Brandon Thomas

This Valentines weekend will go down as one of the most RISK-RIDDLED weekends of your journey with Keystone!

February 13,14 We are launching our MARRIAGE WEEKEND, where tons of couples will take a RELATIONAL RISK and put it all on the line to see their marriage IGNITED… It will change lives!

February 13,14 We are also launching a new series titled, HIGH FIDELITY… hundreds of people from our city will be called to take a SPIRITUAL RISK and find God’s great plan for a lifetime commitment to marriage

FINALLY: FEBRUARY 14 WE ARE LAUNCHING OUR 4TH SERVICE!!!
This 12:45 service will accomplish 2 things… (keystone: memorize these two things!)
1. We will take a RISK and create a space for people who can’t come at our normal times and make it to Keystone… bartenders, late niters, partyers, etc., etc… LET’S TRY TO CREATE A SPACE FOR THE LATE NIGHT CROWD!
2. We are also attempting to create MO SEATS FOR YO PEEPS! 11:15 is our #1 service attended by guests. We are coming very, very close to running out of room in that hour in our kids area, our auditorium, and our parking lot. If YOU are led to attend or serve 12:45, you will be providing seats for the PEEPS who are NOT HERE YET!

PRAY ABOUT IT
GET IN ON IT
DON’T MISS IT!!!

This weekend is WEEK #3 in our VERY FUN series, ‘THIS PREACHER LIKES TO DANCE.’

Throughout the series we are discussing how God has WIRED THE WORLD for celebration. This weekend, we will explore how God has created us for pleasure and how we tend to take that pleasure (sex, food, drink, entertainment, etc.) and bend it toward pain. In my preparation, God is putting some hard topics on my heart… some that might not be great for ‘little ears.’

Without giving too much away, I strongly encourage all the parents out there to please be sensitive to drop your kids off at our amazing kids’ ministries to protect their little ears as we GET REAL this weekend!!! Otherwise, the ride home will be very memorable!

See you this weekend… and INVITE EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

My older brother, Eric Thomas, is pastor at the First Baptist Church, Norfolk, VA. Check out how they touched the lives of single moms…

Is that unbelievable, or what?

In the early days of Keystone Church, I was most tense and uptight when I taught giving. I was petrified that our unchurched friends would brand me a ‘money-grubbin preacher’ and never give Jesus a chance. Yet, the more I dove into what God taught on money the bolder I became.

Now, I love talking about obeying God with our money.

As I have studied Scripture, I am struck by 3 types of giving:

1) FAITHFUL GIVING:
Often known as the tithe, this type of giving is RETURNING to God a FIRST PORTION of our income. The Old Testament refers to the 10%… In the New Testament, Jesus is quick to affirm the tithe, not as a means to get to God but as a good obedience en route to weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23-24). For more examples, check out Genesis 14:17-20; 28:20-22; Deuteronomy 26; Leviticus 27:30-33; 1 Corinthians 16. For a stern warning against violating this simple teaching, see Malachi 3:8-10.

2) GENEROUS GIVING:
Generosity is a thread woven throughout the Bible. We must manage our money in such a way that we are able to be generous at all times. The direct application back then was mainly directed to slaves, foreigners, widows and orphans. In our case, we must always have room to help a family member in need, a single mom, a friend who has lost their job, etc. This also includes spontaneous offerings for children in need or other great opportunities. Some samples of generosity: Deuteronomy 15:13ff; 24:19; James 1:27.

3) SACRIFICIAL GIVING
At Keystone, we believe with all our hearts that it is God’s design for every believer to either be preparing for, participating in, or recovering from a sacrificial gift. It is in our spiritual DNA to give until it hurts. These are the types of gifts you can’t just budget… once you give it, you have to financially recover from it! For example, in the New Testament you see Barnabas sell a portion of his land as a sacrificial gift… that’s a gift you can’t replenish! That is a true sacrifice. God does not desire his children to WHINE about financial projects… if your church is constantly raising big sums of money, it means there’s a big vision driving it! That’s a GREAT CHURCH. We’re completing our first 3-year journey of sacrificial giving this weekend and WE’RE PUMPED! I’m also thrilled to take the next few months to bathe the vision of our church in prayer so we can begin challenging ourselves for the next great sacrifice. See Mark 10:21; Luke 19; Acts 2:42-46; 4:32; 11:29-30; Romans 15:26-27; 1 Chronicles 29:3.

