The Sunday That Was (February 26)

This past Sunday we were missing two staff members (and their hard working families) so we had some holes to fill and I just wanted to start out by saying thank you to all the people who stepped up and filled those holes. GREAT JOB! We are blessed to have a "bench" at the Suncoast!

It was a good service all the way around to close out the month of February. Everything got set up, the place looked good, there were greeters outside and inside, there were new faces, the cafe was pumping out the coffee, the tech team was flawless, the band sounded good, there were a TON of kids and plenty of hard working volunteers to love, care, and teach them... the guy bringing the message did a pretty good job too... AND one young lady accepted Christ! Go God!!!

If you missed the message you can catch it online tomorrow in podcast or video form. You can also get the Church of the Suncoast APP from our website too, it will bring all the message content to you plus prayer requests and online giving.

I really feel like God did some work in some people's lives this week. We talked about manipulation, both people who do it to us, and how we do it to others. When Rita was working on the video to put online she said, "Wow you prayed a long time!" It was over 6-minutes, but I just felt like giving you guys the chance to admit/confess some stuff and have the chance to cry out to God for courage to set some clear boundaries with people who try to control us. I truly believe God set some of us free Sunday and put us on a path to surrendering to HIM and NOT to those who would try to impose their will on us. Like I said on Sunday, there was a lot to think about so I hope you will listen to, or watch, the message again.

At the end of the service I made a big push for this week's round of NEXT Groups. You can get all the info here on our news page. I know we don't have groups on every night of the week to accommodate everyone's schedule, but hear me out. If you are a Christ-Follower and you are not connecting in Biblical community through serving, through one on one lunches or coffee, or in a NEXT Group then I believe you are not really living the Christian life! Jesus "did life" with a small group of guys and gals, and as our model why do we think we are above that example:

• We are too busy?
• We don't need it?
• We are afraid?

There is not a good reason to not be in Biblical community with other followers of Jesus! Bottom line! This week is the come back party where the people who showed up for week number one are planning something fun for you. Will you show up? I can promise you when you come under the authority of God's plan for your life you will be glad you did it!!! Again, all the info is HERE.

IF you are one of our awesome volunteers DON'T MISS THIS SATURDAY NIGHT'S Volunteer Community, 7pm @ the Warehouse! Lots of fun, food, and that community thing I was just ranting about. Bring the family. You can let us know you are coming by e-mailing Rita at:

rita@canthisbechurch.com

Finally, be praying for the staff and I tomorrow. We are making a HUGE decision that will potentially impact the future of our church and take us a new level. It is really exciting and we will hopefully be making an announcement in the coming weeks! I love my church!

The Sunday That Was (February 19)

Got to start off by saying GREAT job to the guys in the band. You guys nailed it yesterday. We had fun, we rocked out, and we reflected all in the course of about 12 - 13 minutes. Great job in getting us on our feet and then on our face before Jesus.

The morning started out with the typical set up. People showed up from 7am - 7:30am and got things rolling. So much work goes into just making one Sunday happen, I am constantly blown away and grateful. We had a little issue with the lights but resorted to the Microsoft way of solving issues. We turned everything off and back on!
During the service we set up the new series called "Those" People with some movie clips from Meet the Parents and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I can't think of anymore difficult people than those! Tried to cover both generations of Suncoasters. Good stuff.

For the first installment of "Those" People, we looked at the "needy" people in our lives. You know the ones, they call you and leave 8-minute voice mails! Here are some key thoughts I am still thinking over and trying to apply:

• The reason we are studying this is because we are all "Those" people at one time or another and we hope someone is taking notes so they can deal with us!
• My goal is we become a church so filled with love that, "Those" people feel like we are the church for them!
• The reason this matters is because if we don't help people in the right way, we can actually end of hurting them more and if we are not careful, we end of hurting ourselves too.
• Relief is immediate and temporary assistance (think natural disaster).
• Restoration is working with people to restore them to their God-given potential (think an addict).
• The problem is we offer relief when what people often really need is restoration!
• Acts 3:1-7 - Peter didn't give a hand out, he gave a hand up and the man became strong!
• SO... three prayers: 1) God, help me give people what they truly need not just what they want. 2) God, help me stay out of your way by not continually rescuing people from their consequences. 3) God, help me remember that I'm in need too and that YOU ARE ALWAYS THE ANSWER!

This is all stuff I am learning with you guys. I can't wait for this week's talk on Manipulative people! Don't miss it and BRING SOMEONE WITH YOU! This series is perfect for anyone to jump into to no matter where they are spiritually.

After the service we had our NEXT Group leaders and hosts in the back for NEXT Group sign ups because they start THIS WEEK!!! Yes, this week! I talked about them on Friday here on my blog, so just read the post right before this one called, "New and Next" and you can hear why I think you need to be in one. All you need to do is show up:

Sunday Night // Middle and High School, 7pm

@ the Warehouse

Tuesday Night // Adults, 7pm

@ Keith and Crystal's

Wednesday Night // Adults, 7pm

@ Mike and Carol's

And, the last thing I have for you from "The Sunday that was" is don't forget about Volunteer Community on Saturday, March 3rd. We will be giving you guys that volunteer the Christmas photo's, eating Cuban's, black beans and rice, and playing some kind of dancing game because that was just way too funny at the last Volunteer Community, and if you see a video of me from it online know that it was my stunt double!

Love you guys and I love my church!

The Sunday That Was (February 12)

If last Sunday was a good Sunday, then this past Sunday was a GREAT Sunday at the Suncoast! Anytime you run out of chairs you know it was great! So... some random highlights:

• We dedicated 6 kids, our most ever at one time! - Go God!!!
• One of those kids was our baby Sophie!
• The band played the Steve Miller Band classic, "Take the Money and Run" to close out our financial series called, "Balanced".
• Crystal and Keith shared an awesome personal story about how they were $12,000 in debt in 2009, started coming to the Suncoast, heard a message series on money, made the decision to get out of debt and start tithing and by 2010 they were debt free! Thank you guys for sharing, it was very powerful! God's truth works!!!
• I thought the baptism teaching video was the best I have ever seen. Thanks to our friends at Granger for producing it. We DO need an anchor for our faith and baptism is one of those anchors. It reminds us we are not who we used to be! We are new!
• We baptized 3 people in 40 degree weather! - Go God!!!

