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!

This Sunday I am asking everyone to do one of two things.

The first thing is, if you have never been baptized as an adult, meaning you were old enough to know what you were doing and meant it, if you have never been baptized then bring a towel and a change of clothes and tell everyone you have DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS! I know it might seem a little scary, and what will people think, and I don't know, and what about my hair, and I am not sure I am ready and... Look, YOU WILL NEVER BE "READY". If you have accepted / trusted / believed in Jesus to be your Savior in your heart then you are as ready as you will ever be! You might still have some questions, you might still have some doubts, you might not understand it all. Fine. In the Bible, someone made a decision to follow Jesus and they were baptized that day!!! No waiting. Have you decided to trust in Jesus, then you need to follow in obedience this Sunday. This Sunday is YOUR TIME. Don't let fear keep you from obeying Jesus. The step of faith will be rewarded and you will experience what it is like to go public with your faith. No turning back! THIS IS YOUR SUNDAY! I believe that will all my heart and I have been praying for you!

If you are a parent of a birth - 5th grader then I would also challenge you to dedicate your child THIS SUNDAY! This is a simple act with profound implications. You are publicly telling everyone that you are wanting to raise this child in a Jesus-centered environment so that one day they will make the decision to follow Jesus as well. You are publicly saying you need God's help and the church gets to commit to YOU in helping with that process. Read Deuteronomy 6:6-9 That is your goal and commitment as a godly parent. That is what this Sunday's dedication is all about, creating that kind of environment.

The second thing I am asking you to do is pray for this Sunday. If you have already been baptized then pray for those that will be taking that step this Sunday. Pray for courage and boldness. Pray God's blessings over them as they obey and follow Jesus. Pray this Sunday is even more epic than last Sunday!

If you are getting baptized, during the final song at the end of the service on Sunday, I will ask you to slip back to the restrooms and change. If you are dedicating your kids go and get them from the Coastal Kids area during that time too. THEN, we will all meet at the Guest Services Kiosk in the back for some final instructions and prayer before we head out to the baptismal kiddie pool.

IT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!
Praying for you.

The Sunday That Was (Fall Launch)

Epic! I told you it would be :-) Here are some pics first from the Fall Launch this past Sunday @ the Suncoast, and the start to our new series Life at the Redline...

It was an awesome day at the Suncoast and a great way to kick off the fall around here. The day started out with a lot of hard and really hot set up work. I have said this before, but the set up guys and gals are my church hero's. By 9:30am when things were getting close to being done I think we all were soaked, gross! The local Corvette Club showed up a little before 10am and we pretty much lost all the men from that point on :-) Thanks to those guys for bringing over a dozen cars! If this means anything to you we had several Z06's and Grand Sports, way cool.

As people started to arrive there was a huge "Wow" factor with the Vettes out front, the R/C car track for the kids and the new stage design. The countdown clock ended and the band rolled out some old school Alabama "I'm in a Hurry". We had two more songs that got everyone focused on uniting around Jesus, what this is all about, and we rolled a hilarious video showing people freaking out with stress. Then, I got up and preached my guts out (more sweat) on the insanity of our "Life at the Redline." Here are a couple main thoughts:

We are living at an unsustainable pace!

We don't have any margin in the major areas of our life.

Margin: the amount available beyond what is necessary.

The best things in life happen in the margins!

If Satan cannot make us really bad, he will be happy to make us really, really busy.

When margin decreases, stress INCREASES.

When margin decreases, relational intimacy decreases!

AND, then I gave everyone your homework... for 5-minutes a day, each day this week, unplug 100% from EVERYTHING and just be, just sit, don't think or produce anything, be a human-being not a human-doing. Why? Because we don't know how to do this verse:

"Be STILL and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

We ended the service with a prayer time and two people accepted Christ, go God! That is what our church is all about. That is why we try to be creative, that is why we sweat the details (literally). That is why we have fall launches!

I saw huge wins all over the place Sunday. We had a great crowd (highest since Easter... and our highest non-holiday service since last May), we had tons of guests, a TON of kids... OMG! During the prayer most of you said you would try the homework, most committed to come back for the rest of the series, and I can't wait to see what happens this Sunday with baptism's and child dedication. New people were exposed to Jesus, you guys "went fishing" and our volunteers did a great job creating a relevant environment for God to work, and He did! Win!

So, take a minute today (not one of your 5 from the homework) and thank God for what He did. Take a few more minutes and keep inviting people for THIS Sunday, and I hope you will take a next step and get baptized THIS Sunday the 28th! To get more info let us know: info@canthisbechurch.com

Be BOLD

It is Wednesday... Sunday is coming! Our big fall launch is this week. We have talked about "Go Fish" for the past 6-weeks... AND, I am praying you are BOLD these next few days. I am praying you are bold in your invites, bold in your conversations, bold in your asking, bold with your friends and family, bold with your neighbors, bold with your co-workers, bold with the girl at Starbucks, bold with the guy that cuts your hair, bold with your baby-sitter... Bold enough to say, "You have to come and see. Just come and see. This Sunday come with me to church and see what I am talking about."

Be BOLD guys! Sunday is coming.

On Tuesday I walked into our landlord's office here at the Warehouse to drop off the rent check and I just laid it out there. "What are you guys doing on Sunday... Come to church! We are talking about how we don't have any time and money and sanity these days. Not that you guys deal with any of that as small business owners... Here is a card. Come to church this week!"

Last week I was e-mailing with the printer who does all our printing for the church. We have talked about church before and I know she is not a Christ-Follower. Went bold on her! Asked her if she can come this week. And, she said she could. Praying she does.

Also, praying for the people you are going bold on! Sunday is coming!!!

The Sunday That Was (August 14)

On Sunday we wrapped up our summer "Go Fish" series. If you missed the message you can watch it on the upper right video player here on my blog. We also gave away the deep sea fishing trip you have been entering to win during this series and CONGRATS to Angel on the "big catch". You can also see him win on the message video, great reaction!!! Enjoy it bro! Angel is one of our loyal set up guys and he and his wife Stephanie are stepping up to be our middle and high school directors (more on this later this week).

A few highlights from Sunday:

• The story in 2 Kings 7:3-16 is not one you heard in Sunday school but it put a period on our series because the 4 guys HAD TO GO BACK and tell the others about the GOOD NEWS.


• With great discovery comes great responsibility!


• BE CAREFUL: The longer you are a Christian the easier it is to allow our time and lives to be so absorbed with what God is doing in and for us that we forget to go back to those we left behind.


• We have a tension... will we go back to some of the people and places we used to know?

I also shared 10 questions if we really buy into anything we have talked about over the past 6-weeks, if we really thought we had to fish:

1. Who would you make time for to invite to lunch?



2. Who would you buy your next random gift for?



3. Would you do anything different financially?



4. Who would you have over for dinner?



5. Who do you need to invite to church THIS WEEK?



6. Would you change where you workout / shop / get your hair cut?



7. Would you change where your kids play sports?



8. Would you change your golfing / shopping partner?



9. How would you pray different?



10. Who would you adaciously pray for until they accept Jesus?

I hope this series has challenged you to rethink your faith and even how you live out your life with Christ. ONE OF THE BEST THINGS WE COULD DO now is get out there this week and make sure people come on Sunday because of us! We have a great fall launch planned and a new series called "Life at the Redline." It will be the perfect environment for someone to just "Come and see" like we talked about. I know you are busy and have all kinds of things to do this week. But, lets not miss this opportunity to "Go Fish" and introduce people to the God in this song...

This was our communion song from Sunday: