Jeremy Nottingham

Amplify Project Kansas City

2010-07-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

This past week we took a group of students to Kansas City for a mission trip. It was an amazing trip for sure. The greatest part for me was to get to know our students. We have an amazing group of students. Also thank you to my Youth Staff and all the Adult Volunteers who did so much on this trip. What a great week. Can't wait for next year.

Check out Kyle Sullivan's New Blog

2010-07-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

Kyle is a summer intern here at FBC Broken Arrow. I've really enjoyed working with him this summer. He does a great job and our students love him. He definitely has a bright future ahead in ministry. He just put together a new blog. Check it out.

kylesullivanonline.com

Please Pray for Russell

2010-07-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

At about 8 a.m. this morning our Worship Pastor here at FBC Broken Arrow, Russell Freeman, had what appears to be a heart attack, while driving from church to his home. He is now in Southcrest Hospital in Tulsa and is still non-responsive. His heart rate is unstable and doctors have now placed him in a coma for the next 2 days hoping to revive him after that. Please keep Russell in your prayers. His heart for the Lord and leading others in worship is unmatched. He is an unbelievable worship leader and has done so much for me and my family already just in the short time that we have been here. Please also pray for his wife Kathy, son Tyler, and daughter Lauren in this time.

There will be a prayer service tonight at 6 p.m. in our worship center.

2 words for Lebron James

2010-07-09T16:45:00.001-07:00

I think Lebron James just made a massive mistake in choosing to go the Miami Heat. It is going to fun to watch but I have 2 words for Lebron, Ego and Kobe.

Having 3 guys who have ran their teams for years play together won't work. Now the Big Three in Boston have done it well but it won't work with these 3. The Miami Heat are Dwayne Wade's team. He moved over when Shaq came to town and they won a championship but he's been there so long now that Lebron and Bosh will be step children of the Heat. Lebron's ego is the biggest of the 3 and he won't be satisfied unless it is His Team. If he doesn't share it won't work and I don't think he's really going to be up for sharing.

Then there is still no way they are going to be able to overcome the Lakers. Kobe is too strong and will die on the court before he lets this 3peat slip away. He is more of a competitor than all 3 of those guys but together and he will figure out a way to win. Then throw in Phil Jackson, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum, and it's a done deal. Who is the coach of the Miami Heat again? That's right.

Finally if they don't pull out a championship this next season this will be the greastest failure in NBA History. Trades will start happening so fast Lebron will wish he had stayed in Cleveland.

Sorry to branch away from ministry but I love sports too. It's going to be fun watching everything unfold. Can't wait till next June.

Explosive Giving

2010-07-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday to celebrate our Independence, Americans spent over 350 million dollars on Fireworks. It was definitely cool blowing stuff up but 350 million dollars seems pretty extreme. Now I'm not against fireworks, I love fireworks, but are our priorities in the wrong place?
I was reading the other day in Exodus 35 and 36 where the Lord spoke through Moses telling the people to bring offerings to the Lord. He told them to bring jewelry, linen, gold, silver, etc. and the people began to bring it in, and bring it in, and bring it in. They brought so much in that Moses literally had to say "Stop!!" there was too much to handle. They brought more than was needed.

What if we began to see this in our churches again. That we brought in so much that people had to be turned away because there was too much. Sadly it blows my mind to even think that way. The resources are there but it's not a priority. Lets give to the Kingdom of God and reach more and more people, lets give so much that we have to be told to stop giving. Wow! What an impact we could make.

Exaggerated Numbers

2010-06-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

One of the most tempting things about ministry is to exaggerate our numbers. In ministry, in a way, we are sized up by the numbers we bring in. I do believe that numbers are important because a number represents a person but that should never give us an excuse to lie about them. It is always a temptation to round up. If we had 45 it's easy to say we had 50 or if we had 180 it's easy to say we had 200. But it's a lie. I just want to encourage ministers to tell the truth about the numbers they are running and not fall into the temptation of seeing your number as your worth.

I really do feel like this has become a significant problem. Someone is always going to ask how big your group is, whether it's your boss, a fellow youth pastor, or your mother-in-law. The next time someone asks make sure you tell the truth without exaggerating. Lets be concerned with honoring God more than honoring ourselves.

Aaron Sadler

2010-06-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

Check out Aaron Sadler's new blog. Aaron is our Student Worship Leader. He has an amazing heart for God, loves these students, and does an incredible job leading worship. God is using him greatly. Check out his blog.

arocksadler.blogspot.com

We Made It!!!

2010-06-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well we have officially made it to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. We got all the boxes unpacked, all the pictures hung up on the walls, and we are still alive. It's great to be here, I'm loving working at the church, and life is good. Thanks for your prayers.

