Richard Sims

Sunday Recap

I loved yesterday's service at Tapestry Church! It was one of those days where I felt the Holy Spirit moving in my heart even more than usual. It was great to see others become lost in the worship of an incredible God. Josh Bayne was fantastic at leading us into communion with the Father. Thanks so much to all who were there and to all who served in so many ways to make it happen! You are heroes!

Speaking of heroes, wasn't it great to see Rob Lannom home on leave from Afghanistan?? That and the fact that yesterday was Rob and Andi's first wedding anniversary made the day even more special. Rob, we're praying for you every day!

So as we start a new week, here's the question for you from Sunday: Are you a true worshiper? If you are, then you find yourself worshiping from the heart, not just going through the motions, but overwhelmed with gratitude and praise for what God has done and for who he is. It isn't a question about the right "style" of worship, it's about your heart.

A true worshiper also worships with his/her life. Are you doing that? When you serve God by serving others, God is worshiped. When you obey God, God is worshiped. Is your lifestyle such that people around you notice a difference? Are you worshiping God with your life? 

Are you a true worshiper?

It's Coming Together, Part 2

It was exciting to be at Gold's Gym last night, as James Hall and his crew from JDH Electric began running all the electricity that we'll need in the worship room. Thanks James, for all your hard work and sacrifice to make this happen! James and the guys will continue their work of running electricity, running cable, and mounting lights this Friday. It's all coming together!

We'll gather to set up the building this Saturday night, and we need your help. Some of us are meeting at 6:30 pm, some at 7:30 pm, so pick the time that's best for you and join us as we set up the sound system, run pipe & drape, get children's rooms ready, and much more. Our first preview service at Gold's is this Sunday, 10/4 at 10am. I can't wait!

It's Coming Together...

This Sunday is on it's way! Our first Sunday at Gold's Gym is only 5 days away. All of our current equipment has been moved, and as you can see in this picture, our new screens and projectors have been installed. It's all starting to come together!

Thanks to Jeremy Moyers for installing the video equipment, with some special help from Joshua Putman, Jeff Jones and Josh Watson.

I can hardly wait for 10am on October 4th!

Ways to Help With the Big Move

Many of you have asked how you can help Tapestry Church with the big move. Basically, what we need most is YOU!

Here are the dates and times of all the events taking place this week as we make our way to Gold's Gym:

• Wednesday, September 23, 7:30 pm - We'll meet at Gold's Gym to install wiring, screens, projector mounts, lights, etc. No special training required, you'll be shown exactly what to do. We may finish on Wednesday night, but we may also carry over to Thursday night. Doing this ourselves is being excellent stewards of our finances.
• Friday, September 25, 7:00 pm - we'll meet at New Covenant to start getting things ready for the big move the next day.
• Saturday, September 26, 8:00 am - this is the BIG MOVE as we gather at New Covenant to pack up, load, head to Gold's and unpack. All help is greatly appreciated!
• Sunday, September 27 - if we don't complete the move on Saturday, we'll continue on Sunday. Our next service will be at Gold's, 10:00 am on October 4.

Thanks for all of your help with our BIG MOVE to Gold's Gym!

God Wants to Grow Our Faith

This Sunday at Tapestry we're back in business with worship at New Covenant at 6pm. This will be our next to last meeting at New Covenant, and we'll continue with part 5 of the 6-part series Five Things God Uses To Grow Your Faith. (Just a reminder, moving weekend is September 26-27, and then we get to celebrate God's faithfulness on October 4 at Gold's Gym.)

Speaking of faith, many of you began praying in faith way back in January, or even earlier, that God would provide Tapestry with a Sunday morning meeting place. When nothing seemed to happen for so many months, many of us had our faith tested. What we couldn't see was that God was working behind the scenes on our behalf. But that's why it felt like a test, we couldn't see that God was working. And, of course, that's why it's called faith.

In the meantime, we worked, and we worked hard. We looked far and wide for facilities, we talked to people, we crunched numbers, we were told "no" too many times to count. But we were working, because, after all, meeting places don't just drop into your lap, right?

Until God dropped this one in our lap.

I was actually at the beach when I received a call from Danny Wannall, owner of Gold's Gym. Danny said the he had heard we were looking for a place to meet on Sunday mornings and wanted to verify that, because he was looking for a church that might could use his facilities on Sunday mornings. This is one of those phone calls you never forget.

Between January and August 2009, how many of us lost faith that God would ever provide us with a Sunday morning foyer environment? How many of us are struggling in our faith right now because we can't see God at work in our lives? How many of us would like God to grow our faith BIG?

This Sunday we'll look at yet another way that God grows our faith. Don't miss it!

Key Dates in the Big Move

Many of you have heard by now that Tapestry Church is making the big move!

