Toccoa Campus Baptism

Just wanted to mention that our Toccoa campus will be having a Baptism Party on July 5th too.

For the record, the Toccoa campus party has better food than the Seneca campus!

If you live in the Toccoa area you NEED to be there!

Why Baptism?

Some people wonder why we make such a big deal about baptism at Foothills Community Church, so I thought I would address that question;

1) Because the Bible makes a big deal about baptism.

2) It is a huge step of obedience for the Christ-follower

3) It motivates the church (there's just something about watching a new believer being baptized that just jump-starts my faith!)

4) For a brief second, you actually get to see inside the heart of a person (baptism is an outward expression of an inward faith)

5) It is a symbol that someone who was lost is now found. That someone who was dead is now alive!

6) It is an indicator that the church is doing what they have been called to do.

7) It is a chance to party with all of heaven. Lk 15:8-10

Here's the deal---If you have given your life to Jesus Christ and have not been baptized, then plan on coming to Foothills this Sunday at 6:00pm for our Baptism/Tailgating Party

sunday recap

I had a much easier Sunday than usual, because I didn't preach. I got a chance to sit and listen to Daniel Lucas. He did a phenomenal job! I met Daniel last year at a leadership event that he and I were in together.

He and his wife planted Crosspoint Church in Morehead KY about a year and a half ago and already have almost 500 people attending. He challenged our people to not get too comfortable in our success, but to press on. Good stuff!

If you're not a preacher, you won't understand what I'm about to say, but even when I'm not scheduled to preach, I get almost as nervous as I do when I am preaching-- so wierd.

Attendance was pretty good. Not sure of the numbers, but it looked healthy for a summer service.

Eric Peters led both services in the main auditorium today, while Bill Swindle led in the venue. We have unbelievably talented people on our team.

Pray for the children that are going to kids camp this week in Alabama.

Don't forget that next Sunday at 6:00pm we will have a baptism/tailgating party at Foothills. If you are a Christ-follower, and have never been baptized call the office and register (864)888-8008

Exciting Sunday

We have an exciting Sunday planned at Foothills Community Church tomorrow. I absolutely LOVE Sundays, I can't wait.

We will be in week 2 of our Unstoppable series, and you do not want to miss it---We've got a cool surprise planned.

On another note, it's been a busy weekend for me because I bought a new cell phone. Many of you know that I don't even carry my cell phone with me 90% of the time. (Years ago, when pagers came out, and I had to wear one and absolutely hated it, so I am still in rebellion.) Anyway, my wife and I decided that we are going to cancel our landline and go exclusively to cell phones, which means I will be carrying my phone most of the time. We'll see how that works! So I'm learning how the new phone works. This phone is a lot smarter than me!

God is really challenging me about a few things when it comes to some messages coming up this Fall. I am seeking His guidance.

Coaching Opportunity

One of my best friends in ministry is Eddie Cox who is the Pastor of Marathon Church in Powdersville, SC. Eddie planted Marathon Church 12 years ago and they have had thousands come to know Christ there during that time. They have over 2,500 people in attendance each Sunday.

Eddie and I have been thinking of ways that we can help other Pastors, especially those that have 300 or less in attendance that don't have lots of resources. Both of us interact with lots of Pastors that have lots of questions about things that our churches have already been through. As we began to brainstorm some of our ideas, we came up with a plan that would allow us to mentor a small group of Pastors.

The plan is not totally finalized but basically here's what we're thinking: We would open this group up to 15 Pastors that would agree to meet once a month for 3 months. During our time together we would talk about nuts and bolts leadership stuff that would be specifically geared toward churches of 300 or less that want to push beyond where they currently are.

You may be wondering, "why restrict the group to churches under 300?" The answer is simple, both Eddie and I feel that the smaller churches are under served as far as resources are concerned. Most conferences and seminars are geared more toward larger churches. While it is true, that both Marathon Church and Foothills Community Church are large churches, Eddie and I planted our churches and remember the struggles of leading a smaller church.

Most likely we will begin our first group in September. We are still in the design phase of this idea, but if you would like to be considered for part of this group send an email to office@foothills.cc

This is a unique opportunity, so don't wait!