The message video is already up so if you missed it, make sure you check it out. Ignore the crazy sound guy waving his arms like a mad man about 30+ minutes in ;-)

Thank you to everyone that set up, ran tech, played in the band, worked in kids, or greeted someone with a smile! Without you GREAT Sundays like this one don't happen. God doesn't care about our ability, but He does honor our availability. Thanks for being available for Him to use! One of the guys we baptized has been coming for almost 6 years, since the day care days, so keep up the hard work, you never know when God uses it in someone's life!

THIS Sunday we start a brand new series called:

We all have some difficult people in our lives. Some of them are overly needy. Some are critical. Some are just down right manipulative. So how do we deal with "Those" People? That is what we will be talking about for the next 4 Sundays. AND, this is a perfect series to invite someone to! If you know someone who does not go to church then this is a perfect series to introduce them to our church! Let's invite this week like we actually believe this stuff!!!

We also start NEXT Groups this coming week (Feb 19th - 25th), more about that later this week here on my blog or you can get the skinny here:

http://www.canthisbechurch.com/news

As great as this past Sunday was I am expecting even greater things this week. Let's celebrate what God did and what He is doing! I love my church!

The Sunday That Was (February 5)

Yesterday was a GOOD day at the Suncoast.

The day began at 4:15am for me as usual, my time of going over my message for a couple hours went well, felt like I was ready to deliver it effectively with God's help. Set up went smooth even though we were down a man. The band showed up for practice early! Musicians are never early!!! Just kidding... But, no lie I turned around and they were done, ready to go. Great job guys! But, overall the pre-service morning just went smooth.

The room was fuller, glad to see that, the band opened with "All Because of Jesus" and "Our God is love." I did some welcoming and the offering, awesome video during the offering by the way, then we sang an old DCB song, "O Praise Him" and it was onto the message, part 5 of "Balanced."

I really thought this message hit home! I don't know if by the fifth straight week all this finally sunk in, or God just moved, or what? But, I felt like the message "connected." The main idea was discontentment is dangerous! And, the thing that drives your discontentment and mine is awareness. Our awareness drives our discontentment. You were happy with what you had until you became AWARE of something better out there. So, we have to learn how to starve this appetite in our lives. Because, if we don't we will fall into a trap and it has the potential to ruin our relationship with God (1 Timothy 6:10). The bottom line is we have to shift our awareness to the things that matter, the things of God, let our discontentment of where we are at there shift our discontentment with our stuff. If you have some time give the message a listen, or another listen this week. The podcast / podcast is up now, and the message will be up Tuesday afternoon.

The service ended with a few big things coming up:

Baptism and Child Dedication THIS Sunday

If you would like to take your next step of baptism or have your birth - 5th grader dedicated PLEASE arrive 10-minutes early at the Guest Services Kiosk for some last minute info. (I can't wait to dedicate our little Sophie)

Next Groups

NEXT Group sign ups have begun and you can get all the info on the news page of our website. You have to check a group out this semester! This is where the real "church" happens.

Finally, as everyone was tearing down Sunday I walked back by our Coastal Kids area and DANG! Kids everywhere! I love seeing that. Love our kids ministry. Love that we are a young enough church to be having kids!!! Love seeing them in action.

I love my church! -- Now, get baptized on Sunday! :-)

The 300TH!!! Sunday That Was

Service #001

This past Sunday was the 300th service at Church of the Suncoast. Go God!!! He has not let us down in 300 tries. When I stop and think that all this started from literally nothing more than a dream and some faith it is pretty amazing. We literally had no people, no money, and no building and in a matter of months we pulled off service #001. And, since that Sunday in 2006 there has always been a location to meet in, enough people to get it all done, enough money to pay the bills, enough people in the seats to celebrate, and enough life change to keep us going one more Sunday. We have had a lot of ups and downs, had a ton of change to deal with, but our church is a survivor. For 300 services we have never wavered from one thing:

The church is not about us, we are here for this community, for those that don't yet know Jesus!

If you missed our 300th celebration (shame on you) but here were a few of the highlights:

• The band came out with water pistols in honor of one of my favorite sayings, "We are going to charge hell with a water pistol."
• We had a special video where some people shared thoughts about their memories from the past 3 to 300 services:

• We asked people to bring some kind of handout, t-shirt, program, picture... something they kept that was memorable and we had a few seconds to share what it was, and why it was meaningful, a little audience "show and tell".
• I shared my top 10 favorite services:

• My number 1 favorite service was NEXT Sunday! Because our best days are still to come! When our little bit of faithfulness intersects with God's faithfulness, things happen, movements begin, things explode. It will happen guys!
• We then sang "We Unite" as a rallying cry and it was on to "Balanced" part 4.

The message video should be up Tuesday!

PUMPED about what the next 300 will look like. Let's do this!!!

Don't forget we have Baptism and Child Dedications on Feb 12th. To get info or sign up please e-mail us at:

info@canthisbechurch.com

The Sunday That Was (January 22)

Sunday began really early for me! We had a few people out so I got to the school early to help get a head start. I wish you guys could see the school and what it looks like when we get there. It is such a BIG undertaking every week to make church happen. I have said this before, but the set up guys and gals are my heroes! They get there early, in the cold, in the damp, in the humidity of a Florida July morning! AND, I can honestly say I have never heard them complain once! I love all you guys, thank you! We also had a few people from the other team help out this week so thank you for covering the holes!

This Sunday was also an awesome set by the band! DANG, you guys nailed it this week. If you missed it here was the set list:

Happy Day

Revelation Song

Mighty to Save

When you have an ALL VOLUNTEER band, with limited practice time, it is a lot to see what they pull off each Sunday. Thank you guys for using your talents in helping us connect with God through these songs.

AND, let me just say, if you don't get to church ON TIME then you miss a lot! We always try to start our services off strong and this week you missed a hilarious video showing the struggle we have with debt and those "plastic people eaters" known as credit cards.

I shared in the message some of Cheryl and mine's story of how we saw money and debt going into marriage then challenged everyone with 3 verses of Scripture that pretty much cover the Biblical view of debt (Deuteronomy 28:12, Proverbs 22:7, and Proverbs 25:28). My big thought was this:

To be "Balanced," you have to address your debt! You drift in, BUT you claw your way out!

