Pastor Frank's Blog

Another example of Team SSCC

2012-02-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

In some ways I am sorry to see the Divine Discussions series come to a close next week. It has been a fun series to teach and to process with God. I have learned a great deal through this series and I hope that you have as well. We soon turn our focus towards Easter. The Easter Series will be a great opportunity for you to bring those God has placed in your life who are seeking and asking questions. We have invite cards available for you to use to help prompt those invitations. Please pray that God would bring to mind people who He has placed in your path. Then “go fishing.”

Last week I told you about our teaching team. The feedback was great and we even had some volunteer to help us! God is good all the time. This week I thought I would share with you what our creative team does. The teaching team focuses on the sermon and the teaching aspects of the service and the creative team focuses on taking that message and engaging people creatively. For example, this last weekend the teaching team was responsible for the message about Jesus inviting us to a team experience and the creative team brings in the baseball element to help us remember the message. They are two different groups of people with completely different skills and perspectives. God uses both groups to help me present God’s word both truthfully and creatively. It really is cool to see how God uses different people to help me present His word. I am blessed to be part of what God is doing. I say it each week, but these people help me to look good.

Our creative team meets on Friday mornings. The members of that team are Randy Bartlein, Alan McKee, Debbie Smith, Mark Daniels, Steve Palm, Lamar Brantley and myself. We share with them the core essentials of the message, the series and what we are trying to teach. Then we have a brainstorming session that can be really interesting. Their primary function is to reign in my really crazy and out of the box ideas- baptism by dunk tank comes to mind. Having Pastor Steve ride into the “Palm” Sunday service on a live donkey was another one- if we could have found a donkey within our budget it would have happened. Our ideas are not to make things outlandish but rather to help people remember to key point of the message. For example, we used the smell of shrimp scampi to remind people that we are to crave God’s word. This team not only comes up with the ideas but also implements them. They created and made the videos for the Go Fish series and they spend a fair amount of time shopping for sermon props. They develop and coordinate all dramas and videos. They are amazing people who desire that God’s Word is preached in a manner that connects with people in a creative way.

Every time I stand on stage to preach God’s truth I am reminded that I stand on the shoulders of others. God has surrounded me with amazing people. It is interesting to me that those who are on the creative team would not be effective on the teaching team and vice versa. God has uniquely gifted them in different and very specific ways. Then He weaves their gifts together. I love how God brings diverse people together with specific gifts to align for his purpose. Every weekend I get to see these gifts manifest in our services and in the hearts of those who attend. When people come up to me and say they loved the services it is very easy for me to point to God and others. I know better than anyone that what we do is a team effort. It helps to keep me humble and I praise God for that.

Please continue to pray for these amazing people as they serve God behind the scenes from our perspective but front and center from God’s point of view. God has seriously blessed our church and I am humbled and grateful.

Blessings,

Frank

Sermon Devleopment 101

2012-02-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

As we head towardEaster, we are headed into the busy time of our ministry year. Fortunately, itis my favorite time of the year. We are planning a great Easter series thisyear. The 6 week series will start the first weekend in March. We will havesmall group study guides that go along with the sermons and each person willreceive a daily devotional that leads up to Easter. This is a great opportunityto invite your friends and family. While you are at it, invite people to yoursmall group. Just encourage them to commit to joining you for the six weekEaster Series. If you are not in a small group, why not try one during thisseries? Pastor Randy is standing by (he never sits down) waiting to help youfind that “perfect small group fit.” You can reach him at rmiller@southshorechurch.com.

Thanks to Pastor Steve for giving us a great launch intoJesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17. I didn’t fully realize how much Ineeded a break and I am so thankful that God has gifted SSCC with greatteachers. I often mention our sermon critique team and I thought it might beinteresting to share with you how we prepare sermons. Everyone who preachesgoes through the same process. Since it is usually me, I will tell the storyfrom my perspective. It all begins with study and prayer. Usually God begins todevelop a concept and Pastor Steve, Pastor David and I begin to discuss what webelieve God wants to share. Then I develop the sermon on a mind map. I don’twrite out my sermons in a document format, but rather use a more visual mindmap.

Most of the sermonsinclude 5-6 mind maps (one is pictured here) with each one built around anidea. Once I have the sermon mapped out, I can export it in an outline form.That is when the teaching team reviews the outline and makes comments. Eachperson provides input, insight and new ideas. All of those ideas areincorporated into one mind map. Once that process is complete, we all cometogether in the sanctuary for a practice run. I preach the sermon and theteaching team provides feedback on the content and delivery. More often thannot, the greatest ideas come out when the sermon is preached and the teachingteam can experience it live. I love that they are totally honest with me andhave a desire to see God’s word delivered in the best manner possible. Usuallyfollowing the live rehearsal there are a lot of new ideas and concepts so the sermon is again rewritten and props (shrimpscampi, climbing stools, videos, etc.) are put into place. The sermon is sentto the teaching team for a final review and then the inserts, PowerPointslides, and Youversion format are completed (we seriously need volunteers tohelp with these steps if you are interested). The teaching team is not doneyet. After the Saturday night service they are asked to provide feedback andrecommend any changes before the Sunday morning service. Final changes are madeand the Sunday morning service is completed. Then the sermon is posted on thewebsite and the video is edited and posted as well. Usually on Sundayafternoon, I listen to the sermon again and critique it. The hardest part ofthe process is watching the video and critiquing it. I don’t like to watchmyself on TV and I tend to be my hardest critic (I am a little too soft andcould lose a few pounds). In addition, each Tuesday, our Leadership Teamprovides feedback on the weekend events and shares their perspective. The bestreview comes alone with God. I usually spend time alone on my Sabbath (Monday)processing the weekend services in prayer.

The entire process is a worship experience for thoseinvolved. I believe that there is no greater worship experience than to giveGod your very best by using the gifts that He gave you. I am so thankful tohave so many help me. Each week I give credit to these teams, so I wanted toshare with you what they actually do to help all of us. This process may seemtedious but everyone is passionate about making sure that God’s Word is sharedaccurately, passionately, creatively, and in a manner that engages those wholisten. We want to inspire people to allow God’s truth to penetrate theirhearts.

This is probably more than you want to know. But the nexttime I tell you that the SSCC teaching team helped me process the sermon youwill know what that statement entails. The next time you see one of them,please thank them for serving our Lord behind the scenes. They really do makeme look good. And if you think the teaching team is meticulous and dedicated,you should hear all the work Lamar and the worship team do each week…or whathappens in Journey Kids…or Pastor Chris in our student ministry….or our foodservice team….or the KidzOwn Klubhouse team…or Pastor Steve’s classes…..or thewebsite……you get the idea. God has filled SSCC with passionate people whoworship Him by serving in their passion with excellence. I thank God for all ofyou who make SSCC so special.

Next week I will share with you what our Creative Team doeseach week. They have a broader focus than the sermon team and are just asdedicated. By the way, if you want to serve on one of these teams please let usknow. We are always looking for gifted folks who want to join us in our passionJ.

Blessings,

Frank

Super Bowl and Super Church!

2012-02-05T16:18:00.000-08:00

As I write to you I am at thechurch hosting a Super Bowl Party for about 60 of our homeless friends. As youlikely know, we throw a block party each Sunday afternoon where we cook out,provide medical care, and love on those Jesus loves. I love that our church hasa heart for those that moved Jesus’ heart. Thanks to all who brought dessertsand to those who volunteered to help us. We are intentionally trying to pourinto the lives of those on the streets to share with them the love of Christ.This event is part of our relational discipleship focus. Please continue topray for this ministry and those who bless us by allowing us to servethem. At the moment the Giants are up9-0....

I mentioned in the servicesthis weekend that we are a bit behind our streamlined spending plan. I wantedto let everyone know that we need you. We have been asked to steward and sharethe most important message on the planet. It takes financial resources to keepour efforts moving forward. If you are faithfully giving to South Shore I justwant to say thank you. If however you have not joined us yet financially wouldyou consider doing so? We need all hands on deck and everyone contributingtheir time, talents and treasures. If we all contribute, we will have plenty ofresources to continue the ministries God has placed on hearts to do. I knowpeople get concerned when the church talks about money but I am not ashamed orhesitant to do so because the message is so important. The money is not for usas much as it is for those who have not yet joined us. Please pray about helpingus. We need you.

I have been blogging aboutpartnership and the church family. I wanted to share some thoughts that werenot mine but I found in a church leadership blog. Here are a few reasons toconsider about the importance of church partnership:

1. For the sake of the pastors. It lets the pastors know who you areand makes them responsible for you (see Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:17).

