Northway Church Blog

This blog has moved!

2006-11-18T14:54:00.000-05:00

This blog can now be accessed at a different address. Check us out at http://blog.northwaychurch.tv/malta.

3 days and counting!

2006-11-16T10:42:00.000-05:00

Our Miracle Weekend is only three days away! We have received so many amazing stories about what individuals and families are doing to increase what was entrusted to them. Here are just a few:

Hi There! At first I couldn't come up with anything to creative, but I went and bought a fall basket and filled it with dark green and ivory candles, potpourri, insence sticks and candle holders. I will be selling raffle tickets for it at my work for $3 for one ticiket or $5 for 10 tickets. I plan to do this all week. I hope I at least double the money. I am actually worried about not doing as well as I'd like to, but I dont want God to say NO DEAL to me, I want Him to say WELL DONE. ~Brooke

Having no idea what I was taking, I reached in the offering bucket and took an envelope. When I realized what Northway was doing my first reaction was to put it back. I’m a mother of four, my husband has a job that keeps him away most of the time and I do lots of volunteer work. My head was spinning. I settled down by talking to God. I had been given this beautiful bookmark a few years ago that I really loved. I thought “We could make these.” My husband said let’s go for it. With total trust, I went out the next day and bought everything we would need. That afternoon I told my children (who are 8, 4, 2 and 8 weeks mind you) that we were going to design and make bookmarks that we could sell, in order to make a miracle offering to Northway. I told them the same story Pastor Buddy shared and asked them to pray with me. We worked as a family all around the dinning room table. My two oldest picked out beads and stones they liked together, my husband cut the cords and tied the knots, my two year old handed me tools and my baby sat in my arms as we all trusted God together. By Tuesday morning we had made 140 bookmarks. By Tuesday night, we had sent out over 200 emails to friends and family. By Wednesday morning we had already sold 20 of them. We don’t know if we are going to multiply God’s money by 10, 5 or just merely give back what we were given. What we do know is that God brought our family together to work on this project. It is amazing to see Him work first hand in my family. Thank you Northway Church for having such amazing trust in God; that you would trust all of us with His money. We are praying that God will give us an outstanding miracle offering that we can give back to Northway. ~Katherine

We too felt overwhelmed when we received the envelope; not one $50 bill or two, but three $50 bills for our family to come up with a way to return five or ten fold. So we thought what does Pastor Buddy always talk about? HIS IPOD! We are having a raffle of an APPLE 4GB IPOD. I am good at crafts so I am donating a Christmas Wreath and a Goodie Basket as 2nd and 3rd place prizes. I am truly amazed at the imaginations this church family has. I know my friends and family are anxious to hear the results of this miracle. My family is blessed to pull together, have some fun, spread the word of GOD, and our church, and achieve the mission we set out to do. ~Stefi

Didn't take us long to come up with a quickest way to fund raise. Feed People! Having worked with various school events during the years we found that food always works. We are holding an Italian Feast at our home, selling tickets for $15.00 each, giving away door prizes, holding a 50/50 raffle during the event, and raffling off one large prize. We were able to get some local businesses to donate the door prizes. All the food, drink and large raffle prize will come from the $200 received from the church. We invited 56 people and had a response of over 25 coming just 2 days after mailing out the invitations. We even had four people call and ask to be invited. We will keep you posted. Sounds like God is looking to party! In God's Favor, Rick & Marj

Check back as we continue to share stories of how God is working through His church!

Deal or No Deal: Week 2 Recap

2006-11-14T16:16:00.000-05:00

This weekend we took an inside look at God’s principles for financial management. What an eye opener! Pastor Buddy shared with us some staggering statistics about debt and finances.

We talked about how our culture is desensitized to the impact of debt; it is commonplace to live in significant debt! But God says that the borrower is enslaved to his/her debtor. So how can we be better stewards of the tangible resources God has entrusted us with when it comes to managing our finances? Check out the awesome principles and examples Pastor Buddy shared in the media center.

Things are really buzzing around Northway as we prepare for our Miracle Offering next weekend. We’ve heard lots of stories about the creative things people are doing to multiply the money entrusted to them a couple of weeks ago. We’ll be posting more stories we’ve received via e-mail this week! If you’d like to share your story with us, e-mail dealornodeal@northwaychurch.tv.

Feedback

2006-11-08T09:21:00.000-05:00

We are already getting lots of fantastic feedback of what Northway Church is doing to prepare for the miracle offering! Here are a couple stories of what God is doing:

Pastor Buddy,

I prayed all the way home about your message. I am sooooo convinced that God will bless your faith and vision to accomplish his purposes. I pray that we will be faithful servants, all of us. I was hoping for a $10 bill in my envelope so that maybe I could 'swing it' on my own. But no, I was given a $50 bill. At that moment I knew it would have to be God, and God alone who would bless me with $500 that I could give back to Him November 19th.

I am a single Mom with four kids, working two part-time jobs, and I'm in graduate school. I really don't have any time to have a garage sale etc. But I believe that God will give me the money (from somewhere else) to give back to Him. I am convinced that God wants to do this work. I believe that this is just one more step of faith as God continues to show me more of his faithfulness. I will pray everyday and I look forward to emailing you with my story.

Jeri

Buddy,

I have to give you big PROPS for the BOLD challenge laid out this weekend. Your ears must be ringing! You may have given out 1200-1800 envelopes this weekend, but I guarantee 5400+ people will have heard of this challenge by 5:00 PM tonight! I've even called friends and family long distance to share the news and to get ideas!

I was thinking of what a great idea this was to take the good news of Jesus Christ to whole new level, without saying please tithe a $100 bucks! You know giving away this money was not a risk, and will be the "miracle blessing" that we are in need of for Clifton Park and more. I guarantee it to be more than 10-fold! The Pepsi arena was a HUGE risk and God pulled that one off. This is going to be small potatoes for God to accomplish. I too believe there's no challenges God can't meet with faith.

You never cease to amaze me with your creativity, energy and the ease of understanding Gods word on a weekly bases. My family and I our honored and proud to have the privilege to be a part of and attend Northway Church.

Godspeed!

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Share your story with us by e-mailing dealornodeal@northwaychurch.tv!

Deal or no Deal: Week one recap

2006-11-08T00:45:00.001-05:00

This weekend really was one for the history books at Northway Church. Pastor Buddy spoke to us about the tangible and intangible things God has entrusted each of us with…our time, our talents, and our treasures. We were all personally challenged us to evaluate our stewardship of these items, and to think about what a great responsibility we have. Will we leverage our God-given resources for eternity?

The examples Pastor Buddy gave and the letters he read brought the message to life. We heard story after story about people who had experienced life change because they heard about Jesus Christ through Northway Church. Buddy concluded by emphasizing that nothing we do on earth lasts unless it is done for God. It’s all fleeting, but what we do for God is eternal.

Then Buddy talked about the story Jesus told in Luke 19, when three servants were entrusted a sum of money by their master. Each of the servants were asked to multiply it, and return it to the master as a sacred trust. One servant returned the same amount of money, and returned a five-fold amount. The third servant returned to his master ten times the original amount, and the master said to him “well done,” entrusting him with more responsibility as a reward for his stewardship.

God has clearly spoken to Northway Church that it’s time to expand our ministry and start another campus in Clifton Park, as we become one church in multiple locations that meets people where they are. We are taking the largest step of faith in the history of our church and are completely committed to making this happen.

Northway Church has put its money where its mouth is. In an unprecedented act of faith, Northway distributed $40,000 to its attendees this past weekend. Like the faithful servant in Luke 19, each person has been challenged and encouraged to use their God-given creativity to multiply God’s money and return it for our miracle offering. We are trusting God for a miracle offering on November 18th and 19th, with which to launch our Clifton Park campus.

Deal or No Deal

2006-11-02T15:44:00.000-05:00

Beginning this weekend, November 4th and 5th:

Many of us, if asked, would say we trust God. We trust God with our salvation and our forgiveness; our health and our eternity. Yet, so often, when it comes to the tangible things in life, we draw the line. But a major aspect of trusting and honoring God relates to how we manage the tangible blessings He has given us. Join us for this exciting new series, Deal or No Deal as we discover the freedom of trusting God by applying positive biblical principles of money management. Click here to invite a friend!

