As Andy continues through the Big Church series into February, I hope that you will be at church, not to check a box, but to see what God’s up to and have the opportunity to get on board with that.  I can’t promise you’ll get rich or your family will stop fighting, but I can promise, that if you apply what we’ll be talking about, your life will change forever and you’ll be glad it did!

Hope to see you Sunday!  Brian

This week in December, we begin by asking our preschoolers a Key Question: “How do we know God loves us?”

A person close to me swears that his last name brings bad luck. He is convinced that all of the suffering and sorrow in his life is just a matter of being unlucky and, if he’s truly honest, unloved by God. Recently he laughingly told me, “I’m not saying Jesus is a bad person. I mean, I know he’s a good person and all. I’m just saying that God doesn’t like people with my last name. It brings bad luck.” He regularly posts on Facebook things like, ” god hates me.” “I’m sorry to every Sox fan ever. Having me as a fan has brought upon you the curse and wrath of god.” “Lame.” “The short end of a short stick.” And his favorite hashtag is #ihatemornings.  Don’t get me wrong, his “poor me” posts can be really funny… often. But, for every time I see a post that makes me laugh, it also breaks my heart. I desperately want him to know that bad things happen to even good people, luck is a myth, and most important, God has already done everything needed to show His great love for ALL.

Our Bottom Line this month says it all. How do we know God loves us? “God gave us Jesus.”

This month we anticipate and celebrate the Incarnation. The audacious breach of the boundary between Heaven and Earth. God in the flesh, bursting through the darkness to bring Light and Life to all. The Divine become human, willingly submitting Himself to all that being human means – suffering, loss, rejection, sorrow, abandonment, pain, and death – even death on a tree. How “unlucky” can you get?

I hope that as we journey through this month of preparation for Christmas that you will prepare your own heart as well. I hope that you will make space for silence and solitude in the midst of the hustle and bustle. I hope that you will remember God’s unimaginably great love for you – for ALL His creation – and that you will eagerly anticipate His coming with a new freshness and longing.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it.” John 1:5

Oh, that we would understand and embrace the Light this season.

Let every heart prepare Him room.

-Alicia Lewis-Cumberland Church Children’s Ministry Director

After finishing a recent FPU class at Cumberland, this was collected by our FPU Director, Robbie Poe!  I was so amazed to see these stats and hope you are too.  I am reminded, yet again, why FPU is so important to helping people grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  If you have never experienced an environment like this, I hope you will attend the January group or encourage those you know to take advantage of this transformational environment. Click here for more info.

-Brian

“We had 12 folks graduate, representing 8 families and here are some of the stats and feedback I collected…”

• 22 credit cards cut up
• 3 families started and ended with no debt
• Over $36,000 in debt paid off by the 5 families who started with debt
• Over $14,000 cash saved
• “We have been married over 10 years, and this is the first time we have ever communicated about money.”
• “I am grateful to Cumberland for offering this class. Now I can’t help but wonder what the Church would look like if every Christian handled money the way God teaches.”

Just Ask – Jared Cowan from Cumberland Church on Vimeo.

As many of you may be aware, we have been on the search for our next Student Ministry Director and have gone through extensive interviews and looked at many gifted candidates. We are excited to announce that Cody King will be coming to Cumberland as our next Student Ministry Director. He is so passionate about leading our current students and their families into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ as well as reaching out to the close to 15,000 students in our area that don’t go to church regularly.

Cody and his wonderful wife, Ashley, both attended college in Nashville at Lipscomb University where Cody received a degree in Youth Ministry. They have family in the area and can’t wait to get back into town and meet you all. Cody has been Student Ministry Director for the last four years at a church in Huntsville, Alabama, where he and the volunteers ministered to hundreds of students weekly. We expect to have Cody in town beginning November 20th to get started in his new role.

A HUGE thanks is due to Jason Madden, who has been our interim Director. His incredible passion to care for the students has been so evident over the last couple months. Please be sure to thank Jason and his wife, Jill for their willingness to step in and make a difference! Their impact will resonate for a long time.

Finally, please pray for our amazing student ministry volunteers, for Cody and Ashley, and most of all, the students that we are leading into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ!

Thank you,

Brian

At Cumberland we love irresistible environments.  We love creating spaces that invite you in so your life can be changed.  We happen to think that’s how Jesus worked.  This philosophy is not only for adults, it’s for our kids.  We want out kids to have one of the best hours of their week every time they come to church.  To this end we have just done a facelift on our elementary age environment, UpStreet.  If you haven’t seen it, go take a look.  Our volunteer leaders make the environment great and the facility makeover creates a welcoming place for kids!

The theme of the camp was “Konnekt.” Right off the bat, students heard a talk from Ben Crawshaw about our need for connection with God, each other, and God’s purpose for us. We talked about the things we are connected to and the path our connections were leading us down. Students then learned that when a connection with God is our first and most central connection in our life, then all other connections are influenced by our relationship with Him.  Students learned that connecting with God isn’t about getting a whole bunch of steps right, but jumping into a dance with Him. He leads. We follow. It’s not about us getting the steps right, but about Him showing us the steps we take. Scripture presents these truths to us in so many ways, and it was amazing to see kids’ eyes light up as they realized the relevance of God’s Word.

Perhaps the best thing about being at camp is watching small group leaders love and share their lives with high school students. As we talked about connecting with God and trusting Him to lead us by our relationship with Him, small group leaders were the loudest voice. Why? Because they walk with the students on a daily basis. Truth becomes reality as kids see their small group leaders live it out.

We are blessed to be a part of all He is doing among us at Cumberland and Inside Out! We know He has great plans for the future, and are excited to watch those plans unfold.

Ross Barnes

Alicia Lewis – Children’s Ministry Director

Before Elizabeth and I joined Financial Peace University, we couldn’t communicate about money.  I was already a student of Dave Ramsey’s teachings, which only seemed to help me drive a wedge between us. I only knew how to talk about what our goals with money should be, but I couldn’t seem to communicate why these were important, besides saying “Dave Ramsey said so.” Trying to tell a free spirit what someone else said she needs to do was a recipe for disaster in our marriage.

Going to the class was awesome for us. I looked forward to it every week. I loved that she was getting to hear the things I had been saying, but that she wasn’t getting beaten over the head with them. It was helpful and encouraging to hear everyone else’s successes and failures, and not just in financial matters, but in a whole range of life decisions that are inevitably interwoven with finances.

FPU was not a silver bullet for our communication issues, and it did not cause our income to double. It put tools in our belt for practical things like saving money on groceries, larger purchases, and insurance. It told us what kinds of investment and mortgage products to avoid, and why. It opened our eyes to the blessing we could be to others when we have control of our money and can give like no one else. And it validated both of us and our feelings about money–we are now able to discern when is the right time to spend, the right time to save, and that it is always the right time to give.

Daniel Kendrick – Financial Peace University Attendee

So…

Cumberland’s story really begins with your story, and my story and Brian Kriplean’s Story.  A bunch of people growing together in community, discovering what having a relationship with Christ is really about.  Often messy, always new.  We hope you join the Cumberland story.

Brian Smith – Cumberland Church Lead Pastor

Brian Kriplean Baptism from Cumberland Church on Vimeo.