2. For the sake of obedience to Jesus. Jesus did not give you the keysof the kingdom for binding and loosing. He gave the keys to the apostolic localchurch (Matt. 16:13-20; 18:15-20). You don’t have the authority to baptizeyourself or feed yourself the Lord’s Supper. It requires a church to affirmyour profession of faith, which is what partnership is at its very heart (seeActs 2:38).

3. For the sake of other believers. Joining makes you responsible forone local congregation, and they for you. You now own or have a share in theirdiscipleship to Christ. That is, you are now responsible for their growth andprofessions of faith, insofar as you are responsible for the church’s faithfulgospel preaching (Gal. 1) and that individual’s discipline (Matt. 18:15-20; 1Cor. 5).

4. For one’s own spiritual good and safety. Suppose you ever becomethat lamb who wanders away from the fold (Matt. 18:12-14). It’s your churchthat Jesus will send after you (Matt. 18:15-20).

5. For the sake of non-Christian neighbors. Partnership helps toprotect and promote the reputation of Christ on Earth by guarding the church’switness (see Matt. 5:13-16; 28:18-20; John 13:34-35). Partnership is how theworld knows who represents Jesus!

Please continue to processwith your small group leader any questions or concerns that you have about theSSCC Partnership Covenant. We are excited that we have received them back fromso many of you. Next week I will talkabout the heart behind the covenant and the blessings of sharing this journeytogether.

Baptism is scheduled forMarch 3&4. If you have not been baptized as an adult since committing toJesus I encourage you to take that step of obedience. We have a Baptismcurriculum that you can go through with one of the pastors. Please email me ifyou are interested in getting baptized next month.

That is probably enough fornow. I love you all and keep you in my prayers.

Frank

Covenants, Partners, and The Like

2012-01-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

I had an opportunity to spend some time with the SSCC SmallGroup Coaches and leaders last weekend. We had our quarterly Small GroupLeaders meeting. I wanted to share with you how blessed we are as a church tohave these people shepherding our small groups. If you are in a small group youprobably realize how amazing your small group leader is. These folks inspireme. They care so much about the spiritual and physical needs of those entrustedto them and they take their oversight responsibility seriously.

Please take thetime this week to thank God for your small group leader and to ask Him to growand encourage your leader and your group. If you are not in a small group,well... you are missing out on one of the greatest “perks” of being in a churchfamily. We cannot follow Christ and grow without being in an intimate communityand at SSCC that means participating in a small group. Ifyou need help finding a small group contact Pastor Randy or go to our websiteand search groups by the day of the week you are interested in.

One of the topics that they report is on the front burner isthe idea of church partnership and covenants. I thought I would blog over the next few weeks to help everyone process this topic.

Today I thought I would give some thoughts on the idea ofmembership and covenants at SSCC over the years. You may be surprised to discover that none of this is particularly new. Membership structure and covenants have been in place atSSCC as long as I have been an elder (at least 10 years). I believe they were put in place within the first year or so of SSCC's incorporation. Our South Shore 101class that was required for all leaders outlined membership in the followingcategories and required covenant partnership.

"Prospects: Attending (regularly or inconsistently), visitor, not plugged in.

Regular Attenders: Attend , Small Group member and/or participatein organizations (volunteer teams). Target for membership.

Member: Signed covenant. Completed Discovering South Shore, “This is my church home.”

Core Leader (Team Leader) :Small Group Leaders, Ministry Leaders.

Key Leader: People without whom the ministry wouldn’t function. May include SmallGroup Coaches, Ministry Leaders."

(SSCC 101 Curriculum page 3)

While signed covenants and membership commitments are not new to SSCC, the Elders have raised the importance of defining ourfamily and committing to each other. This structure was not emphasized during our merger and during our Lead Pastor Transition. Now that we have been through those transitions, we have returnedour focus on preparing us for the mission God has placed in front of us. This renewed focus drove our Spiritual Boot Camp Series and the Getting Committed Classes. The purpose and intent was to lead us to commit with one another to go on mission together.

In addition to the increased emphasis, we thought the categories used in the SSCC 101 classwere confusing so we simplified them. We wanted the structure to better reflectour culture. We changed membership to partnership and simplified thecategories: Elder/Pastor, Key Leaders, Covenant Partners, and Attenders.

Key Leaders-Ofcourse all key leaders will be required to be covenant partners. We believeour leaders must agree with our beliefs, organizational structure, leadershipstructure and goals.

Covenant Partners-Thosewho partner with us will participate in our partner meetings, participate inour planning surveys, and receive more detailed information regarding thebusiness of the church. They will be the audience that the Elders seek forconsultation and input regarding key decisions. If they desire and are qualified they can serve in leadership roles.

Attenders-Our hopeis that those who are attenders will move toward partnership at some point inthe future. We will encourage them to attend services, make a commitment to Jesus Christ, serve in non-leadershiproles, attend ministry activities and join small groups. Only those who have committed to Jesus and surrendered to His Lordship can consider partnering with us. You must be a follower of Jesus Christ to become a part of His church family.

Please continue to pray about how God is leading you toparticipate at SSCC. Next weeks blog will address a few Biblical reasons forwhy God calls us to partner together in local churches and the advantages fordoing so. The Blog after that one willaddress the intent of the covenant commitment and the heart that it represents. I would encourage you to take the covenants seriously but remember that they are a commitment of your heart's intent. When you read each line ask yourself if it is your heart's intent to do what is required. None of us are perfect and we may miss the target at times. Our covenant with each other is to align our hearts together to be more like Christ. We do so to encourage each other to do what the covenant states to the best of our ability. It is a stated goal and expectation but not a scorecard.

There are additional sources of information on the website. We also have Baptism, Getting Committed, and Covenant Classes available for you.

Hope this helps. I am happy to discuss this further in person or via email. (fburns@southshorechurch.com)

Blessings,

Frank

Guests not Visitors

2012-01-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

I wrote this blog early because the Pastors and Elders willbe at an offsite retreat at Dayspring on Sunday and Monday. Please keep us inyour prayers as we get away to hear from God. There is a lot going on at SouthShore and we need to talk to Heavenly Dad about it. We are excited to hear whatGod is going to share with us.

You have been doing a great job at letting people know whatGod is doing at South Shore. We are meeting new people each weekend and theyare excited about our church. I would like to ask those of you who call SSCChome to help us welcome our guests. I prefer the term “guest” rather than“visitor” because it paints a different mental image that is important for usto understand. Visitors are often unwanted but guests are expected. Visitorsjust show up but guests are invited. Visitors are expected to leave but guestsare expected to stay. Visitors come one time but guests come again. Visitorscatch us unprepared but we plan for the arrival of guests. I think you get theidea.

So we have a lot of new “guests” at South Shore these daysand it is important that we go out of our way to welcome them to our campus. Wehave been working very hard at engaging our guests and connecting them to smallgroups and our ministries. Pastor Randy who is responsible for our AssimilationProgram has done a great job of making guests feel welcome and connecting themto our family. We have had many come to our Newcomers Dinner over the last fewmonths and 70% remain plugged in at SSCC. We are told from those who do churchconsulting in this area that 25% is a great success rate. I am not surprised thatwe have tripled their great rate because those consultants have not yet metGod’s people at South Shore and don’t know Pastor Randy Miller. I say it every week but you folks areamazing.

Since we are all greeters and we are all involved in thefishing business, I would like us to remain intentional about engaging ourguests by beginning a few simple things.

10 FootRule: I would like us to implement a “10 foot rule” where we all agree thatif we get within 10 feet of someone that we don’t know we take the time to lookat them in the eyes and say “Hi.” You would be amazed at how many people visitchurches and say no one even acknowledged them. Of course our preference wouldbe that you follow up your “Hi” with an introduction and conversation but wethought we would start with baby steps.
5 Minutes:At the end of the services I am going to remind you about the next 5 minutes.When we finish our “We are the church” you will hear me say “Remember 5minutes.” This is our super secret SSCC code to remind you to make the most ofthe next 5 minutes. Usually when our services are over we immediately clustertoward our friends, family and small group. I would like for you to take just 5minutes and find someone you don’t know. Go see them and see how they like theservice and if they have any questions. Maybe it is someone you met earlierduring the time we greet each other. Let’s commit to greeting people before, during,and after the service.
Make amove: Most of our guests want to sit toward the back and on the aisle. Weneed to help them feel comfortable and so I am asking our Saturday SSCC folksto sit toward the front and in the middle of the row. We all like each other sowe can sit close together if we need to. Please make this move to help usprovide room for our guests. For those who attend on Sunday your time will comesoon as Sunday is growing faster than Saturday. So stay tuned.
Solo is aNo Go- If you look around during our community time and see someone bythemselves please go say hello to them. They may prefer to be alone but let’scheck on them and make sure they know we care. We all know how awkward it is tobe in a place by yourself where you know no one but they all seem to know eachother.

