Jack and Santa and the future

My family and I went to Santa today. Jack, who is almost three, flipped out. Sawyer, who is 9 months, had a blast. It was quite a hoot to watch Jack flip out as families watched in knowing glares.

I will post pictures soon.

Starting this week I will begin posting again on this blog to mark the new year and keep everyone updated with what is going on with me and Catalyst.

Encounter

No matter who you are, what you are dealing with, or where you are heading in life.... we all lack what is needed to make it and be successful. In other words, we are in need of a power outside ourselves.

Addiction? Relational challenges? Bordem? Mad? There is no other hope or power than Jesus. This Thursday night is about encountering Jesus and the power He has. This night is the real deal.

It is our hope that this night will change your life.

I really encourage you to come, bring your friends and see what God does.

In the end, all we need is to "Encounter".

BBQ Thursday @ 7pm

Word Peeps:
I wanted to invite you to a BBQ that Catalyst is throwing tomorrow night. We just want to hang out and eat. We will provide the hamburgers and hotdogs.... You provide chips, dessert, and drinks!

I hope you can make it. Here is the address (Jordan Gibson's house):
536 Hillside Dr. Dyer, IN
Got Questions? Call JulieAnn at 219-864-0300.

Oh yeah, bring somebody!

Politics and Power

This Thursday night @ 730pm in "the garage" at Faith Church "12 Weeks That Will Change Your Life" continues. This week we will discuss "Politics & Power."

Who would Jesus vote for? John McCain or Barack Obama? Does it matter? Is choosing one over the other more Christian? This Thursday we see if we can get beyond the rhetoric and begin to get a Christian framework for politics and power.

Our hope is that we can begin a conversation. See you Thursday night. Bring somebody!

No Meeting This Thursday Night!

Peeps:
We aren't meeting this Thursday night because of the 4th of July holiday. We will meet next on July 10th @ 7:30pm for mini-churches.

Go blow something up.

Word,

Ron C.

Mini-Churches this Thursday Night!

This Thursday we continue our mini-churches. We will meet in the atrium of the church, get food, and then gather in our respective groups.

If you didn't make it to the first mini-church, no worries. Come this week and we will hook you up.

Word.

Podcasts are up!

Want to listen to what has been going on at "12 Weeks That Will Change Your Life"? Click Here to download the podcasts!

Bigotry

Gender, race, and sexual orientation have been touchy subjects for Christ followers for a long time. The way the church has dealt with those different than us has caused a lot of pain and heart ache. The tension is this: how do we love, accept and empower and also be authentic to God's standard that many of us see in His scripture?

This Thursday night, we discuss bigotry. We are going to talk to three Catalyst members: an African-American, a woman, and a man dealing with homosexuality. We are going to have a frank discussion about bigotry, acceptance, empowerment, a biblical world-view and how Catalyst can be a community where a wide range of people are welcomed, accepted, and empowered.

I hope you can come. Bring your friends!

Childcare will be provided.

Mini-Churches Start Thursday Night!

Peeps:

This Thursday night, Catalyst mini-churches begin. We are really excited to see what God does in these groups; they will be like nothing you have ever experienced. So far 170 people have signed up to be part of one and we can feel the momentum. It is our hope that these groups become a place for you to meet new friends and get real about faith.

I wanted to remind you that the groups will start this Thursday, June 12th at 7:30pm @ Faith Church. If you haven't signed up, just come and we will get you in a group.

We encourage you to come through the front doors of the church; there will be people there to help you get to the right room. If you have any questions, please give me a call or e-mail me.

See you Thursday night!

Word,

Ron Citlau
Catalyst Pastor
219-864-0300

Thursday Night Was Amazing

Peeps:
Thursday night was amazing; Well over 200 twenty-somethings gathered to see what God is doing: worship was amazing, good teaching (if I do say so myself :)), and profound testimonies. God is on the move.

This Thursday night, June 12th at 7:30pm @ Faith Church, mini-churches start. We have 170 people signed up for these groups. These small groups are like nothing you have ever experienced. We pray and know that lives are going to be changed in the weeks ahead. If you want to be a part of one, there is still time. Get hold of me and we will get you in a group!

If you haven't checked us out yet, our next service is June 19th at 7:30pm in "The Garage" at Faith Church. I encourage you to come, bring your friends, and see what God is doing.

Word,

Ron C.

p.s. In the next few days we will be podcasting the teaching. You will be able to get it at www.catalyst12.com . Look under "links".

48 hours and counting

A few months ago Catalyst (the twenty-something community of Faith Church) began dreaming. We felt like God was calling us to reach out to those 18-30 in our local community. Doing a little bit of research we found out that there are approximately 40,000 young adults in a ten-mile radius of Faith Church. To us that number seemed daunting. Overwhelming. Not doable.

