-Family Meeting-

As many of you know, at our 2-year birthday service we announced that REVO Church is going to start another REVO campus in the North W/S area in 2013.  We've put in a timeline for this campus to launch at the end of the fall of this year.  We want to have these family meetings to keep you in the loop of new details as they come about.  There are just a few things that I want to let you know:

1. This new REVO campus may be hard to wrap your mind around, so I want to give you some terminology that we use and you will continue to hear used around REVO.  This new campus means that we will be "1 Church in 2 Locations."  We will be 1 church (REVO Church) that meets in 2 different locations.  The campus names will have words tagged on to the end (REVO downtown and REVO North are possible names), but that's just to distinguish what campus we're talking about.  It's not to distinguish 2 different churches.  Let me give you an example:

Before Easter, REVO had an 11am service and a 6pm service.  The audience in these services were very different.  Many of the 11am attenders never went to the 6pm service, and vice versa.  However, we were still 1 church.  It wasn't 2 churches meeting separately.  It was 1 church meeting at 2 different times.  This new campus will be similar.  Right now, REVO North is meeting at 6pm on Sunday nights.  It's still REVO!  It's not us vs. them.  It's not the mother ship downtown and the church plant on the North side.  It's 1 church that meets at 2 different times, and also 2 different locations.

When you attend a REVO North service, you will see all of the same aspects that you find at the current REVO services: rWorld, guest services and hospitality, great worship music, and biblical teaching.

So remember that phrase: ONE church in two locations.

2. This new REVO campus will have a Campus Pastor.  The is what a campus pastor does.  They will pastor the people there, preach there, and be a missionary in that area of the city.  They will be the point person for that campus and the people that attend there.

Which brings us to the exciting news of who the campus pastor will be at REVO North.

3.  After months of praying and seeking God on the direction and plan that He has for REVO, the SLT has decided that Wesley Johnson is going to be the campus pastor of REVO North.  Wes and Heather have spent a lot of time praying together and investing their lives in the North side of the city and feel that God is calling them to take this new position with REVO Church.  We are extremely excited about what God is doing there, and we are 100% confident that Wes is the one that God has called out to take this leadership position on.

4.  Let me make this clear!  We are not losing anybody!  We are not sending anyone away never to be seen or heard from again.  Since we are 1 church in 2 locations, Wes is still a pastor on staff at REVO.  The only thing that has changed is his job description.

Also, since the campus isn't going to launch until late in the fall, Wes will still be here on Sunday morning leading worship or playing in the band at the downtown location just like he always is.  After the North campus launches, he will also be at the downtown campus about once a month after the launch to lead worship or preach just like he is doing now.  So honestly, if I hadn't have told you, you wouldn't even notice the difference for another 6 months!

One last thing.  We want to make sure that we have all of your questions answered and any concerns that you would have addressed.  I don't want anyone thinking that we're losing someone or that this is a bad thing or you're not excited about it.  So please, if you have any questions at all, send us an email at info@discoverREVO.com and we'll set up an appointment and we'll meet with you sometime and help you any way that we can.

We want to spark a revolution of life change through Jesus, and we know it's going to take more than 1 church to do that in this city.  If we make sure the mission is elevated above everything else, then God will use us to reach this city as we do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus.

I love you guys. I appreciate your sacrifice and everything you do.  I love being on this mission with you, and most of all I'm so humbled to be one of your pastors and have a front row seat to see how God is using you and this church to make Jesus famous.

-Jesus and Divorce-

This message has been on my calendar for 6 months, knowing it was going to be one of the hardest messages I've ever preached at REVO.  Tomorrow I am preaching on what Jesus said about divorce.
There are a few things that I need for you to read and understand before you show up to REVO tomorrow.


1.  Know this about the Bible:
This book is written for you, but not about you.  This sermon is about Jesus, not you.  Your life is not important or significant enough for me to preach a sermon about.  Sorry to break that to you.

2. Know this about the Message:
This sermon isn't just for people that are divorced.  This text is written for everyone that will be in the room or listening online tomorrow.  Single, divorced, happily married, unhappily married, old, young, it doesn't matter.  So don't turn it off.  Don't get uncomfortable.  Don't stay at home because you think it doesn't apply to you.

