Doing Life Together

Dear church family,

I want to highlight two things for you today:

Don’t Miss Our Ignite Ministry Event!
Throughout scripture God’s people have celebrated His activity and used these celebrations to inspire them for the future. The musical group Leeland and Pastor Dony St. Germain are going to help us do that this Sunday night at 6pm in the Worship Center. This event is designed to help us celebrate what God has done this past year and also think about how God wants to use us this coming year. We’ll start with a quick meal and jump right in. If you love Long Hollow this event is for you! I hope you’ll make plans to attend. There is no charge, but sign up here so we can be prepared. Child care is provided for pre-schoolers. For children K-5 we will have lhkidz IGNITE, a night of fun activities and awesome worship.

#ILMC Offering
With the first Sunday of the new year being a holiday, we started off in the hole financially. Along with some final payments for the new building that have come in, we have some immediate financial needs. To address these we are taking a special #ILMC (I Love My Church) offering between now and Valentines Day to raise $500,000, above and beyond our regular giving. We are asking every household to give an additional $214.00 by 2/14. This offering will help us finish up the new building, catch up on the offering, and start up the new Springfield campus. We’re going to finish up, catch up and start up – C’MON!! Not everyone can give $214.00, and many can give more than $214.00 – but if we all do our part we can easily meet this goal. Like me, I’m sure you love Long Hollow and are thankful for the way God blesses you and your family through the ministries of the church. This is a great chance to show your love for LH in a tangible way. Please prayerfully consider your gift.

That’s it for today!

I love you folks and love being your pastor!

In Christ,

P.S.  Stay fired up!

Thinking about what you don’t have all the time will destroy your appreciation for what you do have. From house to spouse – learn to focus on the positive side of things.

Here’s a picture of my daughter Rachel and her fiancé Stephen on the night of their engagement.

It is a weird feeling to think about your little girl getting married.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy for her.  I really like her fiancé.  He’s a great guy who loves the Lord.  My wife and I have prayed for Rachel to find God’s man for her from the day she was born.  But, still it’s kind of strange for me right now.  I have to accept the fact that she will take a new name and another man will take my place.  I know, that’s the way it’s supposed to work. But I still have to get my mind around it.

Some things I’m learning about being the father of the bride:

Weddings are expensive…

My input is limited…

My wife is loving all the wedding planning stuff…

I know nothing about planning a wedding though I’ve officiated a ton of them…

I’m identifying with Steve Martin’s character in “The Father of the Bride” more and more…

I’m happy!  I really am! I knew this day would eventually come.

But wow… my little girl is getting married.

Jen and I usually spend New Year’s Eve with a bunch of friends. It’s always fun, even though as I get older it’s harder for me to stay awake until 12 – and then harder to fall asleep once it’s over. And strangely, I still wake up early .  Must be a part of the aging process I guess…

Anyway, usually I’ll ask what New Year’s resolutions folks are making. Most people say none. That may be because we haven’t kept the ones we have made in past years.

The new year is a good time for evaluation and course correction. New Year’s resolutions help us with this.

If you made a few, here are 6 tips on keeping those New Year’s resolutions:

1. Be realistic. Many times our resolutions are un-achievable.

2. Win early and often. Build success into your plan. This will give
you confidence and momentum.

3. Don’t quit because you fail – start over and keep at it.

4. Enlist some folks to hold you accountable.

5. Evaluate your progress throughout the year and make
adjustments where necessary.

6. Celebrate your progress!

Hello everybody! Let me update you on a few things:

This Week’s Christmas Family Devotion
As we continue the 21 day Christmas Challenge click here for this weeks Christmas themed family devotion. You can also find more weekly devotions here and even advent daily devotions by clicking here. Pick one that fits your family and have a family devotion one day each week for the next two weeks. To find out more about the 21 day Christmas Challenge click here. It’s not too late to start!

Long Hollow Christmas
Long Hollow Christmas here on the Hendersonville campus was great!! I hope you were able to make it to one of our services. I also wanted to remind you that our Gallatin and White House campuses are having their own Long Hollow Christmas this Sunday, December 18th. Click here for more details. Remember, Long Hollow Christmas occurs during our normal worship times. It’s a great chance to invite someone to come along!

Carols, Communion, and Candlelight Christmas Eve Service
Christmas Eve is one of those times when lost/unchurched folks are open to attending church. Invite someone to come with you this year. Also, we need tons of volunteers to serve on Christmas Eve – especially in our pre-school area. Click here for “serve” opportunities.

Remember – we will not be having services on Sunday, December 25th. We are encouraging everyone to have a family worship service in their homes on Christmas Day. We will provide resources and a short (no – for real) video message by me.

New Schedule In January For The Hendersonville Campus
We are in need of another schedule change at the Hendersonville campus. I know it’s not been long since the last one, but the services have not evened out like we had hoped. We are maxed out at the 10am service in seats and parking. Additionally, whenever we open a new building our attendance increases dramatically. With the opening of the new student building on January 15th there is a need to spread out our attendance over 4 morning services. So, we are returning to a similar schedule to last year. Here’s the new Sunday schedule which begins January 15th:

• 8am – Chapel worship
• 9am
• 10:30am (All students are in groups during this hour)
• 11:45am
• 5pm – Live worship with video sermon in the new student building

Budget Vote
By now you should have received your 2012 Ignite Ministry Plan. If not, copies will be available this weekend for you to review or you can view it online here. If you have any questions about this year’s ministry plan, email our Executive Pastor, Lance Taylor, at lance.taylor@longhollow.com. The Church will vote on the proposed 2012 Ignite Ministry Plan this Sunday, December 18 on each campus in every service.

Finishing Strong!
As 2011 comes to a close, I wanted to thank you again for your generosity. In many ways it has been one of the most amazing years we’ve ever experienced financially! God has been so faithful to see us through as we finished the 5th and final Crazy Love offering but also funded a full budget. We have an opportunity to finish the year strong and position ourselves to go for it right out of the gate in the New Year!

We have two more opportunities for you to give in our services. This weekend (18th) and then on Christmas Eve. We will not be meeting on Christmas Day, so think of Saturday (Christmas Eve) as Sunday and bring your normal offering to a Christmas Eve service. Of course, you can also give online here or drop your offering by the church office.

It’s real tempting to cut back on your giving during the holidays, but I encourage you to remain faithful in your stewardship so that we can finish strong!

I also want to appeal to you to invest your year-end giving in the ministries of Long Hollow. When you make your year-end gift to Long Hollow, you’re giving to the advancement of the Kingdom, to life-change, and to positively impacting the next generation both here and around the world! For information on how to give click here.

Please note that the church offices will be closed 12/23/2011 through 1/2/2012. Make sure your gifts are postmarked or sent online by midnight on 12/31/2011 to claim your full tax advantage in 2011. If you have a unique giving situation, email our Executive Pastor, Lance Taylor at lance.taylor@longhollow.com.

That’s it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I love you folks!

In Christ,

P.S. Are you sticking with the 21 Day Christmas Challenge? To find out more, click here.