That's right, we'll soon begin meeting on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am at Gold's Gym, in West End Commons at 650 Henderson Drive, Cartersville.

Here are some BIG DATES for the BIG MOVE:

• Sunday, September 20 - Last Day at New Covenant Church
• Saturday-Sunday, September 26-27 - MOVING DAYS
• Sunday, October 4 - 1st Sunday at Gold's

In addition to these dates, it's very possible that we'll meet at Gold's on Saturday, October 3 to set-up for our Sunday services. Since it will be our first set-up at Gold's, this will give us plenty of time to get it right, rather than having the time constraints of doing this on the morning of the 4th.

So, whether you're a part of Tapestry or not, we ask for your prayers. We'd love to have your help on our moving days. And we'd be thrilled if you'd join us on October 4th!

The Big Move

Yes, it's been a while since I've blogged, but this one is worth the wait!

Just in case you haven't heard, Tapestry Church is making the big move!

One of our key environments at Tapestry is our Sunday worship gathering, and like a foyer in a home, it's a place where people can come, meet us, check things out, and hopefully find it enjoyable and helpful and want to come back.

In January 2009, God blessed us by allowing us to meet on Sunday nights at New Covenant Church. It's been a tremendous opportunity for ministry and we're grateful for it. But all along we've been praying this prayer together: "Father, please provide us with a Sunday morning location, one that can become an irresistible foyer environment, a place where unchurched people would love to attend."

So many of you have been faithful over the last seven months of meeting on Sunday nights, and you've been praying this prayer. We haven't been asking God for this because we prefer Sunday mornings or because we'd rather not sit in pews or for any other reason than this: we desire an environment that will help us reach the most people for Christ. Period.

And now, God has provided.

On Sunday, October 4, 2009, we'll begin having Sunday morning worship services at Gold's Gym in West End Commons, Cartersville!

God is so faithful!

More details to come in future posts, but for now, let's begin to pray that God will work through us in our new facility to lead people from all over this county into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ!

Sunday Recap

What a great Father's Day! It started out with breakfast in bed along with a Sunday newspaper, which featured a picture of me and the kids and Father's Day greetings from them. I am so blessed to have three incredible children!

Lots of Tapestry folks were out of town this weekend, but those who were here, well, we experienced a truly powerful service. Jason Sartain and the band rocked it out, then Louie Giglio talked about grace while sharing the story of Ashley, a college student in the last semester of her senior year.

Here's one of the many takeaways: "Most people who aren't followers of Christ, it isn't because they don't believe in God. It's because they don't think that God believes in them." Let that sink in for a moment.

The band led us in "Mighty to Save" to close us out, and, wow, just a great experience. Thanks to all who joined us and to those who helped us set up and tear down. Special, special day.

Up next - no worship service this Sunday, June 28, but we'll have InsideOut for grades 6-12 at 7pm on the 28th.

Sunday Recap

Last night we wrapped up the short, 2-part series Boulevard of Broken Dreams by looking at the story of King David and the rebellion of his son, Absalom. It was a unique perspective on that story, as David's dreams were crushed right before his eyes. His dreams were dashed, but not his faith. When you realize that your dreams can't come true, that isn't the time to take control of the situation. It's the time to lean hard into the only one who was ever in control in the first place, your Heavenly Father.

It was great to have James David Carter back with us leading worship! He did a great job and it was good to spend some time with him again. I really felt God speaking to many of us during the closing song, "Never Let Go."

You don't want to miss this Sunday! Louie Giglio continues last June's series Hope with a one-part video message entitled Fruitcake and Ice Cream. I'll share some more insight into this message in future posts.

Sunday Recap

First, let me say a great big THANK YOU to all who volunteered at the Georgia Barbecue Classic on Saturday! You were great! The Classic is the major fundraiser for the Good Neighbor Homeless Shelter, and you played a big part in their ability to serve people for the next year. Great job of serving your community.

Stephen Cope led us in worship on what may have been his final time at Tapestry, at least for the foreseeable future. Stephen was recently called as worship leader at the Columbia, South Carolina, campus of NewSpring Church. NewSpring's original campus is in Anderson, SC, and they are branching out with campuses across the state using video messages and live worship bands. Congratulations, Stephen! Please pray for the Copes as they make this transition in ministry.

Sunday night we started the 2-part series, Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Wow - so many times our natural tendency, when things don't turn out like we planned, it to grab the reins of life ourselves. Problem is, doing that almost always makes things much worse. Broken dreams don't mean that life is out of control. They just remind us that we were never in control to begin with. So instead of trying to take charge ourselves, maybe we should try leaning hard into the One who has been in control from the start. Can't wait for part 2 next Sunday!