E-motions series concludes with Baptism

2006-10-30T21:44:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Pastor Buddy concluded the E-motions series by discussing challenge of managing the ups and downs of life. What a challenge it is to keep our E-motions steady through life's relentless ups and downs! God's Word not only provides us with practical wisdom on managing our E-motions, it also gives us powerful portraits of the consistent faith of others.

So many of the people we read about in the Bible successfully weathered ups and downs, like Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16. After being beaten and thrown in prison, they made a choice not to let their emotions drag them down, but instead to worship God! They chose to praise God publicly despite the ups and downs of life, and in that moment, God did a miracle. Not only did He free them from the prison, He freed their jailer, too! Paul and Silas took a true down in the dumps moment to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Talk about controlling your E-motions! If you missed this powerful conclusion to the E-motions series, it will soon be up in the media center. The complete E-motions series will be available on DVD soon in The Source.

We also celebrated baptism this weekend. Over 60 people went public in their faith! It's such a joy when a church gets to celebrate with people taking this step of faith and obedience. We all cheered as we watched brothers and sisters...moms and dads...husbands and wives...believers from every walk of life stepping out in obedience to show the world that they believe in Jesus Christ! And over 20 of these individuals were from our student ministry! The next generation is stepping up and stepping out for God, and that's what it's all about.

Don't miss next week as we kick off our brand new series Deal or No Deal. Check back later this week for details!

Don't forget to FALL BACK!

2006-10-26T15:51:00.000-05:00

Daylight savings time begins this weekend. Set your clocks back one hour on Saturday night...or you will be very early for church Sunday morning! Enjoy the extra hour of sleep!

Clifton Park Updates

2006-10-25T14:07:00.000-05:00

Renovations are underway in Clifton Park and we have created a blog specifically to keep you in the loop on the progress. Check out the Clifton Park blog for regular updates on the renovation, pictures, and details on what projects we are looking for help with and when.

We have come a long way already, thanks to the many volunteers who have given their time thus far. We'd love to have you involved as well! Fill out a Facility Renovation Volunteer card this weekend! They are located in the pockets of each chair at Northway, and also available at Guest Services.

E-motions Week 3 Recap: Forgiveness

2006-10-24T08:16:00.000-05:00

What an amazing weekend; words can’t really do it justice! After Pastor Buddy spoke about the power of forgiveness, we took communion as a church. What a great way to truly understand how forgiveness should be unconditional of our E-motions. Taking time to pause and reflect on Christ’s love and his ultimate sacrifice gives us the most beautiful picture of unconditional forgiveness. Buddy’s message on forgiveness will be posted this afternoon in the northwaychurch.tv media center.

We also made some more Northway history this weekend. We maxed out our space in the 11:15 service for the first time since we renovated to allow for additional seating. Way to go God! The host team could barely set out chairs fast enough to keep up! Be ready to see the same thing happen next weekend as we celebrate baptism in the 11:15 service. If you haven’t been to a baptism event at Northway, you don’t want to miss this weekend!

Along with the upcoming baptism, this weekend will be the conclusion of one of our most popular series ever, E-motions. See you there!

Another VIP Training Scheduled

2006-10-18T08:16:00.000-05:00

An additional VIP volunteer training session has been scheduled for the month of November. That brings the total number of VIP trainings on the calendar to three:

Saturday, October 21 @ 10am in KidzWay elementary
Saturday, October 28 @ 10am in KidzWay elementary
Saturday, November 11 @ 10am in KidzWay elementary

For more information about VIP training, check out previous blogs on the topic for a training overview or recap of a previous session. If you're interested in joining us for one of these dynamic sessions, just let your team leader know when you'd like to attend. See you there!

E-motions: Week 2

2006-10-17T14:54:00.000-05:00

This weekend was full of surprises as Pastor Buddy walked us through another E-motion: Anger. He also surprised us by serenading each service with a hammed-up Vegas-style performance of “Feelings." As if that weren’t enough of an adventure, he had us all on the edge of our seats as he swung from one side of the stage to another, illustrating the power of our e-motions.

In part two of the series E-motions, we talked about the different ways we harbor and express anger, and compared them to what the Bible has to say about it. Pastor Buddy taught us that it was ok to be angry when we are angry about the things that anger God. He also clarified God’s teaching in Ephesians 4:26; “Be angry, and yet do not sin” (NAS) .

Video of this weekend's service is now playing on www.northwaychurch.tv. Stay tuned for more as we plow through this applicable series in week three of E-motions. We’ll see you then!

Baptism Event - Sunday, October 29th

2006-10-12T10:40:00.000-05:00

Northway Church will be celebrating its fourth baptism event on Sunday, October 29th in the 11:15 a.m. service. If you have not been baptized and are considering taking this step, we encourage you to register! Baptism events at Northway are the highlight of what we do! We love to celebrate with others as they go public with their relationship with God and tell the world how He has given them new life! We would love to share in this momentous occasion with you.

Why is baptism important? Because Jesus set this example for us in the Bible (Mark 1:9). Because when we become Christ followers, God wants us to go public and show the world by water baptism that we celebrate new life with Christ! What better way to do so than at our upcoming baptism event, with your entire Northway family cheering you on.

Frequently asked questions about Baptism:

How does baptism at Northway work?
When you register for baptism, our baptism coordinator will contact you to make sure you've received all of the information you need, and that your questions have been answered. On the day of the event, you will sign in, keep a change of clothes in the restroom, and line up at the beginning of the service. We will have a pool right in the center of the church, and after you are baptized, you'll be helped back to the restroom where you can dry off and get changed. Numerous volunteers will be there with you every step of the way to support you and make sure your needs are met.

Why does Northway do baptism by immersion?
Because Christ was baptized that way and every baptism in the Bible was by immersion (Matthew 3:16; Acts 8:38-39).

My child has expressed interest in baptism. Can he/she be baptized?
Yes! Your child receives salvation when he/she reaches an age of understanding and makes the decision to accept Jesus as his/her personal Lord and Savior. If your child expresses interest in baptism, talk with him/her and make sure he/she understands what salvation is and what baptism symbolizes. If he/she is ready, we will gladly baptize him/her.

I was baptized as a child. Do I need to be baptized again?
The Bible teaches that baptism is a decision an individual makes as a result of becoming a Christ-follower. If you don't feel that your baptism as a child was your conscious decision to go public in your relationship with Christ, being baptized now would be an incredible way to show God and others that you are committed to following Him.

How do I sign up for baptism at Northway?
You can register online or in Guest Services. In addition to registering, you will be asked to fill out a form briefly describing why you want to be baptized. We will ask you to tell us a little bit about your story, so we can celebrate what God has done in your life with you.

VIP Training Recap

2006-10-11T12:56:00.000-05:00

The first two VIP training sessions were a great success! Over 100 people attended Saturday morning and Tuesday evening. The response has been so positive that two more VIP training sessions have already been scheduled: Saturday, October 21 at 10am and Saturday, October 28 at 10am. These sessions are open to anyone who would like to attend. Please communicate your intent to attend directly to your ministry leader.

What people are saying about VIP training:

“The VIP volunteer training was great! I learned what it means to be a team player and how effective communication can be. The blog is also a great way to communicate.”

“It comes across very strongly that our church is about loving people right where they are and that we are part of an awesome body of Christ.”

“The relaxed the loving manner in which topics were relayed was great. I am proud to be a part of Northway Church and thank God for using me.”

“If left the VIP Training with a feeling of belonging to something very important.”

“I thought everything about the VIP training was so professional and organized - just like the weekends! I realize I am here to lead others to Christ and to build my own relationship with Him. I learned the true meaning of being a VIP! The presentation for VIP training was so clear and concise. I realize the importance of serving at Northway.”

“I got a refreshed look at our purpose as volunteers at Northway and how I can prepare myself before I serve with a grace and truth attitude."

“This VIP training meeting was helpful in outling clear expectations and in reassuring that volunteering can help build a team, help others grow in Christ and help us grow individually in Christ. It puts us all on the same page and Jesus' team. I left feeling so valued as a member of the Northway VIP Team.”

