Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! I am heading over to my parents for Wed, Thurs, & Fri. Was thinking of playing golf with my dad on Wed but I think it will be raining.
I wanted to thank the staff at the Suncoast for all their hard work. You guys are the best. I hope you get to enjoy some time with your families and Rita enjoy the trip to Disney!
I also wanted to thank the awesome Volunteers at the Suncoast. You guys make God's house work each week and I hope you know the extent of my gratitude! You are my best friends and heroes! See you on Sunday.
Finally, I am thankful for my wife Cheryl. She has stood by me for over 3 years now at the Suncoast and put up with A LOT!!! I hope one day I can help make her dreams come true too!
A Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at the Suncoast. See you guys Sunday for the final part of "Give Me Faith". You won't want to miss it. I think this will be the best message of the series! And, I ain't just sayin' that :-)
Volunteer Dinner
Coming up on December 4th we will be treating everyone that serves at the Suncoast to a FREE dinner at the new Copper Creek in Northpointe Village. This has become and annual event where we just treat our volunteers to a really nice dinner and do all that we can to show them how much we appreciate their sacrifice and help. If you are a volunteer at the Suncoast be looking for an invitation later this week. You will get to pick from about 9 dinners and it comes with a side and dessert! Should be a lot of fun! Don't miss it!!!
Sacred Cows
Recently, I was a part of a conversation about how churches were doing with the economy in the tank and with so many of our people looking for work when the comment was made:
"Shoot the sacred cow in the face and then feast on it"
That got me thinking... there are so many sacred cows in the church world. It used to be Sunday School. Or, it might be a women's or men's ministry. It might be a building. It might be some favorite project of the lead pastor. Maybe VBS or some Christmas production. But most churches have a sacred cow. The thing no one ever talks about getting rid of, BUT that is also an area that is sucking up money like it grows on trees.
Imagine the resources in time, in talent and treasure that could be freed up if you shot the sacred cow in the face and then feasted on it. Maybe you are a church in a building that is killing you. Sell the building and go portable. Maybe you need to kill Sunday School. Maybe you need to kill your women's and men's ministries and feast on the freed up money and people power. I don't know what it is for your church, but I do know this:
"Scarcity brings clarity"
"Shoot the sacred cow in the face and then feast on it"
That got me thinking... there are so many sacred cows in the church world. It used to be Sunday School. Or, it might be a women's or men's ministry. It might be a building. It might be some favorite project of the lead pastor. Maybe VBS or some Christmas production. But most churches have a sacred cow. The thing no one ever talks about getting rid of, BUT that is also an area that is sucking up money like it grows on trees.
Imagine the resources in time, in talent and treasure that could be freed up if you shot the sacred cow in the face and then feasted on it. Maybe you are a church in a building that is killing you. Sell the building and go portable. Maybe you need to kill Sunday School. Maybe you need to kill your women's and men's ministries and feast on the freed up money and people power. I don't know what it is for your church, but I do know this:
"Scarcity brings clarity"
Random Thoughts from INC Today
On Money and the Church:
- Scarcity brings clarity.
- You have to know what is coming in and what is going out financially.
- 1/4ly giving statements. Celebrate what has happened!
- The more ways to give the better.
- Start talking about the budget in the fall not January.
- Teaching series once a year.
- Know your theology on money.
- Challenge your staff!!!
- If your staff is not tithing then they are living in sin.
- Give away your financial message series.
On Small Groups:
- Stories from the stage.
- Get your key leaders to bring or get people to sign up.
- Will not fill groups from the stage... leaders have to find them.
- Sell the benefits like pastoral care.
- Video teaching works.
On Volunteers:
- Give away stuff at the end of the e-mail for volunteers.
- Send note or gift to first time volunteers.
New Coastal Kids Director
Everyone... I would like you to meet our new Coastal Kids Director @ the Suncoast. Crystal and her husband Keith have been attending and serving here for the past 8 or 9 months and she is really excited about the new opportunity. Here is what she has to say:"I am very excited about this opportunity to work with all of the volunteers and especially the children. It's an exciting time at the Church of the Suncoast and it is a privilege for me to be apart of such a great group. I want to thank everyone for their commitment and passion for our kids. Thanks in advance for your patience as I learn all the ins and outs of the current ministry and experiment with different ideas to help us grow for the future. I look forward to getting to know everyone. Communications is key to a great team, so I will be asking for your feedback on many different topics over the next few weeks. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions, comments, needs, wishes, etc. My main goal is for us to work together as a team to help God's children grow in their faith. Each and everyone of you play an important role in accomplishing that goal!!!"
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Crystal is also the manager of a Calico Corners here in the area and is a Florida native... kind of like someone else I know :-) Be praying for her as she moves into this roll.
Give Me Faith
This Sunday we begin a new message series at the Suncoast called "Give Me Faith" and I don't think the timing could be any better, total God-thing. As the pastor I kind of get a front row seat on people's lives and I have never seen a time when more stuff has been going on then right now. Marriages on the rocks, people fighting illness, kids going rogue, financial crisis and much of this has led to a crisis of faith. Why? Because it is so easy to put our faith in what God can do and not in who He is. We tend to worship the move of God and not the character of God. So for 4-weeks we are going to be talking about faith, having it, losing it, getting it back. I hope you will take this timely opportunity to bring some people because I know God has some big plans for this series.See you at 9:30am or 11:00 at Rushe Middle School.
NEW Look for the Insider
Today there is a brand new look here for the Church Insider. Take a look around and tell me what you think. Special thanks to Andre for helping me out with some of the code. Hope you like the new look.
Coastal Kids Re-Brand
Take a look at our new Coastal Kids logo. Over the coming weeks we will be re-branding all our children's ministry stuff to match. This guy needs a name though! Can you help us name him???
Behind the Curtain (The Stories)
Don't miss the end when all these stories get connected in a total God-thing! Thanks to everyone that let us see "Behind the Curtain" of their Suncoast story!
Behind the Curtain (Part 2 - The Stories) from Brian Moon on Vimeo.
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