Doing Life Together

Hey Folks! Hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend!

A quick reminder:

Men’s Fraternity begins tomorrow. There are several opportunities for each campus:

Hendersonville Campus – Wednesdays at 5:45 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in the Worship Center
Gallatin Campus – Wednesdays at 5:45 a.m. in the Worship Center
White House Campus – Wednesdays at 6:45 p.m. at the campus office located at 2759 Highway 31 Suite 3. For more info on Men’s Fraternity click here.

Also, iMom begins tomorrow at the Hendersonville Campus. You may choose morning (9:30-11:30 a.m.) or evening (6:15-7:45). For more info on iMom click here.

Here’s a post from my blog last week in case you haven’t seen it. I don’t do this very often, but I hope it will encourage you!

“Five Years From Now”

Can you imagine what you’ll be doing in five years? It’s probably a waste of time to speculate too much about that. The reality is that the future is in God’s hands. And even though we may not like to consider it, some of us will be dead in five years. I know that really blessed your heart!

However, we can make decisions today that will have an impact five years from now. Decisions that can affect our family, health, finances and spiritual life either for good or bad.

The same is true for a church. The decisions we are making now at LH will have a tremendous impact five years from now! Think about it…

How many orphans will be rescued in the next five years through the orphanages we are building? How many children & students will be impacted through our Next Generation ministries in the next five years? How many will be set free from hurts, habits and hang-ups through Celebrate Recovery? How many will experience authentic community through small groups? How many will come to know Christ here in the U.S. and around the world in the next five years as a result of our willingness to be an Acts 1:8 church?

There’s an old saying, “If it’s not going to matter five years from now, don’t worry about it.” Well, what we’re doing as a church is going to matter!!

Your investment of time, talent and treasure at LHBC is making a difference both now and in the future. If you’re not “all in” then let’s get going. Five years from now it’s going to matter big time!

I love you guys! Stay Fired up!

Can you imagine what you’ll be doing in five years? It’s probably a waste of time to speculate too much about that. The reality is that the future is in God’s hands. And even though we may not like to consider it, some of us will be dead in five years. I know that really blessed your heart!

However, we can make decisions today that will have an impact five years from now. Decisions that can affect our family, health, finances and spiritual life either for good or bad.

The same is true for a church. The decisions we are making now at LH will have a tremendous impact five years from now! Think about it…

How many orphans will be rescued in the next five years through the orphanages we are building? How many children & students will be impacted through our Next Generation ministries in the next five years? How many will be set free from hurts, habits and hang-ups through Celebrate Recovery? How many will experience authentic community through small groups? How many will come to know Christ here in the U.S. and around the world in the next five years as a result of our willingness to be an Acts 1:8 church?

There’s an old saying, “If it’s not going to matter five years from now, don’t worry about it.” Well, what we’re doing as a church is going to matter!!

Your investment of time, talent and treasure at LHBC is making a difference both now and in the future. If you’re not “all in” then let’s get going. Five years from now it’s going to matter big time!

Hey everybody! In case you didn’t realize it, college football starts this week!! Whoo! Hoo!

Here’s a quick update:

Staff Retreat

We just returned from a staff retreat with our ministry team. I have never been as excited about our team as I am right now. God has blessed us with some very gifted folks! They are the most spiritually focused and passionate group I’ve ever served with. Please keep our team in prayer and give them tons of love and support!

Record Attendance

We set a record this month in attendance. We had three consecutive Sundays of 6,000 or more (first time in LH history) and barely missed 6,000 on the fourth Sunday (5,936 to be exact). Those numbers represent people and people matter to God. Surveys show that amazingly most unchurched people will come to church if invited, but most active church members rarely invite anyone to come. Who can you invite to attend with you this weekend?

Generous Living

Thank you for your generosity in giving toward life change this year. We have done very well in our general budget giving, but please remember we are funding the budget with 50 weeks of offerings instead of 52 due to the flood and snow. If you could give an extra offering, or make up any you have missed it would go a long way in helping us meet budget. You can always bring your offering or you can give online. Click here to find out more about online giving.

Crazy Love

We are still in the middle of Crazy Love offering #4. Even though we’re not as far along toward our goal as in previous offerings, we have had over $434,000 given and for that we are so grateful. Since we are still short of our goal of $650,000, the offering will stay open for 2 more weeks so there is still time for you to give if you haven’t already. Would you please consider giving? You can also give to Crazy Love online here.

Real Life University

This Wednesday, September 8th, on the Hendersonville Campus Real Life University starts back up. This is a great opportunity for you to go deeper in your walk with the Lord. Check here for a list of classes.

Men’s Fraternity

Don’t miss Men’s Fraternity this year. It also starts back September 8th. We have a morning and evening option available. Check here for more info.

A Personal Note

Many of you have been praying for my mother this past year. She is doing much better! In fact, she was able to travel to see us a couple of weeks ago and even attended church. She was still troubled by my preaching attire, but other than that she had a good time. Thanks again for your prayers for her and her recovery.

Alright, I better shut ‘er down! Stay fired up!

I love you folks!

In Christ,

We broke ground last night on our new Hendersonville Campus Student Building. To see a floor plan of this building click here. A building doesn’t change lives, but it’s certainly a tool that we can use to that end. Our students have been at Beech High School going on 8 years now. We are grateful for Beech’s willingness to let us use their facility, and for the flexibility of our students and student workers. In fact, our student ministry has been so incredible in their attitude about being off campus!

However, we are past due on our students having a place to call home. It’s time to get them back on campus and have a facility that will meet the demands of a growing student ministry.

I can’t wait to see all God does through our student ministry in this facility in the days ahead. Thank you Long Hollow for your love for students and the vision for this new facility!!

Don’t forget, part of your Crazy Love gifts are making this building possible. Please be as generous as you can in your contributions to Crazy Love.

Here we go! Great days are ahead!