MBC- Prince William

Core Value Number 3: The goal of our ministry is to transform people into fully devoted followers of Christ. Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 4:11-16

Several years ago, MBC determined that there are four crucial steps to becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ. Grow. Connect. Share. Serve. We are to grow in our relationship with Christ, connect in biblical community, share the gospel message of Christ with others, and serve Christ in some capacity. This month at Prince William we are focusing on the concept of grow. In that spirit, we have several resources to share with you.

1. McLean University
McLean University is a series of classes designed to teach the fundamentals of Christianity. Our first class, Christianity 101 is a great way to learn who Jesus is and what He did for us. It’s a safe, non-threatening way to explore your faith and ask questions. If you’re new to church or have been going to church for 40 years, you can still benefit from this class. I took this class a few years ago (after being on staff here for 6 years) and still learned from it. We are offering Christianity 101 on Sundays at 10:45 am beginning October 18th and at 9:00 am beginning on November 1. Contact Kenny for more information.

2. NAVPress Topical Memory System
Mark mentioned this at services over the weekend. The whole PW staff is going through NTMS right now. I’ve never been particularly consistent at memorizing Scripture, but this system does give you the tools to systematically memorize Scripture. Lon spoke on the importance of Scripture memory last February in a sermon entitled “People Jesus Met Part Three: Satan”. Click here if you’d like to listen to that message.

3. The BOOKstore
The BOOKstore at Prince William celebrated its grand opening this past weekend. The BOOKstore will be open each weekend. This is a great place to find a Bible study, Bible, or a devotional. If we don’t have what you are looking for, just ask. We can make special orders.

We hope that you will take advantage of these resources to help you grow in your relationship with Christ.

If you’ve been around MBC for any period of time, you know about Jill’s House. We know, though, that many of you PW’ers are new to MBC. We are so happy to have you with us!

For those of you who are new, Jill’s House is a respite care center for families with children with special needs. Jill’s House began as a dream for the Solomon family years ago. Lon and Brenda’s daughter Jill is severely disabled so they know the challenges that face a family who has a child with special needs. Their dream was for a place that could serve these families and these children. After years of discussion and planning, Jill’s House is currently under construction just west of MBC-Tysons on Rt. 7. Praise God that the walls are finally up!

You’ll hear more about Jill’s House this weekend in MBC services. Please continue to pray for everyone involved in this ministry and for the families that Jill’s House will serve.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
- 1 Corinthians 6:19

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
- 1 Corinthians 3:16

Back in the Old Testament, the Spirit of God lived in a physical building. The temple of God was a place. That all changed in the New Testament. As followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit is in us. Our bodies are God’s temples.

I’ve been pondering that a lot this week. God’s Spirit lives inside me. My body is God’s temple. Am I really treating my body that way? Am I getting enough rest and eating well? Am I getting enough exercise? Am I getting too much exercise? I admit, I’m really hard on my body. Ask any of my friends about any one of my injuries from the past few years. (I get injured in the most random ways.) I was anorexic for 7 or 8 years in high school and college. By any definition, I have not been kind to my body.

Thinking about your body as God’s temple puts things in a different light. We’ve been entrusted with these earthly bodies. Are you treating your body like a temple? What could you do differently this week to take better care of yourself?

Traditionally, signing up for a small group felt like signing away every Wednesday night for the rest of your life. The idea was that this group of 6-9 relative strangers would bond and “do life together”. I’m not picking on the system. I have been in groups where that worked out. One of my prayer partners was in my original small group back when I started at Frontline. Some of my best friends are women that I have been in small group with.

But I’ve also been in the small groups that didn’t work out quite so well. We had different interests or personalities that didn’t quite click. Some people were more committed than others. For whatever reason, the group just didn’t connect.

The MBC Small Group team has made some changes to the structure of small groups. We realize that an open-ended group may be intimdating to some people. Guys, we know that you may not want to immediately pour out your soul to a group of guys you just met. DC is a busy area. Committing to every Monday night for the forseeable future may be too much for you. So we are trying something different.

