David Whiting Live

This Morning @ Northridge

Hey Northridge Church! Could you consider helping in one or more of the following ways today?  We had an all-time high two weeks in a row for a non-special Sunday, and this past Sunday we struggled with parking and seats. So would you consider the following:

• If you have no other serving responsibilities, could you consider coming to the first service?
• Could you park in the zoo lot or high qual? With snow on the ground, we struggled to park well last week. Until we have our final 45 parking spots, we may continue to struggle a bit with parking. Those spots should be added early in the spring.
• Could you sit close and/or sit in the middle of a row? Seating is a real problem at the second service.

Thanks for considering these ways of helping us out!

 

New Series @ Northridge - starting this week

I can't wait to start a new series this Sunday! I hope you are coming!

This morning I previewed a video we made for Sunday. You might want to bring tissues. Wow! It is a powerful story of life transformation. You won't want to miss it.

Also, now is a great time to try a small group if you aren't in one. We are making DVDs that will be used in every small group during this series to enhance the discussion and finish the sermon.

By the way, the series title may make you think it is about money, but it isn't.

Update from Christmas Weekend @ Northridge

I wanted to share some updates from Christmas weekend @ Northridge. First of all, we set an all-time attendance record with 1855 people between the three services. And more great news... we had no parking problems! We did have a few dozen who parked off site - just in case. That is a wonderful blessing!

Also, I wanted to tell you that the offering for the Advent Conspiracy giving totaled over $42,000! I will give some more information on Sunday.

Thanks for inviting people and for giving sacrificially to those who are most needy! What a great weekend celebrating Christ's birth together!

And we are back to our normal services this Sunday: 9:15 AM & 11:00 AM. We anticipate a busy 11 AM service because of late nights on Saturday. So if you can make it to the 9:15 service, you will help our space challenges.

 

It's Christmas Weekend @ Northridge!

Merry Christmas, Northridge!

Last night we had our final practice for the Christmas weekend services and I'm so excited for you to experience them today or tomorrow! I just finished listening to the entire CD of music (from Andrew Peterson's "Behold, the Lamb of God") and was absolutely overwhelmed with the beauty, grace, and importance of the Incarnation. I truly believe if you come and pay close attention to everything you see and hear at Northridge this weekend, you will be equally overwhelmed and thankful.

Remember to bring your tickets - so that we can get an accurate count (of how many came without tickets, and how many with tickets didn't come). That will help us in future years to figure out how many tickets to give away so we don't over pack the auditorium or don't give enough away. We anticipate a very full 4:00 service (but we will have seats for everyone). At both 6:00 PM tonight and 10:00 AM tomorrow, the services will be full but not packed.

Also, don't forget to bring your Advent Conspiracy offering. We will take that offering in the early part of the program. We have more than 200 people serving to make this weekend's services happen. Thank you for giving up some family time so that together we can proclaim the beauty of the birth of Christ!

May you enjoy a Christ-filled Christmas. May you be overwhelmed sometime in the next two days as you consider the Incarnation (God becoming a man). And may you be filled with joy that He came to seek and save that which was lost!

Tickets for Christmas Services (4 PM is "sold out")

The 4:00 PM Christmas Eve service is "sold out" (not the right term since the tickets are free). Thanks so much for getting tickets. If you have tickets and the people you invited said, "no" - be sure to bring those back on Sunday. That would help us get a few more people in that service.

Please go online and reserve your tickets for 6:00 PM Christmas Eve or 10:00 AM Christmas morning. Don't miss this special service. You might just want to attend it twice!

Go here for tickets.

Why We Are Using Tickets for Christmas

I wanted to further explain why we are using tickets for Christmas weekend. We've seen it modeled by other churches and have decided to try it. Here are the main reasons:

• Last year we ended up with a lot of people sitting in 417. We want to do everything we can to have everyone sit in our auditorium. Tickets will allow us to be sure that everyone has a seat. 
• We want to be sure we have seats for your friends and family that you invite. Crowds are bigger at Christmas and if everyone shows up at the same time we won't have room for the people you invite. We want to give your guests the best experience possible.
• We could add another service if needed. By giving out tickets, we have the flexibility to add another service to accommodate more people. But by closing services that fill up, we also may be able to stay with three services. We would rather not do four (for the sake of those who will serve at all the service) unless we absolutely have to.
• It makes it easier for you to invite friends. The number one reason people show up to a church for the first time is because a friend invites them. Having a ticket with all the details on it makes it easier for people to have those conversations. And it gives the impression that it will be something special and of value to attend. 

