Elijah - Week 2

Watch week 2 of the Elijah series from Life Church.

Note: Link above will not work till Wednesday, May 20th.

Time for change

Does anybody really like change? I mean, really, change is just different. It means doing something different on some level. You have to do it, say it or be it a different way. Thinking about changing Life Church Franklin to a different location can be a daunting thought process, but I believe to be faithful to the vision God has placed on us it's a change we have to make.
Currently, as we meet at our Depot Street location we are very close to being completely out of room. It's no different than when we moved from our original location as we grew from 9 to 65 people and then renovated and moved into the Depot Street location.
In a short time we will not be able to use the store front down from us for LifeKIDS. Our options are to add a portable building or move somewhere for more room. With a portable building we get temporary relief but no long term room to grow.
Myself and the leadership have put a great deal of time and prayer into a new location. It looks as though we have a unique opportunity for that to happen.
Please continue to pray for us as we dive into the details and make preparations.
I realize some people won't like the change to a new location...actually some people wont like any change, but if you are excited and passionate about what we are doing at Life Church and the opportunity to lead more people into a meaningful relationship with Jesus, I ask for you to get excited...be supportive...pray for me, leadership and the church as a whole.
I believe God has called Life Church Franklin to be a catalyst for a new spiritual awakening in Franklin, NC and as we stay faithful, generous and excited, God we bring, show and do amazing things through and around us.
Hang on Lifers, the ride has just begun!
P

Elijah - Week 1

Click here to watchElijah - Week 1

Overwhlemed

This is just an honest confession.
My job as campus pastor is to keep the day to day things together...Life Groups, LifeKIDS, worship experiences, etc... These are some things that i can control and prepare for. I am finding the the last few weeks there are so many things I can't control and prepare for. I can't control other people decisions. I can't control certain circumstances.
It can all become overwhelming to realize that I am not in total control. It's my human nature. I realize it's wrong, but it's a battle for me. Each time I have to come back to God and just cry out that I need Him. I have to repent of my selfishness and stupidity that I think I can do it on my own. I don't have total control, but God does. He has perfect timing. Not my timing, but HIS perfect timing.
Each time he reminds me of where he has brought me and brought Life Church Franklin thus far. I can boldly say that God has made the increase. He has brought the change in peoples live through his Word. He has and is in total control...since day one.
Today I am handing over the "keys" once again and asking God to remind me of his power, faithfulness and the reality that he is in control.

God I am yours. You are in control. Have your way. - Amen

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One Prayer Series Starting in June

Starting June we will join with LifeChurch.tv and 1,000's of other church around the world in a series called "One Prayer".
At Life Church Franklin we were thrilled to be a part of the first One Prayer which began last year. We will again participate in 2009. This promises to be another powerful series. I hope you will check out the One Prayer website to see just how big and far reaching this initiative and the God's church is throughout the world.

Funny Craig Groeschel

As the lead pastor of LifeChurch.tv, Craig Groeschel has the opportunity to share and teach to pastor all across the country. I had the amazing opportunity to hear Craig several times over the last 2 years at the Catalyst Conference events for church leaders.
The creative team with Catalyst is amazing. They gather some of the top Christians leaders in the country to share each year and prepare, motive and encourage the next generation of church leaders. They are also pretty stinkin funny. They manage to make each conference as much fun as it is serious. At the most recent conference, which was held in L.A., they created this funny video of Craig Groeschel. I figured since we enjoy Craig's teaching most weeks as a LifeChurch.tv Network church this video would be pretty hilarious for you to see.
Remember, this is all in fun and just for laughs. Enjoy.
PS-When they say "Andy", they are talking about Andy Stanley at Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta, GA.
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Can You See Him? - Week 4

Click here to watch Week 4 of "Can You See Him?".

Engaging The Unchurched

My good friend and fellow pastor Brandon Duff wrote a great post about what should happen when we engage the unchurch. Brandon's church, Church At The Falls in Canada, is a fellow LifeChurch.tv Network church.

Engaging Unchurched
When we started CATF we had a goal, engage unchurched people. The question that follows is, how do we engage the unchurched when they are part of one of our environments on Sunday or through the week? I'm sure there are a bunch of ideas, but here are some basics that will work.
To reach unchurched we need to create an environment:

* where people feel included, where they don't feel like they have to break into the inner circle.
* where children and adults may not understand it all but they enjoy it, they look forward to coming back.
* where people are treated with kindness (what a novel idea - insert sarcasm), where they feel like an honoured guest.
* where we appeal to the unchurched and they are attracted to our values (God's values lived through us), where their children can learn good values, where they can find practical help for marriage, work, family, life.

We are doing a good job at this and we can continue to improve. Think about how you can make a difference.

Church At The Falls

Faith Suckers

As we finished up yesterdays message and the final part of the Can You See Him? series I was really struck by the "faith suckers" comment that guest teacher Herbert Cooper made.
A faith sucker is someone who just sucks the faith out of you. These kind of people bring up doubts and opinions about what God can and can't do. Quite literally, they can suck the faith right out of you.
I starting thinking about people who have been faith suckers in my life. People who said God could or could not do something. The people that kind of laughed at the idea of starting another church in Franklin. The people who talked about how draining it is to be a pastor. It goes on a and on. Sometimes those faith sucker succeeded at draining me. Other times they didn't. The older I get the more I have realized people like that have no place in my conscious and my heart. I have to let it go in one ear and out the other.
Don't let people suck the faith right out of you. Hang on to God and trust that he is always faithful.

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The Motions

This is a new song from Matthew West that talks about not just going through the motions in our pursuit of God.