ritchiemiller.org

This Sunday, September 5th, we will begin our preview services for the Avalon Church South Campus. A preview service is a live service that will allow us to get lots of the “kinks” worked out before our official launch service on October 3rd. We will have preschool, children’s ministry, live worship, and live preaching. Every ministry is getting started in September and we need you there.

Here are a few things to remember:

• We will be upgrading our video, sound, and lighting during September so the final product will be revealed on October 3rd.

• We are giving the children’s rooms, preschool rooms, youth rooms, and the lobby a facelift during September so that we can be at full strength on October 3rd.

• We will have a modified band and praise team for September. On October 3rd we will have the full program like we have at the McDonough Campus.

• We will have “live” preaching each Sunday that will mirror the same message as the McDonough Campus. On October 3rd I will be “live” at the South Campus and then each week following that will be broadcast through video with the same message as the McDonough Campus.

• We need all of our volunteers to show up and be involved during September so that our October 3rd launch will be great.

Ritchie

What is Avalon South Campus?

In the fall of 2008, we started sharing the vision that God had given to us about becoming a multi-site church. We knew that this was God’s plan for us, we just didn’t know exactly when or where. We’ve always had a passion for the Butts County area and knew that we would eventually pursue ministry in that area. Early this year, God began to open doors for us to develop a relationship with a church in that area that was looking for a new direction. We met with their leadership and spent a great deal of time in prayer, finally deciding that the best thing we could do to build the Kingdom of God would be for Avalon to absorb that church and make it an extension campus.

Is this a church plant or a new church that Avalon is starting?

No. We are going to be ONE church in TWO locations. We are simply taking the vision and the ministry of Avalon and plugging it in an additional location. We believe that God will do amazing things for the people of that community and we want to be a vessel for life change.

When is it going to start?

During the month of August, we will be holding prayer services each week in the new facility. We want all of you to participate in these meetings really catch hold of the vision that Pastor Ritchie will be casting. Also, if you’ve signed up to be a part of this campus, you will be trained on-site and you’ll be a major part of our preview services.

What is a preview service and when are they going to be?

A preview service will give the community an opportunity to come out and see what each week’s service will look like.

How do I get involved?

You can sign up on your communication card for information. We are asking for 150 people to launch out from the McDonough Campus and make the South Campus their home church for the next year. This is a great opportunity for you to get connected and get involved in Avalon Church.

What do we need?

The financial need will be great, but we know that God will provide. We really need for you to continue to invest in God’s Kingdom through your tithes and offerings.

August 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st - PRAYER SERVICES

We will be having prayer services at the South Campus at 7pm. We will hear from Pastor Ritchie, have a short time of worship, and spend time in prayer over that campus and the ministries there. We want EVERYONE to be here for these meetings! We will have childcare provided.

September 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th - PREVIEW SERVICES

We’re going to open the South Campus back up and start having preview services. If you’re headed down to the South Campus, this is when your first official service as a volunteer will begin.

September 18th - PUBLIC PREVIEW SERVICES

We’re going to be hosting a public preview service on this Saturday night at 7pm. Invite all your friends and come be a part of this amazing experience.

October 3rd - LAUNCH DATE

We will officially launch the new South Campus to the public and start having regular services there!

Don’t miss the prayer service at the South Campus tonight. We will meet at 7:00 PM, will have a brief time of worship, I will teach briefly, and we will spend some time praying for the South Campus launch. I really hope you will plan on being there. The address is 751 Dean Patrick Rd, Locust Grove, GA. Please be aware that the directions on Map Quest are not correct. Here is how to get there:

From the North
Take Exit #212, Locust Grove
Turn left onto Bill Gardner Parkway and go approximately 1.5 miles
Turn Right onto GA HWY 42 South and go through Locust Grove
Go approximately 4 miles and turn right onto Canup Road (Look for Eagle Storage)
Go 1.5 miles to the sign that reads Eagle’s Brooke Church on the Right

From I-75 South
Take Exit #205, Griffin/Jackson, GA HWY 16
Turn Right onto GA HWY 16 toward Jackson
Travel approximately 3 miles and turn left on Dean Patrick Road
Go approximately 2 miles to the sign that reads Eagle’s Brooke Church on the Left

See you tonight.