I believe that we are the friendliest church on the planetbut it is easy to forget how uncomfortable people are when they enter a newenvironment. All of us were new at South Shore once. It is easy to engage the peoplethat you know well at church and we all feel like we are friendly but I wantyou to remember something. Our guests often decide to return based on how wegreet and engage them, not each other. God is moving at SSCC and people areresponding to Him. Let’s take these simple steps to help people feel comfortable so they will want to come back and learn more about Jesus.

It is time to go check in with Heavenly Dad. Please keep us in your prayers.

Blessings,

Frank

Dinner Guests

2012-01-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

I wish that all of you could have been at my house last night. Ok it probably wouldn’t hold everyone but we had a fun time at the Newcomer’s Dinner. I wish you could hear how important you have been in the lives of those who visit our campus. We really spent the night talking about you. How you welcome people. How you go out of your way to make people comfortable. How you have a genuine love for each other that they notice. The stories that our new guests tell us about all of you are remarkable. Each person has their own story of how they got to SSCC and what impacted them when they came. But the consistent theme is that someone from South Shore cared enough to invite them and when they visited our church they were moved as others embraced them.

They remind all of us of the importance of faithfully carrying out the mission that God has given us. It is great to hear others tell us about how South Shore has become a refreshing change for them and how the experience has impacted their family. Most importantly they share how all of you have helped lead them back to Christ. They see His love in the way you welcome them, pay attention to details, include them and they notice the way you interact with each other. In essence they are witnessing authenticity in a community of Christ followers.

Even though all of us could not attend last night, we can all learn from what they shared. What we do at SSCC every day and every time we get together is critically important. People are seeing their lives transformed as Jesus works through our church family. They come to the Newcomer’s Dinner so grateful and so excited about what they have discovered. They are eager to join a small group and invest in SSCC’s mission by partnering with us. They want to pay it forward and bring others to what they have discovered.

It is easy for those of us that have been at SSCC a long time to take for granted what God is doing. We don’t mean to but we just get comfortable. It is easy for us to have a hard time remembering what life was like before meeting Jesus, before having our church family, before our small group, and before opportunities to serve others. The Newcomer’s Dinner is a great reminder of why we do what we do. It is a bolus of adrenaline for all of us.

You have probably noticed that we have a lot of new faces at South Shore. We are reaching people with the life-transforming message of Jesus. God is moving in our midst and people are drawn to Him. Thank you for all you do to reflect Jesus to those who come to our services seeking Him. God is giving us a huge opportunity to reach this community and we are on mission to stay in step with Him.

We have a Newcomers Dinner scheduled again soon. We haven’t sent out invitations because those people are not here yet. Those who come to the next dinner may be your friend, family or co-worker. Pray that God will use you to fill our next dinner.

I say it all the time but I am so proud of our church. You guys are remarkable.

Blessings,

Frank

The Goal is Not to Pray

2012-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well we have launched our Divine Discussions series and the feedback thus far has been very positive. I think all of us would like to start off the New Year with an increased emphasis on not just praying but also actually connecting to God. As I mentioned in the sermon and several asked me about this later, I didn’t really start hearing clearly from God in my prayer time until I completely submitted to obeying anything that He asked me to do. I have thought a lot about that over the years and realize that many times I went to prayer trying to get God on my agenda rather than me on His. I think God speaks clearly to those who come to him committed to obeying Him. It involved giving up control that I never had in order to get a connection with God that I never had. It was a great trade!

The Pastors and Elders have been praying for all of you because we believe this series on prayer could transform our church. We believe that once all of us realize that we can experience God and connect with Him in prayer we will grow spiritually in ways we never imagined. We believe that our First Tuesday Prayer Services will be so moving that we will not be able to keep people away. I mentioned in the sermon that we get around 400 on weekends but only 40 on First Tuesday. I want to encourage you to make our First Tuesday Prayer Service a priority this year. You can learn a great deal about prayer by praying with those who have learned over the years how to connect with God. In addition, there is power when we pray for and with each other. So please join us on First Tuesday Feb. 7^th.

Over the last year or so, SSCC has begun to reach college aged young adults (18-26). We have an increasing number of students from New College and SCF who have been attending our Sunday morning services. In addition, we have many young adults who have come out of our student ministries. In order to try to join God where He is working, we sent 10 of these young adults to the Passion Conference in Atlanta last week. They joined 44,000 other young adult men and women who are sold out to Jesus. I want to thank you because your faithful giving allowed us to help sponsor them. We sent them with the intention of developing a core group that would return to help us build a college-age ministry. I say college-aged because there are many in this age group who are working and not students. Our goal is to begin a ministry to reach and grow this age group. Last night (Saturday) our Elders met with these students to hear about their conference and to find ways we could help launch this ministry. Their love for God and desire to reach others inspired our Elders. Please join us in prayer and specifically pray for men and women who have a heart for leading this age group or coming alongside them as mentors. God is moving in this area and we are going to join Him. I look forward to updating you as this ministry moves forward.

Next weekend we will begin looking at the Lord’s Prayer. We will look at how Jesus instructed His disciples to pray. In doing so, Jesus also instructs us. I think your friends, coworkers and family would enjoy attending this series because we are all familiar with this prayer. I am praying Matthew 9:37 for you.

³⁷Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Please pray that God will place people on your heart to invite to SSCC for this series and then obey what you hear J.

Blessings,

Frank

New Year. Revive the Blog!

2012-01-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

The New Year comes with new commitments. Thus I have decided to revive my blog. Hopefully I will be better at this than I was at journaling. I want this blog to be interactive and hope that you will share your experiences with those who choose to follow along.

I preached this week on Biblical Families. I hope you had a chance to attend or listen to it. It is part of our All in the Family Series that we will do periodically throughout the year. My goal is that 5-6 times this year we will have a stand-alone sermon that addresses issues facing the family. I could not think of a better way to start the New Year than to preach on Biblical Families. I am interested in your comments (yes both positive and negative). I think it was the best sermon I have done so far this year!

We now head into a new study called Divine Discussions. We are going to take a journey together through the passages where Jesus prayed. It is interesting to me that Jesus prayed at all. He was fully God and fully man yet he took a lot of time to be alone with the Father. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They were Jewish and had grown up praying. So the concept was not new to them just like it is not new to us. What they were really asking is teach us how to pray like you pray. That is what we are going to ask God to do for our church in this series. Lord teach us to pray like you pray so that we can enjoy the intimacy that you have with the Father.

I confess that I struggle with prayer. At one point it became a formula for me. Then a friend of mine said, “Frank. Just talk to God like you would talk to your father about stuff. Go to a quiet place and just tell God what is going on in your life.” I know that sounds really simple but it really helped me. Prayer moved from some esoteric formula or ritual to a private and honest discussion with Jesus about “stuff in my life.” Maybe that will help you too or maybe some other advice has moved your prayer life forward and you can share it with us.

I want to thank those who have signed our partnership covenant at SSCC. We will be getting some new information out to our partners soon via email. If you have not joined us as a partner please contact your small group leader and they can help you. Our getting committed classes are on line in video format on our website. Your small group leader has the partnership covenant.

I look forward to seeing you and a friend this weekend as we launch this new series.

Blessings,

Frank

Howdy Partner!

2011-09-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Howdy Partner!

Since I haven’t blogged in a few weeks this one is a bit long. I will get back on my weekly schedule. My prayer is that the Go Fish series has you thinking about allowing God to use you as a lure in the lives of those around you. I am encouraged to hear from several who are writing their letter to the one who fished for them. I know that homework assignments from church are probably unfair but this one is important. Please set aside some time to think about that special person that God used to join his perfect message with your special circumstances. I don’t think you will regret it.

This series is about fishing. Fishing for men. We are to go out and share our experiences (our lure) with those God has prepared. The obvious question though is what do we do when we catch them? Are we prepared as a church to take people from the beginning stage of their relationship with Christ and help them grow? Can we promise them that if they stay at South Shore and stay committed that they will eventually become fully mature replicating disciples of Christ? Are we challenging those who are already here to take the next step in their growth process, even if they resist, or are we allowing them to stagnate? These are penetrating and probing questions that require a good deal of self-examination. When the Elders asked these questions, we came to the conclusion that we have not until recently developed the culture, tools or process to make those promises with confidence. We have been much better at helping people find Jesus than we have at helping them follow Jesus. Those days are over. For about a year, the Elders and Pastors have been strategically planning the new Discipleship Development Program. We are rolling out that program this month and you can review it on our website. We outlined that program at our last quarterly meeting with all of you.

