Weather Announcement

Worship Experiences for Sunday, January 31st are canceled.
With the winter weather we are experiencing throughout western North Carolina we will NOT hold our regular 10am worship experiences at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts and the Fun Factory tomorrow morning (January, 31st). The LifeKIDS volunteers training at the McCollum House for tomorrow night has also been canceled.

Many of our Life Church family are without power and tonight's forecast is calling for below freezing temperatures making roads potentially dangerous tomorrow morning.

Please join us at church online if you would like to worship along with LifeChurch.tv tomorrow morning by clicking here.

Blessings,
Patrick Moore - Life Church Franklin Pastor

Haiti Update - Thursday

Jason Nicholas and Daniel Hatch sent out a Check-In GPS locator message this morning to let us know they are still safe and working in Port au Prince.

Jason's wife Brandi spoke to him last night: "Talked to Jason last night, they are doing well. They helped unload tons of food for Compassion International, set up a make shift hospital for the Dr.'s and was mobbed by kids when he brought out the lollipops! He said he has never seen or experienced anything like what is going on there. Pray for strength mentally and physically!"

The green arrow shows their location at 8:50am this morning.


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LifeKIDS Taking It To The Next Level

I am so amped up about what's coming for our LifeKIDS worship experiences on Sunday mornings. We have spend a good deal of time planning and researching how we can take LifeKIDS to the next level of service and involvement for the volunteers and children.

First, we have a great group of selfless volunteers at Life Church who are pouring into this children every Sunday morning. They serve a couple times every 6 weeks and just love leading, serving, teaching and worshiping with them. I'm also really proud of all the new volunteers that have recently committed to volunteering. These people make LifeKIDS happen.

We are also moving into a new season of different curriculum we will use for LifeKIDS. I think this will be another building block of teaching these children the basic truths from Scripture that they can plant in their hearts as we lead them to become follower devoted followers of Christ.

To hear the stories of these children going home and reciting Scripture, being excited about coming to church and then the stories of parents and their excitement for their children's growth in their faith or learning what it is to follow Christ...it's just amazing.

LifeKIDS is not an afterthought at Life Church. These children and our youth are the church NOW. We are not waiting till they become married adults to call them the church. They are the church right now. What happens in LifeKIDS is as important as anything going on in the adult experience.

Get ready. It's time to take LifeKIDS to the next level. He we go!

Patrick

Haiti Update - Tuesday

We know Jason and Daniel have safely arrived in Port au Prince after an all day bus trip from the Dominican Republic today. The guys actually ran into and rode the same bus as a Life Church Franklin friend, Ken Joslin from Life Church in Gainesville, GA. Ken sent us this picture of Daniel and Jason on the bus this afternoon.

Just this evening the guys sent us an update of their map coordinates in Port au Prince. You can see the different map views below.


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Continue to pray for the guys and their safety.

Haiti Update - Monday

Life Church Franklin Worship Pastor Jason Nicholas and Lifer Daniel Hatch safely landed in Dominican Republic on their way to Port au Prince, Haiti. The following update is from Jason this afternoon.

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Hey Life Church!! So today was a day that was definitely orchestrated by God. At the airport this morning our suitcases were loaded with supplies. Delta wave the fees because of what we were doing. When I say loaded I mean really loaded!
While we were waiting for our flight we met 2 guys headed to Haiti also. Now what is interesting about these guys is that they both have a military/ security background and they were so excited about what we are doing they said they wanted to help us out. Hector( one of the guys) is Spanish. This was so great because in the Dominican Republic they speak..... Spanish! They got us a taxi, took us to their hotel that they had reserved and even got us a room. After that they took us out to supper. They said that they want to go with us some and help us out wherever they could. I would ask that you pray for these guys, Hector and Ivy. We know that God has put them in our path for a reason. We are headed to the bus stop at 5am tomorrow to catch the first bus. There are only so many and there are lines waiting for them. Tomorrow afternoon we should be hooking up with Thirst no more and get things rolling. Like I said Sunday, continue to believe with us that God is going to move here. We are all ready having God encounters with people and we havent made it there yet. If you make yourself available you will see God move in and through your life.
Jason
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Continue to pray for Daniel and Jason this week as they minister to the people of Port au Prince and offer hope through relief work and sharing the Gospel.
Patrick

Sunday Reflections

- Yesterday we sent off Jason Nicholas and Daniel Hatch to Haiti to help with relief work and ministering to the people of Port au Prince through Thirst No More ministries.
I am really proud of these 2 for answering a call for help and doing what they can to help in Haiti. This is a burden they have to help and it's great that Life Church can be a part of it.
- The giving and support of Lifers has been amazing! Last week you gave $2,000 to Samaritans Purse and yesterday you gave over $1,300 to help buy supplies and items for Jason and Daniel's trip to Haiti this week. This was above and beyond the tithe! You all are amazing. Thank you for being so generous.
- I am so loving seeing the heart of generosity continue to grow at Life Church. Your giving of time, finances and other resources has been incredible. When we started LCF we prayed the heart of our church would be about being a generous church in any way we could. We are doing that and I pray it continues to grow every day!
- PRAY, PRAY and PRAY some more. I feel a really strong urgency for our church to be praying in unity for some specific things as we roll through the first part of 2010. I hope you'll join me in these prayers:
- Pray for the hearts of those here in Franklin who need to hear the message of hope and salvation found only in Jesus Christ. Not only that that would hear the message but respond. Pray for people to stop hearing and respond to the Savior who is right in front them reaching out to them.
- Pray for each other to have divine moments of interaction with others where we can share the Gospel through our words, actions and lives.
- Pray our generosity and compassion for the hurting and needy grow greatly in 2010. Pray that we have divine moments of opportunity to pour out this compassion on those brought our way.
- Pray that we continue to chase the things of God in 2010. It's not about us. It's not about our agendas. It's all about God's will and his plans for us and LCF.

Have a great week. I am praying for those of you finishing your 21 day fast this week!

Patrick

Off To Haiti

2 of our own at Life Church Franklin are heading to Haiti on Monday to do relief and ministry work in Port Au Prince.

Jason Nicholas and Daniel Hatch will be meeting with a team from Thirst No More ministries to do relief work and share the love of Christ. We have committed to helping with a portion of the expenses of their cost to make this trip happen. Jason has mission experience and has been specifically trained in this area. (We are currently exploring other trip opportunities in the future.)



As they prepare to leave Monday there are some specific needs. Please see how you might be able to help.

- Cash donations
- 2 large suitcases (not to be returned)
- Dressings (Ace bandages,etc..)
- Neosporin (things to prevent infection)
- Aspirin
- oral antibiotics (cream or pills only. no liquid. new sealed packages only)
- masks

Everything must be new and sealed in the original packaging.

If you have any questions please call the church office at 634-1112 (local franklin #) or email franklinlifechurch@gmail.com

Get Out Of Debt With FPU

Life Church will once again host Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class to teach you practical step-by-step instructions on how to get out of debt and how to handle your finances according to God's word.

This 10-week program will be held Tuesday evenings from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at The Fun Factory conference room starting February 16th.
What is Financial Peace University?

FPU is the most important step to changing your financial future. It is your Total Money Makeover Program. It takes the knowledge from God and turns it into real action in our lives through a step-by-step process taught by best-selling author and financial counselor Dave Ramsey.

FPU is a 10-week life-changing program that empowers and teaches you how to make the right money decisions to achieve your financial goals and God's plan for your life. The course includes practical lessons on eliminating debt, building wealth, giving like never before, and much, much more!
Who is Financial Peace University for?

It's for EVERYONE!...from the financially secure to the financially distressed. Over 650,000 families and individuals have attended Financial Peace University.

Applying God's Word radically changes your life. On average, FPU graduates have paid off over $5,300 in debt and saved $2,700 during the program!
What Will I Learn?

In this life-changing program you will learn:

1. Step-by-Step Cash Flow Planning
Luke 14:28: "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it."

2. Debt Snowball Plan Technique to Eliminating Debt
Proverbs 22:7: "The borrower is slave to the lender."

3. How to Invest Wisely
Ecclesiastes 11:2: "Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land."

Find our more about FPU and how to sign up this Sunday at Life Church Franklin.

Help Haiti

With the current tragedy we are looking at ways for Life Church Franklin to help in the assistance of Haiti's relief effort after the massive earthquake.
Two of organizations we are currently encouraging folks to donate to is Samaritans Purse and Commpassion Internationl. Both of these Christian organizations are in the relief areas and monies given go straight to helping people. (As a side note: please be careful where you give donations. There are reports of widespread fraud throughout the US and online.)
Here's how you can help right now:

Samaritans Purse

Compassion International

What Does A Sunday Look Like At Life Church?

Sunday we continued our challenge to everyone at LCF that doing nothing was not an option. One of the areas we are praying that others step off the sidelines and jump in, is in volunteering. To get a better picture of what it takes to make LCF happen every week and all the faces that are a part of it, we created this short video. Take a look:

Preach Boldly

I was reading in Acts 4 this morning and this verse just popped out at me:
"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." - Acts 4:31

This came after John, Peter and the followers of Jesus Christ were being persecuted for their faith. They prayed not that God would take away the threats and persecution but that he would give them great boldness in their sharing the Gospel message.

That really struck me. I find myself praying to just stop all the persecution that I might run across. The Acts church believers instead prayed that God would just give them more boldness in preaching the Gospel.

He's my thought: What if we all would concentrate on preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ instead of drowning in the persecution of those that come against us? You say, well I don't preach. If you love and follow Christ then you can preach the message. You can share the hope, love and salvation found in Jesus Christ.

He's the point: Be bold in sharing the Gospel truth. Be bold in pointing to Jesus. Be bold in the words you say as you speak the word of God.

Doing Nothing Is Not An Option

Yesterday at Life Church Franklin we had all the LifeKIDS, Host Team, A/V Team and Worship Team volunteers come up on stage with me. It was so awesome to see all the individuals and families who are volunteering at LCF. We have great participation. It was over half of the people in attendance!
As I thanked all these awesome people I showed the church our new volunteer t-shirts. They plainly say, "Doing nothing is not an option". This fits so perfectly with our volunteers attitudes. They have decided sitting on the sidelines is not enough. I've said it since we started LCF and I still mean it. I can't do everything as the pastor. Fact is, I won't do everything. That's not my call. I serve to equip others and empower them to serve others.
Our volunteers are amazing and without them LCF wouldn't happen every week. Life Groups would not be available. Our service outreach wouldn't happen. They have decided that doing nothing is not an option.
So what are you going to do? Have you decided that doing nothing is not an option for you too? God has called us to more.
"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Matthew 20:28
Learn more about volunteering at LCf this Sunday.