May 12th was an amazing day of Single Moms and Military Wives BLESSINGS!  As the stories continue to come in, it is confirmed that God’s hand was in everything that we were able to do.  From our Parking Team, check-in teams, hosts, greeters, Kids, Oil Change Teams, Nail painters, massage therapists, concessions team, small groups team all the way to our final Valet… God moved in a huge way!

181 – Oil Changes <> 236 – Volunteers =  HAPPY MOTHERS!

SHARE YOUR STORY! email serve@Celebrationchurchtx.com

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Red Poppy Festival proved to be a huge success for the city of Georgetown and Celebration Church!  Starting with an early morning of court set up for the first annual 3V3 Basketball tournament, our teams also provided parade assistance and dished out hundreds of  Red Balloons to the crowds of happy children!  ”It was so much fun to love on the kids and give away balloons.  Looking at the sea of Red Balloons, it was amazing to know that we were able to make it happen in Jesus name!” Said Karla Lopez.

Although Saturday started early with an incredible parade, our 3V3 Basketball tournament actually kicked off at 12:00pm.  Full of excited anticipation, our participants gave all they had for this first day of Round Robin tournament play!  Each adult team (8 total) played 3 games and our 6th-7th grade division (4 teams) played 2 games.  58 Celebration Serves volunteers we were able to contain the crowds and share the excitement on the court with everyone through play by play (thanks to FJ) and shooting games that included those not signed up for the actual tournament.  At the end of day 1, the players were wore out but ready to rest up for the FINALS!

Here are pics from DAY 1:

Here are pics from DAY 2:

1st ANNUAL RED POPPY 3V3 Basketball Tournament Champions:

At the beginning of the year BT (before Tebow) Celebration Serves committed to several Outreach projects for the first week of April leading up to Easter!  Well… We didn’t give up!  Here are a few of the updates that you may not be aware of.

Relationships are everything and they are built through serving together!  Get involved and Grow!

Blood Drive Updates

Big thanks to our partners at the Blood Bank of Central Texas for bringing out 3 Buses to 2 Celebration locations!  April 1st was a day to remember as many of our members and guests donated blood.  What a blessing it is to know that our efforts for this annual blood drive surpass the quantity of donations that it typically takes the Blood Center months to collect.

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Monday April 2nd – Caring Place Food Distribution

Caring Place blessings for all of those involved!

With over 30 Celebration volunteers jumping on the opportunity to serve food to over 215 families via a drive through… many were blessed!  Our Home School KiDs and Moms showed up big time along with several others with the heart to serve!   Breaking up bags of potatoes and cabbage to fill grocery bags with essential items, all hands were led with the spirit of giving.

If you home school and want to get involved in our Home School weekday Celebration Outreach, email serve@celebrationchurchtx.com for more information on how you can get involved!

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Monday April 2nd – Fort Hood Blessings

Can’t forget about the soldiers!  On Monday April 2nd, 4 of our faithful Serve Team members were allowed on base to feed 130 soldiers 600 hot dogs!  Yeah… Do the math.  Karla Lopez (our team lead) said that one of the soldiers ate 13 HOT DOGS :-/ Needless to say they were blessed!  Big thanks to Consuello Gestin for getting our team on base and team members James Davis, Justin Ford and Karla Lopez who made the trip to feed those who protect us!

Join us every 4th Saturday for SERVE SATURDAY (monthly Serve Orientation & Deployment day) and find out how you can get involved!

What’s Next?:

April 28th & 29th – Red Poppy Festival (Parade, General Volunteers & We are hosting our first CELEBRATION SERVES 3on3 Basketball Tournament!)

May 12th – Single Mom’s and Military Wives Oil Change and Pampering

*Teams are forming now!  Go to our Connect Center at Celebration and sign up to be a part*

With all of the hype about Tim Tebow and the media craze that was happening at the church, it was amazing to see the focus of our incredible staff at Celebration.  As many were scrambling to pull together the right combination of team members, others were designing signs, creating parking diagrams and folding flyers!  The heart of every person is what blew me away as I knew sacrifices were being made at every home.  As I called upon my faithful volunteer leaders, I had not a doubt in my mind what the end result would be for our bus and parking teams…the enemy didn’t stand at chance against the unmeasureable miracle that God was about to perform.

