Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Prayer Request

I have a ton on the plate right now. I have one prayer request. That God would raise up leaders to take the lead in different areas of the church to take and run with it. I have figured out what I can run with and now I am praying for leaders who will run with the rest.

Monday, September 29, 2008

The next two weeks

-I need about an extra 10 hours to get finished all of the stuff I need to do this week.

- I figured it out I need to work smarter this week rather than harder so there might be some things that aren't as important that won't get done.

- This week is huge in the life of our church. This week marks the one year anniversary. This is huge because a large percentage of new church starts fail within the first year. So this is the first milestone at StoneBridge. This week's message should be challenging for us all to move ahead rather than to put it in cruise.

- Next week is slam packed. We start a new series " Breaking the Bank". We have some cool stuff taking place during that series. You'll have to be there to find out about it.

- Isaac, Melissa and I will be in Charlotte on Wednesday and Thursday of next week for a banquet hosted by Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick. It is a fund raiser for the National Marrow Foundation and they have asked Isaac to take part in it. Isaac will be wearing a button up shirt and brown shoes for the first time.(He'll wear pants too.) I have to wear a suit. That is ok though because there is a rumor that I will be wearing a suit on October 12th. I'm not confirming or denying it. You'll have to be there to find out.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sunday Recap

-Tons of new faces in Powdersville today. Always good seeing new faces. Not that it is not good seeing old faces. I generally like old people with old faces.

- It still blows my mind to think that next Sunday is the one year anniversary of our church. I can't wait for October and the new series we'll be kicking off. You don't want to miss the next two weeks. October 12th is going to be challenging and something we have never done before.

- Services today were smooth. We laughed(alright I laughed during the first video when we scared the mess out of everyone. I forgot to watch the audience in Anderson but I remembered to in Powdersville and people jumped. I am laughing right now as I type), we cried and hopefully were challenged and stretched in what our view of greatness is.

- We had a couple of folks from Spartanburg who are a part of a new launch there. They are in the formation stages. I went to lunch with these folks after service and they gave some very valuable feedback.

- Remember, next Sunday we are taking a special offering with 50% going towards missions and 50% going toward paying off our debt. Be praying about what God would have you to give.

- Big props to all of our volunteers who step up each week as servants.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Day Off

- Tomorrrow is my day off and I'm excited about hanging out with Melissa and Isaac all day.

- This week has been crazy. Meetings and stuff at church every night this week.

- Tonight is relaxing just chillin watching our all time favorite show Survivor.

- This week at StoneBridge will be powerful. I'm doing something I've never done before. It has involved a lot of prayer this week. I'm not jumping from nothing, drinking nothing, or doing nothing crazy just something challenging. Be there early and bring friends.(I know this is bad English but I am not in English class)

- I would appreciate your prayers in regards to some decisions that need to be made. Pray for wisdom.

- Next week is our one year anniversary of the church. It started with 6 people in a living room and it's amazing to think how far we've come. Next week's message is going to be a challenge for all of us. It will be both campuses at one location.

- Our student ministry team continues to impress me. These guys get the big picture that it is not about the lights, stage, or the music but it is relational. It's about connecting with students in order to connect them with Christ. They get that.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Servants

Man, we have some servant minded people that a part of StoneBridge and this continues to excite me and amaze me especially over the last couple of weeks. This week has been exceedingly encouraging to see several people just this past week volunteering of their time to do whatever it takes to take the church to the next level. From Teena with Volunteers to Danny and Ray with picking up stuff to Drew and Mona painting like the wind and all of our youth staff, a ton has gotten done this week.

Speaking of youth, the guys did an awesome job tonight and we had a record number at youth. Students you don't want to miss out on Messy games next week. Tonight they continued in their series Roots. They focused on accountability. Be there next week at 7:00 p.m. and wear clothes you can throw away.

Sunday should be challenging and unlike anything we've ever done. I believe the services Sunday will be powerful and you don't want to miss. Be there early and bring a friend. 9:15 a.m. in Anderson and 10:55 a.m. in Powdersville.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Busy Day

Today was busy. I just walked in the door after we met with a new home group that is starting up for 20 somethings. We met at Outback tonight which is always a good thing. If you are a 20 something at StoneBridge, I encourage you to get plugged in to this group. If you would like more info just drop me an email at sammy@stonebridgechruch.tv .

This morning was full of logistical stuff that always takes place on Mondays.

This afternoon I met up with Danny and we headed to Anderson for lunch at Mama Penns. I hadn't eaten there in years. It was good as always. We picked up one of our trailers that De Wayne was letting us store at Golf USA (for all your golfing needs) and then headed up to NewSpring. The folks at NewSpring were kind enough to hook us up with some much needed chairs that they weren't going to use anymore. Big thanks to them for being kingdom minded and helping other churches. Thanks to Van for helping us out and the SMT at NewSpring for letting us have them.

In your first year as a new church start, you make do with what you can and anything like this helps. We have been really blessed as far as furniture wise. All of our office furniture, children and youth furniture has been donated. That is huge right there.

Speaking of first year, let me encourage you to continue to invite folks to StoneBridge. We are less than two weeks away from our one year anniversary. This has been exciting and I am still amazed from where we have come at that first core group meeting with 6 people present.

Next month we are going to be having a church work day. We have several painting and little building type projects we will be doing that day. I will post the details later this week.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sunday Recap

- Uncensoredpastor.com has been having some technical difficulties due to my internet connection issues at the house. We are working to resolve these. We will be broadcasting from the office live during the week but for the time being we won't bradcast from the house unless we our internet issues are corrected. Thanks for hanging in there and understanding.