We also gave everyone a couple web resources on the way out:

www.IWasBrokeNowImNot.com

www.MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com

The problem is not finding out HOW to get out of debt. The problem is having the DISCIPLINE to actually do it! BUT, if you do the promise I made everyone was, peace, freedom, a better marriage (yes, a better marriage) and the ability to be generous actually. You can't be generous even if you want to if everyone is trying to get a piece of your income!

Check out the message tomorrow when it goes online.

Don't forget:

On February 12th we will be having our next Baptism and Child Dedication celebration! If you have never taken this next step as a Christ-Follower then don't let anything keep you from obeying and following Jesus in this important step on your faith journey. You can e-mail: info@canthisbechurch.com if you have any questions or to sign up.

We will also be doing child dedications for children up to 5th grade. For more info e-mail Crystal at crystal@canthisbechurch.com

Have a great week guys, more from me on Wednesday here on the blog.

The Sunday That Was (January 15)

Getting back in the groove here. Here is what "hopefully" will be going on this year.

Monday - I will post a recap of the previous Sunday and talk about what is coming up.

Tuesday - The message video from the previous Sunday will be up on the message player at the top right of my blog.

Wednesday / Thursday - I will post some big vision deal or something else I really want you guys to know as your pastor.

So, since it is Monday here are some random thoughts from my view yesterday:

• It was stinkin' cold! I don't know how people up north, meaning Georgia up, do it! When I got there for set up it was 37 outside!
• As usual for Floridian's both native and naturalized when it gets this cold the attendance also drops with the thermometer. SO, I am thankful for all of you that got up, got the family ready, and made the effort. I hope you were blessed.
• We did the hit song from last year, "Billionaire" and I always get a kick out of seeing how people respond. As always the reason we do stuff like this is two-fold. One the next time you are listening to the radio and hear that song, which you will, you will forever associate it with church and what we are talking about in this, "Balanced" series. The second reason is because if you are not someone who goes to church, maybe you are not even a Christian, and you hear something in church that connects "our world" to "your world" it is a win. It breaks down barriers is what I am saying. We will do anything short of sin at the Suncoast to reach people who might not be reached any other way with the good news that God loves them and gave His Son Jesus for them so that if they believe, they receive new life in Christ! Come on!!!
• I saw new faces which is why we do church. We expect to have guests every week. Thank you to the greeters who stood out in the cold to welcome all our guests! You warmed them up before they ever got in the building!
• We had some issues with the video so there will only be audio this week. Sorry!
• The part of the message where I really felt like it hit home what we were talking about was the illustration with my car. I was talking about how our CLEAR OBJECTIVE when it comes to being balanced financially is to HONOR GOD not just with a percentage, but with EVERYTHING we have. All our income, our saving, our spending, all of our financial pie. So, I shared this analogy to understand things better:

"I have a 1969 Buick GS 400. It is a classic American Muscle car if that doesn’t mean anything to you. It has been in my family since the day it was purchased from Ron Norris Buick. It is worth a lot. So, one day you ask me if you can borrow my GS to go cruising to the drive-in theater in Dade City. I say, “Sure, here’s the keys, here’s how to drive it, have fun.” Now, here’s my question, what percentage of my car do you think I expect you to take care of? Am I thinking, well, you know, it will probably come back and be trashed, but they will probably clean the windshield and vacuum one of the floor mats and the rest will be trashed? But, hey you know, they took care of 10 percent of my car! NO! If I loaned you my car I expect you to take care of 100% of it! I don’t want you thinking in terms of what percentage you have to worry about! If you want to honor me you take care of ALL of it!

God says that is how I view your stuff, your money, your income, your investments whatever it is. It is not about “pay me off with a percentage”; I’m all for a percentage of giving because wherever your treasure is your heart is going to follow like we said last week, but this isn’t about that. The driving force in terms of staying balanced is to learn how to honor God with everything!"

Again, there is only audio this week, but if you missed the message please get the podcast from our website and give it a listen before next Sunday.

• We closed out the service with a song called, "In You" and it was a time for all of us to ask God one question, "God, show me how to honor you with everything I have." If you will do that this week and DO WHAT GOD SAYS there is a peace, a liberation, and even an enjoyment of money that doesn't come any other way than to be BALANCED.

One big announcement before I wrap this up:

On February 12th we will be having our next Baptism and Child Dedication celebration! If you have never taken this next step as a Christ-Follower then don't let anything keep you from obeying and following Jesus in this important step on your faith journey. You can e-mail:

info@canthisbechurch.com if you have any questions or to sign up.

We will also be doing child dedications for children up to 5th grade. For more info e-mail Crystal at crystal@canthisbechurch.com

Don't miss this Sunday guys! Who are you inviting? Don't discount the POWER of the personal invite.

The Sunday That Was (November 27)

The Sunday AFTER Thanksgiving, AKA turkey hangover weekend, was upon us yesterday. You guys crack me up, I ask if you are thankful and everyone is so groggy no one responds, ha! We got through it though. Thank you to the awesome volunteers who showed up and made Sunday happen. You guys ROCK!

I went to bed Saturday night about 90% sure Cheryl would make it through the next 24 hours without going into labor. Little Sophie is due on December 11th, but we are thinking it might be a week early, or anytime really! So, I was glad we made it through Sunday since I had no back up plan for this week, thanks Sophie! We will keep you guys posted as we get closer to the big day.

I thought the service yesterday was really good. We opened with a MuteMath song called, "Chaos" appropriately. I liked the third screen touch for it. Glad Rushe has that sitting up there in the ceiling! The band did some of my fav songs too. Love hearing Stephanie sing Revelation Song! You guys rocked! Thanks for volunteering your time and talents even though everything is different week to week. One day we will have our own place with sound we can depend on! Oh, the thought! Finally, I wrapped up the, "Chaos" series talking about one of my fav Bible dudes named Joseph.

I love Joseph's story because there is nothing supernatural going on. No angels busting onto the scene, no burning bushes, no voices from the heavens. I guess I am saying I can relate. God has yet to use any of those things in my life when things are chaotic. The tension we addressed was this:

How do you follow a good God when times are not? We want to believe God is with us and for us but how do we do that in times of chaos? Why should we be faithful to God when it seems He is not being faithful to us? Good questions right? And, I am not going to really get into all that we talked about because you can listen to the message, but the take home was this...

