News
Global Impact Celebration: A historical review
Where have we been and why do we do this? Eleven years ago at LifeWay Church, we began dedicating one week of the year to a Global Impact Celebration, or GIC. It is a week on our calendar, but if that is all the annual GIC is for you, then you’ve totally missed the entire point. Let me explain. Why did we start this, and what’s the history of GIC? To be honest, most churches, when they are involved in missions,…
A Global Mandate from Our Global God
If you had a dream of going somewhere in the world where you have never been—seeing something with your own eyes instead of seeing just tourist photos—where would it be? It’s a bit of a “what’s on your bucket list?” question. A cruise through the inside passage to Alaska? The tropical islands of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean? The fjords of Norway? The glaciers and penguins of Antarctica? The Gobi Desert of Mongolia? The Great Wall of China? Machu…
LifeWay and the Desna Cup
The Desna Cup story and LifeWay’s long connection with it This coming Sunday, we are closing our building, leaving our church property, and heading to join a handful of local churches for a group worship service at an event called the Desna Cup. The worship time is at 10:30 a.m. and the basic instructions are highlighted for you in this week’s newsletter. Some of you, for the last several years, may have driven by Saghalie Middle School on a mid-August…
Good News!: Our Missions Pastor Goes Full-Time
The Council of Elders at LifeWay, including Pastor Billy Arnold, are proud to announce that Heather Althoff is moving to full-time status as Missions Pastor at LifeWay, beginning August 1. Heather has been part of our pastoral staff team for over 14 years, having been on mission with her husband, Matt, in Germany for 5 years previously. During those 14 years, she has served LifeWay both as the Discipleship Pastor and also in her current role leading our mission work, which…
A Message for Our Graduates
Excerpted from a message given to high school seniors, their families, and LifeWay Youth students at Grad Night, May 25, 2022. The next season of life is approaching for our graduates, and there are some things they will need to be prepared for in life. Here are three points that you will probably not hear at any commencement ceremony, this year or ever. (This is also important for people who are not graduates this year!) If you can latch onto…
Wanted: Your Stories
What has God put on your mind and heart that your church family might need to hear? If you have been divinely inspired and encouraged recently by an experience, Bible passage, book or thought, and you are willing to write about it, we invite you to contribute to LifeWay’s blog! No previous writing experience is required—all submissions will be reviewed, proofread and edited by LifeWay staff, so don’t worry about twisting your grammar or mixing your metaphors. The important thing…
Welcome, Michaels Family!
LifeWay, I am proud to introduce to Edwin and Danielle Michaels and their children. Edwin Michaels is coming to join us as our newly appointed Youth and Children’s Pastor. Welcome, Michaels family! Long before Kevin and Rachel left LifeWay for their service overseas, we began a search for someone to serve in this important role with us. In fact, Kevin and Rachel were originally here to serve only two years, but due to COVID-19 craziness, they were pushed to three years.…
Ambassadors Are We
I am nowhere near a news junkie, as Billy would sometimes call himself. But from time to time, I like to keep up with the news and get informed about what is going on in our world. This week I learned that our president nominated Caroline Kennedy and Michelle Kwan to be U.S. ambassadors to Australia and Belize, respectively. The Kennedy nomination caught my eye because she formerly served as U.S. ambassador from 2013 to 2017 to Japan, a country…
Fall Leaves: KidVenture Art
Last week during KidVenture, I helped teach the LifeWay kids some basics in acrylic painting. I have been teaching art for years and wanted to share my expertise with them. While we painted huge cutout leaves, we reflected on the sermon and shared stories about being an effective witness. God created each person unique and individually beautiful—just like the leaves in fall. Each has a different shape and yet belongs to the family of leaves. LifeWay children are important to…
GIC: What’s the Big Deal?
