As the experiences of Christmas drift far from our immediate memories like a corked bottle tossed from a speeding cruise ship bobbing on a calm sea as it disappears into the horizon, I cannot help but thank God for what He’s doing at Eagle Brook, Spring Lake Park.

In spite of the weather, 2,748 people showed up to fill all the Christmas services. Hundreds were first-time guests. Many heard about the God who loves them and said “Yes!” to Christ.

The Ongoing Challenge

The first weekend of the New Year was no less amazing—2,546 people arrived at SLP to worship God. Crowds poured into the worship center as well as the Corner House with a sense of joyful anticipation. Much to our dismay, carloads of people drove away because they could not find a parking place.

Because of the sacrificial generosity of the entire Eagle Brook congregation as revealed in the Not Without You campaign commitments, the new Blaine campus is scheduled to become a reality in the fall of 2010. Opening Blaine will provide another 3,200 seats for weekend worship services in our area (800 seats multiplied by 4 services). Until Blaine opens, we will do everything we can to make more room for those who want to attend SLP.

Next Steps

The next step we will take toward making more seats available at SLP is to email a survey to the SLP congregation on Wednesday, January 13. When you receive it, be sure to complete the survey and submit it as soon as possible.

Corner House

Part of our ongoing strategy to add more seats at SLP is the Corner House—the original church building on the northwest corner of our church property. A live broadcast of the entire Lino Lakes service is available at the Corner House at 4:05 on Saturdays as well as 9:05 and 11:05 on Sundays.

Upcoming Events

Ash Wednesday – For the first time at SLP, we’re going to offer two Ash Wednesday services on the same night. One will be at 6:05 and the other at 8:05 on February 17. Kid-O-Deo (birth through Kindergarten) will be available for both services.

The Micah Project – The Micah Project is all about love, mercy and action. This is the long-awaited event that adds a ray of sunshine on a gray winter day. The Micah Project will make it a sheer delight to be living in Minnesota during the month of February. You’ll want to register for a Feed My Starving Children food-packing slot as well as reserve your time for the Step Into Africa experience. Sign up today by clicking here.

With Gratitude

It is a privilege to serve as campus pastor at SLP. I’m so grateful for each person who attends our campus. Your flexibility in doing whatever it takes to reach people for Christ is an inspiration to me and to all who are observing God’s work at SLP. Thanks for letting God work through you.

As shoppers complete gift-buying lists and families finalize Christmas dinner plans, Eagle Brook volunteers and staff dash to put finishing touches on the 17 Christmas services that we’re offering on December 23 and 24th.

An Opportunity to Invite

Christmas services are a great opportunity to invite friends, family and neighbors to church. And what better way to experience the real meaning of Christmas than gathering with others to celebrate the birth of Christ. You can be sure that your guests will be inspired by the music and encouraged by a message of hope.

RSVP for Seats

Here at Eagle Brook we use an RSVP system to make sure everyone gets a seat and has a positive experience. Here’s how it works:

1) Attendees RSVP to let Eagle Brook know how many people they’re bringing to the worship center and how many kids they’re bringing to Kid-O-Deo and Club K-Rock.

2) Eagle Brook posts real-time updates of available seating at eaglebrookchurch.com (essential information for last minute service choices).

3) If plans should change, attendees may RSVP or exchange seats at eaglebrookchurch.com.

Corner House

We will offer Christmas services at the Corner House at 6:05 pm on Wednesday, December 23. You don’t need to RSVP to use the Corner House; simply show up. If necessary, we will offer services at the Corner House at other Christmas service times as needed (information is available from anyone with an EBC nametag).

Christmas Services—Arrive Early

Please arrive early, grab your coffee and find a seat. The worship center doors will close at the start of the opening song and reopen at the end of the song.

With all of that said, don’t forget that we’ve got a final message in the Overcome series this coming weekend. Invite someone special to join you for a message of encouragement.

We’ve all waited eagerly for this coming weekend. At the beginning of the service, Pastor Bob is going to reveal the results of the Not Without You campaign. Be in your seat early—you don’t want to miss it!

Giving to Not Without You Begins

The total commitment amount that Pastor Bob will announce this weekend reflects the generosity of individuals and families across all three Eagle Brook campuses. It’s with a spirit of deep humility that we approach this unveiling, recognizing the financial sacrifices many are making to reach others for Christ.