- I am truly blessed. I was thinking about that this evening as I sat listening to Isaac sing in the shower. That was just priceless to see how far he has come in the last 3 years.

- Services today were very smooth all around. The flow of everything went awesome. Touched on a subject that I definately need improvement in. I spoke on taming the tongue and the power of our spoken words.

- I performed an illusion in my message and it went off with without a hitch. I had been practicing my Harry Houdini skills for the last week and it worked. It fit perfect with the point I was making and even some of the folks that I knew would figure it out were left wondering how I put the paper back together. I will perform the trick tomorrow on uncensoredpastor.com at around 11:00 a.m. if you would like to see it again.

- Atmosphere was awesome today. Today we had our highest attendance for a non holiday. The only other time we had an attendance higher than today was back on Mother's Day when a ton of our folks brought their parents to church. Awesome job inviting people. Keep it up. The original message I was speaking on this coming week has changed and the new message I am speaking on Sunday should challenge us all.

- Two weeks from today we celebrate our 1 year anniversary. This is an exciting time in the life of StoneBridge. What is keeping you from being a part.

- Invite invite invite.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Two Requests

Ok, I'm asking you to do two quick things today.

1. Send out an email with a link to uncensoredpastor inviting your friends to tune in. This has been a crazy experiment but I believe we will see the rewards of this in the coming days. I've already had some great conversations with people who are going to come check out StoneBridge but I need your help. So send it out today.

2. Invite people. Seriously ask yourself, who is it that I know needs to get plugged into church. Invite that person. Maybe it takes buying their breakfast or lunch to get them there but whatever the case get them there. God is going to do some amazing things. Will you be a part?

You folks are awesome, thanks in advance.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

1000's of web hits

Just on our third day with uncensoredpastor and so far we have had 1000's of web hits and over 35,000 minutes watched so far. Very insane and awesome. Be sure to tell your friends. Send an invite to join us at StoneBridge Church as we continue in our uncensoredpastor series.

You guys are awesome. Sammy

Monday, September 8, 2008

Sunday Recap

-Kicked off uncensoredpastor. Be sure t check it out and tell some friends.

- Crashing Jericho did and awesome job leading worship yesterday. They are decent at riding go karts. Stick to music and you guys will do fine. I will have some video from the go karts on the uncensoredpastor.com website. You can click on the video on demand button.

- Robbie, Chris, and Ryan are blowing it up. These guys are awesome. They have recently come on board from North Greenville University. Robbie is heading up our Student Ministry, Chris is doing some music and some media and Ryan is our resident actor extraordinaire. His weather report video was too funny. Seriously, if you have a student in the 6th -12th grade, you need to get them there this Wednesday night and tell them to bring some friends. Again, these guys are better at the ministry thing than at riding go karts as well. So stick to what you're good at.

- And finally, I was amazed to learn last night that DeWayne can operate a computer and get on the internet. As Michelle put it, "I didn't realize old people could run a computer" or something to that effect. Ya'll pray for DeWayne, he hasn't had breakfast the last couple of days.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Demolition Derby

Last night, Chris Morgan hooked Isaac, Bryan "Little H Chy", and myself up with tickets to the demolition derby at Greenville Pickens. Seeing people purposefully crash their cars into one another is just flippin cool. Big thanks to Chris for the tix. He also hooked me up with some old racing tires that I'm going to use to line a couple of places around my go kart track to keep people from hitting the fence and hitting my garage.

I probably won't be posting quite as much over the next month but instead you can catch up with me live 24/7 for the next 30 days on our website uncensoredpastor. Click on the link. You can watch what is happening and you can participate in the interactive chat.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Uncensoredpastor.com

Great night at youth tonight. The guys did an awesome job and are really building relationships with our students. Cool to see. I painted my office tonight. It is Cincinnati Bengal Orange. They are my pro team. It looks better than the black that Evan painted his office.

Just a a few days away to uncensoredpastor . This ought to be interesting. Be sure to tune in. We have been testing the system the last couple of days check in and you may just catch us testing it out more. Be sure to continue to tell your friends.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Relaxed and Refreshed

Today was great. The last few weeks have been hectic with every thing at church. We have done several outreach focused events and they have all been good but it has left me extremely busy. This weekend was good though. Dan spoke in Anderson for me and Jim Thompson spoke for me in Powdersville. I went to church and just went too church. That is relaxing and refreshing to me.

I try to step off the stage and let someone else speak about every 7th week or so. This serves as kind of a speaking sabbath. Being a small staff church right now, this helps me to have time to take care of logistical stuff that needs to be done and it gives our folks a chance to hear different speakers that are better than me. In some churches, when the pastor takes a week off, he will bring in some person that will be horrible so that his "people" will appreciate him more. Me personally, I want the best for our church and anytime I have a chance to get a quality speaker I will always go for that. Nothing makes me feel better than having someone speak that does a great job. Besides, I am going to be sitting in the audience too and I don't want to listen to a bad speaker. Dan and Jim both did a great job.

I slept in today for the first time in a couple of weeks, painted some model cars for Isaac, sat in the garage and just talked with Isaac, worked on some go karts, rode some go karts, and went to a cookout at the Browns.

Last night Melissa and I went with Evan and Erin to hang out at a get together at the Cartwright's House. Tom hooked me up with some pyrotechnics that can't be bought locally. Very cool. These folks help in many ways at StoneBridge besides the pyrotechnics. Thanks guys.

Last but not least, remember to check and tell your friends about uncensoredpastor.com beginning this Sunday.