This fall MBC is launching a new format of small groups - the 8 week group. Groups will run from the week of October 11 thru the week of December 6. Instead of being randomly placed in a group, you have the option to join a group that fits your schedule. Groups are still designed for either men, women, or couples (no mixed groups, so don’t join one just to find a date).

We are offering some great studies this fall: 3:16 by Max Lucado, Phillipians, Beth Moore’s Esther, and even sermon-based studies. I will be leading a women’s group on “Living a Life of True Worship” (sorry - had to put a plug in there). If you’d like more information on fall small groups, check out www.mbcprincewilliam.org or email Kenny Choi. So check one out. It’s only 8 weeks. If it works out well, you and your group can sign up for a study together this spring. If not, hopefully you still learned something about God along the way.

Week 2 at MBC Prince William went extremely well. We had over 700 adult attendees. 180 children. 37 newcomers. 65 junior high and senior high students! The Rock Student Ministries has been growing by leaps and bounds. We started with approximately 40 students at the first preview. Last week we were at 57. That’s pretty awesome.

Alyce had a prior engagement this weekend so Brian Norberg stepped up as a volunteer worship leader. I remember a time when the thought of a volunteer leading worship was unheard of. I’m so glad we’ve progressed to the point of having volunteers who have the skills and heart to lead worship. Brian has led worship at MBC Tysons from time to time and always does a great job for us.

If you were at the first service, you probably noticed a little glitch. We’re still learning and figuring out how to make sure we “land the plane” at the right time to catch the sermon from Tysons. Be patient with us! I’ve learned my lesson this time so I don’t think it will be a problem again. Kudos to our flexible tech staff who work together to make things as seamless as possible.

So what do you think of MBC-PW so far? I love hearing from you all. It’s such a blessing to hear how excited you are about our new campus. It also reminds me to look beyond the details that go into each service and focus on the big picture of why we are here. You can leave a comment below or feel free to email me at stephanie.quick@mcleanbible.org.

Have a great Monday!

Check out some pictures from our launch!

From left to right: Me (Producer, Director of Creative Arts), Alyce (Worship Leader), Mark (Campus Pastor), Denny Harris (MBC Executive Pastor), Kenny Choi (Director of Adult Ministries), Rachel (Director of Ministry Teams),Mary (Director of Kid’s Quest)… not pictured Thomas Kovas (Director of The Rock)

If you’re wondering what the third song we did in worship last weekend was, we have a resource for you!

Each week, the titles and author of the worship songs we used during Sunday’s service will be available here. On some occasions, the artist who recorded the version we used will be listed. We hope this will help you in your own private worship time.

Mark used an example this weekend comparing MBC Prince William to a space shuttle taking off. That’s exactly how I’m feeling right now. Months of preparation have come together, culminating in last weekend’s opening day service. Many of you were there for the service. I loved seeing you all there and experiencing your excitement. It’s likely you had no idea of everything that was going on behind the scenes, so here’s your backstage, all-access pass to the Producer’s view of the MBC Prince William launch.

7:36 am I walk into the auditorium to a flurry of activity. Musicians are plugging their instruments in. Choir members are chatting and getting ready. Shirley is printing sermon notes and finetuning the MediaShout slides. Craig and Aaron are busy setting up mics.

8:00 am Prayer time. The staff and volunteers gather at the stage to pray for the service and for the people coming.

8:05 am Rehearsal time. Alyce and the band run through all the songs again. Denny Harris is happy I didn’t wear a hat this morning. I remind him that I can look like a grownup when needed.

8:35 am Time to rehearse “While I’m Waiting”. Brian’s mic doesn’t work. This is pointed out by practically everyone in the room. Aaron stays calm. We swap out mics and everything is fixed.

8:40 am Theoretically, doors should be open, but we still have to run “God of this City” with the video and Tysons. Take one: Not quite. Ushers are getting impatient. Take two: Close. We’re out of time, so we open doors. Praise God for Kris Campesi and Rachel Fabian for keeping the ushers calm. Mental note: make sure to finish on time next week.

8:59 am Band enters stage. Choir gets in place. And we’re off!

