Christmas thoughts

Still amazed about the Christmas Eve services at Foothills Community Church. It is so much fun worshiping Christ, especially at Christmas!

If it were not for God's gift of Jesus to all of us, we would have no hope, no peace, no way of getting rid of the guilt, shame and sin in our lives. Hoping that all of you have a blessed Christmas.

Here are a few highlights from our Christmas Eve service:

* Huge crowds that came in ready to worship.

* Unbelievable excitement in the air.

* Tons of guests checking Foothills out.

* The band knocked it out of the park. Seriously..... out of the park!

* That last number, the Blue Man drumline, was unreal!

* Brian Rhodes playing the elf was great, but when he did his elf rap it was awesome! That boy has some serious skills.

* I heard that we had about 50 people give their lives to Christ! (That's what it's all about!)

* I'm serious, if I give you my Billy the Big Mouth Bass as a gift, I really don't like you :-)

* I stand by my statement, "Fruitcake is disgusting" (and, no I don't want to try some of yours :-))

* Heard that our Toccoa campus rocked Stephens County last night. Way to go!

* We have the most incredible staff and volunteers in the world. Thank you all for doing what you do!

I hope you all have an incredible Christmas!

Christmas Eve update

Hard to believe that our Christmas Eve services are in just a couple of days. There has been a lot of time and planning put into these services. Trust me, these will be some of the best services we have ever had at Foothills Community Church!

Here are a couple of reminders:

Christmas eve services will be on December 24th at 4:00pm and 6:00pm in Seneca and at 6:30pm at our Toccoa campus.

Here's how it will work at Seneca:

* It is a ticketed event

* tickets are sold out, but we will not turn anyone away. Our plan is to use the Venue auditorium for overflow if necessary.

* Plan on getting here early. We will have coffee and other beverages in the concourse. The doors to the auditorium will open 20 minutes prior to the service.

* If you are coming with a large group and you want to sit together, don't come late.

* The services will have a little bit of everything, music, video, comedy and a message.

* Speaking of the message, I will be presenting the gospel as clearly as I possibly can, so if you have friends that don't know Jesus, make sure you bring them with you!

* We even have a choir that will be singing, that should be cool.

* If you have kids, PLEASE take them to Kidzone. They will have a better time in an age-appropriate environment, and we need the seats!



For our Toccoa campus:

* There will be one Christmas Eve service at our new facility on Big A road at 6:30pm

* This will be an incredible time to introduce your friends to Foothills Community Church.

* Jonathan and the worship team have put together an amazing service. You do not want to miss it!

* The Toccoa campus will be hearing the same message as the Seneca campus. You will want to bring your friends that don't know Christ.

* Plan on arriving early, we are expecting record crowds!

Thursday thoughts

It never ceases to amaze me what God is doing in the lives of people here at Foothills. I hear stories that just blow my mind---it's awesome!

For instance: Last night at Thrive (our Student worship experience) 11 teenagers were baptized (remember, a bunch of teens were baptized a couple of Sunday's ago too). God is shaking things up in our Student ministry, under the leadership of Brian Rhodes and Tim Wadsworth and all of the volunteers. Our total baptisms for Foothills for 2009 is now 189 people!

Another very noteworthy thing is that we have reached our goal of providing Christmas gifts to 250 children through our "Family Christmas" offering. I just want to thank all of you for your generosity. On Saturday we will throw a Christmas party for many of the families in our concourse when they pick up their gifts.

Don't forget to pick up your tickets for our Christmas Eve services. There are very few left (we have given out over 2,500 already!) If you have not gotten yours yet, you can pick them up at the Welcome Center. In case you're wondering the tickets are free.

We've been spending a lot of time in creative planning for our upcoming message series for 2010, and all I can say is, "I'm pumped about it!" I'll be doing a 2 week vision series called, We Are Foothills!, and then a series on marriage and family that is going to be unbelievable, followed by some other cool things.

Keep inviting your friends!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Here is the infamous clip from this past Sunday with Pelvis Presley promoting our Christmas Eve services at Foothills

what a day!

Today was an amazing day at Foothills! Here are a few of the highlights in case you missed it:

** 9:30 am service, Eric Peters and his team knocked it out of the park.

** We had a surprise visitor--- Pelvis Presley (Elvis long-lost cousin) Brian Rhodes our student Pastor, rocked the house singing You Aint Nothin But A Reindeer! (I hope I can dig up a video)

** Despite the cold, rainy, dreary weather, there was a ton of energy.

** Spoke about Joseph, and the 2 things that made him extraordinary

** at 11:15 am service David O and his crew did a phenomenal job. They especially nailed the Trans Siberian Orchestra number.

** Loved the Weekly World News headlines---especially the one about the Gamecocks!

** Tickets for the 4:00pm Christmas eve service are sold-out!

** There are only a few tickets left for the 6:00pm service! If you didn't get yours yet, I would recommend stopping by the church office during the week to get yours. Sunday may be too late.

