15 year anniversary celebration Sunday

(15th anniversary. The band was rocking the house!)

Well, our 15 year anniversary celebration is history. We spent so much time praying and preparing for this day and all I can say is, "it was even better than any of us could have hoped for!"

Our morning services were incredible. Good crowds and lots of energy. Then on Sunday evening, all 3 campuses came to Seneca for a night of worship. Here are a couple of highlights:

* Foothills Community Church is truly blessed with musical talent. Unbelievable! All 3 of our campuses worship leaders were there along with other musicians and singers. Plus, we had a praise choir. It was so uplifting.

* Sharing communion together with all 3 campuses was amazing. Pastor Brian Rhodes did a wonderful job leading us through that.

* I love that our Hartwell, GA and Toocoa, GA came dressed in Georgia Bulldogs red and sat right down front in the middle. They are rowdy and I love that!

* Best Part of the day= 55 people were baptized!

*  We had some moments of reflection. We saw a video from the last 15 years and how far we've come.

* We had a lot of fun moments. When we started Foothills Community Church 15 years ago I had a mustache, so pretty much the entire worship team and choir were wearing fake mustaches. When I came up to do the welcome, my wife made me put one on as well. Here is a picture of that:

(the infamous fake mustache)

* I got a chance to share what our next step is as we start the next chapter of our history. In case you missed it, I announced that Foothills Nation will be expanding. On September 15th we will have the grand opening of our 4th campus in Habersham County Georgia!!


* I also spoke briefly from Exodus 33:15 where Moses says to the Lord, "If you're presence does not go with us, don't send us from here." For 15 years we have tried to follow God. As we move forward, if He does not go before us, we don't want to go anywhere. The good news is, that He is leading us. Our job is to follow. There are many more opportunities and we will seize as many as we can.

* We ended the night with some time to hang out in the concourse. A few of us lingered after everyone else had left, and shared some funny memories.

* All in all, one of the best days in our history. BUT THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

 

15 year reflections

This Sunday we will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of Foothills Community Church. It has come a long way since the days of 17 people gathered in my living room dreaming about what God might do.

We have seen some amazing miracles along the way. There have been thousands saved and right at 1,500 people follow-through with baptism! (That's pretty amazing because that means we have baptized 2.5% of our county!)

We have seen hundreds and hundreds of people who have grown in their walk with the Lord, and truly seek to be effective disciples of Jesus.

There have been so many highs, and also some lows. But we have sensed the Lord's guidance through all of it. My wife and I have made so many friends along the way. I wish I could say that everyone who has been on this journey called Foothills Community Church is still with us, but unfortunately many have moved on.

As I reflect over the last 15 years, I am reminded of the Lord's faithfulness. Foothills Community Church  has truly been blessed.

We have been blessed to have so many faithful people who sacrificially give and serve and sacrifice so that others can hear the Good News of the Gospel. We are blessed with a staff that loves Jesus and His church so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes to advance the Kingdom. We have been blessed by other churches along the way who have poured into us. We have been blessed by a community that has warmly embraced us.

I believe we have been faithful to the vision that the Lord gave us from the beginning to help people find and follow Jesus. And we will continue to pursue that vision!

As great as the last 15 years have been, I truly believe the best is yet to come! There will be thousands more that will come to Jesus. There will be thousands more that will become on-fire disciples of Jesus. There will be more campuses, more new friends, and more new opportunities as we forge ahead!

I cannot wait to celebrate with you this Sunday. The celebration will begin during our morning services at all 3 campuses with some incredible things, including baptisms. Then at 6:00pm all of our campuses will be coming together at our Seneca, SC campus to have a special 15th anniversary worship night. There will be music, refreshments, baptisms, The Lord's Supper, and some nostalgia. I will also be announcing when and where campus #4 will begin! Please do not miss this.

Lots going on

It's been a whirlwind around here since Easter. And speaking of Easter, we had an amazing day at all 3 of our campuses. Over 2,600 people in attendance and best of all, 71 people indicated that they had become Christ-followers!

This past Sunday I was honored to participate in the dedication service of one of the 2 homes that Foothills Community Church is sponsoring for Habitat For Humanity. This is part of our Project Reach initiative, so thank you to all who participated!

In other Project Reach news, our team of 15 people got back from Haiti on Saturday. I have already heard some of the amazing stories of what the Lord did there. Don't forget, in addition to another Haiti trip, we also have opportunities in Harlan County, KY and this year we will also send a team to Africa to help build water wells.

There are a few more things I want to remind you about:

* This Sunday at all 3 campuses we will be having our Get In The Game session. It will be held immediately after the 11:15 service in Seneca, and after the services in both Toccoa and Hartwell.
We will provide you and your family with free lunch and will be providing childcare. For those who may not know what Get In the game is, it's a class to help you know more about Foothills Community Church You will hear a little about where we've been and where we're headed and you will hear about how to get connected at F.C.C. 

* On April 21st we will also be celebrating our 15th anniversary as a church. We will have our regularly scheduled morning services, but at 6:00pm all 3 of our campuses will come together in Seneca to party! We will have all 3 worship leaders and musicians from the campuses leading in a huge worship night. We will celebrate new life through baptism and also observe the lord's Supper together. There will also be a look back at God's faithfulness for the last 15 years and then we'll look forward to our next steps as a church. I will also be announcing when and where our 4th campus will begin. Please do not miss this historic event in the life of our church.


* Don't forget about our Axis student camp this summer. This will be an incredible experience for our teenagers as they descend upon Myrtle Beach SC for 5 days of fun, teaching and worship. For more info, check out our Student Ministry web page. I'm really looking forward to this because It looks like I will be able to be there for a couple of days!


* I am really excited about this Sunday at Foothills Community Church. e will be continuing our series in John called, the Man Behind the Message. If you want to get a head start read John 6:68-7:53. See you then!