Ritchie

You may have heard that we are starting a new campus. Avalon Church, South Campus is right in the middle of the preparation stage. We are using the month of August to train all of our volunteers. Everyone who is serving at the South Campus will spend some time training and working alongside someone during a service at the McDonough Campus. Because of this, there will be no Sunday services at the South Campus during August. We will, however, have a prayer service on Tuesdays, August 10, 17, 24, and 31 at 7:00 pm.

In September, we will have preview services on each Sunday and we will also have a giant preview service on a Saturday night. Then in October we will launch on Sundays. I am so excited about this and I believe it will be a great adventure and a big win for the Kingdom of God.

I hope you will join us.

Ritchie

I want you to come to the pastor’s leadership roundtable that I am hosting August 19, 2010 at Avalon Church. At the last roundtable we discussed How To Grow Your Church In A Bad Economy. We had around 30 pastors and it was very helpful. Many of the pastors asked if we could discuss Church Systems this time, so I would really like for you to come and be my guest. Once again, this event is absolutely free and is a part of the Avalon HOPE Pastor’s Coaching Network. I really believe that you will be encouraged by the fellowship and the roundtable discussions. We will start at 10:00 AM and will end at 12:00 PM. Pastors, staff, and business people are invited.
Here are a few reasons you should plan to attend:

• You will be encouraged and challenged
• You will learn how to set up effective church systems
• You will learn systems that will help break through growth barriers
• You will grow personally in pastoral leadership skills
• You will learn systems to help reach your community more effectively
• You will learn systems that will help maximize your finances and increase giving
• You will learn systems that will take your church to the next level
• You will learn systems to increase evangelism and baptisms in your church
• You will meet new pastors
• Your staff will be challenged and stretched
• You will learn ways to beat the summer slump
• You will love the small group learning environment

I hope to encourage you on August 19th. I know I need some encouraging words! If you plan to attend just send me an e-mail @ ritchie@avalonchurch.net or call my office at (770) 320-7008 and let me know. Please respond and let us know if you are coming. By the way, bring your staff and if you know of any other pastor who could benefit from this please invite them too.

Have a great day!

Ritchie

For the last two nights Kim and I have been hosting some of our “big dog” church members. These are people that are extremely generous with their time, their money and resources, and their involvement at Avalon Church. They are “backbone” people. Without them the church would not be able to operate. They get it. They understand that the church is not about them. They have a passion for reaching people with the Gospel. They have bought into the vision. They love Jesus Christ and I believe they have Him at the center of their lives. I love them more than they will ever know. Avalon Church has a lot of people who are just like them. They are heroes in my book.

For all the faithful church members at Avalon and at other churches around the world I want to thank you. I know sometimes you wonder if anyone notices your service, your giving, your faithfulness, and your contribution. I know that you do not do what you do for the praise of men but it sure is nice to be appreciated. I appreciate you. I love you. I thank God for you. You are amazing. You are making a difference. You matter to God, to your church, and to me. Stay in the game. God is going to reward you for your work, your love, and your generosity. You are so important to the cause of Christ.

So keep it up. Stay in the game. Don’t quit. Keep on showing up. Keep on loving Jesus. Keep on reading His Word. You matter. God made you for this.

One day you will stand before God and He will say, “Well done.” Then all of Heaven will applaud.

Ritchie

I know what it feels like to be nervous and excited about starting a new church. Two pastors in my coaching network had their very first preview services on Sunday. Both churches got off to a good start.

Scott Blanchard is planting Lake Pointe Church in Detroit, Michigan. Scott was on staff at Marcus Pointe Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida and felt called to start a church in the Detroit area. He and his wife, Karen, moved with a team of three families that will serve on staff. They kicked off the first of their monthly preview services with 84 in attendance. Avalon has committed significant financial support to help plant this church through Avalon HOPE. Pray for Lake Pointe! They will have services once a month until their official launch date in March 2010. Learn more about this church @ www.lakepointechurch.tv.

Chris Lockhart has served as the Small Groups Pastor and Church Planting Pastor @ Avalon Church. He and his wife, Susan, have felt God calling them to start The Grove here in Henry County, GA. They had their first preview service at the Henry County Performing Arts Center on Sunday and they had a great response. Chris reported that things went well and that they had an attendance of nearly 100 even though they advertised very little. Avalon Church has committed major financial resources to help start The Grove through Avalon HOPE. Learn more about The Grove @ www.the-grove.tv.

