Shannon Chapman

Concert Photos

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What a great night it was

Last Friday Scenic City Book and City Church brought in The Glorious Unseen and Charlie Hall for a concert.  Man I must say it was amazing.  I really wish more people could have been here to experience it.  Stephen B. Williams took these photos for us and I want to say  huge "Thank You" to him for doing that.  I will have some pics uploaded tonight for sure.   So, be looking for them later. 

Getting to meet Charlie Hall was pretty cool.  His humble spirit was evident in him off stage and on stage.    

Video from ethos 11/1/09

Ethos Teaching Series - Just Words wk.2 from Ethos Chattanooga on Vimeo.

In this message Shannon Chapman teaches on the biblical concept of Justification.

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I must admit that after 10 yrs of ministry I can now listen to my own voice and not cringe. But watching myself on video is super scary. So, for what it is worth here is the message that was given at the Ethos community this past Sunday. 

 Also, I want to give a huge "THANK YOU" to Rick H. for getting this all together.

The Kind of Church I want to be apart of...

I must admit that I didn't come up with this on my own.  But the moment I read it my heart begin to beat fast.  This is my kind of church...

"This is the kind of church and kingdom I want to be a part of - a band of people who are messy, have addictions and shortcomings, make mistakes, get rejected, and are screwed up, but are so fully aware of the Master's grace and love for them in spite of who they are or will be someday; people who embrace discomfort knowing there is so much to be gained for all of us and for all of our churches."

Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish

Prayers Wanted

Ok here is the deal.  Tomorrow I leave to get away with my dad to plan.  Plan for what you might ask...well to plan our teaching series for 2010.  Every year me and my dad get away to talk, slow down, sit, listen, reflect, pray, listen some more, and just dream about what we feel God wants to teach our church body.  

I will never forget last year.  We had it all planned out and then went to bed and got up and we both felt it in our spirit that somethings had to change.  I think you could say we heard the gentle small voice God changing the direction.  Right now we are in a series on the doctrine of salvation and believe it or not we had this on the calendar a little over a year ago.

We need your prayers for sure.  Pray that we hear clearly what God is saying and that we will have courage to teach what God is telling us to teach.  The next few days are vital for our church community.  And for the record I am honored to get to plan the teaching series with my dad.  His wisdom and knowledge of the Bible continue blow me away.

May the journey begin!

Trying to ride again

I remember being a kid and wrecking my bike.  It hurt really bad and it made me scared to do it again.  I remember after the wreck I didn't ride my bike back home I walked back not knowing if I would ever try to ride again.

What I have found out in life is that I treat a lot of stuff just like riding my bike as a kid.  There are things that I try to do and when I fall off and wreck I get to scared to try again.  We are all afraid of failure, pain, and not measuring up to those that ride and never seem to wreck.

So, I am making a decision to get back up and try again.  Giving into the fear of failure is really a life or death decision I think.  After weeks of wondering if people would say, "There goes Shannon trying again but he will never make it" I have decided in spite of my fear and self doubt to get back up and try again.  

Into the Unknown...

It's been a while

Ok where do I start...Life has been crazy!!!  I have been holding my place in a school line since Sept 28.  If you don't know what I mean trust me you don't want to know.  All I can say is my life has been consumed by holding our place in line for Jonah who is going into kindergarten next year.  We are #7 out of 183 so I feel pretty good about it.

We just ended our series "Close Encounter" at Ethos. Overall I felt that this series had a big impact on our community.  My dad spoke this last Sunday at Ethos and man he hit it out of the park.  My dad is such an amazing communicator and his wisdom is so needed in today's church culture.  Thanks again dad for the challenging us to go to "the other side."

This week we start the hardest series to date for me to teach.  I am going to spend 5 weeks teaching on the doctrine of the salvation.  I spent 4-5 hours today reading and praying and asking God for clarity for this weeks message on Predestination.  I know that my desire on Sunday is not to convert people to Calvinism or Arminianism but to try to just bring a deeper understanding to doctrine of Salvation.  I know this for a fact... salvation is much more that just getting a ticket to heaven.

So, please pray for me as I journey through this next series.  

Sunday REwind

Today was a very special day at Ethos.  I don't know about you but do you have those days at church when you just know that God is doing a deep work in you and others.  Well, today was one of those days for me.  There was such a sense of freedom at Ethos today, not because of a song, a good video, or an ok message but because of the Cross of Christ.

Let me say this loud and clear the Ethos worship band is AMAZING!  They have such understanding of what it means to lead others in the presence of God.  I must also admit that todays message was a very personal message to give.  The over all theme today was we can't find our significance in our performance (our work and busyness) but in Christ.  

We looked that the conversation that Jesus had with Martha in the book of Luke.  Martha was using her gifting to serve but her strength became her weakness.  Why you might ask, because the verse says she got distracted.  As I walked out of service today I felt that God really spoke to all of us on how to break the cycle of become a workaholic...REST REFOCUS RELATIONSHIPS!

Next week we will end this series(close encounters) as we look at Jesus and man who had it all.

P.S. Not sure if I should show you yet but here is our next series brand...this series is going to be hardcore!

How I am feeling?

Well, I have to admit that this is one of the most exciting weeks for me since Ethos began. I can't wait to see the faces and stories that walk in the doors to Ethos this Sunday. As I'm sure you probably have heard, this coming Sunday is Friend Day on our campus. Stories have been buzzing all over the place about people finally taking a chance and inviting a friend to church with them. I don't know who all to expect this week at Ethos, but I know I am excited to see their faces and begin to hear their stories. It's amazing to me the different stories we all have. All of us come from different backgrounds, different traditions, and yet all of us long for the same things and all of us are searching for our purpose and God to bring meaning and joy to our lives.

So, the countdown is on. We only have a few days left to invite someone to be a part of our faith story and for some of them to begin their own journey towards Christ. We are continuing our series, Close Encounters, as we welcome so many new faces and stories to our Community of Ethos. 

See you Sunday, be sure to get there on time and maybe even a little early...it's going to be an incredible day!

Friend Day Message!

Friend Day {2} from Shannon Chapman on Vimeo.