** Our Toccoa campus held their first service in their new facility, and I heard that it went fantastic.

** So proud of Shannon Chiles, our campus Pastor who has led them from meeting in a living room to a gym to this new facility!

** Speaking of Shannon, after much prayer, he has decided to go back to his job as an electrical engineer in 2010. He will continue to be actively involved at the Toccoa campus as a volunteer. He will also lead a LIFE group and help with our Get In The Game series.

** Pastor Brian Marshall from our Seneca Campus will assume the position of Toccoa campus Pastor. Brian is a memeber of Foothills Senior manangement Team, and has been on staff for many years. He'll spend his time during the week at both campuses.

** Not sure how many more children we found sponsors for in our Family Christmas offering, but I'll let you know when I find out.

** It looks like we will be baptizing another 6 students during Thrive services on Wednesday!

more music

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have been blessed with talent at Foothills. Here is a clip from Sunday with Eric Peters leading worship. Eric leads our 9:30am service, and does an awesome job!

Almost There

Every Christmas Foothills Community Church tries to reach out and make Christmas morning a little brighter for children. This year we are doing something called, Foothills Family Christmas. Our goal was to provide Christmas presents for 250 kids. These families names were provided by community organizations, schools and from within the church.
Over the last 2 weeks we have collected a special offering to raise $12,500. I am happy to announce that we have almost reached our goal. Right now we have almost enough raised for 200 kids! This Sunday will be your last chance to help us reach our goal, so if you would like to participate, pick up the special envelopes at the Welcome Center, and put your gift in the offering buckets.

Baptism pictures.

Here are a few of the people that were baptized yesterday at Foothills.
It is so amazing what God is doing here. We have baptized 178 people this year!

huge day

It was an incredible day at Foothills this morning.

** At the Seneca campus we had baptisms, which are my favorite services.

** I believe the final number was 57 people got dunked

** After the service people kept coming up and wanting to be baptized, so we just kept on baptizing.

** Lots of people saved today as well. Don't know how many, but will find out tomorrow.

** Good crowds today, and lots of energy.

** We started distibuting tickets for the Christmas eve services. If you forgot to pick yours up, you better hurry, they're going fast!

** At our Toccoa campus they held their last service in the gym! (thanks to Osborne Wood Products for their amazing generosity for letting us meet there for the past year)

** Next week begins a new adventure as we meet in our new facility on Big A road. It is going to be amazing!

I love being the Pastor of this church!

Foothills Music

We are blessed at Foothills Community Church with 3 worship leaders on staff. Eric Peters leads our 9:30am service in Seneca, Jonathan Bryant leads worship at our Toccoa campus, and David Odom leads worship at our 11:15am service in Seneca.
Here is a video from David and his team from last Sunday. I love his passion for the Lord!

It's not too late

If you have not already signed up to be baptized this Sunday at Foothills----it's not too late.

Trust me, you do not want to miss church this Sunday at Foothills Community Church. Without a doubt, our baptism services are the most awe inspiring, powerful services we do Watching people make their public proclamation of faith through baptism is such a celebration, it's almost impossible to describe.

Of course, not only will we be doing baptisms, but also we'll be worshiping God through music, and I'll be sharing a message called, "Seize The Day!"

By the way, if you are planning to be baptized, invite your friends and family to witness this milestone in your life!

This Sunday

A couple of observations from yesterday and a couple of things about this coming weekend at Foothills Community Church:


Yesterday at Foothills:

** Had the day off from preaching, which is always a good chance to catch my breath.

** Thanks to Paul Carr for pinch-hitting for me.

** Introduced our Foothills family Christmas, which is an effort to provide Christmas gifts to 250 needy children this Christmas. This is a rough time for lots of families. If you would like to participate either by giving to the cause, or if you know of a family that could use some help, let us know.

** It's amazing how many new babies (and pregnant women) we have at Foothills. Must be something in the water



This Sunday at Foothills:

** You do not want to miss--- If you miss, you will be sad---just sayin

** We will be doing baptisms in BOTH services this Sunday.

** Baptism services are some of the best services we have.

** If you have not been baptized and you are a follower of Christ, plan on doing it this Sunday!

** We will be wrapping up the Zeros and Heroes series this Sunday.

** You won't believe what the concourse is going to look like.

** On December 13th we will begin our Christmas series called, "Do You Hear?"

** Pick up Your tickets this Sunday for our Christmas eve services.

In case you missed it

Just to get us in the Thanksgiving spirit, here's my message from last Sunday on giving thanks:

Things I learned from cleaning my desk

This morning during my quiet time I was reading from 1 Cor.14:33 "For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace...", I'm not sure if that was what inspired me, but I then decided to try to make some order of my desk.

When it comes to my desk, I have my own system of tracking where stuff is. I would describe my desk as organized chaos. But every once in a while, I get the urge to try to regain control.

Now in fairness to myself, I have been on a sermon writing frenzy over the last few months that has allowed me to work ahead by nearly 2 months, so my desk has research stuff for probably 6 or 7 sermons on it at one time.

