We kicked off our new series on relationships called, "Social Networks" today at Foothills Community Church. It was a great day in so many ways.
* Most of us don't have enough deep, quality relationships. We need people in our lives that will stand by our side in tough times and people that will get in our face when neccessary.
* We are having tons of first-time guests every single week. What I really love is that so many are coming back week after week.
* Our Toccoa campus had another huge day. I love what God is doing over there!
* I am so proud of the people of FCC. You are really catching the vision of helping others find and follow Jesus. Thanks for inviting your friends!
* I also want to brag on all of the people who serve on a ministry team at FCC. Over 700 of you have discovered the joy of serving God and others. If you haven't tried serving, why not stop by the Link on Sunday to learn more.
* Planet Kidz was jammed today. Lots of kids. Lots of first-time kids!
* I am really getting excited about the new campus group I will be leading called, Follow-Up which will begin on Feb. 19th at 6:00pm. If you are not in a Sunday evening group, I would love to see you at Follow-Up.
* We have a big announcement to make this week. Yes, I am super-excited!
* I can't wait for next Sunday. I will be talking about how to handle conflict in your relationships.
* I can't stress enough how important it is for all of us to build relationships at church. Coming only on Sunday mornings does not lend itself to developing deep relationships. That's why we have Find and Follow groups meeting on and off campus. Stop by the Link on Sunday and we'll help you find a group that will fit you. Or you can find out more here.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Discipleship
Fan or Follower? from Foothills Community Church on Vimeo.
This past Sunday I spoke about what it meant to be a true follower of Jesus. (If you missed it, here's the video).
I am so pumped about the spiritual hunger of the people of Foothills Community Church!
In 2012 we are offering many ways for people to take their next step in their spiritual journey.
A couple of the things that I will be personally involved with are a new campus group I will be leading called, Follow-Up. This will be a continuation of Sunday morning's message. The format will be interactive, as we dig deeper into the scripture. Follow-Up begins on February 19th at 6:00pm in the Venue auditorium. It is open to everyone, and childcare will be available.
The other thing that I'll be doing is taking a group of people through an intensive discipleship process. On Sunday I issued a challenge for anyone that was willing to make a huge commitment of their time to growing spiritually. The format essentially would be monthly meeting with me (and the group), plus a commitment to do a series of daily activities, and lots of homework. The duration would be 1 year!
When I issued the challenge, I had no idea if anyone would be willing to be a part of that. To my surprise nearly 60 people said they were interested! Wow, that is incredible! I have no idea how many will actually complete it, but we'll see.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday review
Absolutely amazing is the only way to describe yesterday at Foothills Community Church.
* The worship services were unbelievable. David Odom and his team bring the heat every week! I'm also really proud of Mary Douglas. She has grown by leaps and bounds as a worship leader.
* So many first-time and returning guests at FCC. Just blows me away!
* Preached a message on discipleship, and what it means to be a true Follower of Jesus, and not just a Fan of His.
* That message was months in the making. I know it wasn't an easy message for most people to digest, but sometimes that's good.
* There is such a huge level of excitement in our services, but also in the concourse between services.
* Our Toccoa campus is knocking it out of the park too! They just keep growing.
* Probably the highlight of the weekend for me was our Get In The Game membership class. We had 114 people attend the class and 100 of them committed to membership!! Welcome to all of our new members.
* In case you missed Get In The Game, the next class will be on February 26th.
* Our next baptism will be on March 11th, so put that on your calendar too.
* Don't forget to hand out your invite cards for our new series that begins THIS Sunday, called Social Networks. We will be looking at the good, bad and ugly sides of our relationships.
* You should also get a direct mail card about the new series in your mailbox this week.
* I love serving as your Pastor!
* The worship services were unbelievable. David Odom and his team bring the heat every week! I'm also really proud of Mary Douglas. She has grown by leaps and bounds as a worship leader.
* So many first-time and returning guests at FCC. Just blows me away!
* Preached a message on discipleship, and what it means to be a true Follower of Jesus, and not just a Fan of His.
* That message was months in the making. I know it wasn't an easy message for most people to digest, but sometimes that's good.
* There is such a huge level of excitement in our services, but also in the concourse between services.
* Our Toccoa campus is knocking it out of the park too! They just keep growing.
* Probably the highlight of the weekend for me was our Get In The Game membership class. We had 114 people attend the class and 100 of them committed to membership!! Welcome to all of our new members.
* In case you missed Get In The Game, the next class will be on February 26th.
* Our next baptism will be on March 11th, so put that on your calendar too.
* Don't forget to hand out your invite cards for our new series that begins THIS Sunday, called Social Networks. We will be looking at the good, bad and ugly sides of our relationships.
* You should also get a direct mail card about the new series in your mailbox this week.