9:20 am Worship is coming to a close. We are a full 3 minutes ahead of where Tysons is. This presents an issue since we need them in order to do “God of this City”. Denny is commissioning the staff. Oh wait, I need to be onstage. Please Lord, where’s the green light saying we’re okay? Denny starts praying…. and there’s the light. Praise God!

9:35 am Okay, we’re in the sermon. I can relax a little. I start getting messages from Tysons asking how many people are here. They’re sending us more bulletins? I didn’t even know we were running low!

10:15 am Service is over. What do I need to tell the band for next time? I check in with Alyce. We attempt to work on several video issues, but it proves to be too much to do between services so Dave and I make a note to fix it during the week.

10:30 am Bulletins arrive. Praise God the attendance is so great that we needed them! Rachel, Janette and the team furiously stuff bulletins while other ushers hand out bulletins to people.

10:45 am Service number two kicks off. Alyce makes a face, but I don’t find out until later that was because she had Tysons’ music in her inear monitors!

10:50 am Already more people at the service than there were at the 9:00 am service!

11:10 am Staff Commissioning… green light is on. We’re ready for the offering song.

11:15 am “God of this City” is sung simultaneously at MBC Tysons, The Edge, MBC Loudoun, and MBC Prince William. “Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done….”

11:20 am Lon’s sermon. Vision message part 1.

11:50 am Mark dedicates “While I’m Waiting” to all the people who have been faithfully serving the Lord while waiting for Prince William to open.

12:00 pm Services are done! Time to clean up. Wow… hard to believe that we’ve actually opened! All in all, we had 220 children and 880 adults in services, many more than we’d expected. I’m really pleased with how it all went. Of course, there are details that we’ll work on and improve upon, but for opening weekend, God truly provided!

I can’t tell you how personally supported I felt by the team at Tysons, Frontline, and Loudoun. I got phone calls, emails, and texts all morning asking how it was going and letting me know they were praying for us. I know that Jim, Todd, and Lon all prayed for us during their services. I’m honored to be a part of the large family that is McLean Bible Church.

And now… we’re open. Our challenge now is to maintain the momentum that has been created. All the preparations weren’t just about September 13th. They were about creating a church that is ongoing. We have services this Sunday, next Sunday, and every week after that. People need to hear the message of Jesus Christ. And that’s why we’re here.

The vision of McLean Bible Church is to make an impact on secular Washington, DC with the message of Jesus Christ.

Tags: Add new tag

I’m praising God for all He did today. All in all, we had 882 attendees between the two services. We had an amazing group of volunteers and staff serving all throughout the building, from parking to Kid’s Quest to the band. I’m excited to see what happens in the coming weeks!

Here’s the story from Todd Adkins, Frontline Executive Pastor, and Katy Kirk, Frontline PW Director of Women’s Small Groups.

Todd and Katy at Opening Day

I’m sitting in rehearsal, listening to Alyce and the band rehearse, watching Craig train several potential volunteers. Shirley is updating some slides to make sure the lyrics are accurate. Aaron is fiddling with knobs and faders to adjust the sound in the room. Rachel is setting up the Newcomer Room. Mary and her team are putting last minute touches in the children’s classrooms. I’m in the middle of all this activity and I can’t help but be amazed at all the Lord has done here over the past several years.

I remember when the idea of a campus in Prince William County was proposed in a congregational meeting. We were in the midst of launching MBC Loudoun and working on launching MBC Uptown. CAM (Creative Arts Ministry) already felt stretched like a rubber band. I’ll admit, I didn’t know how we could add another campus without losing our minds.

It has been incredible to see how the Lord has orchestrated the launch of this campus. There have been setbacks along the way, but God’s timing is perfect. As we’ve been gaining speed this summer, I am in awe of the number of volunteers the Lord has provided. We have over 300 volunteers signed up already. And we haven’t even begun regular services!

I think it’s important to remember that, no matter how amazing the staff and volunteers are (and they are amazing), we couldn’t have done this on our own. MBC Prince William is definitely an example of the Lord moving through His people.

And now, we’re almost there. 18 hours to go. Services begin tomorrow. But tomorrow is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see what God does tomorrow and in the months to come.