Doing what you know you need to do

The last couple of days has been extremely beneficial for me and the staff of Foothills Community Church. We had Dr. Sam Chand come in and do a consultation with us to help us put some things in place as our church continues to grow.

Some churches bring in a consultant when things aren't going well, but we brought Sam in, in the middle of some of our best days as a church. Dr Chand has amazing insight and works with some of the largest churches in the world.

He spent most of yesterday talking with me and my wife, and other staff and leaders. In his assessment he pointed out some things he felt that we could do to go to the next level. Much of what he talked about was new systems, structure and processes.

Almost everything he told us, we kind of already knew. But sometimes when someone from outside of the organization brings a fresh set of eyes to it, and then makes recommendations, it is very confirming.

What does this mean to Foothills? It means that we have some internal things that need to be in place for us to have maximum impact. A lot of those changes are things that I need to make as the leader. For instance, there are a lot of meetings that I don't need to attend. There are details that I don't need to know. There are a lot of capable leaders at Foothills, so I need to be constantly empowering others to lead.

By God's grace we have had impact on our community, but our best days are ahead so we are positioning ourselves to be ready for those things now!

Sunday notes

We kicked off the Unstoppable series today at Foothills. Here are a few highlights:

Opening Video was unbelievable! Scott Chatfield and company created probably the best video we've ever done.

David Odom and his team led at both the 9:30am and 11:15am services in the main auditorium. Eric Peters was on a well deserved vacation.

Bill Swindle led worship at the Venue this week. He's got an amazing heart for worship.

Rachel Gregory totally nailed, Lead Me To The Cross.

David O. absolutely tore up, "Empty Me" as the feature song. Great energy

I preached today from the porcelain pulpit----yes, I had a toilet on stage with me. We talked about Paul's statement in Philippians 3, where he said "everything is manure compared to knowing Jesus."

Also talked about the "scoreboard" of religion vs. having a relationship with Christ.

Attendance was off a bit today. I guess vacations are in full swing. For those who missed today's message check the Foothills website on Wednesday to watch it.

Excited about hanging out with Dr. Sam Chand over the next couple of days!

Also looking forward to having lunch with Eddie Cox this week to talk about possibly doing a Pastor's coaching network together.

About to head to Atlanta to take my son to the airport so he can spend some time with grandparents in Fla.

This Sunday

Don't forget that Sunday we will begin our new series at Foothills called, Unstoppable. You don't want to miss. I will have something on stage that I'm guessing you've never seen on a church stage before!

Record temperatures happening this weekend. Good news, we have air conditioning at Foothills! Don't worry, the lake will still be there when you get out of church.

I did something today that I rarely do anymore-- a wedding! My schedule doesn't allow me to do them very often, so it was a change. The worst part of a wedding for me is having to wear a suit! (In case you're wondering why I don't do many weddings, is because I work on Saturdays prepping for Sunday--- and because I don't like wearing suits!)

Remember, tomorrow is Father's Day. Let your father know how much you love him!

mentoring part 2

I just got back from my leadership lunch with 8 of our 20-30 year old staff members, and I had a blast. These guys are sharp. They want to serve God at the highest level possible---you've gotta love that!

The big question that seemed to continually be asked in one form or another was, "how do I find some sort of balance between my ministry and my family life?" That is a great question. Here's how I answered it:

First of all, I'm not sure there will ever be balance. Ministry is a unique calling, so there is a tendency for it to overlap. It's really not something you can compartmentalize, BUT you have to be able to understand that your life is more than your ministry calling, so your priorities have to reflect that.

For instance your priorities should look something like this: 1)Jesus 2)My wife 3)My children/grandchildren 4)other family and friends 5)My ministry

First and foremost, I need to be known as Greg Oraham, the Christ-follower, not Greg Oraham, the Pastor. Our titles should not define us, our faith should!

When Christ has His rightful place in my life, the other areas tend to work out pretty good. That's pretty much what Jesus said in Matt. 6:33, "Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."