"It’s easy to follow God in the good times. It’s easy to follow when our prayers all seem to be answered. But, in times of extreme chaos when God seems distant it is hard to follow. It is easy to look around and think we are the victim. BUT, do you know what we learn from Joseph’s story. You are not a victim. I am not a victim. We are players in God’s amazing plan for this world. The chaos in your life and around you right now is just a tool for God’s greater good.

So how do you follow God in the chaos? How do you follow a good God when times are not? You do what Joseph did:

You live your life like someone who is confident God is with you.

That’s it. You just follow! You keep on keeping on keeping on, living your life like someone who knew that they knew that they knew God was with them. How do you deal with the chaos of your job, your marriage, your finances, your dating world, your future? You live with the confidence, that even in your circumstances, you know God is with you and will never leave you or forsake you. You know that God has been leveraging, and using, and bringing good out of chaos, out of the ashes throughout human existence and you are no exception. You know that God is with you.

You pray, you remember, you seek first, and you follow. You pray, you remember, you seek, and you follow. And on the other side God will have done more in and through you than you could ever imagine. Your faith will have thrived in the chaos and you will know your Heavenly Father deeper than you did before."

I hope this series helped you! I think it has been one of my favorites. It was the 77th message series in the 5 year history of our church, by the way, in case you were keeping count. Would love to hear what your favorite has been over your run here at the Suncoast!

Two things before I wrap this up:

Christmas @ the Suncoast will be here before you know it! Our service will be at 6pm and we will have a shorter volunteer service after for all the volunteers that served during the 6pm regular service. Let's pack the house guys! This is about Jesus!!! IF THAT IS NOT ENOUGH MOTIVATION THEN WHAT IS? Really?

Finally, our Volunteer Christmas Party is THIS Saturday night, 7pm here at the Warehouse. If you are a volunteer (or the spouse of a volunteer) then please join us as we celebrate... YOU!!! This is the one time we ask middle school and older only because it is a special night and we want you to have a blast!!! I promise this will be the best Christmas party you go to all year!!! Really!!! For more info e-mail Rita at:

rita@canthisbechurch.com

The Sunday That Was (November 20)

Happy Thanksgiving week Suncoast!!!

After church on Sunday I got in my truck and someone had left me a gas gift card! So, I am thankful for the person that put it there!!! (This is another reason why I don't lock my truck... the first being I don't want the guy stealing it to break my window and the second being I hate having to unlock my doors when my hands are full) But, enough about that... Here are some random thoughts and a few of my message notes from yesterday at the Suncoast:

The band sounded awesome yesterday. It was a tough range of songs from rock to more mellow, and a lot of high notes, but you guys sounded great. The closing song after I sat down really ministered to people I think. Thanks for showing up and using your talents to help people take their next steps with God.

Set up went by really fast! Dang! You guys were on your game. Thank you for setting up God's house each week.

I was thankful for the people that actually show up on time every week! You guys give God and His church honor and He will reward you for that by honoring you! Really!!!

As, I was walking around from my "green room" (Basically, a storage closet at the school that I change in) I saw the Coastal Kids team members having a blast with the kids and checking everyone in with a smile. Thank you guys for taking care of what is most important to people so they can take their next steps with God and not worry about their kids!

I then walked down the breezeway and saw the greeters talking and shaking hands. Thank you guys for making such a great first impression for our guests! People will remember your hospitality long after they forget my message.

I grabbed a seat for the opening song with my wife Cheryl and that takes us back to the band... then an amazing video about being thankful even in the chaos of life... and then it was my turn.

Some of my notes:

Whenever you have chaos in your life there will be pain. Pain is a byproduct of chaos because it forces us out of our comfort zones. AND, whenever we have pain in our lives we become very self-focused. But, if we let that back us into a corner where all we can think about is me, myself, and I then we will miss God!

So, Jesus offers this exchange in Matthew 6:

"I tell you, do not worry. Don't worry about your life and what you will eat or drink. And don't worry about your body and what you will wear. Isn't there more to life than eating? Aren't there more important things for the body than clothes? 26 "Look at the birds of the air. They don't plant or gather crops. They don't put away crops in storerooms. But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than they are? 27 "Can you add even one hour to your life by worrying? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the wild flowers grow. They don't work or make clothing. 29 But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers. 30 "If that is how God dresses the wild grass, won't he dress you even better? After all, the grass is here only today. Tomorrow it is thrown into the fire. Your faith is so small! 31 "So don't worry. Don't say, 'What will we eat?' Or, 'What will we drink?' Or, 'What will we wear?' 32 People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them. 33 "But put God's kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all of those things will also be given to you." Matthew 6:25-33

So, this is where we landed:

In times of chaos God tells us to SEEK His priorities, His agenda for the world, His Kingdom AND if we do that, if we make that the top priority of our lives over all the self-centered worry, THEN God promises He will take care of the rest. He will give us, "all these other things".

Ask: What can I do to further God's kingdom in this chaos, not mine?

If you are going through a time of chaos right now don't let yourself get backed into a corner where all you think about is yourself. Put God's agenda in this chaos first and you will see Him work in your life in undeniable ways!

If you missed Sunday please at least listen to my prayer for you at the end of the message. It will be up later on Monday in both podcast and video form on our website, www.CanThisBeChurch.com

Have a great Thanksgiving and DON'T MISS THE FINAL WEEK OF CHAOS this Sunday!

The Sunday That Was (November 6)

We always try to keep our stage fresh and Rita had the idea for this one. It looked really cool once we got the lights on it! I can't wait for the day we can have our own stage and I can turn you guys loose!

We also had some new help for set up which was awesome AND Karl walks in and makes pancakes and sausage for everyone! Holy cow! Set up never smelled so good. So thank you Mike, Kris, Patti and Karl.

We started a new series yesterday called, "CHAOS" and I have been amazed at how timely and relevant this is to so many people's lives. Of course the world is full of chaos these days, but so many people came up to me and commented on how yesterday hit them right in the middle of their own chaos. Go God! I know He will use this series if we let Him. The message will be up later today if you missed it or want to give it a second watch or listen.

The room was fuller too Sunday which was good to see from the stage. I hope you will join me this week in making sure it is even fuller this Sunday. I know a bunch of people in my life that need to hear this series, even just a week of it! So, who do you know that needs to be here? If you e-mail me I will pray for them this week, pray that God opens their hearts for your ask, and gives you the boldness to actually do it!

