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Serve Day is Right Around the Corner!

This Sunday, LowCountry Community Church will be serving her communities during the morning hours.  This will be an exciting day, something which we have never done before.  Here are the details.  LCC peeps, see you on Sunday morning!

 Serve Day Rallies

Bluffton - 9 a.m. Sharp at the Baseball Stadium at Bluffton High School

Hilton Head - 10 a.m. Sharp- HHI Campus –Click Here for detailed info

(There will be no regular weekend Worship Services)

We will still receive our regular offering at both Rallies

Projects (including ‘Kid Friendly’ Jobs) available at Rally if you have not already signed up

It’s not too late to jump in!  Wear your work clothes and come to the Rally

Bluffton Child Care - for those registered; drop Children at Church between 8:30  and 8:45 a.m.  Pick up your child no later than 12:30 p.m.  If your child (0 - 5years) is not yet registered, and you would like child care - you can Click Here.   

Healthy snacks/drinks will be provided throughout morning

Parking (Bluffton) park at East end of the BHS parking lot near Baseball Stadium.
Rain?

Weather (Please pray for good weather) If the weather is wet, we will hold the Bluffton Rally in our LCC Worship Center, but the jobs will go on - rain or shine!

Let’s go BE the Church!

A Campus Blog for Bluffton!

Beginning March 1, LowCountry Community Church is leaving the e-blast world and entering the blogosphere. Both LCC campuses have created a blog that will give you up-to-the-minute information on events happening at each campus.

 

To sign up for the Bluffton Campus blog,

click here  http://lowcountryccbluffton.org

To sign up for the Hilton Head Island Campus blog,

click here http://lowcountrycchiltonhead.org

 

If you would like to subscribe, click on the above link(s) to activate it - and you will receive updates in your inbox when they are posted. 

 

For those of you tracking us and/or me from other parts of the planet, this is a great way to keep up with LCC!

The Church Has Left the Building!

We're trying something new this weekend.  We've called off worship in the facilities and we've decided to worship out in our communities.  We're simply calling it "Serve Day" and we're unleashing around 800-1000 worshippers to serve and worship God by serving people.

No, we've never done anything like this before and there is a slight tinge of, "What if this bombs?"  It might, but I seriously doubt it.  I think it's going to be a fantastic day.  The stories we're already hearing of who and where people are serving is heartening.  We're going to be in fire houses, schools, other churches, a home for single Moms, the highways (literally), assisted-living centers, hospitals, police stations, people's homes, neighborhoods of all types and economic levels - you name it.

We haven't alerted the media - we wanted to fly under the radar and just serve people in Jesus' name.  We didn't want anyone thinking we had secondary reasons for what we're doing.  But as word of this is getting out into our communities, we are now getting a flood of projects coming in at the last minute.  We're having to tell people we won't be able to get to them this Sunday, but that we can make these projects available for people in the weeks and months following Serve Day.  

We're hoping, praying, and believing that once we get a taste of serving our neighbors that this will propel us into on-going service in our communities.

Please pray for LowCountry Community Church this weekend as we seek to fulfill the words of Jesus: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40, NIV).   

 

When God Re-Calibrates Us

I'm teaching LowCountry's core leaders again this week from the Equip curriculum. I will be sharing parts of what I teach with you, my dear blog friends.  Before I do though, I want to start our week off with some thoughts on God's calibration of His people. I'll then share some thoughts on ministry being either a precious treasure or a performance trap.

If you've ever spent much time on a treadmill, you know how monotonous it can become.  The fitness center where I belong has cable TV hooked up to the ellipticals and treadmills for that very reason.  There's nothing like watching the Food Channel while you're working out!

Monotony on a treadmill is boring at worse.  But when monotony enters ministry it can be spiritually deadly. When joy leaves the ministry, depression and disillusionment are not far behind. We find ourselves going through the motions, accentuating the routine, and shooting for the bare minimum. Serving God and others used to bring joy to life, but now that source has definitely dried up. The things which used to be exciting now only bring tedium and mindless repetition.

It's what wore Solomon out.  The sun rises; the sun sets,  The wind blows, and it's just one thing after another.

When I first started my spiritual journey, I pursued communion with God.  I had nothing else to offer Him. He was my single pursuit. Soon after I noticed that my pursuit of communion with God was replaced by my pursuit of competency for God.  I discovered that after a while, if I am running solely on competence, I soon run out of fuel.

