Blessed

I have the opportunity to meet with a lot of Pastors from all over the country. Many of them come by our facility here in Seneca. Every time I get a chance to give the tour of our facility to one of them, I am reminded of how blessed we are to have such great space to meet in.

We have always said that Foothills Community Church is not about building buildings--- we're about building Christ-followers, but you've got to admit, it is nice to have such a great tool to reach people for Christ!

It's hard to believe that we have been in Phase 2 almost a year now. In that time we have added hundreds of new people.
For those who have never seen our facility, I will post a couple of pictures of our auditorium:

Sunday notes

We had a great day at Foothills again this Sunday. I love being a part of this movement of God known as Foothills Community Church!

** Dog days of summer are upon us. Lots of people on vacations. Attendance overall was pretty good, but the 9:30am service was definitely light. 11:15am made up for it though.

** Taught on the power of our thoughts from Philippians 4:8. No doubt about it, our thoughts have the ability to shape our destiny.

** Met a lot of new people today. One of the things I've discovered over the years is that we grow through the summer, but you don't notice it until the fall when everyone gets back to a more normal routine.

** I talked briefly to my son who is at Bigstuf in Panama City. He said that things were going really well. Keep praying for all of the kids at Bigstuf.

** I had a great weekend. Looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow though.

** Looking forward to playing basketball at 6:00am tomorrow. Need to get to sleep soon or else it's going to be tough to wake up that early.

Unstoppable Stage set

We have some very talented people on staff at Foothills. Among them is Taylor Chandler who oversees our stage lighting and stage set design. Here are a couple of shots from our most recent stage set. Well done, Taylor.

Thursday thoughts

** Lots of great feedback from last week's message about worry, called Unstoppable Peace. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

** I'm really excited about a new project that Eddie Cox and I are working on called, The Strategic Pastor. We met yesterday to finalize some things, and we will be ready for our first group in September. We will have more details by the end of the month, so stay tuned.

** I have been spending a lot of time planning new message series that will be coming up in the Fall of 2009. I should say, re-planning, because I thought we would be doing something else, but really feel God's leading in this new direction. I am a big proponent of planning way in advance, but I always want to be flexible, so that God can do whatever He wants to.

** Would you join me in praying for the teenagers that will be headed out tomorrow to Bigstuf camp in Panama City, FL. I am praying that God would light a fire in their hearts for Him that will change the world.

sunday highlights

We had a phenomenal day this past Sunday at Foothills. Here are few thought:

** 4th of July weekend affected the attendance, but not the energy. It was amazing!

** It was fun having a week off last Sunday, but it was great being back up.

** Preaching on overcoming worry connects with 100% of the people.

** Worry is defined as seizing by the throat, or tormenting oneself--- so why do we worry?

** Both of our campuses had baptism parties on Sunday afternoon. 28 more people baptized at Seneca, and 6 people baptized in Toccoa!

** The Unstoppable series continues this Sunday. This will be another one of those messages that has high take-home value.

** I love it when people come up to me in the concourse and introduce me to their friends that they brought to church with them---You all truly "get the vision"

** Looking forward to talking to church leaders in Alabama today via a Skype conference call.

** Looking forward to picking up my son from the airport this evening after he spent the last couple of weeks down in FL --unfortunately I have to drive to Atlanta.

** Working on some leadership training material that we will extend to people in the church that want to improve their leadership skills.

weekend thoughts

Happy 4th of July everyone. We are fortunate to live in a country where we are FREE!
Here are a few things that I'm thankful for today:

Jesus Christ, who makes us truly free!

My family. Without them, my life would be incomplete.

My friends. Friendship is one of God's greatest blessings.

All of the men and women who have bravely fought to keep our country free.

Foothills Community Church, the greatest church I know!

All of the material blessings that I have, when so many people in the world have nothing.

I guess, this list could go on and on, but let's remember that every good thing we have comes from our God!

** You do not want to miss church tomorrow. I will be discussing a topic that I guarantee everyone will connect with.

** Also don't forget our baptism/tailgating/block parties we will be having in Seneca and Toccoa tomorrow afternoon. (Toccoa at 3:30pm, and Seneca at 6:00pm)

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