As we closed out the service I was pumped because you guys were actually excited about worshipping God through the offering! That is cool. If we can make that shift that this isn't about dollars and cents, this is about obedience, about worship, about honor to God then look out! The Bible says God LOVES a cheerful giver and I think He is just looking for a church to bless that He knows will be generous in return!

I also mentioned a couple things I am also excited about:

Each Sunday from now until the end of the year I am asking you to get in the habit of bringing some can / box food items each week and dropping them off in the back of the room. We will be taking them to Christian Social Services in Land O' Lakes and even one can a week they tell me makes a difference! So, let's "wow" them with our generosity and help make sure no one goes hungry this holiday season!

The second thing is our annual Volunteer Christmas Party on December 3rd. If you are one of our amazing volunteers at the Suncoast then don't forget to save the date for this always over-the-top event. (If you don't serve yet, you might want to start now just so you can come!!!)

It was a great Sunday Suncoast. Let's do it again this week for, "CHAOS" part 2. If you want to do some reading ahead of time read 1 Kings 17 - 19. ILMC!!!

The Sunday That Was (October 30)

Yesterday, I got to do something I have never done in 5 years as pastor of the Suncoast... I got to go to church like "everyone" else!!!

Cheryl and I were gone for a long weekend trip up to Georgia to see some fall foliage and we got back in town Saturday night. So, Sunday morning I slept in to about 7:30am or so. Actually had breakfast WITH Cheryl on a Sunday. Got ready and waited for her to finish getting ready... this is why we never fight on Sunday's, we never ride together! It was strange!!! We pulled in the parking lot and were greated by Henry and Christopher. Then greated by Rita and Marge. Then greated by Angel at the door. Got my program, checked out the coffee and donuts, found a seat in time for the countdown clock. "Worshiped" with Cheryl, actually filled out a Communication Card during the Need to Know, my first time. Watched the cool "Lord's Prayer" video which was awesome with the three screens. Then took some notes listening to the final message in the prayer series. When the service was over, I talked with some people, finally got the donut, and then we just left... THAT WAS HARD! Seeing everyone doing tear down and just walking out was the hardest part of the day for me.

SO, thank you staff and thank you volunteers for keeping the church going even when the pastor is just a spectator! I love my church!

DON'T FORGET HALLOWEENIE IS TONIGHT!
It is not too late to do Halloweenie at your house tonight. Take the grill out front and give out some free hot dogs and invite cards for the new series, "CHAOS" that begins this Sunday! E-mail me if you need some invite cards, brian@canthisbechurch.com

Take a look at the new series:

CHAOS from Church of the Suncoast on Vimeo.

The Sunday That Was (October 23)

I never know how to start these weekly Sunday recap posts since I changed up my blog's direction this year. There is, "Yesterday..." or, "This past Sunday at the Suncoast..." I don't know?

On Sunday, October 23rd at Church of the Suncoast :-) we talked about the mystery of unanswered prayer in our, "Prayer" series. You can watch the message here on my blog to the right OR head to the church website and get the podcast. OR!!! Get the church of the Suncoast App for your Driod, my fav!

We started the service with a really honest video about what it feels like when God is silent and we have been desperately seeking Him. I know I could relate to it! There have been many times in my life when God seemed deaf to my request. Have you ever felt like that?

The band did a great job on Sunday I thought. We were missing a few peeps but you guys stepped up. We had one of our high school students, Josh step up and play electric, and he rocked it. Great job guys. Steve led us in a time of prayer after the set and I loved the honesty of his prayer. He said there are things he has been praying about for 20 years and still it doesn't seem like God has answered his request. Thanks for sharing man!

The message had a lot of content and really looking back I should have broken this talk up into two seperate messages, but I just had so much I wanted to share about what I have learned when God says, "No" or "Wait" or just seems to say nothing at all! And, when I say the things I have learned I should really say learnING because I still don't have all the answers to why God doesn't answer some request for healing, or for a marriage, or for our kids. The bottom line, where we landed yesterday, was can you still trust God? Fill in the blank with the thing you have been praying about and still nothing... Got it? Now, can you trust God despite what you feel and see right now? Can you trust that He is still writing your story and the last chapter has not been written yet? Can you trust Him and His plan even when you think yours is better? Can you trust your Heavenly Father BECAUSE maybe, just maybe, that is the point to prayer in the first place. That is what part 3 will be about this Sunday.


After the service a handful of Suncoasters joined Cheryl and I out at the Villiage Lakes plaza in Land O' Lakes off SR54. For a couple years we have been trying to get this plaza to lease to us and every time we meet with them they say, "NO" because we are a church. There were some issues with Wal-Mart and Sweetbay but now both of them are gone, the plaza is sitting empty, I called one more time and they took it before their "big cheese" and they said no once again. BUT, every time I drive by there I can't get it out of my mind. It might be God, it might just be me, BUT either way a group of us went out there and prayed for God to open doors at that plaza or clearly show us what is next for the Suncoast. If it is to stay portable for the next 5-years, fine. If it is a storefront, fine. If it is some other building, great... we just want to make sure we have the faith to ask and trust and not just lean on our own understanding. SO, the next time you drive by the Villiage Lakes Plaza just past 41 on 54 say a quick prayer for God to open doors or show us what is next as we wrap up this year and start looking to 2012, crazy, where has this year gone!

One last thing, THANK YOU to the crowd we had help out at the West Pasco Pregnancy Center on Saturday! Huge blessing to them!

The Sunday That Was (October 16)

Yesterday we opened up our new series called, "Prayer" with what else but Bon Jovi's 80's hit, "Livin' on a Prayer". We even gave the band some 80's rocker hair to jam with... they had just a little fun with it! This was my view from off stage looking at Josh, Meredith and Rayzor. You never know what might happen next at the Suncoast.

Here are some random thoughts from the first talk in this 3-week series:

Prayer is an interesting, confusing, even at times offensive subject. It is also powerful, many people rely on it for a sense of peace, and studies have even shown it has many health benefits. It is at least a topic we are interested in and curious about no matter where you are on the spiritual spectrum.

A lot of people don't pray more because they just don't know how!

We also don't pray more because we get bored or distracted when we pray. The office next to ours at the Warehouse has a guy that cusses like a sailor almost every day when I pray... it is a little distracting!