* I love serving as your Pastor!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
A fan or a follower?
This Sunday I will be sharing a message called Fan or Follower? I am super-excited about it for a few reasons.
First, I am excited about this message because it will be challenging. Actually challenging could be an understatement. This could possibly be the most intense message about real discipleship that I've ever shared!
Secondly, I am excited because I think it is timely. I think churches all across America are seeing a trend in people hopping from one church to another, looking for their next "spiritual buzz". Commitment and loyalty to Christ and the local church are foreign concepts to some people.
Finally, I am excited because I think this message will be helpful. I know that for me personally, just preparing this message has been helpful in bringing me back on center, and I'm hoping it will be the same for many other people.
I believe that we are going to see major spiritual breakthrough, so make sure you do not miss this Sunday!
I am praying that 2012 will be a year for incredible spiritual growth for the people of Foothills Community Church!
Here are 2 more very important things to remember.
1) This Sunday I will be leading our Get In The Game Class. This is your next step if you have been visiting Foothills and you like what you see, and you want to know more. At the end of the class you will have the opportunity to become a member at Foothills. You will also have a chance to meet our staff, and we will feed you a free lunch and provide child care. The class begins at 12:30pm and finishes at 2:00pm. Trust me, this will be a great investment of your time.
2) On February 19th we will begin a new campus group called, Follow-up. It will start at 6:00pm and last for about an hour. The format of this group will change from week-to-week, but basically I will take the message from Sunday morning and go into greater detail. This will have a more interactive, unplugged feel. Most likely we will have some acoustic worship time and then jump into the Bible, and then will wrap up with prayer. Here's what you will need to bring: Your Bible, a pen/pencil, paper or journal for notes. This group is designed for those who want to go deeper. By the way, you don't have to be a Bible scholar to attend, so if you are a new believer, you will enjoy this as well as the more seasoned Christian. There will be childcare thru 5th grade.
First, I am excited about this message because it will be challenging. Actually challenging could be an understatement. This could possibly be the most intense message about real discipleship that I've ever shared!
Secondly, I am excited because I think it is timely. I think churches all across America are seeing a trend in people hopping from one church to another, looking for their next "spiritual buzz". Commitment and loyalty to Christ and the local church are foreign concepts to some people.
Finally, I am excited because I think this message will be helpful. I know that for me personally, just preparing this message has been helpful in bringing me back on center, and I'm hoping it will be the same for many other people.
I believe that we are going to see major spiritual breakthrough, so make sure you do not miss this Sunday!
I am praying that 2012 will be a year for incredible spiritual growth for the people of Foothills Community Church!
Here are 2 more very important things to remember.
1) This Sunday I will be leading our Get In The Game Class. This is your next step if you have been visiting Foothills and you like what you see, and you want to know more. At the end of the class you will have the opportunity to become a member at Foothills. You will also have a chance to meet our staff, and we will feed you a free lunch and provide child care. The class begins at 12:30pm and finishes at 2:00pm. Trust me, this will be a great investment of your time.
2) On February 19th we will begin a new campus group called, Follow-up. It will start at 6:00pm and last for about an hour. The format of this group will change from week-to-week, but basically I will take the message from Sunday morning and go into greater detail. This will have a more interactive, unplugged feel. Most likely we will have some acoustic worship time and then jump into the Bible, and then will wrap up with prayer. Here's what you will need to bring: Your Bible, a pen/pencil, paper or journal for notes. This group is designed for those who want to go deeper. By the way, you don't have to be a Bible scholar to attend, so if you are a new believer, you will enjoy this as well as the more seasoned Christian. There will be childcare thru 5th grade.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Sunday review
Today was one of those days where everything clicked. It was one of the best services ever!
* We continued our Find and Follow series. Today's topic was living on mission. All believers are called to a mission of leading others to Christ.
* I challenged every person to make a list of 5 people that they could impact for Christ in 2012.
* Wouldn't it be amazing if all of us brought a guest with us next week?
* I really embarassed our Worship Pastor, David Odom this morning. I had him stay on stage before I began my message and bragged on him. We are blessed to have him at Foothills Community Church!
* We had a ton of guests again this morning. I got a chance to speak to many of them personally.
* One first-time family shared with me how they heard about Foothills. They said that they received a random phone call from a teenager (they didn't know the teenager) that went to Foothills. In the phone call the teenager said that he had a dream, and in the dream God told him to dial a phone number and invite the person that answered the phone to come to church. The guests told me that they had just been praying and asking God to direct them to a church! That's wild!
* I am praying that the Lord would give every person that attends FCC the opportunity to invite someone to church in the next couple of weeks.
* There are still some people that have not renewed their membership yet. Do it today online.