Please pray for our Trip Across America

2010-05-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to ask you to pray for us through the next week as we make our way to Broken Arrow. Here's what the week looks like:

Yesterday - Packers Came and Packed us Up.
Today - Jenna, Emma, and Samson started driving up, they are in Alabama right now and should make it to Cabot, Arkansas by tonight.
Tomorrow - Movers come and load the truck with all our stuff. I will hopefully leave tomorrow at a decent hour to start the trek to Cabot, Arkansas. Plan on getting there late tomorrow night.
Saturday - Monday - We will be in Cabot, Arkansas with Jenna's family and Zach my brother for the weekend.
Tuesday - head up to Broken Arrow and meet the moving company, get all moved in and settled.
Wednesday - Start work at FBC Broken Arrow. I will be speaking Wednesday night to all the students. Really looking forward to that.

We appreciate your prayers. A tough but exciting week.

Moving to First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

2010-05-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

Seven weeks ago we received a call to ask if we would begin considering and praying through an open position at First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow. They were looking for a Student Pastor to lead their students, staff, and volunteers. After much prayer and tears we have decided to leave our church here in Brandon and move at the end of this month to Broken Arrow. God is doing a great work in Broken Arrow and we are very excited about joining the team there. Yet on the other side of things we have been here for nearly 4 years. We have been happy here, we have loved the students, parents, and leaders. It's going to be so difficult to leave, but we feel that God is moving on to a new place. Nothing bad has happened here and nothing has gone wrong, it is simply a great opportunity for us and a firm knowledge and understanding that God is leading us to a new place in ministry and in our lives. Jenna, Emma, and I love the students and people of First Baptist Church of Brandon, Fl. Thank you for loving us and allowing us to be a part of your lives. God has done incredible things here and I have been so honored and blessed to be your Student Pastor. For more information about our new church you can check out their website at http://www.fbcba.org/
We love you all and will miss you terribly. We will stay in touch.
Jeremy

Camp 2010

2010-05-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

This summer we will be headed to Daytona Beach for Student Life Camp. We're excited about going and are praying that it will be an amazing week. Students you can still get signed up and the dates are July 12-16. Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, the Beach... Need I say more.

New Orleans

2010-04-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

This year we will be taking our Students to New Orleans for our annual mission trip. This will be our 4th trip there. Students get signed up to go make an impact on the city of New Orleans. We go through an organization called Mission Love Never Fails. It was founded in 2006 by Chris Lange. He has a heart to reach that city and does an amazing job putting together a great mission trip for churches. For more information check out their website at www.missionloveneverfails.com

Missional Student Ministry Workshop

2010-04-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to be hosting a Missional Student Ministry Workshop on April 20th, put on by Jeff Hessinger and The Florida Baptist Convention. If you are a Student Pastor or Key Volunteer in a Student Ministry this will be a great workshop for you. Please be apart of this and bring a couple of people with you. For all the details visit www.jeffhessinger.com .

Texting Translations for Parents

2010-03-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel lost when your teen texts OMG or LOL or ROTFLOL? It's hard to keep up with the latest lingo in the text messaging world. If you're a parent of a teenager this link will revolutionize your text messaging skills. I'm very excited about this tool and I'm sure you will be too. Check out this website that can translate the meaning of more than 2,000 popular text abbreviations. Click on the link below.
http://www.lgdtxtr.com/

My Final Four Picks

2010-03-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've decided to let everyone know who is going to be in the Final Four. If you want to copy my picks you're more than welcome to. I'll share my prize money with you guys after I win it all.

Final Four:
Tennessee
Syracuse
Kentucky
Baylor

Final Game:
Syracuse
Kentucky

Winner: Kentucky Wins 68-64.

You can thank me later.

Games on the Fly for Student Pastors

2010-03-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went to speak at a local school's Christian club. When I got there the leader told me they wanted me to do a game for 15 minutes and then speak for 20 minutes. I had prepared to speak but hadn't prepared for the game. So I had 5 minutes to come up with a game for 35 Middle Schoolers in a classroom setting. And it needed to be cool or else they wouldn't listen to my 20 minute message. O the Pressure!! It worked out but I wanted to give Youth Pastors 3 great game ideas in case this happens to you.

1. Hand to Foot.
This requires a decent amount of space but can be played with 12 to 500 people. Have them grab a partner and form 2 circles. One circle inside the other and have partners separate into the different circles. Have one circle rotate clockwise and the other counter clockwise. Then call out 2 body parts for example hand to foot, head to head, finger to eye, ect. The partners have to find each other as fast as possible and place those 2 body parts together on each other. Begin eliminating the last ones to make it until you narrow it down to 1 pair. Great game.