Many of us don't pray more because we think our request are too small to bother God with.

Others of us don't because we are not sure our prayers make a difference!

The bottom line is prayer is simply communication with God. David asked God in Psalm 5 to consider his SIGHING! David felt like he was so close to God that even a sign could be a prayer. It is a lot different than we think!

IF you let yourself break out of your preconceived ideas of what prayer is you can find a lot more creativity and effectiveness and meaning!

Try: Talking to God with gut level honesty, about everything that matters to you, continually (don’t pray for long periods of time, but never go long periods of time without praying) and finally we must learn how to listen for God's response.

Five years from now, your life should look radically different because God wants to say something to you TODAY that could change the course of your life, the life of your family, maybe the course of generations to come. Will you learn to listen for His response?

This Sunday we will dive into the mystery of unanswered prayer. I hope if you are reading this then you will be there this Sunday. I hope you will pray about someone to bring too!!!

I wanted to let you know two vision pieces of what is going on right now at our church. One is THIS SATURDAY at 9am a bunch of people will be showing up at the West Pasco Pregnancy Center for our NEXT Serves project. We want to make Pasco County a better place! We want to serve our community. Service is a big part of the Suncoast from Sunday mornings to service opportunities like this. This Saturday we will help do some landscaping and building maintenance so wear some old stuff and meet at the center at 9am. Marge is leading the event and her e-mail is margie7444@aol.com Everyone is welcome to help make a difference and here is the address and map:

West Pasco Pregnancy Center

***NOTE: There are no NEXT Groups this week so we can serve on Saturday!

The second vision piece I want to mention is this week our church is giving back thousands of dollars to local ministries that help people in need from Land O' Lakes to Ybor City. We are also setting aside some money to help those in need at our own church! As a church we believe the Bible teaches to live on 90% of what God has blessed us with and give back to Him 10% called the tithe. From day one of the Suncoast we also believed if God asks us as Christ-Followers to follow this command then we as a church, as an organization, need to follow it as well. So we "give back" 10% of everything that comes in each year. To date we have given back over $75,000 in the past 5 years!!! As this money goes out this week pray that God blesses and multiplies it and that it is used to bring even more people to Jesus. Stay tuned for updates.

Don't miss part two of "Prayer" this Sunday guys... it will be good stuff and I will try to have my "A" game back. Felt like I only brought a "B-" this week.

:-)

The Sunday That Was (October 9)

It rained... A LOT!!! Thanks to our unnamed tropic low that spun up over us this weekend we got soaked. The set up people got soaked. The amazing greeters who helped people inside with the umbrellas got soaked. I saw tons of kids walking in soaked. The tear down peeps got soaked. And, yes... I got SOAKED on multiple occasions Sunday. Thank you guys for being a, "Whatever it takes" kind of church. Summer sun OR tropical storm, God's house gets set up and church happens, lives are changed! I love my church.

Saw some of our students sitting up on the front row again, you guys rock! Keep it up! Show us "old" people how it's done. The band rolled out a tough new song called "Magnify" and with not a lot of practice you guys pulled it off. Thanks for giving new things a try. We never grow if we don't! You guys are hard workers, thank you!

We celebrated communion and dropped our F-bombs too... We do communion different ways at the Suncoast. Sometimes the ushers pass out little waffers and cups, and sometimes we have everyone come up front and rip and dip the bread and juice. This past Sunday we ripped and dipped and asked everyone to come forward. Then as they were making their way back to their seats we had a basket where everyone could drop their "F-Bomb." My message ended with me asking everyone to write down the biggest offense they had to forgive someone for right now in their lives. After communion they dropped them in a basket and this week we will burn them as a visual tool for the process of forgiveness many of us are on now because of this series. Powerful stuff! I would love to hear your stories!

I HIGHLY reccomend watching or listening to the past two weeks if you were not at the Suncoast! Look, I am not dumb. I know no one wanted to talk about the topic of forgiveness. No one ever does! I didn't want to, that is why this series sat on the back burner for months... BUT, I am telling you as a church WE NEEDED THIS SERIES! So much freedom and liberation when you can swallow your pride and wrestle with the pain and work the process of forgiveness. So on your own, at your pace, watch or listen. You will be blessed because if, "you got it, then you give it."

This Sunday we start a new series on prayer called... "Prayer." We got creative with the title. Don't miss it if your prayer life could use a boost!

The Sunday That Was (October 2)

It was a struggle... the portable church demons were out in full force yesterday! We had our monitors go out so the band could not hear themselves for the most part, not to mention they all had sinus infections! We had two of our VGA cables that take the signal to the projectors short out or something so we were down one video screen. Half of the video and media files got corrupted somehow when we transferred them off the portable hard drive. So, with less than an hour before church started I made a mad dash for my laptop while the guys finished set up and fought all these other issues. We got everything going at about 10:15am just in time to open the doors so we didn't get to rehearse the service before going "live" and had a few hiccups. Like I said the portable church, wear and tear, nothing is the same week to week demons were out doing all they could to keep us from experiencing this new series on forgiveness.

BUT, God won! He pulled it all together and the service was really powerful I thought! It might not have been perfect, but it was powerful. I got to pray for our band before they went out on stage, something I get to do every once in a while when I walk in on them backstage, but I prayed the only thing I knew to pray... "God if you show up and your presence fills this place then all this stuff doesn't matter."

I was also jacked up when I came out because a bunch of our middle and high school students were filling up the front row! Awesome to see you guys sitting together and being the church! Loved it!!! Keep it up, show us adults how it is done!

We started a new series called "F-Bomb" that I have been wanting to bring to you guys for a long time. I felt over a year ago that forgiveness was going to be something our church needed to wrestle with in 2011 and the only thing I am bummed about was the number of people who missed out one of the most powerful talks I have ever been able to preach. I didn't feel like I brought my "A-game" but the content and what God did made up for it! Guys I hope you will do everything within your power to help pack the house this Sunday! If there has ever been a time our church and our community needed to hear something it is this series! I actually wrote a handwritten letter to some friends inviting them to this series, I have never invited someone like that, but I just felt I needed to put into words why I was so passionate about this. So no excuses, be there this week and bring some friends.