* If you are not a member of FCC but want to learn more, don't forget the next Get In The Game Class is next Sunday. You can sign-up today here.
* Next Sunday is a day that you Do NOT want to miss. We're going to talk about what it means to be a Follower instead of a fan of Jesus Christ.
* On January 29th we will begin a new series called, Social Networks. The series will be on improving the relationships in our life. We will be giving you invite cards next Sunday to put in the hands of the people on your impact list.
* We will also be sending a mailer, inviting people to the series. It will show up in the mailboxes of over 26,000 homes soon!
* We continued our Find and Follow series. Today's topic was living on mission. All believers are called to a mission of leading others to Christ.
* I challenged every person to make a list of 5 people that they could impact for Christ in 2012.
* Wouldn't it be amazing if all of us brought a guest with us next week?
* I really embarassed our Worship Pastor, David Odom this morning. I had him stay on stage before I began my message and bragged on him. We are blessed to have him at Foothills Community Church!
* We had a ton of guests again this morning. I got a chance to speak to many of them personally.
* One first-time family shared with me how they heard about Foothills. They said that they received a random phone call from a teenager (they didn't know the teenager) that went to Foothills. In the phone call the teenager said that he had a dream, and in the dream God told him to dial a phone number and invite the person that answered the phone to come to church. The guests told me that they had just been praying and asking God to direct them to a church! That's wild!
* I am praying that the Lord would give every person that attends FCC the opportunity to invite someone to church in the next couple of weeks.
* There are still some people that have not renewed their membership yet. Do it today online.
* If you are not a member of FCC but want to learn more, don't forget the next Get In The Game Class is next Sunday. You can sign-up today here.
* Next Sunday is a day that you Do NOT want to miss. We're going to talk about what it means to be a Follower instead of a fan of Jesus Christ.
* On January 29th we will begin a new series called, Social Networks. The series will be on improving the relationships in our life. We will be giving you invite cards next Sunday to put in the hands of the people on your impact list.
* We will also be sending a mailer, inviting people to the series. It will show up in the mailboxes of over 26,000 homes soon!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday review
This past Sunday was amazing at Foothills Community Church. Every year at this time I do a series on our vision at FCC. It is one of those messages that unify the church, and bring us back to the reason we do what we do. Nothing fires me up more than talking about the heart of our church!
* I spoke on Luke 15, but the real focus was the older brother in the Prodigal son story. I compared the heart of the older brother and the heart of God.
* The older brother had forgotten what was important... his lost brother who was now found. Instead he refused to participate in the celebration.
* The Father never gave up hope that the prodigal son would one day return home. When that day finally arrived, the Father ran to his son and restored the relationship and then threw a party because he had returned. (Let's not forget that this in this story, the prodigal son is all of us, who have sinned against God, and the Father represents God, who is waiting with open arms for us to come to Him.)
* Some churches have become like the older son. Their focus shifted from ministry to maintenance. It moved from others to themselves. They don't see life change, because they don't celebrate it.
* At FCC I want us to have the Father's heart. To continue to be a place that opens its arms to the lost, broken, and hurting. In order to do this our focus must be EXTERNAL.
Our mission statement is to help people FIND and FOLLOW Jesus. It has to be balanced between those things, but we can never lose the heart to reach lost people.
* Having said that, in 2012 we are also going to put a great emphasis on helping people FOLLOW Jesus (Discipleship). In fact on January 22nd I am going to do one of the most intense and challenging messages I have ever preached in regards to becoming a TRUE FOLLOWER of Jesus! Trust me, this message is not for the faint of heart.
* Sunday was also Membership renewal Sunday. If you didn't fill out your renewal, you can do it online now. (Remember, you must have already gone through the Get In The Game Class)
* If you would like to become a member of Foothills Community Church, then you can sign-up for our next get In The Game Class here.
* Here are some of the stats from 2011 I shared on Sunday:
* 438 people gave their lives to Jesus
* 323 people made a re commitment to Jesus
* 168 people were baptized
* 185 people went to Get In The Game class
* 706 different people served on a ministry team
* over 12,000 prayer requests were prayed for
* over $40,000 was given to local families in need from our benevolence fund
* $12,500 was given to our Christmas offering to provide gifts for children
* Over $150,000 was given to Project reach and distributed to do ministry in Haiti, Harlan County Kentucky, Church Planting in North America, and 5 local agencies helping the hurting in our community.
* Over 4,500 volunteer hours outside the walls of the church to help people.
* 3 mission trips to Haiti and 2 trips to Harlan County Ky. Many teams serving with our local ministry agencies.
* I am so excited about 2012. I believe we are going to see God do more than we've ever seen, so put on your seat belts!
* I spoke on Luke 15, but the real focus was the older brother in the Prodigal son story. I compared the heart of the older brother and the heart of God.
