ALL STAFF CHAPEL

Our All-Staff Chapel this week was a great opportunity to come together to worship and pray and to encourage one another. We are blessed to have the greatest staff team around ... and I am privileged to be their pastor. We have 670 employees at Prestonwood from Main Street Café to our many ministries and facilities and so on....

I appreciate the hard work of all our people; I am grateful for their passion and dedication to our church and our Lord; and I love their heart to serve others and the joy with which they do it. I am also very thankful for your prayers for our ministers and our staff team as we go about doing our Father’s work day-in and day-out at this place we call Prestonwood.

CELEBRATING NEWNESS OF LIFE

I don’t know that there’s a more beautiful sight in worship services than that of people coming forward to accept Christ ... to join this family of believers ... to rededicate their lives. We had a powerful picture of that last weekend when Tim Lee preached. And this past weekend we experienced another amazing moment in the life of our church when we baptized 94—spontaneously.

We began the series The Gospel of God, teaching from some of the greatest chapters in the Bible. We started with the message “The Supremacy of the Gospel” focusing on 1 Corinthians 15:1–4.

And at the end of the services (Jarrett Stephens on Saturday and I on Sunday) invited those who have never been baptized, those who’d been waiting or those who were making first-time decisions for Christ, to come and be baptized right at that moment. We praise God for the 94 adults and children who came forward!

Those who were new believers, we counseled and will continue to do so, and the little ones will be enrolled in our New Christians Class.

This weekend they learned that the clear teaching of Scripture is that every believer should be baptized as a testimony of saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Immersion reminds us of the burial of our sin through the blood of Christ just as emerging from the water is symbolic of victory over death and a brand new start.

Upon making a profession of faith, confessing Christ, they identified with Christ in His death, burial and Resurrection, and were raised to walk in newness of life. What a beautiful picture that is of Christ’s baptism and what a beautiful sight it was to witness....

To God be the glory!

STRAIGHT UP Now Airing On TV

Wanted to let you know that Straight Up, my message series tackling tough issues we’re facing today, is now airing on all stations that carry PowerPoint. If you don’t live in the DFW area, this is a great opportunity to check out this series. Or if you attend Prestonwood and did happen to catch these messages, be sure to pass along to a friend who would benefit from them.

Watch this video for the first message, “Are All Religions the Same?” And then you can view on TV the ones that follow: “Are Same Sex Relationships Really the Same?” “Can You Trust the Bible?” “Why?” .... and much more ...

Also, go to powerpoint.org, to check out powerful resources we have complementing each message...

Are All Religions the Same? from Jack Graham on Vimeo.

LIONS STADIUM OPENER TONIGHT

Thrilled about our home opener and rededication of the newly expanded Lions Stadium! I think it’s cool that our first game is on Lower School Night ... our little ones, the pre-k 3 through sixth graders, parade on the track with their classes and then cheer on the team as it runs onto the field.

We’ll also have a PCA alum and Prestonwood staff member Jarrod Monk singing the National Anthem, and we’ll have a special guest welcoming the crowd. Hint: You will easily recognize the voice...

If you’re looking for a great place to watch Texas high school football, come on out tonight. We take on Cistercian Prep at 7:30.

More than Football

There’s a great article in the Dallas Morning News today about one of our students, Kyle Aubuchon. Kyle is the starting quarterback for football powerhouse Hebron High School ... just a stone’s throw from Prestonwood.

But Kyle is much more than a star quarterback. Kyle has been in our Student Ministry since the 8th grade. He’s a student leader, a young man who loves Christ. As our Student Minister Chris Lovell says, “He’s legit. The real deal.”

It’s a breath of fresh air to read a story in the local newspaper about an athlete speaking not about himself, but about those he ministered to ... in Romania. That’s Kyle in the photos playing with children in Braila earlier this summer. (Read the story here.)

I often speak about the passion of our church to build the next generation of leaders. I also speak often about fulfilling the Great Commission as a church family. In a blog in June, I talked about the three, all-consuming, holy ambitions God has given me for the next 10 years...

Number 1 is expanding our local, national and global influence of Christ and the Church. Number 2 is growing and building the North Campus and strengthening the Plano Campus. And number 3 is developing a new generation of 21st century leader for the Church.

Our Student Ministry and our Children’s Ministry and Prestonwood Christian Academy do a wonderful job of helping develop the next generation. You can sense that every single day.

I am grateful also for the leadership provided by our volunteers, including Hebron Head Football Coach Brian Brazil. Brian is a friend, a longtime Prestonwood member, a deacon, and a group leader in our Student Ministry. Brian’s Hebron team and the PCA and Trinity Christian Academy teams are among the seven in the area that our Student Ministry reaches out to with our football ministry.

So, anyway, read this young man’s story ... it’s more than football...

Mini Revival at Prestonwood

We experienced an amazing time at Prestonwood this past Labor Day Weekend! With the anniversary of 9/11 coming up this week, and as we closed out our Life Message series, we thought it would be appropriate to have someone like Tim Lee bring his life message.

A former Marine, Purple Heart recipient and the prodigal son of a Baptist minister, Tim reached out to Christ in his darkest hour. He was running point, leading newly arrived Marines on a mine sweep in Vietnam, when he lost both legs in an explosion.

Tim says he had run from God in his teenage and early adult years and at that moment, the running stopped. He knew he was badly injured. He pleaded with God. “God, get me home ... I’ll do whatever You want me to do.”

He made it home and began preaching the Gospel wherever and whenever he could. And on Saturday and Sunday, he preached it here at Prestonwood during all services, including simulcasts to Prestonwood North. It was beautiful to see people streaming down the aisles to the front, whether for prayer or rededication or to receive Christ as their Savior. It was a powerful time, with over 200 decisions for Christ. Our services truly had the feel of an old-time revival ... minus the sawdust...

Learn more about Tim at timlee.org. You will be blessed by his life message.

Battle of the Champions

I’m looking forward to the matchup tonight between the PCA Lions and the Celina Bobcats!

Did you know between them, the two teams are owners of 10 state championships? Of course, Celina has more state titles than any other school in Texas with eight. Still, PCA is a fairly new school, so I have no doubt we’ll catch up!

The great thing about this game is it brings together our two campuses! We have members at Prestonwood and Prestonwood North who are faithful supporters of the teams, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to cheer for both.

Get out there early and meet us at the pre-game rally at 6:00 p.m. across the street from Bobcat Stadium....