It's fun to be good at something.  I was moving toward some higher levels of competence in the areas of preaching, leadership, and teaching.  I was getting the disciplines down.  There was an internal change - and it wasn't for the best.

What I have discovered is that God will graciously remove the fulfillment of my pursuit of competence in order to nudge me back to the pursuit of communion.  He re-calibrates me.  He'll do the same for you.

Has your walk with God entered the arena of Boring, Monotonous, or Repetitive?  Then admit that you've moved away from communion in pursuit of other things.  For me it was competency.  Re-focus on God and He will begin the process of heavenly re-calibration.

Monday Morning Reflections

• I am loving Saturday night worship.  We have been having a great crowd - averaging well over 300+ - and the energy is fantastic!
• I have a long way to go until I make the physical and mental adjustments to a Saturday night and two Sunday morning services.  I haven't been able to get to sleep before 2 a.m. on Saturday night (actually, that's Sunday morning) and Sunday afternoons are mind-numbing.
  
• Serve Day is this coming Sunday!  Remember: no Saturday night service, and at the Bluffton campus, we are meeting at 9 a.m. at the Bluffton High School baseball stadium.  Children five and under can be dropped off at the LCC facility beginning at 8:30 a.m. Hilton Head campus, check out our HHI campus blog for detailed information.
  
• What a joy it will be to put feet to our belief that we can "display His splendor" to our communities!
  
• Bluffton campus, contact Mark Howard to register - or for more information.
   
• Speaking of campus blogs, our Bluffton campus is making the move from a weekly e-news blast to a blog very soon.  Nothing will really change for you, but you will have to respond to the very first communication from us, indicating that you want to receive updates.  Our office will let you know in the coming days.  Bluffton is trying hard to keep up with the technological savvy of the HHI campus!
  
• It was great hearing from the four pastors this weekend.  Todd, Carl, Mike and Mark are being used by God is some incredible ways.  If you're sensing a stirring from the Holy Spirit to jump in and help them, click on their names and drop them an email. Or maybe just send them a note of encouragement.
  
• I love the song "God of the City"!
  
• Yeah, that's right, Bluffton campus.  Our bass player this weekend is named Aaron and he's in 8th-grade ... and he rocked it!
  
• Week five of Financial Peace University is tonight.  LCC has over 80 families and/or singles involved on both campuses.  Debts are begin faced and paid down, savings are being built up, and freedom to give to God generously is becoming a reality!
  
• I watched my Tigers (22-4) whip up on Georgia Tech this afternoon - which reminds me: March Madness is right around the corner! (I kinda thought Oklahoma was unbeatable until Texas spanked them on Saturday.)
   
• And finally, here are the answers to the baseball quiz I asked you about last Friday.  The challenge is to name the five ways a player (not necessarily a batter) can reach first base without hitting the ball.  Here's how: 1) being hit by the pitch; 2) a base on balls; 3) catcher's interference; 4) being sent to first by the manager as a pinch runner, and; 5) a passed ball on a third strike.  How did you do?   

Serve Day on March 1st

 

 

 

1. SERVE DAY is Sunday, March 1st - that's this weekend!

 

2. We are kicking the event off with rallies in Bluffton (9:00 a.m.) and Hilton Head (10:00 a.m.) (See campus info below)

 

3.  There is NO SATURDAY SERVICE THIS WEEK in Bluffton.

 

4.  We will be collecting our regular offering at both campuses.

Bluffton Campus Notes:

   - The Bluffton Rally is being held at the Bluffton High School baseball stadium and starts at 9:00 a.m. sharp. 

    -  Preregister your children (Infants through age 5) for a special PromiseLand by signing them up this weekend or by emailing Mark Howard: mhoward@lowcountrycc.org

    - Drop children off beginning at 8:30 a.m.

    -  Park in the High School's parking lot and walk to the stadium.  Handicapped/Special Needs: Ask a parking attendant for directions on where to park.

Hilton Head Island Campus Notes:

    - Sorry, no PromiseLand for this event.

    -  Visit the HHI Campus Blog for info on projects and how to sign up: http://www.lowcountrycchiltonhead.typepad.com/

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This is going to be a tremendous community outreach for LowCountry!! 
Be ready to serve, be prepared to minister and be on time!