But having the discipleship process, as cool as it is, still doesn’t guarantee the best opportunity for personal growth. There is something more critical than the right process. It involves creating the right culture or “soil” if you will for growth. That soil would encourage personal time with God, a better understanding of His Word, a commitment to prayer, selfless sacrifice, shared experiences and authentic accountability. With that concept in mind, we have been reviewing every ministry and activity that we do at South Shore with a simple question, “If our people do this, and they don’t know Christ will they find Christ? If they are already Christ followers, will this program help them to become more like Him?” If the answer to those two questions is “no” then we have to reassess our commitment to that program. That is a very probing and penetrating question when you really start thinking about it. It begins to clarify our purpose, define our activities and prioritize how we allocate our resources. It helps us to focus on what is most important by replacing what is perhaps good with what is best.

The challenge is that our culture at SSCC has been somewhat scattered. We have had great effort and seen God work in some amazing ways, but we have not always been purposefully focused. We recognize that our church culture needs some definition. So we began the journey of addressing what it means to “Do Life Together” as South Shore. In the Bible, the concept of an agreement or a covenant was commonplace. God made promises to His people, His people made promises to Him and to each other. We turned our attention to the importance of making a commitment to God and to each other. Essentially, we would expect that partnering together to “be the church” would involve a commitment to one another to help each other become more like Christ. By partnering together we agree to allow others to examine our lives, share our experiences, and hold us accountable to our commitment as a follower. In addition, we would commit to the hard work of helping others by doing the same for them. We essentially lock eyes with each other knowing that we are going to make ourselves more presentable to Jesus. By doing life together, we are partnering to love each other and help each other live lives that align with the truth of God’s Word. Then those looking in on our church will see a group of people who live lives that are unique- Christ followers actually following Christ.

The idea of a membership covenant is not new to our church. Since the early days, South Shore has had a membership covenant. The covenant followed South Shore 101 and has been a pre-requisite for leadership and membership in our church. When we merged with Gateway, we blended our covenant and their membership process. Over the last two years the Elders have been planning for a new launch and with a new emphasis we tabled the membership process. If you remember we did a series last year called “True North” where we explored our core doctrines as a church. We had planned to roll out our new partnership at the end of that series but were delayed by the transition. So as we look to the future, we believe that it is time to join our hearts and commit to helping each other become more Christ-like by partnering together.

We see our commitment to each other as a partnership rather than membership. Membership seems to imply a commitment in order to receive benefits and, while we agree there are huge benefits at South Shore, we feel that the term partner better represents what we are doing. Partnership brings with it a commitment to participate, to join together, and to share in a common goal. A partnership involves a closer bond than simply to be a member. Membership implies that I have paid my dues and now deserve my benefits. Partnership implies that I am going to roll up my sleeves and work with you to achieve a common goal. I will combine my resources, talents and gifts with you and we will be as strong as our bond with each other and our commitment to our goal. In this case our commitment to Christ, to each other, and the goal of becoming more Christ-like. So as we look ahead, we will be sharing with you our plans to clarify how we are to partner together to not only “go to church but to be the church.”

Following the “Go Fish” Series, I will teach a series on what it means to be a part of the church. We will spend four weeks exploring our commitment to God, our commitment to our personal faith, our commitment to each other and our commitment to our community. During that series, we will be teaching in our small groups our Getting Connected class and will offer those classes on weekends as well. At the end of that 4-week study, we will offer those who have completed those 4 sessions and who felt led by God to sign South Shore’s Partnership Agreement. We believe that it is critical to our church that we all make a commitment to each other and to God to connect our hearts.

We believe that the most important place where we connect our hearts with Jesus and with each other is in our small group setting. A critical component of becoming Christ-like is to share life together in intimate community. Jesus modeled doing ministry together and developing intimate relationships grounded in our love for God and each other. He took 12 people and shared His life with them. The new church is Acts shared their lives in small clusters. In fact, the churches that Paul wrote to were more like small groups than what we would call churches today.

American Christians, in particular, have become known for doing good works and religious exercises rather than simply being friends and imitators of Christ. But South Shore had a unique start. Friends and imitators of Christ started a small group. Since its inception small groups have been part of our DNA. It is in small groups that we share our lives. develop and encourage the use of our spiritual gifts. We explore the Scriptures together. We share our life experiences. We serve, encourage, support, disagree, hurt, and forgive one another. We protect each other and guard marriages and relationships. It is where we are accountable to others. We pray for one another and celebrate with each other. In small groups we care for one another and serve others. Small groups define biblical community. Our leaders learn to shepherd and teach while others use their gifts of hospitality, mercy, administration, exhortation, and faith among others. Small groups are places where seekers can come to learn more and to experience authentic Christian community. There are critical components of spiritual growth that can only be done in community- smaller intimate community with others. Small groups are fertile soil for personal growth and thus we believe critical to our mission as a church.

The Elders and Pastors believe that active participation in small groups is critical to becoming Christ-like. You can gain knowledge on your own or through sermons, books, and other venues. Knowledge is a crucial step in the growth process, but without the transparency and accountability that occurs in small groups, the information rarely gets converted into personal, congregational, or cultural transformation. We understand that for some participation in small groups may not be possible due to extreme seasons of life but it should be the exception rather than the expected norm. We prefer that everyone connect to a small group even if their attendance and participation is limited during those difficult seasons. During that time, the small group will check on them periodically to make sure they are ok and when that season of life is over, they can reconnect. We get concerned that people pull away from community when they most need it and we just want to make sure that those who have partnered with us are ok. A key component of locking eyes with each other and partnering together is to do so in an intimate, transparent and authentic manner. As SSCC grows the role of the small group becomes even more important to maintain care and community.

As the Elders and Pastors continued to process what God is putting on our hearts, we realized that if we are to be serious about helping people become more like Christ, and we know small groups are a critical element of that process, then we cannot partner together without committing to doing life together in small groups. Our new partnership agreement, for all the reasons above, will ask you to commit to actively participating in small groups. We recognize that this raises the bar a bit but growth requires stretching. New challenges bring new changes. We recognize that some are going to struggle to make this commitment. I want to encourage you to pray about that decision. Sometimes the thing you resist the most is exactly what God is prompting you to do and the resistance is not from Him. By not participating in a small group, not only are you missing out, but others are missing out on the benefits of learning from you and your life experiences. Your participation in small groups benefits both you and those who share life with you. If you choose not to pursue a partnership agreement or choose not to attend the classes, we encourage you to continue to pursue your relationship with Christ at SSCC until such time that God leads you to partner with us or calls you to partner elsewhere. If you are not in a small group, please use the Go Fish series to explore and connect with one. You can check them out on our website and Pastor Randy can help you find the perfect group. If you are in a season of life that precludes commitment to a small group, Pastor Randy or Pastor David can help you navigate those waters as well.

I will continue to expand this concept in the blogs to come and will blow it out more in the sermon series following “Go Fish.” But the measure of our success going forward will be related to the spiritual fruit seen in character change, lifestyle shifts, attitudinal transitions, and spiritual growth and commitments. The soil for that fruit is rooted in our time alone with God and is fertilized in our time together in small groups, worship services, etc. when we are gathered "in His name."

Blessings,

Frank

fburns@southshorechurch.com

"Anything, Anytime, Anywhere God"

2011-08-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

Well we had a great weekend at South Shore. Friday night our students and Pastor Chris had another amazing experience at the Hillsong United concert in Tampa. It seemed like half of our church was at that concert. We all got home around 1am and then reloaded for Impact SRQ: Back to School on Saturday. I hope that you had a chance to experience the Back to School extravaganza: over 200 volunteers, 185 students plus their families, food from ChicFilA and Roy’s (I didn’t know kids even liked sushi), and a sea of orange shirts.

I had the great assignment of walking around to engage and welcome our volunteers and guests. It even gave me time to have my nails painted….and painted….and painted :). Seeing a sea of orange shirts that said, “I am the church”, overwhelmed me. When we designed the slogan and the T-shirts it never dawned on me that when we were facing others and serving them, the slogan would shout the obvious to those looking in. We were the church for Jesus on Saturday and I am so honored to get the opportunity to share the experience with such an amazing group of Christ-followers.

I especially loved seeing each family with a South Shore guide. It demonstrated what I believe is so special about SSCC- our relational DNA driven by servant hearts. You could see the parents immediately relax and engage with the guides. The parents and families became part of the overall experience and you could see their self-esteem and dignity rise as the day progressed. You could also see our guides grow as God stretched them and as they once again realized the blessing of “being the church.”