It is crucial to be healthy in all three areas of giving… it’s how you’re designed!  It moves you closer & closer to your God-given potential!  Those Keystoners I know who give out of all three pockets are VERY, VERY happy people… they have sacrificed boats, ranch houses, new cars, and high-def plasmas to see God’s mission spread… that’s living on THE EDGE!!!

This weekend at Keystone Church, we will feature our third talk in the CRAZY LOVE series.  The Bible is SO RICH to show us how life looks like when Jesus is in the center.

HERE IS MY HCO (hot church opinion):  Sex is better when you are in love with Jesus!

You can sign up for our next baptism service on your connection card!

You’ll hear more this weekend – don’t miss it, bring all your friends & show them how awesome church can be… and please be sensitive to drop your kids off at our amazing kids’ ministries to protect their little ears as we GET REAL this weekend!!!

I am convinced that the church Jesus died for should be LOUD in its good works and STRONG in its INFLUENCE in our culture.

There is an incredible history of the men of God standing up to influence the thoughts and opinions of the world toward God’s magnificent plan of making ALL THINGS NEW, ultimately through Jesus Christ. You see this in the lives of Daniel, Nehemiah, Athenagoras, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa… just to name a few.

I have been so pleased to see some great leaders in our nation speak into the culture with confidence and conviction. They have insight and humor. Rick Warren, Ed Young, and Mark Driscoll are three unique, different leaders of great churches. I have had the great opportunity to meet and speak with all three. I’ll be the first to tell you that THESE GUYS are the REAL DEAL. In person they are genuine and engaging. It’s a personal thrill to see them using their INFLUENCE to spread the name of Jesus & help people fall in love with God’s design for NEW LIFE!

Rick Warren at Inauguration:

Ed Young on Colbert Report:

Mark Driscoll on Nightline:

ALSO, thanks to the incredible volunteer heart of Keystone Church, we were able to have INCREDIBLE INFLUENCE in our city! If you missed it, check it out here.

Keystone In the News – Part 2 from Keystone Church on Vimeo.

This past weekend was INCREDIBLE!  We cam SO CLOSE to reaching 1,000 people through three services! This was the single largest (non-holiday, like Easter or Christmas Eve) weekend attendance we’ve ever had.

HERE’S WHY THIS PUMPS ME UP:

• That’s almost 1,000 people who put themselves in a position for God to speak to them
• That’s almost 1,000 people with problems I don’t know about – BUT GOD DOES!
• That’s almost 1,000 people who now know how to begin killing the sin in their lives
• That’s a potential army of almost 1,000 people to embrace God’s mission for the world!

It’s not about the PRIDE of having that many people on our campus
It’s not about the MILESTONE of having our greatest regular weekend attendance ever
It’s about LIFE CHANGE!

SEVERAL were saved
SEVERAL made life-changing decisions

IF YOU MISSED IT… here’s a recap of the message:

Jekyll & Hyde – Part 1 – What’s Your Problem? from Keystone Church on Vimeo.

Guest Post from Brian Burton

If you missed the HUGE, MASSIVE, INCREDIBLE, POWERFUL, AWESOME announcement this past weekend, you can watch it below.

Special Announcement on January 3/4, 2009 from Keystone Church on Vimeo.

You can find more details about this amazing opportunity at the FREE GROCERIES webpage.

VOLUNTEER
We will need as many volunteers as possible to make this a success.  We have a great opportunity to LOVE OTHERS by serving our community.  You will not want to miss out on this opportunity and the blessing that comes from God loving others and meeting needs through you.  You can register to volunteer at keystonechurch.com/freegroceries.  

DOWNLOAD APPLICATIONS
You can also apply to receive groceries online.  If you would like to download applications to print and give to your friends, co-workers or neighbors, you can download it here.

DOWNLOAD FLYERS
If you would like to print and place flyers around the community, at your place of work, etc, you can download the flyer here.  We encourage you to print it on a color that will make it stand out. We are using orange and green.

PRAY
We ask you to pray fervently about this amazing opportunity.  

1. Ask God to guide us to those people who are in need so we can bless them with food for a week.   
2. Ask God to stir in our church a massive passion to LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS and LOVE LIFE.
3. Ask God how you can get involved in this opportunity.