One day in my office, trying to figure out how 40,000 people fit into our vision, a number popped into my head. 1%. After a little reflection, I felt like the Lord was saying, "reach out to 1%."

400 twenty-somethings. 1% of 40,000. "12 Weeks That Will Change Your Life" is for them. We are trying, striving and praying to create a space where young adults can get real about their lives, get connected to other like-minded friends, and get serious about Jesus. We think that this isn't just our heart but God's heart too.

Tomorrow night, The Garage will be packed with twenty-somethings. If you are 18-30, we encourage you to come and check it out. If you aren't, invite those who are. And more than anything, pray!

We are excited to see what God does.

What is Catalyst?

Too Much Jesus?

If you meet Jesus, everything changes. I met with a young man a few weeks ago and he said something that startled me. Speaking about Catalyst he said, "It sure does have a lot of Jesus in it and that kind of scares me." It excites me. I know for this young man that He is meeting Jesus in a new way; his life is about to change.

I promise you something, if you meet Jesus everything changes. This is our goal this summer, stealing words from Dallas Willard, "we want to get Jesus a fresh hearing." We want to be relevant, inviting and do our best to make church make sense to a new generation. But more than that, we want to show as many people as we can Jesus.

If you meet Jesus, everything will change. This "new hearing" isn't just for outsiders and seekers, it is also for those that follow him. I don't know about you, but I need something more if I am going to make it. I need the real, breathing, resurrected Jesus.

It is our hope this summer that hundreds of insiders and outsiders, disciples and seekers will meet Jesus. If they do, they will never be the same.

Encounter

Something I have in my history of following Jesus is a value of encountering Him in community. God is with us always, obviously. But there are moments when He seems closer, when His presence is clearly felt in a unique way in a community. Commonly when this happens revival breaks out.

We as a community are praying that God would pour out His Spirit on the Catalyst community this summer. We want revival--hundreds encountering Jesus in a powerful way. We aren't looking for Jesus tingles or weird experiences; we are looking for the power of God that enables us to change. We want to be like Him.

I have seen it in my life, I see it in many of the lives of those that I walk with, and it is my hope that you see it in your life this summer: the power of the living Jesus, the power to change your life.

I am asking for your Thursdays for the summer!

This summer we think God is doing something really cool in Catalyst and we want you to be a part of it. How? Give us your Thursdays this summer. What are Thursdays going to look like?

On the 1st & 3rd Thursday of the month we are having the Catalyst service--7:30pm, in "The Garage" @ Faith Church.

On the 2nd & 4th Thursday of the month we are having mini-churches--7:30pm, @ Faith Church. These mini-churches are the heart of our community and where real change occurs. They very well might be like nothing you have experienced in church before: REAL LIFE.

This summer we are starting 5 new mini-churches (they start June 12th); By starting these new mini-churches it gives everyone a chance to get in on the ground level of community and change. Each mini-church will have between 15-25 people in them. And each mini-church is specialized to a specific time of life. Here is a little more info about the groups:

1) Married & Dating: Leaders--Shawn & Kelly Evers, and Kevin & Jamie Bruinsma
2) Mixed: Leaders--Garry Devries, Nick Porter, and Amanda Anderson
3) Mixed: Leaders--Pete Pinkowski, and JulieAnn Vanvuren
4) Girls Only: Leaders--Katie Kapteyn, and Jen Porter
5) Guys Only: Leaders--Jordan Gibson

These groups will last about and hour to and hour and a half. And if you are a part of one this summer, your life will be changed!

If you have any questions about these mini-churches, please e-mail me: Rcitlau@faithchurchonline.org

What Is 12 Weeks That Will Change Your Life?

Make Jesus Christ attractive to all

"Making Jesus Christ attractive to all": this is the goal of this summer. I get so bummed when people go to a church or a church event and the Jesus they hear about is boring or irrelevant. The Jesus I read about in the Bible is simply the most amazing man that has ever lived.

If change is what you desire, Jesus is where you start. He is the point. He is the reason. He is the goal. He is the energy for changed life. He is the changed life.

If you haven't met Jesus in awhile. Come June 5th @ 7:30 p.m. and meet the man that can change your life.

First Night in The Garage

Last night the core of Catalyst met in "The Garage" at Faith Church ("The Garage" is the lower level of Faith Church and where the Catalyst service will be held). Over sixty young adults got to together to talk about the vision of 12 Weeks That Will Change Your Life. It was a cool night. There is such momentum in our community. We can sense that God is moving in our midst. We are excited about it.