I think we were all stretched a bit on Saturday. The entire day was a worship experience as our volunteers used the skills, talents, and gifts that God gave them to serve others. Jesus said that He came not to be served by rather to serve others and we were to go and do likewise. When we follow Jesus by modeling His life, He draws us closer to His heart and we become transformed during the process. Saturday was the laboratory for what we have been studying in our “Change of Heart” series. I think many people went to sleep Saturday night more like Jesus than when they woke up Saturday morning because their hearts were changed. I know that the heart of our church is changing. My prayer is that every day we live we can know that our heart and the heart of our church grew closer to Jesus.

While we spent Saturday experiencing local missions, on Sunday we turned our attention to worldwide missions. I hope that you did not sleep in on Sunday because if so you missed a great service. We celebrated what God had done through ImpactSRQ and then Pastor David taught us about what it means to be on mission and to be sent by Jesus. We interviewed through Skype some of the missionaries that we support in Venezuela and Romania. Then Cash Godbold shared with us lessons learned from 50 years serving Christ in Chad, Africa. It was fun to have live discussions with them and allow them to help teach us about what it means to trust God and follow Him. We learned about the 3 A’s: anything, anywhere, and anytime. Have you prayed that prayer to God yet? Then we learned that every one of us was given the direct command by Jesus to go and tell others about Him. I was struck by how intentional our missionaries are about sharing the message. They wake up every day knowing that they went to that mission field, sacrificed a great deal, for one purpose: to tell people about Jesus. We are all on mission. My prayer is that we all wake up each day just as intentional as we head into our mission field. How did your mission go today?

But you have to have the tools right? I mean for many of us it would be easier to go to a foreign country and tell people about Christ than to go next door. Funny how open we can be around strangers and how quiet we can be around those that matter most to us. Well our next series should help. We are going to spend 6 weeks starting September 10^th learning how to tell others about Jesus. As a church we are going to begin a series about fishing for men. We are going to base it on a series from Andy Stanley called “Go Fish” and we will be using his small group materials. During these 6 weeks we are going to ask all the small groups to stay sermon based. I am very excited about what will happen as we learn how God has uniquely crafted us with a life story that He will use to draw others to Him. This series begins the weekend after Labor Day so stay tuned for more details.

Remember this weekend we will continue our study of Greed and we will have +FX at 7pm. This is a great chance to get your kids to invite their friends. We will be reaching out to those families who attended our event on Saturday so pray that they will come back to South Shore to learn more about Jesus. Also join Cash Godbold in praying for 1 million Muslims to find Christ this year. Hopefully his bookmark has a prominent place in your Bible. Please continue to prayerfully process how you can align your giving with God’s purposes and become a prayerful, prioritized, percentage, and progressive giver. Greed 2 this week then on to envy…

Blessings,

Frank

Before The Sun Goes Down

2011-06-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Leaving guilt behind, we have stepped boldly into the topic of anger. This weekend we learned that forgiveness is the antidote to anger. Anger results from an imbalance in the relationship that says, “you owe me!” and the only way to remove anger from our hearts is to cancel the debt- completely. We have all been sent home with the task of taking an anger inventory of our hearts throughout the chapters of our lives and making the effort to close the books on those accounts. I am very excited to hear from many of you how you have felt a release and a freedom from guilt and now from anger as you pursue these steps. Please continue to pray for each other as we do this difficult heart work together.

Next weekend Pastor Steve will show us how anger, revenge, and vengeance impacted the life of a man chronicled in the Old Testament. He failed to fully forgive and a bitter root of vengeance destroyed him and those around him. We have so much to learn from God’s word and Steve is so gifted. Please invite your friends to join us this holiday weekend to learn together what God has for us. Also, I know that the Holiday weekend can be very busy but I want you to make the commitment to attend one of our services this weekend. If you have visitors coming to join you this weekend bring them to South Shore. If you are out of town next weekend I want to encourage you to make visiting a church a priority while you are there. Let’s commit to putting God first in all that we do- even on a holiday weekend.

After we unpack anger we will be moving confidently into Lust. I think you will be a bit surprised by the way we examine lust, particularly if you think it is primarily a “male” sin. This will be another topic that I think would benefit those who are still trying to figure out who Jesus is and if he is going to be a significant part of their life. Please begin to pray about whom God has put in your path for you to invite.

This week we introduced Steve Adams as an elder candidate. Sam and I have had the pleasure of hearing Steve’s heart and praying together to seek God’s will in this matter. Steve and Kay have been part of the South Shore family for six years. We are very excited to let the congregation know what God has been doing in our midst. Please pray for clarity regarding this decision and let Sam or I know if you have any concerns or issues related to Steve Adams as an elder. We encourage you to read the qualifications for elder as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. If there are no obstacles raised from the church or community we will likely have an ordination service for Steve in early August. Please continue to pray that God will rise up additional elders in the near future.

Please keep South Shore’s transition team in your prayers as they continue to seek God regarding the role of lead pastor in our church. Tammy and I will join them next week and we will all explore together what God is doing. We are all confident that God will speak clearly and reveal His will to us. No worries…just faith. The transition team will keep you updated as the process unfolds.

Also, I want to thank you for sacrificing so that God’s work can continue at South Shore. These have been very difficult times for us. We will likely finish our year about $100,000 behind where we planned to be. Fortunately we have been able to make adjustments along the way and are looking ahead to challenges in the year to come. For those of you who have remained faithful in your giving, thank you. My prayer is that God will bless you and your family for your sacrifice. I know that some have forgone vacations and other planned expenses to help our church and we are so grateful. Please keep our Leadership Team in prayer as we plan for our next fiscal year that starts in September. We are excited to depend upon God for our ministry needs. It is a great step of faith and growth experience for all of us.

Stay on your knees, stay in the Word, remember at South Shore we don’t go to church…we are the church. Thank you for serving Him this week.

Blessings,

Frank

Guilt Free and Now Looking Forward to Anger

2011-06-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last two weeks looking at what God teaches us about guilt and how it impacts our relationships. I have heard from several people that the work to rid guilt is difficult but they are taking those steps of confession and feeling a burden lifted in their hearts. My prayer every week is that the sermons we preach will motivate people to act on what they have learned. God’s word tells us that we will be transformed by a renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We don’t preach sermons just to transfer information. Our goal is to inspire those who listen to change something in their lives so that they can become more Christ-like. Lessons like the one we learned on guilt help us to understand where we stand with God’s plan for our transformation. You don’t really know where you stand until He asks you to do something as difficult as confessing your sins to the person you have harmed. My prayer is that we can all put aside our excuses and live life the way Christ wants us to. Our “Change of Heart” series is now well underway with guilt behind us and anger on the horizon.

This weekend Pastor Steve taught us some life lessons about guilt from David. If you missed that sermon it is waiting for you online J. We learned a great deal about the consequences that result from ignoring horizontal confession and we will all also look at our shoelaces a bit differently. Have you ever stopped to think about how God has gifted Pastor Steve? He is amazing. Period. I am so thankful that we get to collaborate on our sermons and this series highlights that process. God has blessed our church with many gifted teachers and I am so thankful that Steve leads our teaching and discipleship programs. I wish each of you could see just how focused Steve is on wanting all of us to learn the amazing truths of God’s word. His enthusiasm is contagious. His knowledge is…deep.

While we are on that topic, I just want to share what an amazing blessing it is to be allowed to lead our pastors. They make me look really good. I was watching them this weekend just do what comes naturally for them to do. They are so gifted and they don’t even fully realize it. Pastor Chris was hanging with students and diving through a foam pit slip and slide. They had just returned from what must have been an amazing summer trip to Tennessee. You could feel the closeness of that group and how they bonded with each other and their leaders. We will share their stories with everyone soon. (I heard the previews and they were amazing). Then Pastor Randy at the welcome center was laughing, breaking fingers with his handshake, and cracking ribs with his hug. His laugh is infectious and he wants more than anything else for our church family and visitors to feel welcome, honored, and valued. His tireless service inspires us all. Pastor David has a heart that quietly guides and reassures all of us with Christ’s love. You just know that those in crisis, those who are dealing with illnesses and those who are in the day to day struggles of life will find comfort and reassurance when they sit down with David and he listens with his heart. We are all so blessed at South Shore to be led and loved by these men. Please take time this week to thank God for them and let them know how much you love and appreciate them. Ministry is very hard work and they ride on your prayers and kind words.

We had our planning meeting for the upcoming Back to School event on August 6^th. As we mentioned in that meeting, we are changing the name to better reflect our desire as a church family to come alongside these families year round. This is not just a back to school event for us- it is a year-round commitment to be there for them. Thus you will see our new logo soon for “ImpactSRQ/Back to School.” We will have several ImpactSRQ events throughout the year. All of South Shore’s local ministries will fall under this banner. We are excited to make some changes to our Back to School event this year that will help these families by not only providing much needed resources, but also encouraging them to join us each week to learn about Jesus. ImpactSRQ/Back to School will be one of the highlights of our year and if you are new to SSCC, you do not want to miss this amazing day. Rearrange our plans to be there and you will thank us later. Sign up is underway and we need you, so contact Mark Daniels to get involved. (mdaniels@southshorechurch.com). Also we are making our final push to try raise the funds to buy the gift cards for clothes and shoes. Please make every effort that you can to contribute for these kids and encourage your friends and co-workers to do the same.

This week we turn our attention to our hearts once again and begin to unpack the problem and antidote for anger. We all deal with anger and in fact God’s word tells us to get angry. So plan to join us this weekend to learn how we are to use anger in a manner that honors God and keeps our hearts clean. I know I have hoarded anger in my heart and these lessons really helped me to address what I had ignored for years. I am looking forward to this next heart lesson for our church. Please bring a friend this weekend. These life lessons from God’s word can help everyone who hears them.

As always, stay on your knees and in the Word. Remember at South Shore, we don’t go to church…we are the church.

Until next week. Blessings,

Frank

Guilt Free Living- We can do this!

2011-06-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

I am praying for all of us this week as we choose to do life God’s way and use confession, particularly horizontal confession, to begin to balance our relationships and rid guilt from our hearts. My prayer is that South Shore can make confession to each other a normal part of our daily interactions. That we would be a people who respond to guilt as a vital sign, a prompting from Jesus, that we have hurt someone and need to respond to them immediately. It is one of the keys to unity as a church family. I am looking forward to how this series is going to change hearts at South Shore.

This weekend we are going to look at a story in the Old Testament where the response to guilt both vertically (to God) and horizontally (to others) had some interesting ramifications. I think it will help us to take if you will what we learned in the classroom and see it played out in the laboratory of life. I think it helps us to see that even David, who God said was a man after his own heart, struggled with the way he managed guilt. I am very excited for us to continue to learn these heart lessons that God has for us. I have heard from many of you that the timing of this series has been perfect and you are seeing God work in your lives. Praise God!

I am excited to help lead us as a church to our knees. We announced some changes this weekend to position ourselves to connect with God. We are now going to make the Sanctuary available for prayer during the 30 minutes prior to our worship services (5pm on Sat night and 10am on Sunday morning). We want to provide a quiet and reflective environment that encourages people to best prepare their hearts for the worship experience. In addition, we have opened up a prayer room adjacent to the Café where members of our prayer team will be available during and after our services to pray with those who desire to do so. Over the next few weeks we will begin to use Twitter on a more frequent basis to encourage prayer and to communicate urgent prayer requests. We also have some ideas of using our bus to go on prayer trips through our community. We will be doing everything that we can think of to encourage our people to join us for our monthly prayer service on Saturday nights. I believe this is the most important gathering that we have at our church. Come on South Shore let’s stay on our knees.

After both of our services this weekend we will have a meeting in the Sanctuary for South Shore’s Annual Back to School event on August 6^th. For those who have not experienced this day in the past it is one of South Shore’s “don’t miss” events. You can check out the video on the front page of our website. It takes over 100 volunteers to make this day happen and we definitely need you. Also, this is a great opportunity for families to serve together. Please make every effort to attend these meetings (Sat. @7 or Sun@12) to sign up and get involved.

Please keep Pastor Chris, our youth leaders and our students in your prayers as they spend the week in Tennessee. Pray that they will not only have a great time and safe travel, but that each has a unique and undeniable life-transforming encounter with God. Ask God to use them in a major way to impact those they encounter and each other. We can’t wait to hear the stories of what God has done when they return and then watch our students live out what they learn. God is good all the time.

Finally, I want to thank each of you for financially contributing to what God is doing at South Shore. We are finalizing our ministry spending plan for next year and have some major challenges ahead of us. We are reviewing all of our ministries to see how we can streamline them and make adjustments. This time of year is always a stressful time for our Elders, Pastors, Executive Team, and Leadership Team. We are learning to do what we can do today and trust Jesus with our future. Please keep our leaders in prayer as we seek God’s guidance regarding His plans for South Shore’s next ministry year that starts in August. Please pray for all involved and thanks once again for sacrificing to help SSCC accomplish the mission given to us. I can’t think of a better investment.

Blessings,

Frank

Your Cardiologist will see you now

2011-06-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

We have started our summer series called “Change of Heart” and I believe that this series will be a milestone for many of us on our spiritual journey. If you were unable to attend services this weekend, I encourage you to listen to the sermon on line and join us next week for this series. We have an opportunity to become more transparent with Christ and to pursue His solution for the things that we may have hoarded in our hearts. It is going to take courage, trust and perseverance but I believe that the rewards are great. One of the things that I love about Jesus is that He loves us enough to show us what is wrong but He never leaves us there. In addition to showing us areas of our lives where we have been blind, He also shows us the solution to remedy the problem. That is what makes Him the Great Cardiologist. His instructions are filled with love, understanding and compassion- they are always perfect. Jesus wants to work with us to cure what He knows resides in our hearts. I believe that God wants to do some heart work in our church. He came here to set us free! Praise God that our condition is curable when we know Christ.

This series is going to require that we lean on and hold each other up in prayer. God gave us a church family in order to strengthen us and to do together what we would not dare do alone. I also want to encourage all of us to share these experiences together and to help each other. Please pray for one another as we go through this series and ask God to help all of us become more honest, transparent and vulnerable. God is doing some amazing heart work in our church. It started with the Walk with Jesus series, continued in the Don’t Worry Be Happy series, and now moves another step forward in this series, Change of Heart.

Those who joined us for our 7pm prayer and communion service on Saturday night can attest to what God does when His people pray. I believe that this service is the most important time that we have together as a church family. Our church will rise and fall based on the desperation that we have for Jesus. He will do amazing things through us and amongst us if we are humble, broken, dependent and desperate for Him. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. Our prayer service will be the measure of what God is doing in our church. We are desperate for personal, corporate and community wide revival and I believe that it starts in this service with a cry of desperation for God to move in our midst. God responds to the cry of His people. In the next few months, you will see us increasing the prominence of prayer in everything that we do at South Shore. Please stay on your knees each day and plan to join us for our next prayer service.

Speaking of prayer, we are seeking God’s direction regarding the Senior Pastor role. Pray for the transition team and our church leaders as we seek God’s face regarding this issue and many others. Doing life together is one of the greatest blessings that God gives His people. I am so proud of our church because what bonds us together is so much stronger than who God chooses to serve as our lead pastor. It is one of the measures of our collective spiritual maturity as a church. God will speak and we will follow, together, as a church family. Please continue to pray with thanksgiving that God has given us each other and thousands of memories together over the years. We look backwards and see His faithfulness and it gives us confidence to trust Him with the future. No worries…just great expectations.

Stay on your knees. Stay in the Word. Remember we don’t go to church. We are the church. Hold your thoughts captive this week,

Blessings,

Frank

Meeting with your boss

2011-05-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. We have been praying for you. Praying that you have been able to replace worry with prayer and put God’s kingdom and plans ahead of your own. One of the things that I wanted to share with you is that this has not been a lesson just for us individually but also for our church. Like each of us, our church faces a future that is full of opportunity and challenges. This series has been a reminder to all of us on the leadership team to trust God with the future of our church. As leaders we are doing all that we know to do today and trusting that God will meet us in the tomorrows of our church. We are in good hands; actually the very best hands and we trust that God will take care of us. Thus we look to the future with confidence that God will be with us. God has great plans for South Shore and we are going to live in every moment without fear of what tomorrow may hold. We are excited to get to take this journey with all of you. It is going to be a great ride.

The next step in our journey is a series we have named, “Change of Heart.” We are going to look at issues that all of us have in our hearts. I think people will find this series to be freeing. Over the next few months, we will address in order: Guilt, Anger, Lust, and Greed. This series will begin this week with an overview of where we are going. It is a great opportunity to invite your friends. Our desire is to take each of these sins and address them much like we did with worry. Our prayer is that God will use this series to renew our minds, to see our hearts from God’s perspective and through that process to become transformed and more like Christ. So please make every effort to join us and invite others to do the same.

Our Memorial Day cookout and potluck were a lot of fun. It is great to be able to spend time together as a church family and catch up on all that God is doing in our families, work and at church. I think our love for each other is palpable during our social time and God says it is that unique love for each other that draws others to Him. Let’s commit to never taking for granted the blessing of doing life together. I couldn’t imagine my life without our SSCC family. It is a gift from God.

This weekend at 7pm we will have our First Saturday service. It will be a service focused on prayer and community. We will share communion in this service as well. We are looking for a new name for this service that represents prayerful connection with God, so if you have any ideas please email them to me. Jim Cymbala, the pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle had a great comment in his book Fresh Wind Fresh Fire. He said that if you want to know how popular the church is come to the worship service on Sunday morning. If you want to know how popular the Senior Pastor is come to the service on Sunday night. But if you want to know how popular Jesus is come to the prayer meeting. So at SSCC, our First Saturday service at 7pm will be the barometer that we use over time to measure how close our church is to Jesus and how well we are doing in our spiritual maturity process. Please make every effort to join us this Saturday for both of our services and for food and fellowship afterwards. Our church must make prayer the priority of all that we do.

I say this every week but I want to make sure that everyone in our church family is on their knees and in the Word. We have tried to put the tools that you need in your hands. Every week we produce a daily reading bookmark. In addition, we record daily SOAR devotionals. These devotionals are 5-7 minutes and are uploaded on our website and linked on Facebook each day. In addition you can download a SOAR journal page to help you journal what God is teaching you. There are many other ways to draw closer to God on your knees and in the Word. I just want to encourage you to block time with God each day and make that time a priority and non-negotiable. Our pastors block one hour each day of uninterrupted time with God as their highest priority of the day. We block it out on our schedule and nothing takes its place. All of us at SSCC need to function through the power that comes from time alone with God. If you haven’t tried it, prioritize time with God each day and perhaps commit to our SOAR program for one month and see what God does in your life? Just a thought.

Until next week, stay on your knees, stay in the Word, and remember at South Shore we don’t go to church….

Blessings,

Frank

Lots going on, but don't worry about it.

2011-05-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well we are two weeks into our series on “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” This is a critical week for us as Jesus has given us the solution to worry and now it is our turn to change based on what we have learned. I am praying that our church will fall on our knees and seek God’s perspective and His kingdom over ours. Let’s work this week on getting closer to God in prayer and ending every conversation with “thy will Lord, not mine.” When we can embrace that truth our lives will become transformed, our worry will shrink, and we can live in the moment without fear of the future. Remember, this is our opportunity to shine for Jesus in the midst of fearful circumstances in our community and nation. It is time for us to go “be the church” by embracing the future worry free.

This coming week we are going to look at a fascinating story in 1 Kings about Elijah and how worry impacted him. We will look at a very interesting question that God asks him, “What are you doing here?” Please plan to join us as we close out this series this weekend. If you have friends that you want to invite feel free to do so. We will recap what we have learned so they will be able to jump in and learn with us. We have been receiving some great feedback on how God is impacting people through this series. Please continue to let us know your stories so that we can celebrate with you and thank God for all that He does.

Our summer series will start during the first week of June. We are going to look at the 7 Deadly Sins: envy, greed, gluttony, pride, wrath, lust, and slothfulness. We will explore each of these in two-week blocks. The first week will explore one of these sins and what God has to say about it. The second week we will look at an Old Testament story, see how that particular sin impacted the people involved and what God has to teach us about that sin. This will be a great opportunity for us to evaluate and examine our lives as we explore God’s standard. I am very excited about this series and I think you guys will love it. It will be a great opportunity for you to invite your friends, family and coworkers. Everyone can learn something about these sins that we all struggle with and I believe God has specific lessons for each of us to learn together. Put on your seatbelts, we are diving in!

This week Michael Ortiz started a 4-week series on the book of Romans. He is a gifted teacher and it is not too late to join the class. They meet every Sunday morning at 9am. Please make every opportunity to join this class and allow God to open up one of the most informative books of the Bible. It is often said that if Christians were to study one book of the Bible it should be Romans. So…class is in session, get your Bibles, and get up early on Sunday. We will have coffee for you and look forward to seeing you there.

Baptism classes are underway and we would love for you to join us. Pastor Steve has developed a new curriculum that will answer every question that you have about baptism. Baptism is the first step of obedience for all Christ followers. If you have not been baptized since making your decision to follow Christ this class is for you. If you aren’t sure or you just want to learn about baptism you can join us as well. Follow us on Facebook or contact Pastor David Cooper for more details. Don’t wait, classes start in the next week or so.

We are putting the finishing touch on our new class called “Getting Acquainted.” Pastor Steve has done a great job of producing this curriculum. This class replaces the old “South Shore 101” class. It will be the next step for those who are new to our church after the New Attenders Welcome Dinner. You will see the first class posted soon and we will announce it on Facebook, our website and through email. If you have never been to South Shore 101 or if you have been and can’t remember what we talked about J plan to join us! Details on this class will follow soon.

This week we introduced the Transition Team to the church during our services. Please keep them in prayer as we collectively seek God’s will regarding the position of Senior Pastor in our church. This team will come alongside the elders as they discern God’s desires. Please keep the members of the team in prayer:,Tate Taylor, Christina Russell, Judy Wright, Anne Marshall, Ed Stroop, Steve Adams, Kathy Ortiz, Bruce Killian, Sam Erb, Steve Palm, David Cooper, Randy Miller and Christy Smith.

We are finishing our vetting process for a new elder and will be presenting him to the church in the next month or so for consideration. The process involves several steps. First, the new potential elder is vetted by the current Elders and interviewed with their spouse. Second, the potential elder shadows the current elders for a month or so and we collectively explore what God is revealing. We are currently in that step. Third, the elder is presented to the church for consideration. At that point, members of the church or those in the community can contact the current elders with any issues or concerns related to that individual. We generally allow about 30 days for those comments or concerns to surface. The final step is the Elder Ordination Service where the church lays hands on the new elder and ordains them for this service to God. We are constantly praying for new elders and have three others considering and praying to see if God is calling them to this role. Stay tuned for details and please keep this process in prayer.

Please continue to keep God’s work at South Shore in your prayers. See what God is prompting you to sacrifice for His purposes. We are so blessed to be able to serve others with our time, talent and treasure. God has our church on mission and we have so many plans that will unfold as God leads us and we collectively provide the resources. The challenges are many but the mission is critical. Please pray and make sure that you are obedient to what God has asked you to do as part of this church family. He promises that we will be blessed for our faith.

I look forward to seeing all of you this weekend as we close out the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” series. On Saturday night we have planned a Memorial Day cookout at 7pm. On Sunday morning we will have a potluck after the 10:30 worship service. If you are coming to the potluck bring something yummy for about 7-8 people. Both Saturday and Sunday this week will be great invites. The worship service will relate to everyone and food is well…nice. See you this weekend.

Blessings,

Frank

On your mark, get set, don't worry

2011-05-16T04:35:00.001-07:00

This has been another great week at South Shore. God is so good to us. On Friday night we served over 160 meals and our Dinner and a Show. The last KidsOwn Klubhouse show was fun, Pastor Chris was hilarious and the best part was that parents and kids learned together what God teaches wants us to know about forgiveness. As you know we have changed the name to +FX and moved the show to Saturday Nights at 7pm so that our entire church can experience it together. I think the adults get more out of this family experience than the kids do. Even if you don’t have children, please plan to stick around after the 5:30 services and experience +FX on the 2^nd and 4^th Saturday’s of the month.

Our new Saturday night schedule starts this weekend. The 7pm service will be our High School graduation ceremony. Every person in our church has played a role in raising our high school seniors. We stand together and promise as a church that we will support and be there with them when they are dedicated as babies and children. Now we get a chance to keep that commitment and stand together to celebrate this milestone in their lives. Let’s pack the house on Saturday night at 7pm to let the seniors know that we are proud of them, to support their parents, to support all the volunteers who have served in student ministries, and to thank God for his faithfulness. The 7pm service will be fun with plenty of embarrassing baby photos. We look forward to seeing everyone there this Saturday at 7pm.

On June 4^th we will have a baptism service during the 7pm slot of Saturday night. If you have not been baptized since making your decision to follow Christ or want to learn more about baptism, we have 2 baptism classes that are required prior to getting baptized. Those classes start almost immediately, so please contact Pastor Dave Cooper as soon as possible this week. (dcooper@southshorechurch.com or call the church office 362-3142). The first step of obedience for every Christ follower is to make a public declaration of your faith through baptism. I encourage everyone to attend this service as the testimonies of life change are powerful motivators and serve as a celebration of God’s amazing grace.

Last Sunday night we had a great time at Sarah’s Place celebrating our volunteers. We had about 120 crazed bunko players and enjoyed a great meal. It was a huge blessing for me to look out over the room and see all the gifted and special people that God has brought to South Shore. You guys inspire me and I pray that God allows you to see just how special each of you are and how blessed we are to be able to do life together. I pray that we never take for granted what it means to be in a loving church family. I wish everyone could have experienced the love that was in that room. I think God smiled. If you were unable to attend, we missed you but will have another similar night in the near future.

