOL. But it tells you about the location we felt like God was putting in front of us.

So many things had to go just right for this to happen…

God has been so incredibly Good... No doubt, the first two years of northside looked NOTHING at all like I thought they would… but the interesting thing is… even in the face of that… God has been better… more gracious… provided more… walked with us more closely… than I ever could have prayed for.

If anyone would have told me that Northside would be where it is today after two years… I wouldn’t have believed them.

Somehow… in ways that I don’t understand… things even with covid, fires, fear, riots, protests, politics, and more cultural division than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime… we have thrived… to the point of scratching our heads… it is undeniably the Lord.

So many things happened over the last two years… miraculous things… and they are still happening.

Over this last year:

Northside came home official relaunch Sept. 12th

Small groups launched

Kids ministry started back up

13 ministry teams up and running

Nearly 100 volunteer roles filled

Stories of God working in lives and families

Staff and Management team

Relationship with the school

7 baptisms (not counting todays)

Northside began supporting the Lomilo family in Uganda.

A year of records:

Average attendance in 2021 was about 130

Our highest ever attendance was Easter 325

Christmas eve right behind it 275

over 1000 people came to our Trunk or Treat event

Around 400 came to our Luau

Three largest regular Sunday services: 181,189, 201 (last week).

Records in Kids and youth Ministry

This isn

Northside came home; Last year at this time… bright blue gym… so thankful for NACC, but man if feels good to be back. After moving around probably 10 or more times…

Small groups launched…

5 groups with about 75 people plugged into them.

13 different ministry teams up, running, and growing … Get involved.

Nearly 100 volunteer roles are being filled at Northside.

We continue to hear over and over again… about how God is working in the lives and hearts of people.

The staff continues to be a huge blessing… courageous leaders that I am proud to call friends.

The MT… works hard to lead well… to pray well… we are so blessed to have the team we do.

Our relationship with the school is outstanding… one of the best i've seen.

This last year… was a year of records…

Covid really hit that one hard.

God’s church is growing… The 3 largest regular Sunday church attendances ever… two of them being the last two weeks… 201, 189, 181.

In fact… we have so many new folks coming that the staff now hold a dinner once every other month… to try and connect with folks that are new to Northside…

Record attendance in kids min… in youth min…

Trying to hire two assistants to keep up with growth.

Our average attendance is somewhere around 160 but it's trending up pretty hard.

We had over 1000 people come to our Trunk or treat event.

** I am not one of the pastors who shys away from talking about attendance… it represents real people that Jesus loves… and died for. It matters.

God has been so Good…. And there are reasons to celebrate.

Dakota and Megan Huxman

10:25 Huxman’s share: I wanted to let you hear from a few people who started attending Northside since our last birthday…

Dakota and Megan have a special place in my heart… I had Cody in the youth group all through MS and HS… super proud of him… and the more I get to know Megan the more I like her. Her uncle was one of the best teachers I ever had growing up…

Kurt and Beth Powell

10:30 Powell’s share: Kurt and Beth have been such a blessing and such a source of godly encouragement. I am incredibly thankful for them and the way they serve… their heart for the Lord… and the courage they have…

10:25 Powell’s on mission talk: Big announcement…

There are some big changes coming for your family… will you share what and where that is?

PNG photo

When do you expect to be in PNG? What led to this decision?

How Can Northside Pray for you?

So incredibly proud of you guys… It has been an absolute pleasure… joy… encouragement getting to know you… seeing God work in you… seeing your courage to step out and answer the call… We are with you… we will be with you… I feel like its a HUGE step for your family… and a big one for Northside too. Your family… I feel so blessed that we get to be a part of what God is doing in and through you.

It feels rare to me… that a church our size… get the opportunity to see some of our very own go out onto the mission field… I want videos… stories… pictures… and… to come see you.

JP as a part of the MT will come pray for you.

So… that's a big announcement… but we have one more.

Bill Mancuso

10:30 Bill Mancuso shares

10:35 Big ANN…

Self sustaining way before the norm…

Northside is healthy in so many ways… and is growing….

Our staff is amazing… our MT does such a good job…

Even financially, Northside is healthy.

God has beens so incredibly good…God has provided…

Once Covid hit and we realized what it meant for Northside… really… sort of homeless… if not for two wonderful churches taking us in… Don’t know where we’d be without them… the MT realized right then just how hard and fragile, limiting, constricting and even undependable it is to run a church out of a school… especially in this season.

The MT has been praying and talking about this for a long time and believe that now is the time… that God is calling Northside to begin the process of establishing its footprint right here in NA.

We want to invite you to begin praying with us as we move forward into what we believe God has as Northsides next steps…

I am incredibly excited and proud… and humbled to be in a place to even have this conversation…

We believe that NOW is the time to begin raising funds toward the purchase of land right here in North Albany…

We will spend the month of march talking about it… and praying about it…

All of that leading to what we are calling a first fruits weekend on April 3rd.

The MT has been thinking and praying about this for a long time, and I realize that many of you are hearing about it for the first time.

So here is what I’d like for us to do…

We have some information we’d like to send home and ask you to begin the process of reviewing it… and praying over it… digesting it… seeking the Lord in it…

And then in March we will begin to talk more about it… including a Q and A time with the MT after Church on March 6th. I realize you probably have a lot of questions… and I think most of them have answers in the folders we have for you… so please grab one on the way out, read it over… write down any questions you might have… I’d ask you to save those questions for March 6th.

I 100% believe that this is what God has for us… that God is establishing His church right here in North Albany… and I can’t think of a better thing to celebrate…

Oh wait… yes I can. One of the reasons we feel like now is the time… has to do with what's next…

Today we have 4 baptisms… and there are at least 3 more coming soon.

10:40 One worship song

10:45 Baptisms

Jamey will do a confession of faith for the group…

Elianna, Lucy, Adeline and Erik…

The thing that brings us together… that we have in common with our church family… more than any other thing is our common belief in Jesus. That he is God’s one and only son… that He is God’s perfect sign… or expression… of His love… His grace… His forgiveness… and His desire to have a relationship with you…

One of the things that Jesus told us to do… was to be baptized as a way of sharing our faith in Jesus with everyone…

And so my question is… are you ready to do that today?

And part of what we have in common is believing that Jesus is God’s son… and sharing our desire to make Him the Lord and savior of our life… Is that something you are wanting to do today?

What does that mean for us as a church…

Elliana Barnes Jamey Mills

Lucy Powell Kurt Powell

Erik Wood Mike Wood

Adiline Kimmell Matt and Becca Kimmell

Ella Hoopes… Allen and Rhonda Hanssen also TBA

11:00 Jamey invites people to stay for CC’s, to get their folders, pens and stickers

11:01 Last worship song…

Linger…

Decor: Summer Wood

Baptistry set up: Jamey Mills Night before

Set up crew: Be patient… let us linger a bit before going crazy. We can pick up the nursery and kids area.