You know what happened!  But if you don’t, just google Easter on the Hill and see how thousands of National News reporters told the story.  This day was all about Jesus!  It was about a relationship with the Father that many encountered that day on the Hill for the first time.  I for one am so proud to be a part of Celebration Church and I am so thankful for the relationships that I have built here.  I thank God daily for bringing my family and I here 8 years ago!  If it was your first time to visit us on Easter Sunday, I pray that if you do not have a church home… You will find what we have found!

Easter on the Hill changed many lives and I love to tell the stories.  But as Pastor Joe said, “We all tell the stories of lives changed…funny part is that our lives were really the ones that changed that day on the Hill.”

Share your Easter on The Hill Story!  CLICK HERE

God Bless,

Derick Zwerneman (Outreach Director)

Here are some pictures from my experience at Easter on the Hill!  Please share your pictures with us by emailing Serve@Celebrationchurchtx.com

Adopt-A Block Weekend!

Join our KiDs ministry team led by Edwin Schnider at Fairway Village this Saturday March 17th!  This will be a day of blessings for the Austin inner city children of Fairway Village.  Special thanks to Mike Vargus (XL) and Team Upgrade who will be providing a Christian Rap and R&B concert that will not be forgotten!  Hot Dogs, Inflatables, Face Painting and childrens games will be enjoyed by all while sharing the love of Jesus Christ!  We even have a Barber & Stylists giving Free custom cuts.

Saturday March 17th – Meet at Celebration 9:30am

Meet us:

Fairway Village – 6118 Fairway Street  Austin, TX 78741 (11:00am – 2:00pm)

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Pics from March 17th Outreach

(Click on picture to see next)

February 2012 - Outreach

2/3 – Round Rock Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast – Our teams hosted the food tables - 23 members showed up to support Mayor Alan McGraw and the City of Round Rock with Prayer.

2/4 – Clay Madsen’s Daddy Daughter Dance – Community Touch – Great time of meeting local fathers and their daughters – several Celebration members and their daughters met and danced the night away!  Always an opportunity to meet new people.

2/11 - Serve Team Days at Special Needs Park- All month, effort went into supporting Round Rock City Parks and Recreation to help build Play For All Abilities Park.  Our biggest weekend included 38 Serve Team members building 2 of the buildings in the park!  Teams were led by Shane Bickham & James Handsel!

2/20-24 – Greater Things Conference (Baton Rouge @ HPC) - Incredible week of connecting and sharing with other Outreach leaders from around the country.  Derick Zwerneman (Outreach Director) spent the week learning and growing through sessions with some of the most impactful leaders in the country and the world.  Speakers included Matthew Barnett, Joyce Myers, Hal Donaldson, Miles McPherson, Bill Sheer, Dino Rizzo!  Breakout sessions included Feeding Program Outreach, Resource Development,  Special Needs Programs, Adoption & Foster care, and Disaster Response.  Many resources were gained!

2/25 - SERVE SATURDAY was a huge success! - 32 people attended our 1st Serve Orientation and 28 went out to reach our community on various Outreach projects.  Homeless Outreach was led by Terry Carroll and Mark Kirklin in downtown Austin Under the Bridge.  We had 8 members from Celebration South Austin Campus participate!  Special thanks to Alex Shenkin for donating 350 breakfast tacos!  Local RAKe (Random Acts of Kindness) projects included rebuilding a fence and a huge yard clean up for a physically disabled grandmother.  Special thanks to James Davis & Greg Wempe for leading our Serve team of 18 out after orientation. 

Every Saturday in February -Upward Basketball & Cheerleading was the focus for Outreach!  With over 500 -600 visitors each weekend, this program was a blessing to many!

2/27 – UPWARD CELEBRATION - 512 parents and children came out to Celebrate the 2012 Season of Upward Basketball and Cheer.  It was a fun filled night with Games and excitement!  Many thanks to everyone helped make the season a success and Pastor Wade Sutherland wrapped the night up with a message that reached the children and their families! 

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Coming up THIS SATURDAY March 3rd

After weekends of our Serve Teams working with Round Rock Parks and Recreation to help build this incredible one of a kind park, we are finally going to Celebrate the 1st Day!  Celebration Church will be providing Hot Dogs and Drinks at Play For All Abilities Park GRAND OPENING! 