I hope you will pray for these men and their families as they start their new churches. I am very proud of them and I think that they are going to do a great job.

Ritchie

There have been several times since starting Avalon Church that I felt God leading us to do something that we simply could not afford to do. I knew that if God did not show up we would fall flat on our faces and that if we had success He would get all the glory. I could write pages of stories but I will just tell you one.

We were just a little over a year old and we had already met in four locations. We would grow and then get kicked out of our meeting place. We lost people in every move so our motto became “if you can find us you can worship with us.” Our attendance had grown from 18 to 260 and then it shrank back down to about 150 people each week. The turnover was constant.

We needed a more permanent space. I knew the danger of getting a place too small. It would limit the growth of the church. I also knew God was leading me to do something so I decided to obey. At the time the economy was booming and I went to talk to a man that owned lots of commercial buildings in our area. Everything he owned was leased except for this one building I had my eye on. It was a new building that had never been occupied. It had sat empty for 18 months.

As I sat in his garage looking at his 24 antique show cars I finally got up the nerve to ask him about the building. I told him that we wanted the building. He told me he would love to lease it to me. I told him we could not afford it but we wanted to buy it from him for what he had in it.

He laughed. I got quiet.

Finally he broke the silence and said OK. I told him that we would take it but I needed him to do one thing. Since we could not get a loan from the bank he had to owner finance it.

He laughed. I got quiet again.

After an uncomfortable silence he told me that he would owner finance it for what he had in it. Either God was at work or I was really good at staring him down so I asked him for one more favor.

He cursed. I told him we did not have any money to pay so we could not pay for the first 3 or 4 months.

He laughed. I got quite again.

He finally said yes and we had our first building. To tell you about all the lessons I learned from that would take too long so let me just tell you this lesson. If I had disobeyed God I would have killed our church. The vision would have died. Disobedience kills vision.

I hope you have the courage to obey.

Ritchie

When I was 23 years old I was talking to a pastor about a decision that I had made. I was having some major doubts about it. He looked at me and said, “Make your decision and then spend the rest of your life making it the right one.” I have never forgotten that advice. Obviously I have made some wrong decisions since that time. He was not saying that you should never admit a mistake; he was simply saying do not live your life in doubt or play the “what if” game. I have tried my best never to live my life in the rearview mirror.

Doubt is a major league vision killer. It robs us of confidence. It is a faith stealer. Doubt causes leaders to hesitate and that creates turmoil among those we are called to lead. Remember the old deodorant commercial that said, “Never let them see you sweat?”

I am not suggesting that you will always know the outcome of things or that every plan will always work out the way you want it to. I am simply saying trust God. He is the one who has called you. He is the one who has empowered you. He is the one who must make things happen. You and I can actually control very few things anyway. So trust God. Do not doubt His call on your life. Listen intently to His voice every day then go forth and lead with boldness.

Ritchie

P.S. Tomorrow I will talk about how disobedience can kill vision.

In June of 2008 I walked across the state of Georgia in seven days. Many people questioned my sanity and I was one of them after the second day. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. There were lots of things that made me want to quit – the hot sun, blisters, the agonizing mileage each day, cramps, swollen ankles, knees, and hands, dehydration, sunburn – but the thing that got me the most is probably going to make you laugh. It was not the pain or the tiredness or the thirst that discouraged me most. It was the flies. That’s right…yellow flies! In southern Georgia they constantly flew around my head and bit me. I looked like a reject from So You Think You Can Dance because I was swatting, flailing, yelling, and waving my hat at them. They nearly drove me out of my already fragile mind. It was not the daunting big things that got to me. It was the little, seemingly insignificant flies.

When it comes to vision killers I do not think it is the big things, the daunting things, or the major sins that get us into trouble at first. We would see that coming a mile away. I think it is the little, harmless distractions that take our focus off of what we are supposed to be doing. Many times it is not even wrong it is just not best, or wise, or on mission. Solomon said that it is the little foxes that spoil the vines.

What are the distractions in your life that could derail your vision?

Ritchie

P.S. Tomorrow I will talk about how doubt can kill vision.