This Weekend at LowCountry!

• This weekend's worship  services will be a bit more abnormal than normal! We'll have three special guests I really want you to meet.  I'll be preaching on GO REACH! and we're going to gain a larger view of what God is doing in the lowcountry of South Carolina.  It's going to be an incredible weekend of worship and challenge!
  
• LCC peeps, have you signed up for Serve Day on Sunday, March 1st?  We're raising the bar and taking the love of Christ right into our communities on that Sunday morning.  Bluffton campus, contact Mark Howard to register or for more information. Hilton Head campus, check out your campus blog.
  
• LCC's Bluffton campus Middle School ministry has been rising higher and higher to new heights.  Aaron has been doing a great job with the kids, and last weekend, 85 students attended a lock-in and we didn't lose anyone - amazing!  Check out their website here. 
  
• This is a good reminder that Rob has been with us for almost nine years and continues to do an amazing job relating to high-school and college students.  A lot of lives have been changed.  Check out their site here.  (By the way: LOVE the Clemson shout-out, Jeremy!)

Here are five blog posts that I wanted to share with you ...

• Tony Morgan shares a video from Greg Groeschel on leaders and failure.
• Steven Furtick has an amazingly sagacious post on unfounded fears.
• Gary Lamb posts a must-read for anyone in ministry - whether full-time or volunteer.  It's about being a first-time guest in a new church.
• Penelope Trunk offers great advice on how to talk to a friend who has been laid off (content warning: some other part of her blog are PG-13 at best).
• Todd Cullen writes about memorial places.

And, since the greatest sport of all time is about to begin again - BASEBALL - here's a quiz for you.  There are five ways a player can reach first base without hitting the ball.  Name them. 

Only answer from your knowledge of the game.  Please refrain from a wikipedia or google search!  Here's a hint: player, not batter.  I'll post the answers on Monday.

Why I Believe in Team Preaching - Part Two

• Team preaching allows me to give time to other important responsibilities.  With the addition of a Saturday night service, sermons come now every six days.  I have a family, and sometimes they require just a bit of attention every now and then!  I lead a congregation of over 1500 people on two campuses.  I have to be looking ahead; that means being a visionary leader.  I have to be able to see down the road.  We have 19 staff and I have personal oversight of seven of them.  These things require time and attention. Sharing the preaching load allows me time to make sure our ship is headed in the right direction.
• Team preaching allows me time to re-group.  Ministry in the 21st century is vastly different than when I entered ministry in 1983 .. vastly different.  I've got to stay on top of aggressively moving societal trends, sociological changes, and if Michael is ever going to find closure with Holly.  When I have a non-preaching week, I work just as hard, if not harder - it's just in different areas that may need my attention.  Week-in and week-out preaching leads to a treadmill approach to ministry and that's not good for anybody.  Like many things, preaching can exact a toll after a while.  It affects us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  When other team members are teaching, it allows me a few days to think creatively, return 15 emails and phone calls, make decisions with a (sometimes) clearer head, spend time with people listening to what's going on in their lives, and fill my tanks back up.
• Team preaching screams respect and trust.  I trust the guys who preach at LCC with my life.  When they teach, I am saying, "I trust this man.  I see him following Christ in his life.  He's living out what he's preaching." I don't take any of that lightly. LowCountry Community Church has a tremendous reputation in our area. I have to be very careful - not only with my own life - but with the people I put up front to teach from God's Word. I am grateful that the men who preach at LCC are men of integrity.
• I'll last longer.  I'm in this for the long haul. So far, I have 25+ years under my belt.  I want many more, should God decide to grant them to me.  I desire to finish well.  One way I can do that is to help raise up other men who are qualified for ministry - both in life and training. And when that happens, I can then share ministry with them.  A shared load is a lighter load.  I'm still learning that, but I certainly believe in the benefits of it.

Why I Believe in Team Preaching - Part One

At LowCountry Community Church, we believe in a team approach to preaching.  On any given Sunday, you never know who is going to preach.  Granted, I preach more than the rest of the team; that's one of my main responsibilities and privileges as the lead pastor.  But we have a strong group of fellow pastors who preach as well.  Just this past week, Joe Friesen spoke and presented what I thought was an incredible message while weaving a very compelling story within his message. You can watch his message here, (click on "Messages" and then click on the graphic for "GO!")