We have now taken a dive into the pool to see what God has to teach us about worry. I have heard from so many of you that this is a timely and necessary series. The first week we unpacked the problem and began to look at the solution that Jesus offers us. I think we are all paying a little more attention to the birds and flowers today and hopefully pulling back to get a better perspective of what God is doing in our lives. If you missed week one, please go online and listen to it so that next week you will be caught up. I don’t know of very many people who would not be blessed by learning about what Jesus says about how to manage stress and worry. Please pray this week that God will put people in your path and that you will have the courage to invite them to join us. We will recap week one during the sermon this week and cover the solution that Jesus offers to worry. Those you invite will be able to catch up quickly. I believe that what God has to say about worry and anxiety has the potential to be life changing for all of us and those we invite if we can embrace it, look Jesus in the eyes, trust Him and fall backwards. Pray that God will give you that kind of faith this week and in the weeks that follow.

On Tuesday the 24^th our students will once again be raising money though a Spaghetti Dinner night at Sarah’s place. We had a great turn out last time and you guys were so supportive. Please mark your calendar’s once again to help our students raise funds for their summer trip. By the way, our students seem to have very promising futures as waiters and waitresses.

We are continuing to pray that God will release the resources to allow us to continue our ministries and reach our community. We recognize that these are difficult times and yet it is during difficult times that God’s work is most effective. We serve a community that is looking for hope, peace and security. They are realizing that what they thought would bring security did not provide what they were looking for. Thank God that we have the answer and we are perfectly positioned to help them. Thank you for sacrificing so that we can enhance our efforts to help you reach your friends, family, coworker and neighbors. Together we can each do our part to make sure that SSCC is the light for our community that shines brightly on Jesus. Please continue to help us through your sacrifice of treasure, time and talent.

If you are not in a small group, get in one. Stop making excuses and go. We now have cards at the Welcome Center that give details of each group sorted by the night of the week they meet. Come on you will thank us later for pushing you to make this step.

Well that is probably enough for this week. It is an honor and blessing to be allowed by God to serve and lead you as you serve and lead others. Have a great week and know that you are cherished and loved by your Heavenly Father and by your church pastors and staff. Have a great week.

Blessings,

Frank

Celebrate Good Times

2011-05-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

May 12, 2011

Well the “Walk with Jesus” series has ended and we are getting some amazing reports of life change and transformation as a result of what God is doing in our midst. Many have found our church on the Internet and have told us that this series was “designed just for them.” Isn’t God amazing? I met one woman who drove by one Saturday at 5:00 and decided to attend because she saw our sign. Her life had been turned upside down and she was facing some serious challenges. I wish every person at SSCC could have heard her describe the love and acceptance that she felt the moment that she walked into our doors. She had never experienced that kind of love before. She told me that this series has been a literal lifesaver for her as she has reconnected with Christ and found hope. I know another person who told me that the sermon on the hemorrhaging woman was written just for her. She came into our church and felt as though each word was spoken directly from God to her heart. She has felt embraced and loved and over a few short months, SSCC has become her family. There are so many stories. Our God and you guys are amazing! I am so honored and blessed to serve you as you allow Jesus to shine through all that you do. I want to encourage you to stay bold for Him. It is so easy to take the love and acceptance of a church family for granted. We must always remember how what we experience each weekend is like an oasis for those who have been wandering in the desert. We have found the living water and live in it daily. We are so blessed to get to share it.

Our Volunteer Appreciation Night is at Sarah’s Place (Nightlife) this Sunday. We are just going to get together and have some fun. Rather than doing an annual Volunteer Banquet, we have decided to do 3-4 Volunteer Appreciation Fun Nights each year. Please join us for some games, food and laughter. God has given SSCC and amazing army of volunteers and we want to come together and celebrate what He is doing.

We continue our focus on our Assimilation Process. We are working very hard to make sure those who are new to SSCC feel welcomed, loved and encouraged to take their next step in their spiritual journey. We are connecting with them through thank you cards, phone calls and emails. As you probably know we are also doing a Newcomer’s Welcome Dinner every other month or so in order to allow them to meet our pastors. You guys are doing an amazing job at making sure that people are welcomed when they come to our services and events. Please scan the crowds when you are with us on weekends and meet anyone that you don’t know or who seems alone or withdrawn. Don’t depend upon someone else to do it. We need to embrace all who are hurting and allow Jesus to work through us.

We are excited that our Single Mom’s Bible study that Linda Kelleher started in now being done at the Salvation Army on a weeknight. It is so great to see how Linda and her team have grown as they have obeyed what God has placed on their hearts. So many single moms have learned to do life God’s way and now those people are taking what they have learned to others. Praise God that He allows us to share in what He is doing. What has God laid on your heart?

We will start our three-week series on “Don’t Worry Be Happy” this weekend. We will be exploring fear, worry, anxiety, concern and all things similar. It will be a fun and yet challenging series. I have been praying that in some way it will help us refocus on Christ and live lives that look confidently to the future. Please invite those who you meet each day. All of us are eager to learn how to manage stress and anxiety and Jesus’ solution is not found in any of the self-help books or seminars. His answer is unique, profound and of course, life changing. Please join us for this incredible series.

Thank you for sacrificing so that we can continue to launch new ministries, support our missionaries around the world and engage our community with a life-changing message. We know that it is difficult but you have stepped up and we have noticed an improvement in our giving, volunteer efforts, and inviting. We are still challenged and have significant obstacles to watch God manage, but you are committed and we feel it and see it. We are praying each day for revival- that God would move in a major way through us as we remain obedient to Him. All of what we do starts with transformed hearts. Thank you for loving Him and showing it.

Our new schedule change on Saturday nights begins May 21^st. We know that we have given a lot of information to process so if you want the simple version, plan to join us for both services on Saturday nights and then for food and fellowship afterwards. On the 21^st we will have our High School graduation service at 7pm. On the 28^th (Memorial Day weekend) we will have a cookout at 7pm. The following week will be a Baptism service at 7pm, then our +FX (family experience) at 7pm, etc. We will keep you posted but please plan to be a part of all that is going on at SSCC. For our Sunday morning folks, we will have a potluck after the service on Memorial Day weekend. We encourage you to attend and bring something healthy and yummy.

Please pray for the transition team as they begin to meet this week. We will keep you all posted on what God is doing in that area. That is probably enough for now. See you all this weekend with your friends.

Blessings,

Frank

Orange you wondering?

2011-05-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

May 1, 2011

Wow, I wish we could have taken our entire church to the Orange Conference in Atlanta. I thank God that we were able to miss the tornadoes that came through Atlanta on Wednesday night and our prayers are continuous for those who have been impacted. The Orange Conference is a leadership conference that focuses on aligning efforts of the church to join parents as the spiritual leaders in their homes. The conference has changed somewhat over the 4 years that we have been attending as they have expanded their focus to include students and young college age adults. Our team was amazing this year. Daryl and the kids needed Pastor Chris at home and I am so thankful to lead a team of pastors who put their families first. I know that Chris really wanted to join his team for this experience. Those who went included: Steve and Kay Adams, David and Donna Leach, Tammy and I, Sue Whetzel, Linda Kelleher, Ralph Lindeman, Matt Ferguson, Steve Palm, Lesa Stroop, Gail Lynch, and Charlie Miller. Be sure and ask them about what they experienced at Orange this year. Obviously I had time to pray while reclining on the grass....

Our mission statement is “to help people find and follow Jesus Christ” and this week we will be making some scheduling changes to better position us to do so. Stay tuned details to follow this weekend and in the next blog.

This weekend we will complete our “Walk with Jesus” series. It has been an amazing journey as we have been able to watch as Jesus moves from one divine encounter to another and reveals truths that are directly applicable to our lives. The sermon this weekend will explore the encounter that the resurrected Jesus had with Peter on a beach over a campfire. I have titled it “Do You Love Me?”

If God had impacted you in some way during this series I would love to hear about it. Would you please email me with your stories? fburns@southshorechurch.com.

Our next series will be a 3 week series called “Don’t Worry Be Happy” as we will look at what God tells us in His word about anxiety and worry. This series should be a great invite for us. Even those who don’t know God or don’t usually come to church will enjoy this series. It will be very seeker friendly, but will challenge Christ followers to change as well. Everyone suffers from worry and almost all are interested in ways to reduce it. Most people just want a pill, trust me I know, but God has a different solution. Please invite your friends, family, coworkers and neighbors to explore worry with us.

Until next week…

Frank