It was amazing the things that I uncovered! Things that I had forgotten about completely were once again discovered.

I got to thinking about the church. People come in with cluttered lives, and slowly Christ helps them to regain control of their lives. Lost things are rediscovered, and a sense of peace prevails.

Unfortunately there is another side to this. There are some people in the church that never connect. They attend regularly for a while, but never get involved, and slowly the clutter starts covering up the joy of Christ in their lives, and before you know it, they're gone.

Every once in a while I'll run into someone at a restaurant or a store, and it dawns on me that I used to see this person attending faithfully, but they've slowly moved off the radar screen. Some end up at other churches (which is fine), but unfortunately some drop out of church all together. Clutter has a way of doing that.

Is it time for you to do a little cleaning and organizing? Why not start today?

sunday night review

A great day at Foothills in spite of the nasty weather. Talked about being thankful today, so I thought my Sunday review would be things that I was thankful for today.

** Thankful to Jesus for paying the price for my sins -- I am so undeserving

** Thankful for our church (Foothills Community Church). Seriously, most Pastors would give their right arms to be able to serve in a church like Foothills!

** Thankful for people who ventured out in the cold, rainy weather to worship our King.

** Thankful for the great worship leaders, musicians, singers, and tech people who make my job so much easier.

** Thankful for all of our volunteers who serve tirelessly every Sunday (and throughout the week) to make it all possible.

** Thankful for the umbrella team who make sure people stay dry on the walk from the parking lot

** Thankful for all of the changed lives every week

** Thankful for all of the people who invite their friends to church. I love it when people come up to me and introduce me to their guests!

** Thankful for a church that genuinely loves people.

** Thankful for our Toccoa campus. They are such a cool group of people. I don't get a chance to be there in person with them often, but when I do, it's a blast!

** Thankful for people who sacrificially give to help us reach more people for Christ.

What are you thankful for today?

Baptisms coming up soon

Baptism services are hands-down some of the best services we do at Foothills. Over the years we have done our baptisms in lakes, swimming pools, and in horse troughs. No matter where they are, they are incredibly exciting.

Your next opportunity is just a few short weeks away.
On December 6th (At our Seneca location) we will be doing baptisms during both Sunday services.
In case you haven't experienced baptisms Foothills style, here is a video of our last one:

It's time to repent when ______

A few thoughts running through my mind this morning.

It's time to repent when ______

* When a Pastor begins to care more about how much the offering was instead of how many souls were saved.

* When you cater to the critics instead of forging ahead with the vision God has given you.

* When you change your focus to how do we keep the congregation happy instead of how do we reach our community for Christ?

* When you spend more time talking about what God did in the past than what He is doing today.

* When your "quiet time" is your sermon prep.

* When fear replaces faith.

* When "convenience" and "what's easiest?" trumps an attitude of whatever-it-takes to reach people for Christ.

* When optimism is replaced with pessimism.

* When the pursuit holiness is replaced by the pursuit of happiness.

* When The Bible becomes equal or secondary to any other book.

* When the reliance of being "cool", "slick" and "hip" to reach people outweighs our reliance on the Holy Spirit.


There's probably hundreds more I could come up with, but lots to do today!

Sunday highlights

Great day at Foothills yesterday. We're in a series called Zeros and Heroes. It's been a fun series so far. Up to this point we've only talked about some of the Zeros, but next week we start looking at the Heroes.

Here are a few observation from yesterday:


** Talked about the life of Lot. Sad story of a man who got caught in the current of compromise.

** Talked about the three stages of compromise. Stage 1: Small concessions. Stage 2: Ignoring the danger Signs. Stage 3: Full-blown Compromise.

** Attendance seemed good yesterday. Still lots of people out sick.

** The band did the song, Slow Fade. Very powerful---especially the little girl singing at the end. (I believe her name was Taryn)

** Loved the video in between the songs.

** Saw lots of people I have not seen in a while.

** I hear that our Toccoa campus had a great day as well.

** Baptisms coming on December 6th. if you have not taken the plunge, sign up on the info card next Sunday.

Family Carnival

Don't forget that this Saturday will be the Foothills Family Carnival. Tons of things to do for all ages. Rides, Inflatables, Rock Climbing Wall, Mechanical Bull, food, and lots of fun!

Lessons I'm learning

Over the last few weeks I have learned alot of new things and been reminded of some things I forgot. Here are a few of the things I'm learning:


** You can't always control your circumstances, but you can always control your attitude.

** When trials come, I am responsible for my response.

** I am never responsible for someone else's response (that's between them and God)

** Comfort breeds mediocrity

** Discomfort breeds growth

** God is more interested in my character than my comfort

** God sometimes puts us in situations that force us to grow/change

** People are people

** You will never please everyone

** Leadership comes with a price

** Leaders are often misunderstood

** There has never been anything that has taken God by surprise

** With faith nothing is impossible

** Our vision and passion to reach people that are disconnected from God is more white-hot than ever before

** I serve with the most amazing people in the world

** I can't wait for Sunday!