Why have a team approach to teaching and preaching?  Isn't it the pastors responsibility to be in the pulpit every Sunday?  I read recently of one pastor who never missed a Sunday during his entire tenure.  He even scheduled his vacation time is such a way that he was always in the pulpit on Sunday!  I've met too many pastors who consider the pulpit theirs alone and any others who tread upon that sacred carpet do so with fear and trembling.  I recall a story John Maxwell once told about a pastor who hired his first assistant pastor.  As he was showing the young man around the church facilities, they eventually made their way to the pulpit area.  The young assistant noticed masking tape stuck to the floor in a circular pattern around the pulpit area.  When he inquired about it, the senior pastor responded, "As long as you stay out of that circle, we'll get along just fine!"  I'd like to think that is a fictional story, but I don't think it is.

Here are a few reasons why I believe in a team approach to teaching:

• Others are called to preach, too. I'm not the only guy with a call to preach in my bones. Others on our staff have been gifted and called by God to stand in front of an audience or congregation, open God's Word, and preach His truth.  I love it when people tell me, "SO-and-so preached last week and did a fantastic job; God really spoke to me through him." (They don't really say "so-and-so," but you get the point.) 
  
• We can hear from God through different personalities.  My personality and sense of humor can be so weird and warped at times that there is no way I could subject a group of people to me week-in and week-out.  When we listen to others preach, we hear God speaking to us through their experiences, their children, relationships, emotions, world-view, and personal walk with God. As we listen to God through various preachers and teachers, we are the benefactors.  With team preaching comes creativity and freshness, that might be lacking in me due to stress, outside pressures, or being just flat worn out.
  
• God has not called me to be a One-Man Show.  No one should ever consider him- or herself Superman in ministry; there are none.  One of the best things to ever happen at LowCountry was when I took a three-month sabbatical last year.  It showed everyone - including me - that things can get along without me for a while.  Granted, a leader is a leader and needs to be on the scene.  But the church did not fold, people came into the kingdom, others were baptized, worship was great, and I WASN'T THERE!  Which is a good reminder for all of us: It's not about us! And it's definitely not all about me.
  
• There is no First- and Second-String in ministry.  When did we buy into the lie that the Senior Pastor is the "real" pastor and the others are junior varsity?  That kind of thinking really chaps my hide. The LCC pastors have equal value in God's eyes, are equally called by God, and are entrusted with tremendous responsibilities by God.  When Cynthia or Clay lead us in worship, that is a HUGE responsibility!  Do they serve God in a lesser capacity than me?  When Aaron or Rob teach middle- or high-school students during the week, does that count?  When Julie, Vinnie, and Barb teach children, is that second-string, j. v. stuff? When Bob or Jason invest in the lives of LCCers by guiding and teaching them according to biblical principles, is that just throw-away, second-class ministry?  When Brian, Joe, John, or Todd preach is that second-string because Jeff's not preaching?  I think you see the point.

Monday Morning Reflections

• Great worship this weekend at both campuses.  I worshipped with the Bluffton peeps on Saturday night, caught both a.m. services at Hilton Head, then the end of the 10:45 service at Bluffton.  For those of you who have never been to LCC, here's what our stages and teams look like:

     

(Okay, so you can't see this team so well...)

• Joe did a great job of presenting a challenging aspect of our lives: to be conveyors of Jesus' love and truth to those right where we live.
• Harry's video testimony was awesome!  Harry, you're the man!
• 'You've been deputized."  i LOVED THAT!
• SERVE DAY on Match 1st is coming upon us - FAST!  LCC, keep checking out the website and paying attention during this weekend's services.
• Here's the low-down: the Bluffton campus will meet at 9 a.m. at the Bluffton High School baseball stadium for 30 minutes of worship and instruction; then out we'll go.  Hilton Head will meet at the campus at 10 a.m. for much of the same. 
• BE ON TIME!!!
• It's on Sunday, March 1st.
• Stay tuned for this week's upcoming two-part series of why I believe in team preaching and teaching.
• I still can't get over that Ruth's Chris steak!
• The pro tour was at Pebble Beach this weekend.  I love that place; it's breath-taking. Here's a shot I took last year of the 18th green when Darlene and I were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.