This past Sunday afternoon 7 of us headed for a quick road trip to Philadelphia. Since adopting Philly as our city of emphasis God has continued to open doors for our joining Him on His mission. Since hearing of Vision Philly, a family in our church has considered relocating to Philly and 2 college students that I mentor have begun to consider Philly for future ministry opportunities. Denise joined me and the seven of us (one of the college students is married) set out on our road trip. Let me give you a rough schedule:

• Left Sunday afternoon after church and drove straight through – arriving about 3:45 Monday morning.
• Slept Monday until about 8:00 am.
• Met for team devotions and then headed out on foot for a day in the city.
• We went to a breakfast place similar to Panera
• Went up the only observation deck in the city located in this incredible structure  – gave the team great perspective on the size of Philly.
• We then walked to get a quick look in the lobby of Philly’s largest skyscraper
• We left there and walked to these very famous steps
• We then walked a few blocks to this church (I will post a blog about that experience at a later time)
• We left there and had a fantastic culinary experience here
• We then walked to the subway station and took the subway to Center City East/Penn’s Landing area and took a tour of this most famous church
• We then caught the subway back to the hotel and arrived at the hotel at around 5pm.
• I returned some phone calls and answered some emails while a few of the team ventured out for a little city shopping.
• We met at 7pm and walked around the corner and ate dinner together.
• I was so proud of our team! We did all that after a 13 hour drive that put us in the city at 3:45 that morning.

In another post I will tell you what we did on Tuesday. Great team – great trip!!

Really looking forward to kicking off our new series, Palm Coast We Love You. 25,000 post cards are hitting the mailboxes and more importantly our people are utilizing the best strategy to get people here – the personal invite! This weekend we kick off the series with a massive challenge – How do we love difficult people? (Click to Watch the video promo) Then the next 3 weeks of the series we hit the streets and roll out the honor and applause for those who do such a great job loving our city.

• The week of Sept 12 well will be serving the first responders of our city and honoring them that next weekend.
• The week of Sept 19 we will be serving teachers at 2 of our local schools and honoring ALL teachers on that subsequent weekend.
• The week of Sept 26 we will be serving the city employees and that next weekend they are our invited guests.

If you attend Parkview and would like to get involved in any of the serve initiatives that are listed above then please click here to get the details and opportunities. We have already had alot of people sign up. Love it when we get in the trenches and impact people for Christ!!!

Vision Night is Sept. 18 at 5pm at Indian Trails Middle School. In our first weekend we gave away over 275 tickets. EVERYONE be sure to get your ticket this weekend!!!!!

Today one of our staff commented about the number of people serving at Parkview and specifically how that those newest to our church are really getting involved and making a difference. I too have noticed people stepping up and really serving the people of our city and church. I thought about what happens as people serve:

• it is an act of worship
• it expresses a kingdom-minded mentality
• it puts others first
• it lays up treasure in the right place
• it removes a self-centered attitude
• it moves the lost towards Christ
• it is a model for others to follow
• it is an example for the next generation
• it encourages teamwork
• it is a practice in obedience
• it ticks the Enemy off
• it fulfills Scripture
• it mirrors the model of Christ
• it adds joy to life

If you are not serving stop everything and email us now so you can experience all of the above! info@parkviewlife.com

I wanted to post a link to a news story that involves 3 Angels Orphanage. This past weekend we collected breakfast bars and crackers and partnered with Life Coast Church to make a difference in Haiti. Watch this clip as Mike and Gretchen share a little bit of their story. The 26 children who were brought to the U.S. were already in the process of adoption and the embasssy fast tracked their process so they could be placed in the home of their adoptive parents.

This weekend we will be receiving an offering to take our next step to help in Haiti. With our offering we will partner with  Convoy of Hope, Churches Helping Churches and we will also use some of the funds for our own personal involvement in Haiti.

Please pray about what the Lord would have you to give. Let’s join together in generosity and do our part in helping reach the people of Haiti!

Can’t wait to see you this weekend! We are going to have an awesome weekend. Be sure to arrive on time and come prepared to WORSHIP!

• As I mentioned in my last post, our church responded in a great way to the needs in Haiti.
• Pastor Mike Wehde and Lifecoast Church have also done an awesome job reaching out. As I mentioned, they already had a relationship with 3 Angels Orphanage in Port-au-Prince.
• I spoke with Mike a couple times yesterday, as well as a couple texts.
• He was trying to find a flight for 26 kids and 6 workers who had received embassy permission to flee Haiti and come to the states.
• Long story short, Mission Aviation Fellowship flew the whole group to Ft. Peirce last night!!
• I told Mike that Parkview is prepared to help in whatever way possible. I will keep you posted.
• This weekend we will be receiving an offering to help in Haiti relief, recovery and renewal.
• Be sure to pray for the people of Haiti and how God would have us participate.

If you didn’t read my post yesterday it would be best for you to scroll down and read it first.

I stated yesterday that today I would give you a way to connect with some of our missionaries. One way you can do that is through Facebook. Many of you use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, now you can do so to stay connected with some of our missions family. I am FB friends with Bill Daab, Jeremy Rose, JJ Alderman, Steve Aenis and Dan Pride.  If you are a FB person, than go add them to your friend list now!

There are 52 big weekends a year! But this weekend is HUGE!! We gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior – we will celebrate newness of life, victory over the grave and the abundant life found in Christ.

We will probably have over 1,000 people in church this weekend. We will have our 4 normal service times, plus our sunrise service at Princess Place Preserve. We also have some huge programming elements! All in all, this is a very busy week!

I promise you that our staff has brought their A game. Pastor Derek has been working 14 hour days; the admin staff has a whatever it takes attiude; our other pastors are very busy contributing to the big picture. Everyone is giving their best and under the pressure there has been a whole lot of joy and laughter!

This weekend I know that a couple hundred volunteers are coming for a massive celebration of the risen Savior and one of the ways they will woship Him is by bringing their A game of service. Just check out the first impressions team – smiles from ear to ear, a contagious spirit, and the warmest of welcomes. A nursery team that portrays that their day has been made by the arrival of one of God’s little ones. A Son Zone team that is thrilled by a large amount of guests and in every way will recognize the holy moment God has given them to minister to all the children – over 100 of them! Watch our entre worship team and see if they don’t lift up God giving Him His total due! They will use song, drama and art to open the hearts of people and bring them to death’s Victor. I could go on and on, but just keep your eyes open and you will see people on their A game!

To all our volunteers – I am praying for you. Enjoy Easter weekend and bring the worship of your A game!

I throw out to you the same question I asked you yesterday – What is it about this Easter season (Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter) that you really enjoy? What has special meaning or significance to you this time of year?