Mark your calendars. June 5th @ 7:30pm. Join hundreds of twenty-somethings in "The Garage" as we seek God. Here is the deal: this summer lives are going to be changed; and that includes your life! Come hang out with us.

A Dream

A couple of days ago I had a dream (I think it was from the Lord. Could have been Pizza! ;) ). The dream was essentially a warning. Not getting into the details of the dream, I felt like the Lord was saying that I was trying to do too much on my own; I was invading the enemy’s camp by myself. And he warned that such bravado is fool hardy and stupid. I hear the rebuke! We/I need covering. Catalyst is planning an attack on the enemies camp this summer and this isn’t one man’s effort, this is only going to work with God and his kingdom beside us and lots of prayer. With that as an introduction, here are our prayer needs. Please pray for us. We need it.

Prayer Needs

· Please pray that God would be with Catalyst and its “campaign” this summer. We want Him to lead. We are pleading for His favor and that He would go before us.
· Please pray for the success of our “campaign”: 12 weeks that will change your life. We are praying for 400 twenty-somethings that aren’t connected would get connected this summer. (for more info about what I am talking about, look at www.catalyst12.com .)
· Pray that the enemy would be pushed back. The dream I had was specific about how this could all be tripped up by the enemy’s schemes. Pray for protection for me and my family and those that God is calling to help lead Catalyst this summer.
· There is no doubt a harvest to be had. But just like Jesus said, “the Harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Pray that God would raise up workers for the Harvest.
· Pray that the services that Catalyst “puts on” would be “wow.” We want to do everything excellently. Pray that God would empower our creativity and skills.
· Most importantly, pray that God would come in power. Many our lost, lukewarm and bored with life. Pray that the God of Jesus Christ would come in power and rock our worlds. Pray that His kindness would be felt like a steady rain and that it would cause hundreds to turn to him.

Please: Let me know if you receive any inclinations from the Lord or have any wisdom for us. I covet your prayers.

May God be gracious to us all and may we be part of His Kingdom advancing this summer.

What is this anyways?

When I met Jesus I was in desperate need of change. I was addicted, lost, desperate and alone. I came to Jesus because I had no where else to go. That first summer (a long time ago ;) ) I got serious about following Jesus and my life changed. 11 years later change is still happening in me and I am still seriously following Jesus.

I have been a pastor at Faith Church almost a year and a half (my wife and I moved here from California). In the year and a half that I have been here I have seen dozens of young adults have the same experience with Jesus that I had. They meet him and there lives are no longer the same. Their stories are different from mine. Some were just lonely, others greedy, others addicted, others gay, and others just trying to get by. But the results are all the same: when we met Jesus....Everything changed.

This summer is about getting as many twenty-somethings to experience what we have experienced. This isn't some cute youth group, or just another bible study: we are a community that wants to meet the living Jesus. We want to be like him and have the life he had when he lived on the earth. We want to change.

If change is something you need; come hang out with us. More info: http://www.catalyst12.com/

12 Weeks That Will Change Your Life

Church experts will tell you that the hardest demographic for a church to keep or attract is the 18-30 age-group. It’s true: many young adults don’t get the church of their parents; they feel like they have different problems, different goals and dreams, and many wonder how church will actually help them live through life’s many challenges.

Faith Church has no such problem! Close to 25% of our church community are twenty-somethings. This is not by accident. We strive to create “spaces” for twenty-somethings to explore faith, Jesus and His Kingdom-Kind-Of-Life. Beyond the weekend experiences (which are always filled with twenty-somethings), Faith Church has Catalyst—the twenty-something community at Faith Church.

This summer, Catalyst is kicking off a new campaign: 12 weeks that will change your life. There are 40,000 young adults in a ten-mile radius of Faith Church; we have a dream for this summer: reach 1% of them! We want 400 twenty-somethings to meet Jesus in a relevant and powerful way. We think He is the answer to every life question and the source of real satisfaction and joy.

Starting June 5^th at 7:30pm, hundreds of twenty-somethings will meet in The Garage at Faith Church and journey together for 12 weeks in the hopes that we meet Jesus. If we do, our lives will be changed.

I encourage you to invite those who are twenty-something to our June 5^th kick off. For more info, check out our website: www.Catalyst12.com or e-mail me at Rcitlau@faithchurchonline.org .

Beginnings

On April 9th, Pastor Bob, Charlie, myself, and the core team of Catalyst met to talk about this summer. The result of this meeting was a desire to create a space where we could connect with twenty-somethings who might otherwise not come to church. The result: 12 WEEKS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Watch this video to get some background on Catalyst and our vision for the future: