Back on Line

Looks like whatever was causing the problems is over and we're back on line. That being said, this Sunday, we will have a very important meeting at 11:45am in the Apex. Please plan on being there if at all possible. I think September and October were very important times. The two series allowed us to look at transition times between small group and the beginning of Reveal. They allowed us to get a feel of what being on stage is going to be like. They also allowed us to see how important planning 4-6 months ahead is going to be. Now it's time to start getting ready for January 11 and 25.

January 11 is the in-house launch date. Reveal will be open to anyone who wants to attend. January 25 is the public launch date. We will begin advertising Reveal and January 25 in the next few weeks.

Keep praying that we will be able to connect with unchurched and dechurched people in the Rock Hill area. Keep praying that our church will become passionate about reaching people who are desperately in need of a savior.

We'll see you Sunday.

Peace - Jamie

Music Set 10.19.08

Here is the music that we used on 10.19.08

My Glorious (Martin Smith)

Beautiful One (Tim Hughes)

She Walked Away (BarlowGirl)

Every Breath You Take (The Police)

I Am Free (Jon Egan)

--Will

Music Set 10.12.08

Here is the music we used on 10.12.08

Opening Song (Full Band)

Run - Collective Soul

Acoustic Worship Set

We Are Hungry - Brad Kilman

Kindness - Chris Tomlin

Hungry - Kathryn Scott

Your Love Is Extravagant - Darrell Evans

Communion Song

Breathe - Marie Barnett

Closing Song (Full Band)

I Am Free - Jon Egan

--Will

Blogging

I've had trouble blogging from the office. So I'm doing this from home tonight. After a very busy Sunday, I took yesterday off to hang out with my family. It was a fun day. We headed to Asheville to eat at the Moose Cafe, to shop at the farmer's market and to stop by Granddad's Apple farm. I have video of a running llama that hopefully will make it to the internet sometime soon.

Reflections from Sunday:

• I enjoyed preparing for Sunday as much as I enjoyed Reveal on Sunday. Preparing the message, setting up the room, even lighting the candles meant a lot to me.

• The acoustic worship set was a cool change of pace. Ending with "I Am Free" was an awesome way to walk out of a worship gathering.

• Being a part of the Lord's Supper is always a sobering and exhilarating way to remember what Jesus did for each one of us.

• Thanks to Stacey Cooper for putting out the snacks for the band and technical team.

Just a reminder that this week, we will be wrapping up the "Born to Run" series with a sermon about the greatest runner. Friends are invited to join us since it is Friend Day at FBC.

-- peace, jamie

Born to Run, Week 2

This morning we looked at Moses and how he ran from his mistake. I would love to get your feedback about the worship gathering. Below are the elements of the worship. Feel free to post a comment or email me (jamieb@fbcrockhill.org).

-- Peace, Jamie

• Countdown (Shane and Shane)
• Welcome
• Song (Run)
• Prince of Egypt, clip 1
• Message, pt 1
• Music (We Are Hungry, Kindness)
• Message, pt 2
• Music (Hungry, Your Love Is Extravagant)
• Prince of Egypt, clip 2
• Message, pt 3
• Communion
• Music (Breathe)
• Closing Remarks
• Music (I Am Free)

Also, feel free to comment on the visuals including the handout.

Sunday at Reveal

Will and I have spent the past couple of days preparing and planning for Sunday at Reveal and I am completely pumped for what's coming. It will be totally unlike anything that we've experienced so far. It will be experiential, interactive, reflective and celebratory. Yep! It's going to be awesome.

Unlike last week, we want to begin right at 11:45. So whatever you've got going on, I would encourage you to get away and be in the Apex by 11:40 to get ready. At the close of Reveal, we will be celebrating the Lord's supper which is always one of the favorite events in my walk with Christ.

Also, this Sunday we will not have evaluation forms at Reveal. But please take mental notes and come here on Sunday afternoon to offer your reflections.

Tomorrow, I am heading to Atlanta for Catalyst so blogging may be sporadic until next week.

-- peace, jamie

Stephanie Godfrey

Here's Stephanie's testimony from week 2 of our Reveal series.

Stephanie Testimony @ Yahoo! Video

MMQB

I'm still trying to get back in the swing of blogging after my two weeks in conferences and retreats. Sorry that it has been so sporadic. Here are my reflections from yesterday (and the first three full weeks of Reveal).

• The band is kicking it and getting better every week. As much as I enjoyed Are You Ready? and Give a Little Bit, Life Is A Highway was even better. Also, finishing with I Am Free left me wanting more. In fact a few of us were still standing around about 20 minutes later like we were hoping that it wouldn't end.
• We are still working on timing. Yesterday was the first time that we didn't get started at 11:45. I think we actually got things going around 11:50. We want to get started on time and will try to get back on track this week.
• The feedback on the Eval forms was great. Thanks for filling those out. A couple of things from the eval cards that I think I should comment on. First, the scripture not being in sync yesterday was my fault. I didn't get the passage back to Hunter in time. I put it up the week before and I will work on getting that straight from now on. That is a big pet peeve of mine also. Second, we got a lot of positive feedback about the Amena Brown video. I think Amena does a fantastic job and the video dovetailed nicely with what I was saying yesterday. Thanks for picking up on that.
• Finally, if you didn't complete an eval form yesterday and want me to email you a blank form, let me know. At this point in the life of Reveal, feedback is vital. In fact, I would love to hear what you thought of the new setup for the "communication card" from yesterday. It was much more concise than in the past.

I have more to say about this Sunday's gathering, but I will hold off on that until tomorrow.

peace - Jamie

Music Set 10.05.08

Here is the music we used for 10.05.08

Life Is A Highway - Tom Cochran (as performed by Rascal Flatts)
All We Need - Charlie Hall
O Praise Him - David Crowder
Agnus Dei - Michael W. Smith (as performed by Third Day)
I Am Free - Jon Egan

--Will

Starbucks Coffee

In August, Lori and I went to visit some friends (Jesse and Tamara) at Lake Toxaway, NC. They were on vacation visiting some friends (Jeff and Heather) that they went to college with. Turned out that their friends went to Fuller about the same time as I did and, although we didn't know them there, we had several mutual friends.

Anyway, they now are living in Columbia, SC and are planning on becoming missionaries to Sudan. They were in Charlotte looking into a missions organization yesterday and so they called us up and we met them at Starbucks for coffee.

We talked about a lot of different things: Sudan, Missionary Life, REVEAL, church in general, contemporary worship, and getting people plugged into church and using their talents. Interestingly enough, the quote on my cup directly spoke into what we were discussing.

The Way I See It #291

"In a world where celebrity equals talent, and where make-believe is called reality, it is most important to have real love, truth and stability in your life."Bernie Brillstein.

(Brillstein produced shows and movies such as Hee Haw, The Muppet Show, Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, Dragnet, Ghostbusters II, Happy Gilmore, The Cable Guy, and The Sopranos.)

We discussed at length the notion that our generation is seeking out community. At Fuller, community was easy to come by because almost everyone was going through the same things. But for some reason, when you're out of the "school" culture, real life gets in the way.

At REVEAL, we want to create community. We want people to come and feel comfortable and be able to build friendships. We want to do life together. We want to build relationships with each other and with Jesus Christ. What we don't want to do is create more religion. Today's generation doesn't want more religion, what they want is more relationship, what they need is more relationship with Jesus Christ.

--Will

Born to Run

We kick off Born to Run this Sunday. It's a chance for us to look at who or what we're running from and what we're running to. It should be an aweseome three weeks. We'll see you this Sunday at 11:45am.

Peace - Jamie

Born to Run Promo @ Yahoo! Video