Normally, I would leave you with some thoughts from the message, but I want you to watch or listen to the message if you missed it. It is worth the time investment, again not because of anything I said, but because forgiveness is that powerful and most of us don't really know why, or have been misinformed about it. So watch or listen and let me know what you think. I would love to hear your stories about how God is using this series. In fact you can share them here:

stories@canthisbechurch.com

A couple "announcements" to leave you with that I am also excited about from Sunday:

For the past 4 years we have done something as a church that has become a favorite for Cheryl and I each year. Halloweenie is where we take our grills from around back and put them in the drive way. We put signs (that the church provides) out the week before, and we grill hot dogs for all the people out trick or treating. We give out from 100 - 125 plus each year and then we give them an invite card for the new series we usually start that Sunday. The past couple of years we have had our NEXT Group help us and it is always so much fun! The signs will be available the next few weeks at church and from there it is up to you how big you want to make it!

On Saturday, October 22nd at 9am we are also meeting at the West Pasco Pregnancy Center to help them with some basic maintenance and clean up. Our NEXT Groups will be helping and EVERYONE is invited to help us make a difference in Pasco County. E-mail Marge to let us know who is coming:

Margie7444@aol.com

I love my church!

The Sunday That Was (September 25)

Yesterday at the Suncoast was the chance for a lot of people to step up, which was really cool to see. We had two staff members and a couple key volunteers out of town so some new faces got to step up and lead the Suncoast! We had a new vocalist, a new person leading worship, a new tech person running video, new people doing set up and tear down... good stuff.

I can remember days 4 or 5 years ago when we were just getting this church started that this would have been a Sunday I would have dreaded because we would have had some huge holes that would NOT have been filled OR I would have had to fill them and totally killed myself before I even preached a word!

I am so thankful for our staff, for our volunteers, and for the new people who stepped up and made it happen this week. Virtual HIGH FIVE!

Sunday we also wrapped up a quick little series that packed so much punch called "Catalyst." We continued talking about the things God uses to grow our faith and how we can either intentionally involve ourselves in these things, and put ourselves in environments where this happens, OR at least be aware of how these things work in our lives when we experience them so we can work with God and not against Him. Here are a few of my notes... catch the message here on my blog later today:

The reason Jesus was so revolutionary was because He invited us to KNOW God through faith. Not just know about God (religion), but actually KNOW and relate to God as a Father.

The first two ways God uses over and over to grow that relationship from last week were Practical Teaching and Providential Relationships.

Private Disciplines is the third way He does this. Things like prayer, reflection, reading your Bible, giving, even fasting.

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus tells us there is a reward for doing these private things on our own.

Pivotal Circumstances is the next thing God uses to grow our faith and usually it is the negative ones!

The difference between your faith growing and your faith being devastated in a crisis is who you surround yourself with! THIS is why we want you in a NEXT Group this week!

Personal Ministry is the final thing people talk about in their faith journey as something God used as a catalyst for bigger faith. There is something about being put in a stretching situation that forces you to depend on God and your faith grows. This is why we want you to serve!

At the end of the day the thing I want Church of the Suncoast to be known for is our big faith. This isn't about building a church it is about building people. And when you have a big church, filled with people of big faith, you can make a big difference! How much fun would that be???

I said this on Sunday but let's "Go Fish" this week! We are starting a new series on forgiveness THIS Sunday called "F-Bomb" and I know God wants to do some incredible things in our lives over the next couple of weeks through this series. We will be talking about the things you never knew about forgiveness and why it matters so much. I wrote in my journal this morning that God would make ME a bold "fisher" this week. I want my unchurched friends and neighbors to hear this series! I want them to be changed by the power of Jesus forgiveness!

Cheryl shared this with me on Sunday afternoon as we were chillin' on the couch. If someone gave you free luxury box tickets to the Buc's Monday Night Football game next week how jacked up would you be? You would walk around with a spring in your step, you would be so excited, you would anticipate the day! Well, news flash... we have been given forgiveness in Jesus and the gift of eternal life and NOW we get to share that with other people and we can't even muster a little enthusiasm... ouch!

I want my neighbors to hear this series and I want yours to hear it, but they won't unless we invite them. Let's get a little jacked up about what we get to do this week Suncoast! Let's tweet it up, post it up, talk it up, share it up, txt it up! Feel free to use our website, twitter feed, any of my stuff to help get the conversation going.

The Sunday That Was (September 18)

As a church we shined this past Sunday! Literally! It was not just the song we walked out singing. If you miss Sunday here is what I mean. We started a new message series for 2-weeks called Catalyst and as we looked at the graphic and message intro, and thought about the idea for the series... "Why not buy a bunch of glow sticks and glow gear for the band and not just "sing" on Sunday but let our worship and gratitude for Jesus be visible?" So we did!

We bought a ton of glow sticks and all kinds of glow gear, the service opened with a cool video explaining what was going on, then the band came out with the lights off and we sang, "It's All Because of Jesus" and we showed our gratitude to Jesus by waving and raising our glowing hands. I loved it!

We are always looking for ways to engage everyone during our songs we sing to God each Sunday, and ways to make a service memorable. This was a simple way to do both. Here is a snapshot I took while they guys were setting up and one of the glow sticks in action. Thank you Rita for making it happen!!!

Like I said we also started a new series called Catalyst about the things God uses to grow our faith. Life is too messy for us to believe that there's a simple formula for faith. So, then the question is how does our faith grow? How do we get to the point of completely trusting God with every area of our lives?

As people share their stories you hear some common things over and over again. In fact you hear about five things over and over again. That is what we are looking at and here are my notes from the first two:

There are only two times Jesus was ever "amazed" in the Bible. Both times had to do with faith. One was some one's big faith, one was a group of people's lack of faith.

By faith we mean: What would someone who was you do if they were absolutely confident God was with them?

As a church we realize we can't make your faith grow. All we can do is create relevant environments in which GOD can work. Specifically, around five faith catalysts God uses over and over again.

#1 Practical Teaching - Having the Bible taught so that you know what you need to know and what you need to do. The "doing" is what makes the difference to your faith though. Unapplied truth is like unapplied paint! The value is in the application. (See James 1:22-24)

#2 Providential Relationships - God always uses other people to build our faith. And, while we can't create a "providential relationship" for you as a church we can create environments that are conducive for this to happen. This is why we want EVERYONE in a NEXT Group.