This weekend also signals the official beginning of actual contributions to the Not Without You campaign. If you’re prepared to do so, you can participate by bringing a check to the services or by giving online. If you use a check or online banking for your campaign gift, be sure to write “NWY” in the memo line.

I’m confident that the services this weekend will be memorable at many levels. Be sure to come with your heart prepared to express gratitude for all God is doing in and through Eagle Brook.

New! 4:05 Saturday Worship Services at the Corner House

We’ll begin offering worship services at the Corner House at 4:05 on Saturday afternoons beginning this weekend. I want to say thanks to those who volunteered to help launch this new service. Free coffee, soft chairs, and a warm community environment—it doesn’t get much better than that.

 See you this weekend!

December has arrived! And for us at Eagle Brook Church, that means we’ve entered one of our three prime outreach seasons. Here’s what you need to know to navigate the next few weeks:

Weekend 1: December 5/6

This will be the second weekend of the Overcome message series—invite your friends and family.

Last weekend, 2,273 people attended services at Spring Lake Park…and that was on the weekend following Thanksgiving when attendance typically drops. Many who came were the first-time guests of our regular attenders. Way to go!

To make room for all of our guests on December 5/6, we’ll need to continue working together to open up seating in our main worship center. How can you help? Those who have flexibility in their schedule can choose the 6:05 service on Saturday where we have the most available seats. Another option for those who aren’t bringing a guest and are physically able to climb a flight of stairs is to choose to worship at the Corner House at 9:05 or 11:05 on Sunday morning.

The Corner House Worship Center

Weekend 2: December 12/13

This will be the third weekend of the Overcome message series. We will also unveil the total financial commitments our church family made to the Not Without You campaign. This is one of those “you’ll regret it if you miss it” weekends.

We’ll begin offering worship services at the Corner House at 4:05 on Saturday afternoons beginning December 12. We’ll need about 50 people who meet the following criteria to choose to worship at the Corner House on Saturdays:

     You’re a regular attender…

     and you aren’t bringing a guest…

     and you’re physically able to climb a flight of stairs.

Weekend 3: December 19/20

This will be the fourth and final weekend of the Overcome message series—continue inviting your friends and family.

Again, we’ll offer services at the Corner House at 4:05 on Saturday afternoon as well as at 9:05 and 11:05 on Sunday morning.

Christmas Eve Services: December 23/24

If you’ve attended Christmas Eve services at Eagle Brook in the past, you know you’ll want to come and bring a friend—this is definitely a “do not miss” experience.

Services will be on Wednesday evening at 6:05 and 8:05 and Thursday afternoon at 1:05, 3:05 and 5:05.

If everyone at SLP uses the RSVP system, we’re sure to have enough seating in the main worship center for all of our regular attenders and guests.

As always, it takes a huge number of volunteers to make the Christmas Eve services a great experience. If you’re available to serve, please sign up as soon as possible.

Weekend 4: December 26/27

Rest—there will be no weekend services to give our fantastic volunteers and staff an opportunity to be with their families and gear up for the launch of a powerful new message series that will begin on the weekend of January 2/3.

December will be a memorable month in the history of SLP. I hope you’re able to experience all of it.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Pausing from the daily grind to give God thanks for His abundant provision is both refreshing and humbling. And this year we have so much to be thankful for as individuals, as a church and as a campus.

Not Without You Commitments

Last weekend the entire Eagle Brook church family made personal sacrificial commitments so that thousands of people in the Twin Cities and around the world will have an opportunity to become followers of Christ.

Like many, I’m eager to hear the total amount of our commitments when the final figure is announced during the weekend services of December 12/13.

As I reflect on the services last weekend, the impact of watching God’s church in action is etched in my mind and on my heart. I’m grateful for a church that cares so deeply for others.

Operation Christmas Child

The spirit of generosity was also visibly evident in the lobby of each Eagle Brook campus this past weekend.

Operation Christmas Child

As I walked through the Spring Lake Park doors early Sunday morning, I was drawn to the Operation Christmas Child drop-off table where hundreds of shoeboxes filled with gifts for children around the world were piled high.

When the final service had ended on Sunday morning, the expanded wall of shoeboxes completely filled a huge trailer. Again, I’m grateful to be part of a church that cares so deeply for others.