* The older brother had forgotten what was important... his lost brother who was now found. Instead he refused to participate in the celebration.
* The Father never gave up hope that the prodigal son would one day return home. When that day finally arrived, the Father ran to his son and restored the relationship and then threw a party because he had returned. (Let's not forget that this in this story, the prodigal son is all of us, who have sinned against God, and the Father represents God, who is waiting with open arms for us to come to Him.)
* Some churches have become like the older son. Their focus shifted from ministry to maintenance. It moved from others to themselves. They don't see life change, because they don't celebrate it.
* At FCC I want us to have the Father's heart. To continue to be a place that opens its arms to the lost, broken, and hurting. In order to do this our focus must be EXTERNAL.
Our mission statement is to help people FIND and FOLLOW Jesus. It has to be balanced between those things, but we can never lose the heart to reach lost people.
* Having said that, in 2012 we are also going to put a great emphasis on helping people FOLLOW Jesus (Discipleship). In fact on January 22nd I am going to do one of the most intense and challenging messages I have ever preached in regards to becoming a TRUE FOLLOWER of Jesus! Trust me, this message is not for the faint of heart.
* Sunday was also Membership renewal Sunday. If you didn't fill out your renewal, you can do it online now. (Remember, you must have already gone through the Get In The Game Class)
* If you would like to become a member of Foothills Community Church, then you can sign-up for our next get In The Game Class here.
* Here are some of the stats from 2011 I shared on Sunday:
* 438 people gave their lives to Jesus
* 323 people made a re commitment to Jesus
* 168 people were baptized
* 185 people went to Get In The Game class
* 706 different people served on a ministry team
* over 12,000 prayer requests were prayed for
* over $40,000 was given to local families in need from our benevolence fund
* $12,500 was given to our Christmas offering to provide gifts for children
* Over $150,000 was given to Project reach and distributed to do ministry in Haiti, Harlan County Kentucky, Church Planting in North America, and 5 local agencies helping the hurting in our community.
* Over 4,500 volunteer hours outside the walls of the church to help people.
* 3 mission trips to Haiti and 2 trips to Harlan County Ky. Many teams serving with our local ministry agencies.
* I am so excited about 2012. I believe we are going to see God do more than we've ever seen, so put on your seat belts!
Monday, January 02, 2012
Foothills New Worship CD
Many of you know that Foothills Community Church just released our first live worship CD. Every single person NEEDS to buy this CD. It is incredible. I couldn't be more proud of all of the people that serve tirelessly each week to bring the best worship to us at FCC.
I just found out that it is now available on iTunes as well! Go ahead and download it today.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
sunday review x 2
Haven't updated in a while, but a lot has been going on at Foothills Community Church. Here's what's been happening:
* Our Christmas Eve services were unbelievable. Probably the best we've ever had! David Odom and his amazing team pulled off some tremendous music, while Shane Smith and his team did equally amazing things with the technical aspects of the services.
* We had around 25 more people give their lives to Jesus!
* Right after our services were over in Seneca I rushed over to our Toccoa campus and did the message live there. Kevin Robison and his team nailed the music!
* There were more people saved in Toccoa too!
* All in all, Christmas Eve services were a home-run.
* On Christmas Day we had a special worship DVD that we gave out to hundreds of people, and we had hundreds more view it online. There was a ton of positive feedback about that.
* On January 1st (today), we were right back at it again. Even though attendance was a bit light, it was a great day.
* Next Sunday we will begin a new message series called, Find and Follow.
* Don't forget that next Sunday is also Membership renewal Sunday. If you are not a member yet, you can sign-up for our next Get In The Game Class on January 22nd from 12:30 until 2:00pmpm in the Venue auditorium. There is a free lunch served and childcare available.
* Our Christmas Eve services were unbelievable. Probably the best we've ever had! David Odom and his amazing team pulled off some tremendous music, while Shane Smith and his team did equally amazing things with the technical aspects of the services.
* We had around 25 more people give their lives to Jesus!
* Right after our services were over in Seneca I rushed over to our Toccoa campus and did the message live there. Kevin Robison and his team nailed the music!
* There were more people saved in Toccoa too!
* All in all, Christmas Eve services were a home-run.
* On Christmas Day we had a special worship DVD that we gave out to hundreds of people, and we had hundreds more view it online. There was a ton of positive feedback about that.
* On January 1st (today), we were right back at it again. Even though attendance was a bit light, it was a great day.
* Next Sunday we will begin a new message series called, Find and Follow.
* Don't forget that next Sunday is also Membership renewal Sunday. If you are not a member yet, you can sign-up for our next Get In The Game Class on January 22nd from 12:30 until 2:00pmpm in the Venue auditorium. There is a free lunch served and childcare available.
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