What’s the big deal with Global Impact Celebration week at LifeWay? Right now as this goes out to our church family, we are in the middle of our annual Global Impact Celebration week. Last night (Wednesday) we kicked things off with a celebration worship service, where we introduced some amazing guests who represent incredible gospel work around the world. But one part of the service really stood out to me. For about eight minutes, we showed a video produced here…
Dear LifeWay Church Family…
You have often heard me say that the Global Impact Celebration (GIC) week at our church is far and away the most important week of the year. I have said that now for 10 years; that has been and remains to be true to this day. With that said, I’m writing this to remind you of the value of what is coming over the next few days. I am pleading with you, as your pastor, to treat this week with extra care and attention. If…
Preparing for Sunday
Beginning with last Sunday, we are taking four Sundays to work through the biblical application of the word, OBEDIENCE. The essence is that we must determine our identity, and then literally live it out—do it—BE it. Take a moment and try to remember back as a child, to what you dreamed of being as a grown-up. I wanted to be a naturalist—a wildlife specialist of some kind. All I knew of and imagined in this job was that I would spend…
Global Impact Celebration—GIC Time
I recently preached two of what I call “location sermons” on video. The first of those sermons was in front of the Annex, where I began many years ago. The second sermon was in front of our main building, which was built about 30 years ago. I did this to help illustrate the fact that we think a church is traditionally formed—a building, a place, a pastor, a sermon. These elements are wonderful parts of our history, but they are not…
What I Learned Visiting Eternal Anchor
Last week I had the privilege of visiting Eternal Anchor, LifeWay’s missions partner in Baja California, Mexico. In many ways, it was probably a pretty typical missions trip—a high-poverty area, a mix of manual labor and time with kids, sleeping on bunk beds…but let me assure you, this was not a typical place. Here are several things I learned visiting Eternal Anchor: Eternal Anchor is a life-saving ministry. While many people with disabilities sadly still suffer discrimination and difficulties in…
Eternal Anchor: Day 6
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily highlights and experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. Friday, August 13 Sometimes when your group gathers for an activity you just need to sit in a ball pit—and everyone is cool with that. The end of the week feels like a big celebration before everyone goes home for the weekend. Come experience Eternal Anchor for yourself! We’re accepting applications through August 15 for the next short-term mission trip in…
Eternal Anchor: Day 5
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily highlights and experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. Thursday, August 12 Sam gets messy with the kids at Eternal Anchor. Shaving cream is a simple sensory tool used for drawing—and playing!! Each day the kids have a Bible story time. They often act out the story with costumes and repeat the story all week so they get lots of chances to learn it. Normal games like bowling are simply…
Eternal Anchor: Day 4
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. WednESDAY, AUGUST 11 Painting with shaving cream is one of many simple sensory activities the kids at Eternal Anchor enjoy. Not only do they dance and have fun, but members of the adult program learn by participating in everyday activities like cleaning up and setting up snack time. One of my favorite things about Eternal Anchor’s program is that they encourage kids to…
Eternal Anchor: Day 3
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. TuesDAY, AUGUST 10 We spent some time helping Eternal Anchor begin their move to a new school campus. A local community center is allowing them to use their space for the next 5 years. This will allow them to expand the residential program at their current campus. Stella and Emilie help Raul work on strengthening his legs for walking. Game time at the…
Eternal Anchor: Days 1-2
This week our “field correspondent,” Heather Althoff, is sharing her daily experiences on mission at Eternal Anchor. Sunday, August 8 Wow, they always tell you to be flexible on a mission trip, and we got to practice that right away. A 3 a.m. wake-up call, 5-hour flight delays, canceled Uber rides, and confused van rentals left the team killing time in San Diego—which, honestly, is not a bad place to kill some time. However, we still ended up hitting the…
Good Friday Home Communion Fellowship
Tomorrow, we will not meet at LifeWay Church for a traditional in-person Good Friday service. Rather, we will meet in very small gatherings at homes throughout our city for a more intimate Good Friday Home Communion Fellowship. Kindly select a host from this list, call to let them know ahead you would like to join them in their home, take down the exact home address, and ask what time you shall arrive. Actual fellowship begins at 7 p.m. on Friday,…
Foot Washing Service
This Sunday, March 28, starting at 6 p.m., we are having a Foot Washing Service at LifeWay Church. According to John 13, many years ago one day, Jesus got up from the dinner table, took a towel, and began to wash the feet of his disciples, a job performed only by the lowliest house servants in the 1st century. But it was no problem at all for Jesus, the disciples’ Teacher and Lord. He did it so they too may…
One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus
I know by now you have all heard of our state government’s recent shutdown of indoor restaurants, workout centers, and public gatherings as we move closer to the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. This, of course, concerns me for the sake of the many local businesses and the families it affects. I am certainly concerned as well about the spread of COVID-19 and increasing infections. But I am here to address what this means for us here at LifeWay Church, and…
Partnering With the World
Are you ready for your commitment? This whole week we have focused on ways that we are invited by the Almighty God of the universe to partner with him in his work. A Christian leader a while back famously said, “Find out what God is doing, and then join him.” The beauty of this truth is that we actually do get to join God in his incredible work. He offers this partnership to his people (you and me), but are…
A Quick Word from Billy about the GIC
A decade ago, LifeWay Church felt led by God to make a major shift in the reason for our existence. We committed to remaking ourselves into becoming… An equipping and sending church A going church A Great Commission church A missions church In 2012, we started what has become the most important week in the life of our church calendar: the GLOBAL IMPACT CELEBRATION (GIC). Since 2012, for every GIC we have invited guest missionary workers from around the world…
Testimony: How scripture can change us
Spiritual disciplines are an extremely important part of the life of any believer. It is the time spent on the part of the believer deepening and growing their faith and their understanding of who Jesus is and who they are as individuals. Spiritual disciplines like Bible reading, meditation, quiet time, prayer, journaling, and fellowship with other believers all aid in the sanctification of believers. It is no different for children, youth, or adults alike. One of the students in LifeWay…