Improvements at the Corner House

This coming weekend we’ll launch the Overcome message series. We’ve designed this series to give hope to those who, for one reason or another, are out of touch with God.

Many SLP attenders are on board, inviting friends, family and neighbors. Others are making their seat available for a guest in the main worship center by choosing to worship at the Corner House at 9:05 or 11:05 on Sunday morning.

And it gets better—those who consistently attend the Corner House have viewed changes almost every week. One of the next big changes at the Corner House will be the addition of softer chairs in the worship center and comfortable seating in the lobby.

I’m grateful for the volunteers and staff who invest their time and gifts each Sunday to make the Corner House a great, albeit temporary, worship environment.

An Amazing Church

Eagle Brook is an amazing church and Spring Lake Park is an equally amazing campus. As Jolene and I reflect on the past two years, we’re grateful God brought us here from Arizona on Thanksgiving Eve, 2007. I’m so pleased to serve as the SLP campus pastor and I’m thankful for each person that is part of our church family.

Just a reminder, there are no Tahnksgiving Eve services this year. Happy Thanksgiving!

God continues to work in amazing ways at Eagle Brook’s Spring Lake Park campus. And the future looks bright.

Commitment Weekend

In all of the services this coming weekend, we’ll be making our individual commitments to the Not Without You (NWY) campaign. It’ll be one of those experiences you don’t want to miss—we’ll literally see God’s church in action.

What is the NWY campaign? It’s a three-year financial commitment individuals are making in addition to what they give to the EBC General Fund. And people are eager to participate because it will help us open two new Eagle Brook campuses, one in Blaine and the other in Woodbury. It will also provide support for other key EBC initiatives. You can get more information at the NWY website.

Overcome Series

The first invite message series of the fall season begins next weekend. We’ll be discovering how, with God’s help, we can overcome those things in life that keep holding us back. Feel free to bring your friends, family and neighbors. You can find more information and access web-based invite tools on the EBC website.

The Value of Your Chair

We want to make sure everyone has a place to sit at the Spring Lake Park campus throughout the Overcome message series. And it’ll take all of us working together. Many of our Sunday attenders are making their seat available for a guest in the main worship center by choosing to worship at the Corner House at 9:05 or 11:05 on Sunday morning. The value of providing your chair for someone who’s exploring the Christian faith? Priceless.

Parking

Where is the best parking at SLP? It’s about a block south of our campus on Sunset Road at Rise Inc. Why is it the best place to park? You can park at Rise and catch one of the free shuttle busses that will drop you off at the front door on the SLP campus. After the service, you can ride the shuttle bus back to your car and forego all the parking lot congestion. Best of all, your kids will love riding the shuttle busses.

Last weekend was a winner—2,199 people attended at Spring Lake Park…and that’s with Halloween on Saturday night! Ninety-seven regular attenders enjoyed worship at the Corner this past weekend as well–thanks for using this one-of-a-kind Eagle Brook venue.

Feed My Starving Children

When winter winds pile snowflakes atop mounds of old frozen snow…and the sun refuses to press its way through thick gray clouds…and you begin to think I can’t take another day of this madness…you can put a smile on your face and warm your heart by participating in an event that will provide 2 million meals for those who are among the poorest of the world’s poor. Click here to get more information on an upcoming winter serving event that’ll be a burst of delight for all of us.

Just for Fun

How has the Eagle Brook worship experience evolved over the years? Click here for an enjoyable journey through EBC’s worship style transformation and go to “10 Year EBC Retrospect”.

Not Without Out You

The View From Here events have been an amazing success. If you weren’t able to attend one of the presentations, I’d encourage you to find someone who did and ask them about their experience. Click here to get updates on Not Without You.

Six weeks from now marks our second anniversary as Eagle Brook Church, Spring Lake Park. And we’ve learned a lot along the way. For instance, we’ve identified three growing seasons of the year, one of which began last weekend.

Last weekend 2,216 people attended services at the SLP campus. And we all worked together to make sure our guests had a seat in the primary worship center. Some regular attenders chose to attend on Saturday rather than Sunday. Others chose to worship at the Corner House Sunday morning. Thanks for suiting up and participating on the SLP team.

Not Without You

The Not Without You campaign is up and running. Here’s some information to help you get the most out of this series.

· You can stay up to date with the campaign by clicking here.

· If you miss a weekend service, you can click here to watch the message online or click here to watch On the Fly online.