What do your priorities look like? This Sunday we will begin our new message series called, Unstoppable. This week's message is called, Unstoppable Priorities. Hope to see you there.

mentoring

Call it "coaching", "mentoring", or "pouring into another person"-- whatever you choose to call it, it is Biblical.

As a leader, there are a lot of things that demand my attention. However not all of those things are really the things that I need to be doing. We have a very talented staff that are so much better in some areas than I am. So many of those things I empower others to handle.

There is one thing that I have really sensed that I needed to be more intentional about, and that taking time to mentor our younger leaders.

I am really excited about tomorrow, because I will be meeting with about 7 staff members that are between the ages of 20 and 30 with the goal of mentoring and leadership development. (I'm also planning on learning from them!)

I asked each of them to send in 3 topics that they would like to discuss. I plan on taking the top 3 or 4 questions and trying to answer them.
No doubt, this will be a valuable time for all of us!

Sunday recap

We had an incredible day at Foothills Community Church yesterday. So many great things are happening at FCC right now.

Ended the Questions Uncensored series yesterday, with a message called, What is God's Definition of Sex?

The big question I asked everyone was, "If my views, opinions, and feelings about sex are different than God's view, am I willing to admit I'm wrong, and accept God's view?

Our 9:30am service was phenomenal. Eric Peters and his worship team nailed it!

Mark Medlin kicked things off with the song, Keep Your Hands To Yourself. Great job Mark.

At our 11:15 service we had Joy Hunnicut back to sing with David Odom and his worship team---unbelievable job!

Our 11:15am Venue service is strong!

I heard that our Toccoa campus had a record attendance day!

We are gearing up for our next message series called Unstoppable which starts this Sunday. You don't want to miss that.

Staff meetings this morning, gotta go.

Sunday

You do not want to miss this Sunday at Foothills Community Church. We will be answering the question, What is God's definition of sex?

It is going to be fun, but controversial (I love that combination!)

Rumor has it that Joy Hunnicut will be singing again during the 11:15am service. She is amazing!

Come ready to worship. It makes such a big difference when you don't feel so rushed and stressed. Show up a few minutes early, check in the kids and have a cup of Java and a donut and hang out.

Summer is my favorite time of the year! I know alot of people feel the temptation to head to the lake instead of church, but the lake will still be there when we're done. (You can always come to the 9:30am service too)

See you tomorrow!

Wednesday randomness

** I'm finished preparing this Sunday's message, "What Is God's Definition of Sex?" I am praying that when culture's definition of sex, intersects with God's definition, that people will be willing to adopt God's definition.

** I am really wishing that the Questions Uncensored series was a little longer. Unfortunately this Sunday is the last message of the series.

** I am very excited about the next series though; it's called "Unstoppable" We'll be in the book of Philippians (one of my favorites!)

** Son Sports is half way over, and it has been hugely successful. Here's a pic of some of the stuff that happens in the auditorium before the kids head out to their sports activities.





** Looking forward to my softball tournament this weekend!

** Will be heading down to Columbia on Friday for a wedding of a young lady who was part of our original core group that helped start Foothills

** Also going to the eye doctor on Friday. Things are looking mighty fuzzy these days!

** Praying for my Father-in-law's surgery next week.

** I love Summer!

** Already daydreaming about fishing down in Florida in July! Here's what I'm hoping for.

Weekend review

Great day at Foothills yesterday. Here are a few highlights:

Attendance was strong. (Normally on the first weekend after school lets out, it's a little off)

The momentum and energy have been almost tangible.

I spent a lot of time in the concourse yesterday meeting people. I can't believe how many new people are coming to FCC--- and absolutely loving it.

We had a Belong class (membership class) yesterday, and I hear that the room was packed out with people taking the next step.

We had our summer Discovery Life group sign-ups yesterday, and had over 300 people sign-up to get involved in a group for the summer. In case you don't know what a Discovery group is; it's a group that meets together centered around a hobby. We have softball, basketball, bowling, Ultimate, scrapbooking, Moms and Tots, motorcycle, 4-wheeling, hiking, and others.

Yesterday's message answered the question, Can I Lose My Salvation? The response was amazing. So many people commented that they used to live in fear of not knowing if they were saved or not, but now they can walk in confidence!