I closed the message by saying this... About 5 out of 6 painful situations I get a front row seat for as a pastor are all self-inflicted wounds. People didn't apply the truth of the practical teaching and they didn't have anyone around them to point them back to Jesus. Just because you punch yourself in the head doesn't make you Job! When you jump into a NEXT Group THIS WEEK you will take two big steps in God doing something big in your faith and heart.

To find out more about NEXT Groups check out these two links:
About Groups
This Week's Groups

We seriously want YOU in a group this week. AND, I want you back on Sunday for the final part of Catalyst! Bring someone with you and let's pack the house. Love you guys!

The Sunday That Was (September 11)

Wow, it has been a busy few days for Cheryl and I. We left last Wednesday morning for a church leadership conference in South Carolina and it was, dare I say, life changing! Cheryl did a great post on her blog here:

CherylMoon.com

I will be sharing some personal things that happened in my life later this week, but first here are my Monday morning random thoughts from the weekend that was at Church of the Suncoast:

We started the service with a 9/11 countdown and video that was pretty emotional I think. I didn't want to really make a point so the opening time was more about letting yourself remember those emotions from 10-years ago. The only "point" I made when I came out was what Paul told the Corinthians, faith, hope and love. And, the greatest of these is love. That should be our response. We prayed for those still hurting and for our nation to seek Jesus like they did in the days after 9/11 ten years ago.

The band helped us get transitioned and then I came out to wrap up our "Life at the Redline" series. We talked about margin in our morals and the notes looked like this:

Will we let the culture push us to its moral redline, or will we step back from the line and create some moral margin?

1 Corinthians 6:18 - "Run from sexual sin! All other sins people commit are outside their bodies, but those who sin sexually sin against their own bodies."

There is a personal significance with sexual sin that is different than anything else.

For students, you need to pre-decide how far you are going to go sexually. You need some artificial boundaries to cover you in a moment of weakness. For singles, the more things you have experienced, the further from the redline you need to place your self-imposed limits. For married couples, 1) Don't have lengthy online conversations. 2) Don't eat alone with the opposite sex. 3) Don't ride alone with someone of the opposite sex. 4) Don't be alone in your office with the opposite sex. 5) Talk about questionable relationships. 6) Porn and strip clubs are not neutral entertainment. 7) Don't let the opposite sex confide in you.

The point being we need to take extreme measures to create some moral margin for those times of weakness in our lives because no one PLANS on blowing up their life!

If you missed any of the series check out the message videos on the player at the upper right of my blog. It is worth your time!!!

On the announcement front we talked about two things:

Volunteer Community for all volunteers THIS Saturday night, 7pm at the Warehouse. We will feed you some Carrabbas and celebrate the volunteer of the quarter! Don't miss it, bring the family. Help us plan with a RSVP to rita@canthisbechurch.com

NEXT Groups start THIS week! Our small groups run for the next 10-weeks and you can get all the info on the news page of our website:

http://www.canthisbechurch.com/news

And... that is the Sunday that was. Can't wait to share some of the personal stuff from the conference later this week, check back for that.

Love you guys and I love my church!!!

The Sunday That Was (September 4)

Happy Labor Day... yes some of us have to work on Labor Day. And, you thought I only worked one day a week! Here are some random thoughts from the Sunday that was:

• The band TOTALLY slayed AC/DC's "Money Talks" dang!


• I never knew just how funny Dave Ramsey was.


• The 5 Steps to Create Financial Margin were: 1) Have a written game plan... AKA a budget 2) Act your wage... live on less than you make 3) Save money 4) Get out of debt 5) Give... the tithe is just the starting point!


• Even though we had a TON of people out for the holiday weekend we still had a good crowd and we have been up 15% since the fall launch over this time one year a go! Go God!!!


• Thank you to the volunteers who helped set it up and tear it down, even without all the help you got it done quick!


• Still seeing lots of new people, win! Keep inviting guys!

This week Cheryl and I are heading to a church leadership conference in South Carolina. Be praying for us if you think of it. Pray God equips and encourages us. Check my twitter feed for some updates. We will be back on Saturday and ready to go for Life at the Redline Part 4!

Keep "fishing" Suncoast! With this being 9.11 people may be looking to reconnect with a church on this day as we all remember and reflect on the last 10 years. We have a few things planned to start the service so BE ON TIME and bring some people. Dare I say it... it will be EPIC!

The Sunday That Was (August 28)

Wow! Go God! Sunday was the second week in a row where some BIG things happened at the Suncoast. We were in the second part of this new series called "Life at the Redline" and while we might be talking about slowing down, as a church, I think we are speeding up. We have seen our attendance bounce back from the summer and some huge wins have been going on all over in individuals lives. I have heard so many stories from the past couple of weeks. Our faith and God's faithfulness seem to be intersecting during this season and I am praying for more and can't wait for the rest of the ride this fall.

On Sunday we baptized 3 people and dedicated 3 awesome kids. We also had 3 people accept Christ and we continue to have lots of guests. Keep serving to create those environments for God to work Suncoast! Keep inviting because YOU NEVER KNOW when those invites will pay off. I love my church!

One story that I just have to share... Our band was praying before they went out and as they prayed for that time, and the rest of the service, someone said, "And God help us to just have a kick-ass service!" As your pastor Suncoast I love that for several reasons. It was honest! It wasn't fake! It was passionate! It was bold. I would much rather have someone step up and pray that kind of prayer in front of their friends and fellow band members that some canned, flowery, nice little prayer that wasn't from the heart. I'm glad we have created a church where people can be the same when they pray as they are when they are hanging out during the week.

If you missed the message Sunday it will be up Monday afternoon and you have to watch it! We played a little trick on everyone at the beginning of it. Good times. Here are a few notes, talking about margin in our schedules:

1. Your time is limited
2. All your time will be spent doing something
3. Someone will choose how you spend your time

"The urgent things will always push aside the important things"

So how do we do something about it?

1. Recognize your days are numbered
2. Prioritize accordingly "Is this the wise thing to do?"
3. Make time alone with God number one
4. Schedule intentional times of rest

This Sunday we will hit week 3 of "Life at the Redline" and we will be talking about creating financial margin. I am telling you if you really "get" what we are talking about this coming Sunday it will change your life. Not hype! Financial issues are ultimately not about dollars and cents. It is about the man or the woman in the mirror. Change that person and your money will take care of itself. Don't miss it. I know it is Labor Day weekend, but DON'T MISS THIS SUNDAY!