· Be sure to bring your Journey Guide to church and use the weekend notes section to record message notes. If you forget your Journey Guide (as I did last weekend), we’ve provided blank message notes paper near the worship center entrances for your convenience.

Blaine Campus

As you know, opening the Blaine campus will give us an additional 800 worship center seats in our geographic area (800 seats multiplied by four weekend services makes room for 3,200 potential attendees). Until the Blaine campus opens, we must do our best to reach people for Christ with the resources God has given us. These resources include our primary worship center (564 seats) and the Corner House (150 seats).

I’m grateful for each of you who are choosing to worship at the Corner House at 9:05 and 11:05 on Sunday mornings. You’re making seats available for our guests, many of whom are experiencing church for the first time.

We’ve designed the services at the Corner House for regular attenders only. If you’re a regular Sunday morning attender and physically able to climb a flight of stairs, please consider choosing the Corner House at 9:05 or 11:05 this weekend. You’ll experience the entire service simulcast live from Lino Lakes, get to hang out with Pastor Greg Grimstad and enjoy a sense of community in Eagle Brook’s smallest venue.

And as always, if you’re bringing a guest, please choose to attend with them in the primary worship center.

God is at work in amazing ways at SLP—all glory and praise belong to Him.

It’s our pleasure to display the art of fellow Eagle Brooker, Scott Sample. Each picture is part of a series and two pieces from the Hand Series adorn a wall in our Café 5000. As you can see from Scott’s description below, the works are dense with detailed meaning springing from a heart of authentic worship.

The Hand Series by Scott Sample

The Hand Series

The Hand Series was created to be a visual metaphor and reflection on the active nature of God’s grace and timeless love— and it is through His hand that all things are created and with His hand is formed all of life.

It has struck me many times to think of the amazing grace, compassion, strength, power, and love that God enacts both past and present with His creation—this continues with God’s hand over us; guiding, protecting, and empowering us.

In these works, the rendering of each hand in it’s different forms is meant to reflect on the various ways that God interacts with us, and how we come to God with an outstretched hand—that in this relation it is active, never ceasing. This is the reason for the looser kinetic drawing style—it is in the energy of the strokes and marks that we get a sense of His unceasing and powerful love—it is always there and always moving.

The drawing style also conveys a sense of simplicity and honesty to the medium—actually being hand done and not meant on any level to look mechanical or like a photo impression leaving room for personal connotations.

Outward from the center drawing and in the backdrop is the actual Latin translation for Psalm 19:1-2—it is not meant to be read literally but as a centering paradigm to the hand of God coming from and over the “Word.” The font chosen for the background is also a timeless serif, based on Trajan Roman, which was the defining font used within Rome at the time of Christ.

Another aspect to the works is to convey an element of timelessness within the materials—the plaster and fresco style with layers of glazing is drawn from the artists of the high Renaissance. The hands are drawn in an active loose sketch style to reflect an active and kinetic grace, defined through God’s hand. The style of the works is created with layer upon layer to transcend any specific time, and let the viewer pull visual contextual cues from history, culture, and architecture.

The hope with this series is to pull the viewer in and let them sense and feel the timeless grace that is forever God.

Scott Sample 2009

Smiling faces, laughter and high-octane energy spills out of the hallways, worship center and Corner House as the Spring Lake Park campus transforms into a popular student destination each Wednesday. The evening opens with Ground Zero (Jr. High) and then morphs into Revolution (Sr. High).

Each age group has its own worship band, Bible teacher and numerous small groups. One highlight of the evening is the newly renovated student center at the Corner House. Check it out:

Student Center at the Corner House

For more information, please click on Ground Zero or Revolution.

Student Center at the Corner House

Go Vikings! A Corner House Opportunity for Everyone

An amazing phenomenon is occurring with each Vikings win—the 9:05 worship service swells in attendance whenever the Vikings play at noon on Sundays. An amazing coincidence indeed!

To accommodate more people at 9:05, we’ll have the Corner House available at both the 9:05 and 11:05 services this coming Sunday, October 11. If you’re a regular attender and physically able to climb a flight of stairs, please consider choosing the Corner House at 9:05 or 11:05 this weekend. You’ll get to experience the entire service simulcast live from Lino Lakes.

Not Without You

The countdown has started for the Not Without You campaign. Get ready—it’ll start soon—you don’t want to miss it!