Ultimately, more people at our Christmas services mean more people hearing the message and more changed lives. We are addicted to life change here at Northridge - so we believe it's a great thing!

Thank you for being flexible and trying something new with us!

Remember to reserve your tickets through the church website (NorthridgeRochester.com). You also can go straight to the tickets page by clicking here (Christmas.NorthridgeRochester.com).

Christmas Weekend @ Northridge (a bit more info)

Christmas is closer than you think! For a child, Christmas can never come quickly enough. For adults buying presents and pastors preparing Christmas services, it always seems to be coming too quickly!

Here are some things we are thinking about these days with Christmas Eve/Christmas:

• Reminder: we are doing three services over two days (4:00 and 6:00 on Christmas Eve; 10:00 AM on Christmas morning).
• We really need people to serve at these services.  Will you consider attending one and serving one or two others? Let us know through the Connections Card on Sunday.
• Did you know that Christmas has now surpassed Easter as the most likely Sunday someone who doesn't know Christ will visit a church service? Why is that? As our culture grows more secular, fewer and fewer people grew up going to church on Easter, and our culture hasn't turned it into the "event" that Christmas is. So more people are likely to come at Christmas now than Easter.
• Therefore, more of the people you long to reach for Christ will be willing to come! Who are you planning to invite? Please BE BOLD and invite people! I will do my best to present the hope of Christ is a clear yet brief way (most of the service will be music).
• As mentioned, we will be asking people this year to get tickets for the service they are planning on attending. This will help us to better accommodate the crowds that are coming and give you something that you can give to a friend as a tool for inviting them.  Of course the tickets are free, but we are asking that everyone please get tickets to help us better serve every single person who will show up.

You can reserve your tickets online through our website (NorthridgeRochester.com) or you can directly go to the ticket website (Christmas.NorthridgeRochester.com).

If you reserve your tickets online, you can pick them up at a table in the lobby on Sunday (the "will call" line, you could call it). Or you can stop by the same table and pick up tickets. It will be faster for everyone if you reserve online - as we will have them ready to give to you.  But whatever way works best is fine with us.

If you pick up tickets and your family or friends decide not to come, you can always return tickets.

 

Get Your Tickets for Christmas Eve & Christmas @ Northridge

Just a reminder that we need everyone who is coming to Northridge on Christmas Eve or Christmas to get tickets.

Just go to our website (click HERE), or straight to the Eventbrite page (click HERE). Once you reserve your tickets, pick them up at the table in the lobby on Sunday. You can also just pick some up at the table on Sunday, but it would be quicker if you reserve online.

You may wonder why we are asking people to reserve tickets. Here are some reasons that I will expand on in a later post:

• It helps us make sure we have seats for everyone to invite their friends and family.
• It helps us determine when we need to offer more services.
• It makes it easier for peopel to invite their friends.
• It communicates something special is going to happen.
• IIt communicates these services are open to the entire community.

Northridge Advent Conspiracy Catalog online

I wanted to let you know that the Advent Conspiracy Catalog is now on our website. In case you lost your catalog or missed picking one up last week. So go to our website (NorthridgeRochester.com) and take a look at the catalog.

They are also available at the Information Desk at church tomorrow. Tomorrow we also will be giving out the envelopes that people will use to turn in their Advent Conspiracy gift.



Exciting Sunday Coming @ Northridge!

A few things I'm very excited about this Sunday:

• You haven't heard me say this is a long, long time... DON'T PARK OFF SITE THIS SUNDAY!! Wow! It feels SO good to say that. Although the parking lot isn't complete and won't be until the Spring, there are 140 extra spots on which we can park this Sunday! Last Sunday we almost had 1400 people and we all would have been able to park onsite! With that said, we still need our most committed people to park in the zoo lot and to park in the new "lower lot."  So you don't need to park off-site (Hi-Qual), but we would like to ask you to park far.
• I am very excited to continue the series "More & Better" this week. I really enjoyed prepping for this message.
• We will be passing out the Advent Conspiracy Catalogs. You don't want to miss that! If you watch our services online but don't attend, yet you would like to participate in the Advent Conspiracy, simply email the church office or me and we will send you the catalog.

I can't wait until Sunday!