3. Know this about the Purpose:
This isn't a math equation.  This isn't a time to place blame and to debate whose fault it was.  This isn't an equation where you plug your life in, plug your ex's life in, and hit enter and expect the bible to tell you who was wrong.  The purpose is to exalt Jesus, not to exalt you or to tear you down.

4. Know this about me:
I've never been divorced.  My parents are not divorced.  I can't speak truth into your life from my experience.  But then again, I'm not interested in doing that.  That's not what people need.  My personal anecdotes and commentary won't save anyone.  Jesus does.


So I'm going to stand on stage tomorrow and open up the Bible and preach about Jesus, which is the same thing I've done every week since we started REVO Church almost 2 years ago.

Tomorrow, come hear a scandalous story about an adulterous bride and a faithful, loving Groom.  Get an eye-opening look into the REAL, unadulterated, powerful Gospel story.

REVO Family Meeting, August 2012

1.  ELDERS AT REVO
The government structure at REVO Church is based on an "Elder Lead, First Among Equals" leadership model.  That means that the Lead Pastor (Pastor Nathan) is the leader of the elder team and leads and directs the church.  The Elder team, which consists of our three other pastors and other elder leaders, guide (from the macro-management level) and oversee the implementation of the vision and mission that God has given Pastor Nathan.  As a staff we have been praying that God would call out and equip men in our city to serve as elders.  After a long vetting process and much prayer, we are excited to announce that Stephen Lockwood will be serving as our first non-pastor elder at REVO.

The biblical qualifications for being an elder are lofty, and the other areas that are specific to the expectations of our church are also intense.  Please pray for Stephen and his family as he steps into this role and helps lead and guide our church as we strive to spark a revolution of life change through Jesus.
For more information on the qualifications and expectations for being an elder at REVO Church, email info@discoverREVO.com.

2.  BIG GROWTH!
God is doing some great things at REVO.  We have seen some great growth over the past 12 months, and even had a spike in attendance over the summer months.  We are constantly reaching 70-80% capacity in our 11:00 worship experience.  To ensure that we are prepared for what God wants to do next, we are striving to take proactive steps to ensure that as many people as possible can hear the Gospel at REVO Church.  

Here are a few of the areas that we are working on:
A.  We are reconfiguring our set-up on Sunday morning to put as many seats as possible in the auditorium.
B.  We are praying over starting a second A.M. service to add to our 2 current services to expand our seating capacity.
C.  We are constantly searching for new facilities to buy/lease that would set us up for future growth and help us to see the mission and vision realized.

If you are All-In at REVO, here is how you can help!
A. When you get to REVO on Sunday morning, sit as close to the front as you can and try not to leave empty seats open.  Our guests tend to come in right before the worship experience starts, so having seats open at the back will make their first time in the auditorium smooth and stress-free.
B. If you aren't serving on Sunday morning, GET SIGNED UP!! The need is huge.  When we start our second A.M. service, we will be offering rWorld (our children's ministry) at both services.  We need people to get plugged in so that kids and families can continue to be loved, equipped, and pointed to Jesus!
Thank you in advance for sacrificing so that we can get the bride to the groom!

3.  ANNUAL REPORT 
We published our 2011-2012 annual report on Sunday.  Our fiscal year goes from July-June, so our annual report will be published every August.  

We publish this report for a few reasons:
A. To be 100% transparent with our finances.  We want everyone to know where the money is spent, what percentages are being used for various areas, and how God is using our generosity to change this city
B. To celebrate the past year, but to also use this as a spring board of excitement and anticipation that for REVO, the best is yet to come!

If you were unable to attend the family meeting this Sunday, you can pick up a copy of the annual report from one of our great Guest Services volunteers at the connections desk before or after our 11am or 6pm worship experiences.  Next week, an PDF of the report will be available at www.discoverREVO.com.  If you have any questions about the report, please feel free to contact our Office Manager to set up an appointment with one of our pastors.  You can reach Kat at info@discoverREVO.com