Capstone’s first event was the 08.08.08 BBQ Dinner at Chris Barrineau’s House. We gathered people who might be interested in joining the mission and vision of Capstone. Almost three months later we have seen God do so much. Here is a video we played in September from the pastor, Dustin Willis, of Midtown Fellowship in Colunbia talking about the current state of the American church.
Here are a few comments from Octobers Community Dinners:
“we had a blast sunday night. we didn’t know how to act at first without kids. but we pulled it off. it was great just to have adult talk. the dinner was great. we cant wait until the next one.”
“We really had a good time, it was fun and interesting to engage with people we normally wouldn’t spend time with. I think we have already gained new friendships that hopefully will be lasting.”
Our next community dinner will be Sunday Night on November 23. We will be moving up the time since the kids have school the next day. We will start at 5:30pm and go until 7:30pm. We will be taking care of child care again at Climbing High. You will be able to drop the kids off starting at 5:00pm.
Please email Walt [walt@capstonechurch.net] or sign up at the information table the next couple weeks at Capstone Discovery. If you would like to be a host home, please let us know as well.
| Chris Barrineau spoke this week at Capstone Discovery while Walt Tanner was holding it down in Camp Rock. Chris discussed his own personal struggle in staying consistent in studying God’s Word, which everyone in the crowd agreed is not the easiest thing to do.
Chris discussed John 6:35 where Jesus informs us that He is “the bread of life.” Christ is what moves us and keeps us running. But we don’t often consume this bread of life. We snack on the junk food of the world. We asked the question at the end of our community group time if the folks at Capstone Discovery were FULL of the Bread of Life or STARVING for some life from the giver of life. Looking at the cards we saw that many people are starving. One of goals at Capstone is to teach individuals how to receive from the one who gives so much. We want people to be able to feed themselves on a daily basis. Why? Because this is the example we see in Jesus relationship with the Father while here on Earth. Eat up! |
Here are a few pictures from this week’s Capstone Discovery.
Our crowd was a bit lower with families taking advantage the kids day off from school this Monday. But the spirit at Capstone Discovery was still pedal to the medal. Each week we continue to see new families coming to check out what Capstone is all about, and this week was no different.
This week we continued diving into Luke 15. We spent time looking at the third parable Jesus tells - the parable of the Lost Son. We didn’t spent too much time on the son which is the normal route when looking at this passage. We looked at the two men left at home - The Loving Father and Hostile Brother. Here were our major points from this week’s Capstone Discovery:
[LF-Loving Father /// HB - Hostile Brother]
LF is preoccupied with THE LOST
HB is preoccupied with HIMSELF
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”
LF operate from the context FORGIVENESS
HB operate from a context SHAME
“His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him.”
LF throws PARTIES
HB throws FITS
We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began
LF CONFRONTS HB thinking.
HB CRITIZES LF thinking.
His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’
LF open the doors and LEAVES THE LIGHTS ON
HB close the door and TURNS THE LIFE OFF
This week we final were able to post a short highlight of our time at Aunt Het Day. Check it out below.
Capstone Church & Aunt Het Day from Capstone on Vimeo.
This week we changed up a few things to keep everyone on their toes at Capstone. This week we started a new video circulum for kids at Camp Rock. The word on the street is that they had a blast learning about the Heroes at Mega City. We shook up the adults by moving them to the gym. Our agendas also changed. We went from just talking about Capstone Discovery to hearing Scripture and processing with small group questions.
The discussion this week was the scripture that really sets the tone for Capstone’s culture and DNA - Luke 15. Luke 15 is broken down into four GREAT parts. The first was that context: Jesus and sinners hanging out. And that the sinners found Christ teaching and life attractive. The second is the parable of the Lost Sheep. We hear Christ say that he was willing to leave the 99 safe sheep to go after the 1 lost a sheep. There is so much we can learn from this small parable.
The main points were:
* We were all once the LOST SHEEP
* The man was the MISSION (Saving Private Ryan)
* The party is for the SINNER not the SAINT
* Capstone will train the 99 to reach the 1.
