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Series: The Classics
Gideon

The CedarCreek Story
     In 6/94, Lee Powell attended a church leadership conference at Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. There he heard Bill Hybels speak about the local church being the hope of the world. Later that night, Lee gathered with four others, and it was there that the idea of CedarCreek really began. 11/94, 25 people came together to form the core of CedarCreek Church. 10/95, CedarCreek launched it’s first public service at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg, Ohio with 180 people in attendance. Spring/96, CedarCreek moved to the old Perrysburg Junior High School, now the Commodore Building. In ‘97 the church added a second Sunday service. Fall/99, we added our first Saturday service and attendance doubled. 11/00, the church purchased 19 acres of land in Perrysburg Township on Lime City Rd., and secured an option for another 20 acres. Fall/01, the number of services grew to 5 and attendance swelled to 2,600.

CedarCreek Exists To Help Spiritually Restless & Unchurched People Love Jesus, Serve Others, and Tell the World About Christ.

     12/01, CedarCreek moved to the old Perrysburg High School to gain ample parking and more seats. 9/01, the church broke ground on a state-of-the-art, 54,000 sq. ft. facility with a 1,400 seat auditorium and an electrifying children’s space. 9/02, CedarCreek moved into it’s new location and scaled back to three services. Steadily, more and more unchurched people began to attend. Spring/04, attendance soared to 5,000. Space became an issue again. 3/05, another 30,000 sq. ft. was added on, which included a chapel, atrium, bookstore, and much more children’s space. With all the new space, CedarCreek continued to burst at the seams. Spring/06, CedarCreek launched it’s first multi-site location in the Anthony Wayne area. 3/08, a West Toledo campus opened. Fall/09, Whitehouse campus celebrated the Grand Opening of its permanent location. CedarCreek will continue to plant multiple locations throughout the greater Toledo area to further fulfill it’s mission. There is much growth in CedarCreek’s future, which is why we’ve implemented Vision 15/2015. It is our hope and dream to have six locations by the year 2015. In addition, it is our desire to help nine other churches get started.
     In this week’s Living It Out, we will be featuring stories from CedarCreek staff members. The staff will share memories that they have experienced while at CedarCreek. The CedarCreek story is a great example of how God used ordinary people, just like Gideon, to accomplish extraordinary things. He is still accomplishing extraordinary things today and we look forward to what he is going to do at CedarCreek in our next 15 years. Won’t you join us at the 15 year celebration on September 10th, 2010 at the Huntington Center to celebrate what God has done?

THIS WEEK’S STUDY WILL FOCUS ON THE OLD TESTAMENT STORY OF GIDEON

MONDAY — Are You a Man or a Mouse?
Today’s Big Point: God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

     “I was a college student who had spent my first year at UT living life my way. Carpe Diem was my motto. Then I realized that my happiness was shallow. My internal emptiness began to swallow my life. That first weekend of August 1999, I will never forget God whispering love and truth to me. So, the quest for a church began. I visited a few. I tried to get involved. I sat in a church three weeks straight and wrote in my journal “no one has talked to me”.  Then, I was given an invitation to a CedarCreek event called “Lippert Land”. 
     Before I ever stepped foot into a service , I was greeted with authentic, passionate, fun people who wanted to follow God and be a part of a community of people who welcomed people who felt far from God….people just like me. A few weeks later, after experiencing the community, I decided to give my life to this mission. Eleven years later I am still moved by the stories of people far from God finding a home and family here.
     I will never forget baptizing my wife (fiancé at the time ) and then two years later her whole family.”
-Ben Snyder, CedarCreek Student Ministries Pastor

READ…What does the Bible say?
Judges 6:12 (New Living Translation)
12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”

John 1:12 (New Living Translation)
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

1 Corinthians 1:2 (New Living Translation)
2 I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

Romans 5:11 (New Living Translation)
11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

THINK…Find the answers
What words does God use to address His followers?

Read 1 Corinthians 1:2. What is unique about those who call on the name of Jesus?

LIVE…What will you do now?
What if you were sitting in your living room and someone appeared before you proclaiming to be the angel of the Lord? And what if the angel said, “You are a mighty hero!” Would you believe it? Chances are, you might be a little skeptical. Do you need to be convinced that you can be used by God? The truth of the matter is, although we may not have a visit from an angel of the Lord, we are all called by God to be mighty heroes. Fighting battles may not be our mission, but spreading the word of Christ to others is. What are you actively doing to share the message of Jesus with those around you?

“Gideon had doubts. That doesn’t make him different from the rest of us. But Gideon addressed his disbelief and became an effective leader. Why not be a person convinced? A person convinced by God is a person open to be used by God. And an ordinary person used by God is one who can do extraordinary things for God.” (The Leadership Bible)

PRAY…God, what do You want me to know & do?
Dear God, thank you so much that you have given us the right to be called your children. Thank you for giving us the ability to serve you in mighty ways. We pray that you will give us the courage and strength to fulfill our mission: to share the message of Jesus Christ with the world. Amen.

DAILY BIBLE READING COMMENTARY:
Luke 15:1 It is worth noting that the writer Luke points out to us that Jesus is speaking to the unpopular, unscrupulous tax collectors and other sinners. The central theme of the book of Luke is God’s love for lost people and the joy God experiences when the lost are reconciled to him. Each week at CedarCreek, our goal is to find creative ways to convey the timeless message of the scriptures.
Luke 15:4 People in that culture understood that a lost sheep in the Judean wilderness was doomed! Leaving the flock to retrieve one sheep wasn’t careless or irresponsible, but necessary.
Luke 15:8-10 The story of the lost coin is particularly significant considering this weekend service’s emphasis on CedarCreek’s 15-year celebration. The woman prioritized finding that coin above all else in her life. At CedarCreek, we believe that the gospel is the greatest message in the world – worthy of being the top priority in our lives.
Luke 15:11-31 People listening to Jesus tell the story would be horrified that the younger son would ask for his division of his inheritance and that the father would agree to such a request.
Luke 15:13 It was considered particularly offensive for a Jewish person to lose his property to non-Jews (Gentiles).
Luke 15:15 No doubt, listeners were repulsed by the young son’s job feeding unclean pigs and his consideration of eating carob pods, which were considered appropriate for animals and only consumed by the poorest of the poor.
Luke 15:28 According to Middle Eastern custom, the older son should have been the key reconciler between the father and the younger son. The older son’s refusal to join the banquet would be considered a public insult. The older son represents the Jewish people’s refusal to accept that the gospel message applies to anyone who truly repents and desires reconciliation with God.