On September 19, 2014, Awaken Church officially turned 5 years old. On September 21, we partied big.

It was an unforgettable weekend that will always stand out in our minds…which was the goal. We call weekends like these “monument weekends” because part of the Awaken Code is Monuments drive the movement. Knowing our tendency to forget God’s faithfulness, we set aside a few weekends each year to fight forgetfulness. The idea comes from Joshua 4 where God tells 12 men to go back into the dried up Jordan River bed, pull out 12 stones, and stack them up as a memorial to remember the miraculous river crossing. Why? Because they (like we) were prone to forgetfulness.

So, in an effort to never forget, we collectively poured hundreds (if not a few thousand) of hours into our 5th birthday weekend that we called “Together We Build,” based on 1 Peter 2:5.

you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5 NKJV)

The message was simple: It’s Not About The Bricks! As the “living stones” that God is using to build His “spiritual house,” we are just the building materials. Jesus is the Builder. Bricks don’t take credit for the house they’re a part of, and we can’t take credit for the work God has done. It was an amazing weekend.

A Few Standout Moments…

My wife joining the Awaken worship band again, leading the song “Oceans.” Hearing my wife sing lyrics like, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders…” was so surreal as I worshiped with hundreds of people that we didn’t know 5 years ago!

Walking around backstage with my son, praying for the church. I don’t know if my son will be a preacher behind a pulpit one day, but I know he will preach through his life wherever he goes. I pray that desire burns in his heart as he grows and learns to serve Jesus, and I look forward to serving Jesus alongside him.

Sitting backstage with my wife, discussing what a mind-blowing privilege it is to lead Awaken Church. As the documentary played, Jenn and I sat and talked about how incredible it has been, and how incredible the future is sure to be.

Awaken’s mini-documentary, Together We Build. Our team poured hundreds of hours into an incredible 20-minute documentary including interviews, clips, and news coverage from the first 5 years of Awaken. I’ve watched it so many times already, and I fight back tears each time. You can download it in all of its HD glory for just a few bucks at awakenchurch.org/togetherwebuild!

The Day At A Glance…

With a church full of Jeremiahs, the Gospel would be unstoppable. I LOVE serving with this guy!

People of all ages joined in with setup & tear-down. They wouldn’t even let us in the building till 7am, but the 9:30 crowd would have never known!

The amount of work that it takes to move Awaken Kids to another campus is unbelievable, but the team nailed it. Hundreds of kids heard about Jesus. Here is Shannon, one of our faithful Kids Team Members, doing what she does best.

Being on that stage in front of hundreds of people with my wife was a surreal moment.

It may not be our normal meeting place, but our VIP Team made sure visitors felt welcomed anyway.

The main time you’ll see me carrying bricks and using a wheelbarrow will be as a sermon illustration. Here’s one of those moments.

Leah (and the other Social Specialists) make coming to church fun.