2. I Never.
This can be played anywhere, requires chairs, and is best played with 6 to 30 people.
Create a circle of chairs leaving one less chair than there are players. The person without the chair stands in the middle and states something they have never done before ex. I have never been to California. Then everyone who has been to California or has done whatever was stated gets up and changes chairs, person in middle also needs to fight for a chair. Then the person left without a chair will be the next player to have to state what they have never done before. The goal is to find a chair as quickly as possible. Don't let players change chairs directly beside them. Have them get up and move at least one chair over. Great get to know you game. It can go on forever so play for 15 minutes then call it quits.

3. Make a Song
Can be played anywhere and is best played with 8 - 50 people.
Have everyone form groups of 2-10 depending on size of overall group. You give them a word such as love, girl, time, etc. Then they have 2 minutes to come up with a song that has that word in it. Once time is up have each group sing their song to the rest of the groups. If they can't come up with a song in the time given or if they use a song that was used in a previous round they lose. Lots of fun to see what songs they pull from.

There you go. 3 games for you to use when you're put on the spot or if you need one for next Wednesday night. Have fun.

New Richest Man in the World!!

2010-03-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

The new Richest man in the world is Carlos Slim Helm. He is worth $53.5 Billion. Bill Gates was a close second with $53 Billion. Carlos' home is in Mexico. Interesting but pointless fact that I thought readers might appreciate. So instead of saying you hope to be as rich as Bill Gates one day you should now say you hope to be as rich as Carlos Slim Helm one day.

Allison Martin Wins Miss Tampa

2010-03-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

Congragtulations to Allison Martin for winning Miss Tampa last night. Allison is a Lifegroup leader in our student ministry. She's on her way to Miss Florida. Way to go Allison!!!

Students vs. Leaders

2010-03-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

This is the Battle of the Year. Who is greater our students or Lifegroup Leaders. Come Battle it out next Sunday March 14th for High School and then April 25th for Middle School. It starts at 10:30 a.m. in our High School Room March 14th. Bring Your Friends.

180 Weekend

2010-02-23T13:36:00.001-08:00

What an amazing Weekend we had. God moved in amazing ways. Our students truly worshipped and it was Awesome. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible and thank you students for being so great.

180 Weekend

2010-02-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

Tonight our big 180 Weekend (Disciple Now)starts up. These weekends are always so exciting and God always does a great work in lives. I'm praying that He will do the same this weekend. I'm praying that God will change lives for eternity through this weekend. I'm praying that damaged and hurt students will be healed. I'm praying that worshippers will rise up. I'm praying that the lost will be saved. Please pray with me that this will be a weekend they will never forget because of all that God has done in them.

We can do More Together

2010-02-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

Today I had an amazing meeting with Youth Pastors from 8 different churches around the Brandon area. We are looking at and praying through joining forces for an event in September. At the meeting I was amazed at the humility and willingness to work together to make a difference for the Kingdom of God and to reach the students of our city. I feel so blessed to work in a town where we want to see God's name lifted up and not our own name or our own church's name.

It is such a temptation to want to only grow our student ministry or our church and so we sometimes get on our own island and try to avoid other churches because of fear that our people will go there. I actually think, however, that when we lift up other ministries in prayer and work together that it will only help our own ministries.

I love in John 3:30 where John says, "He must become greater and I must become less." Let us be reminded of this in ministry. It is about Jesus and making His name known, it's not about us.

Saints Win It!!!

2010-02-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

We've taken our Students to New Orleans for the past 3 years to help rebuild the city after the Hurricane. It was great seeing the Saints win and to see how far the city has come. Way to go Saints!!!

New Baby on the Way!!!

2010-02-03T06:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a chance to mention our new addition coming here on the blog yet. We found out last week that my wife Jenna is pregnant. The due date is tentatively September 28th. We are extremely excited and counting down the days already. Please keep us in your prayers. Emma is now 18 months, it's hard to believe she's that old now. This time has absolutely flown by. She is such a joy and we're all glad that she is looking more and more like her Momma. I believe we'll get some pictures in early March of the baby and I'll be sure to post them once we get them. Thanks for reading.

Tim Tebow Commercial

2010-01-25T06:54:00.001-08:00

Keep an eye out for Tim Tebow's commercial during the Super Bowl. Tim Tebow and his mom are going to be featured in a commercial sponsored by Focus on the Family. This will be Focus on the Family's first SuperBowl commercial. This will be a great witness to millions of people. I'm looking forward to seeing it.