“VIP training was so interactive and that made for a wide range of ideas from everyone involved. I learned about keeping an open heart and mind. I learned about being able to open up to new ideas and new ways to look at things like picking up trash on the floor or walking new people to an area they are looking for rather than just pointing.”

We would love to hear your feedback, too! If you haven’t already attended, let your ministry team leader know that you would like to attend one of these dynamic training sessions!

E-motions Kick-Off

2006-10-10T19:14:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we had record attendance at Northway. Nearly 1600 people joined us as we kicked off our new series! E-motions promises to be a great series as we learn how to get back into the driver’s seat of our lives and stop catering to our emotions.

In week one, Pastor Buddy described the power our emotions have to set us up for failure or success. We took an inside look at what the Bible has to say about our feelings. In the book of Proverbs, God teaches us that the key to mastering our emotions is self control. Proverbs 16:32 tell us that “It is better to have self-control than to conquer a city.” Remember, haste makes mistakes, but wisdom waits. Are you going to let your emotions be your God? Or is God going to be your God?

E-motions week one is now playing in the media center on northwaychurch.tv. Don’t miss next weekend as we jump into part two of E-motions. We'll see you there!

VIP Volunteer Training

2006-10-06T13:37:00.000-05:00

Volunteer Training will be held this Saturday (October 7th) at 10am and again on Tuesday (October 10th) at 7pm. We have a lot of new people joining our team as a result of our recent volunteer drive, and this training is being held to introduce all of them to the world of being a VIP at Northway. However, the training is open to all current Northway volunteers as well. So even if you didn’t receive a phone call, letter or e-mail, consider this an open invitation and come join us!

So what’s a VIP anyways? A VIP is a Very Important Person, and at Northway, all of our volunteers are VIPs. Whether you’re new or old to volunteering at Northway, here are three compelling reasons to attend one of the upcoming sessions:

It’s a great way to meet other VIP’s. Volunteering is one of the best ways to get connected and meet people at Northway. What better way to kick things off than this dynamic training session?
For the first time, Northway’s new training ministry will offer NVision training. Our training team has been working hard to create this exciting training program. NVision will clearly communicate the vision of Northway to all of our volunteers, as well as demonstrate HOW that vision affects each and every volunteer.
Because volunteering at Northway is fun! If you think we have fun in our services, then you’ll love these training sessions. It will be interactive, exciting, and loads of fun!

See you there!

Location for Second Campus Announced

2006-10-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

God has definitely proven once again that He has a great sense of humor. In this weekend's services, Northway Church announced the location of their new campus. This past Friday, after months of searching almost every available piece of real estate in the capital region, Northway signed a lease for the space previously occupied by Gold's Gym in Clifton Park.

We love our walks down memory lane at Northway, and it was pretty amazing to see Pastor Buddy looking through the windows of the vacant Clifton Park space. To think that just four years ago, he peered through the windows of a gym in Malta and wondered..."What could be? What should be? What must be?" That vision has become a reality, and now, it's time to think "What could be? What should be? What must be?" for our new Clifton Park location.

If you've been around Northway, you know that our church is enthusiastic. We love God with everything we have, we know how to play hard and we also know how to WORK hard! Well, before we can see the vision realized in Clifton Park, we have a lot of work to do! It's time to transform that space, which will require a small army of volunteers. Imagine everything we have at our Malta facility...office space, children's classrooms, a stage, a media booth - we need to build all of this in Clifton Park!

Northway has a lot of distinguishing characteristics, one of which is its volunteers. Did you know that this past April, many of those volunteers worked around the clock to drastically remodel our facility (and prepare a new facility for our children) in just two short weeks? God has given us the vision for our new location. He has provided a space for our new location, and now its time for His church to come together and make Northway Church - Clifton Park a reality!

If you filled out a facility volunteer form this weekend, thank you so much for stepping out in faith to further God's kingdom. If you'd like to volunteer, we need you! We're looking for people to paint, sheetrock, lay floor, make phone calls, clean - whatever you can do, we can use! Call the church office (518.899.1200) or stop by Guest Services to sign up. Thank you in advance! we can't wait to witness what God will do through your service.

Clifton Park here we come!!!