Next week will be touching on the Lost Coin, but digging into the Lost Son.
In our short history (5 weeks) this was a weekend that hopefully will set the pace for the future of Capstone Church.
Saturday we spent the day in the community on one of Fountain Inns most celebrated days, Aunt Het Day. We partnered with the Recreation Department to help sponsor their booth and give prizes [Ipod Nano and Disney Prize Pack] for the awesome NEOS. The area was a hit with kids and adults alike. We were able to throw out over 300 Capstone Frisbees, make balloon animals for the kids, pass out Capstone Cards, and have some great conversations about Capstone and just church in general.
Our Capstone Crew also were wearing their sweet Capstone Shirts. It was great to see spots of blue Capstone shirts on the crowded streets of Fountain Inn Saturday. We also saw hundreds of children walking around with Capstone Frisbees. This weekend was our first engagement with our community. It was a great experience for both parties.
Sunday Morning we celebrated what God has done during our first month of gathering together for Capstone Discovery. We are lucky in that we have several people who stepped up to lead us in music for the first time. They did a GREAT job. We had everyone (including children) take part in seeing what our timeline looks like as we shoot for our January 11 Public Launch. We had 70 people taking part in this great celebration event. We are floored at how people keep hearing about Capstone and a hunger for something new in Fountain Inn.
Next week we will be back at the Fountain Inn Recreation Center. We get back into our Capstone Discovery groove and begin to study the Scripture that ignited the vision for Capstone – Luke 15.
Last week we discussed what our community and structure at Capstone will look like when we get up and going in January 09. The way we decided was to look at how Jesus spent His time and modeled His ministry.
Local Community: The Local Community is everyone who lives in our local area. It is the places we live, work, play, serve and worship. Jesus had a local community where he lived. He built relationships and did miracles in this His local Community.
We would consider the Golden Strip area our local community.
The Gatherings:
In Jesus Ministry we see Him gather people out of His local community for teaching and worship. It might be on a hillside or in a synagoe. We see Jesus teaching to a large group.
Our objective with the Gatherings on Sunday Morning will be to create a welcoming and relevant environment for our Capstone family and guests alike. We want the Gathering to be a place where all the barriers have been removed in order to point people to the Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a time to connect with others, worship together as one body, and be challenged in our relationship with Christ.
Community Groups:
Out of the crowds that gather together to hear and see Jesus, a smaller group was created. Jesus’ smaller group was His disciples. He did life together with this group.
We call these groups Community Groups. Community Groups will have three main purposes:
1. Continued Study of the Word: Each community group will have a time of continued study of God’s word. This might be a continued study of Scripture from the Sunday morning Gathering or a topical study. We believe that each group should be growing closer together and Christ through Scripture.
2. Service in the Community: Capstone believes that people grow tremendously when being the hands and feet of Christ. Each community group will take part in monthly service to our community.
3. Relationship with Others: Community Groups will be an outlet for people to grow in relationships with the Capstone Family. Relationships are a key component of Community Groups because the importance of people helping people. People will surround each other through prayer, support, encouragement, and accountability.
Life Coaches Purpose:
Life Coaches rather than Community Groups will be our main avenue of discipleship. We see Jesus has a “community group” in his twelve disciples, but his key relationships were with James, Peter and John. In this model, we believe that Christ shows us that real discipleship occurs through intentional relationships. We also see this intentional discipleship with Barnabas and Paul, then Paul and Timothy.
Life Coaches will be both men and women who have shown all the elements of a Capstone Disciple. They will each have 3 or 4 same sex disciples who will do intentional life together with the purpose of learning how to become a true disciple of Christ. We want to as Col 1:28 says: “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ”.
Community is Team Work:
We live in an individual driven society. God has called us to more than living a self-centered life. This life goes far beyond ourselves—we must pull together to accomplish a common Christ-driven mission.
CAPSTONE is a team, not a group OF DIVIDED PEOPLE.
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
“If we are not UNITED, our voice will be silenced, out message will be weakened, our influence nonexistent, and our fellowship fractured.” Bob Roberts from Transformation