Everyone is welcome!  Meet us at Celebration this Saturday March 3rd at 9:00am. Red Serve Tshirts available in Celebration Bookstore for $10. **SIGN UP**

.Play for All Event Setup Map

.MEDIA RELEASE Play for All Abilities Park Grand Opening Celebration 2012

-Bring a PACK OF NEW SOCKS on February 25th-

Step #1 – SERVE SATURDAY Orientation (Feb. 25th)

Outreach at Celebration Church is a unique part of our culture!  With weekly Small Group opportunities and large Church Wide SERVE SATURDAYS, it is our goal to change the atmosphere of our local communities with the love of Jesus.  Through a variety of projects and activities, we know that God has called us to reach beyond the Hill!  Meet us Saturday February 25th @ 9:00am to learn about how we SERVE OUR CITY.  This is the first step in making a difference!

Westinghouse Campus – 9:00am in the North Auditorium

Celebration NW -  9:00am at Anderson Mill Campus

South Campus - Register Here – for more information

  **Note: Coming in for your 1st orientation or going out to SERVE, we will all meet together at 9am every 4th Saturday.

Step #2 – GET INVOLVED

After you have attended a SERVE SATURDAY orientation, you are ready to GO OUT & SERVE OUR CITY as part of our Celebration SERVE TEAM!  Red CELEBRATION SERVES T-Shirts are available in the bookstore for $10.

SERVE SATURDAY February 25th – Two Opportunities:

1. Local RAKe Projects – After our SERVE ORIENTATION, you will have the opportunity to join our Outreach Team Leads and put into ACTION the principles that you will learn in our time together.  This month we will be assisting a single mother with clean up and fence restoration & helping a physically challenged Grandmother that can really use our help with yard clean up.SIGN UP 

2. Homeless Outreach - Join our South Austin Campus leaders for “Church under the Bridge” & other homeless outreach opportunities downtown.  Serve those in need and bring a pack of new socks to contribute to the cause.  Please meet us at Westinghouse Campus at 9:00am for prayer and direction.   SIGN UP

Celebration SERVES – Community Event

Thursday February 2nd is the 4th Annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast!

Please join us in support of our Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw.

A free breakfast will be provided and you will have the opportunity to pray with other Celebration Members and representatives from all over our community. Please remember this is a community event but there is not a need to wear your serve shirt.  You can drop by as you are in normal attire.

Big thanks to Vanessa Red and James Davis for leading our Serve team that will be hosting the food line.

Date: Thursday Feb. 2nd (Tomorrow)

Time: 7:00am – 8:00am

Place: United Methodist Church (on the SW corner of Mays St & Hwy 79 in Round Rock)

Here is a personal invitation from Mayor McGraw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpFebHbKd4Y

January 28th is SERVE SATURDAY!

SERVE the City of Round Rock and the new Special Needs Park “PLAY FOR ALL ABILITIES” this Saturday! This one of a kind facility is unique to Central Texas and will bring excitement and joy to thousands!  Last weekend, our Team of Celebration Church MEN made a huge impact!  Framing up two of the main buildings in the “Brushy Creek Village” portion of the park.  This weekend we have the opportunity to help finish up all of the details for the park.  Painting, spreading mulch, and cleaning up to get it ready for the Grand Opening in February is our task!  You will be rubbing elbows with other community leaders and citizens so please wear your RED SERVE T-SHIRT!  (Available in the Book Store)

**THIS IS A BIG DAY!!  Need 50-100 people on this DAY**

Time: 9:00 am – 12:00pm  (Meet at RABB Park – Map Below)
 

Meet us at RABB PARK.  Located East of AW Grimes on Hwy79.  This used to be a wedding facility. Turning from Hwy79, it will be just after the WalGreens.  Follow the winding road back to the park.  (Map below). You can bring some work gloves but the City Directors have confirmed that we do not need to bring any tools this day.  Everything will be provided and we will have clear direction.

Sign up this Wednesday Night for SERVE SATURDAY at the CONNECTION INFORMATION CENTER or you can just show up on Saturday at RABB PARK!  If you would like to learn more about our Monthly OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES, join us at GROW 301 this Sunday and at SERVE SATURDAY (info at the Connection Center) every month on the 4th Saturday at 9am for orientation and deployment!  CLICK HERE to sign up for further information and questions!

In your email… list your name, telephone and email address.  Our Outreach lead team will contact you!

2012 is a Foundational year at Celebration Church and there is no exception when it comes to serving our local communities!  With the city growing all around us, we have many opportunities to step up and SERVE.  Last year I met with the city planners and developers of an amazing project that stole my heart.  Be a part of history in the City of Round Rock and lend a hand to help make dreams come true!  This is the beginning of Changing the World around us in 2012!

God Bless,

Derick Zwerneman (Outreach Director)