Our Venue service is really growing!

We are gearing up for Son Sports, here at FCC this week for kids. Already have around 250 kids pre-registered. It's not too late to participate!

You don't want to miss this Sunday's services as we wrap up the Questions Uncensored series, with the question, What is God's definition Of Sex?

Bad weekend for my softball team. We lost all 3 of our games. Tournament next weekend. A chance to redeem ourselves!

Busy weekend

It has been an extremely busy week, and it looks like the weekend will be no different.

My in-laws are in for a quick visit on their way back to Virginia. We always have a great time.

I've got 3 softball games scheduled this weekend (if it doesn't rain)

Kids are out of school for the summer. Congrats to all the graduates!

We are gearing up for Son Sports beginning Monday at Foothills (I'll do a separate post about this event), but if you're a parent of a kid kindergarten through 5th grade, you need to have them at Foothills next week. Son Sports is unbelievable! Go here for more information.

Can't wait for Sunday. I will be answering the question, Can I lose my salvation? This question actually tied for #1 most asked question. Be at Foothills this Sunday to find out!

Foothills student ministry has an awesome summer calendar of events planned for our teenagers. If you want a calendar go here and click on "student ministry" to download one.

dealing with problems

Yesterday I had to deal with a problem. I had a leak in the main water line to my house. That leak reminded me of a very important leadership lesson: ALWAYS DEAL WITH PROBLEMS.

Unfortunately, I violated that principle. You see, I knew that I had a potential leak about a month ago. One day while mowing my lawn, I noticed that there was a soft spot in my yard that was a little damp. My initial thought was, "maybe there is a water leak underground somewhere", but I didn't do anything. I chalked it up to, it has been a little rainy lately.

Each time I cut my grass since then, it has been kind of soft and soggy, but I convinced myself, that if it were a leak that there would be a lot more water, so I did nothing. Yesterday evening, my wife turned on the kitchen sink faucet and it kind of sputtered. I knew immediately that I definitely had a leak, so I walked to the soft spot in the yard and dug down and sure enough I found a connection in the pipe that was leaking a bit, so I drove to Lowes and bought the materials and got ready to fix it, but didn't have the tool to shut off the water at the street, so it still isn't fixed. (Fortunately it is barely leaking, so I still have water)

But the reality is that I could have saved a lot of hassle if I would have dealt with the problem as soon as I realized I had a problem. Instead, I had to deal with problem, on it's terms.

Here's what I tell our staff about problems:

* Always deal with problems: immediately, lovingly, firmly

* Problems never take care of themselves

* Problems always get worse with time

* Confrontation is one of the greatest expressions of love

* Problems are just part of life -- don't run from them

What problem do you need to deal with? What person/situation do you need to confront, that you've been procrastinating about?

cool or effective?

Cool or effective?
That is a question that a lot of Pastors wrestle with. And how far are we willing to go to be relevant?

I think in my first several years of ministry I was a little further on the side of cool/relevant, but in the last few years and especially in the last year, I am firmly on the effective side of things.

I still feel that relevance and being current is essential, just not at the expense of some other things. I still believe that we should leverage all of the creativity, technology, and the arts to help convey the message of Jesus Christ. I just don't want to do something JUST because it's cool.

Over the last few weeks, I have read a few blogs that have communicated what I have been feeling over the last year or so. I thought I would share a few links with you about this topic. The interesting thing to me, is that all of these blogs are by leaders who have been in it for over 10 years. I'm at the 11 year mark leading Foothills, so maybe that's why these thoughts resonate with me so much. (I'm not sure if it's a maturity thing or a cynicism thing:))

This post and this post by Craig Groeshel were spot on This response by Tim Stevens was amazing, because I don't think it has to be an either or.
And this video by Ed Young Jr. was also great.

For the record, we spend countless hours in creative team meetings every week (and will continue to do so). Hundreds of man-hours go into designing culturally relevant, and effective services. We will use anything and everything (short of sin), to reach people for Christ. I still believe that the church should lead the way in creativity and excellence, but at the end of the day, it's the power of Holy Spirit that really changes lives!