Southland Christian Church

We want to share some more good news about following God's leading at Lexington Mall.  Yesterday, we filed an Amended Develop Plan with the LFUCG Division of Planning.  This process is the next step in getting the city’s blessing on how we intend to develop the property.  It includes stuff like demolishing the existing one-story portion of the mall and building a new 2,800 seat auditorium. We’d want to renovate the Dillards building, work on developing parking and traffic flow and establish a green space and stream leading to a reconfigured pond with its own water feature. 

This is the culmination of a lot of work that has gone on behind the scenes over the last six weeks with our consultants.  We can’t actually develop the property until we go through this important step, which can take six weeks to… well, more than six weeks. There’s no way to know for sure.

So how can you help?  Just pray we have done a good job addressing the needs of community around the Lexington Mall as well as the needs of our potential third campus.  We’re excited to unpack more vision starting this coming weekend in our services.

There's still time to sign up to volunteer at the World Equestrian Games this year. It would be a great way to serve the city as the whole world is watching. Like we mentioned before, If you're interested in serving at the WEG's (It's fun to say that out loud... "WEG." Come on. Try it.) just visit their volunteer page of the website.

Since we last talked about the WEGs, we've heard of a few more ways to serve. There are additional service opportunities through the official WEG website and also to serve with the organization Affiliated International Ministries.

We've also been told that the Horse Park is open for prayer walks any day of the week after 4pm. You can walk the circular drive there and pass the main outdoor stadium, indoor arena and other venues and pray for the thousands of people who will be coming to occupy those facilities. There will be a huge contingent of Muslim attendees at the games. Pray that they would see and experience the love of God as displayed in the lives of all the believers who sign up to serve. Bring your Life Group and pray together!

If any Life Groups want to go out and do services projects, there are many tasks on the “to do” list. Cindy Rullman at the Horse Park could help you get connected with a service project. You can reach her at cindy.rullman@ky.gov.

Well, school is back in full swing. What could you do to break up the mundane misery of going from class to class to class? We'd perhaps suggest that you join us for our Student Ministries Kick-Off events at our Harrodsburg Road campus. They're so packed with fruit flavor that we had to spread them out over two weeks. What does this mean for you? It means you have something on your calendar beyond homework and soccer practice. Grab a friend and come. We'd love to see you there.

Student ministries at the Danville Campus are having their fall launch on Wednesday September 8 at 7:00pm. This night will be the first of many worship experiences for all middle school and high school students this school year.

For nearly five years, I was blessed to be a part of the Children's Ministry team here at Southland. There are stories on top of stories involving everything from dropping stuff off the roof to standing in front of eager kids listening to the Gospel. My favorite experiences, though, were the scenarios that allowed me to walk through baptism with parents and kids. As a parent of three, I know that sometimes kids will ask me a question that I simply don't have the answer for. And the prospect of messing up my kid's choice for baptism is something that brings a lot of pressure. Kidsplash is an event designed to engage parents and kids. It helps you, the parent, answer the tough questions and it pulls everything down to a kid's level for them. If your child has been asking questions about baptism, this is the event for you. If you're not sure, just come. The info in the class is perfect to begin the talks, not just seal the deal. We'd love to see you there. For more info, check out the Calendar or contact Wende.

-Derrick

Deets is a word all the cool kids are using these days because they don't have the time or energy to pronounce all the syllables in the word "details." Now that I've taken an entire sentence to explain deets, it might have made more sense to just type details.

So here's the deets on the backpack program this year. There are a few different ways you can serve.

Food Program

• Backpack sorting, packing, delivery or pickup.
• Backpack Buddies – commit to corresponding with a student for the year. Contact Karen if interested.

Encouragement Team

• Group meets monthly on Saturday mornings to prepare projects & encouraging notes for teachers & staff at schools. 

In School Volunteers

• Warner Elementary – Mentoring, tutoring and volunteering in the classroom.
• Mentoring at Tates Creek Elementary
• Tutoring at Tates Creek Elementary

Food Donations

The following items are acceptable to donate to the Backpack Program:

• Fruit cups
• Applesauce cups
• Vegetable cups
• Individual microwaveable meals
• Instant oatmeal
• Granola bars
• Pudding cups
• Shelf stable individual milk or soymilk boxes
• Precooked rice cups/packets
• Instant soups
• Raisins
• Peanut butter/cheese crackers

You can drop off donations to the following locations:

• In bins outside Building E Worship Center before/after services
• In the dropoff room in Building M between 8am-8pm daily

Please remember that there should be no glass, cans, family-size items or perishables.

It's an exciting time to be a student. Not because school started this Wednesday, which we know you're very excited about. It's because next Wednesday, August 18, is the first of two fall kickoff services for the Harrodsburg Road campus. Both nights will be packed with music. Jon Weece is speaking on the 18, and Michelle Frank is speaking on the 25. So if you're in middle school or high school, tell all your friends and yourself to come out to Building B on Wednesday night at 7:00. You can grab all the details here.

And remember, future events for student ministry are always available on the Harrodsburg Road calendar and Danville calendar respectively.

Our student ministries team took 15 seniors away for a leader retreat this past weekend.  We spent time with them and really challenged them to be involved, invested, and use their influence for Kingdom over this next year.  As seniors, they have amazing potential in so many ways.  This retreat was for the purpose of community, discipleship, praying over them, and building relationships.  It was a success and we cannot wait to see how the Lord uses them to invade their schools, teams, homes, and community—with HIS love! For info on our High School ministry, just contact Mallory.

Earlier this year I took my oldest daughter to see her first movie in the theater, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakel. What a blast to experience a theater through the eyes of someone who had never been. On the way home the two of us couldn't stop talking about this memorable experience we shared together. Months later we still quote the movie and have inside jokes because of this afternoon in a matinee. I'm so glad I didn't miss out.

As much fun as it is to share a memorable first experience like this with my daughter, how much greater will it be to share the wonder of when she first discovers the love of Jesus for herself. That's why we have an event at Southland called "Kid Splash" designed for elementary kids and their parents to experience the story of Jesus' love together.

If your child has been asking questions about baptism, heaven or what it means to follow Jesus, then Kid Splash is the place for you. At Kid Splash you and your child will share a memorable experience as we walk families through the story of God's plan of salvation and give you next steps to help you process it at home. Your family will have fun together, and won't be able to help talking about what you learned on the drive home. Our goal at Kids Splash is to simply help your family begin the conversation about your child's faith and to give you a common language and practical tools to continue the conversation for weeks to come.

Kid Splash will be Tuesday, Aug. 17th from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Building C at the Harrodsburg Road campus. To register for this free event, contact Wende.

We’re still in this “due diligence” phase of the contract we have on the Lexington Mall property. And even though there aren’t any major items worth throwing out to the masses, we would like to remind you all to be in prayer. Somewhere along the discussions about purchasing this property we were given a beautiful word illustration. It went something like this...

“What if you’re going ice fishing? If you only cut a hole in the ice that’s 3” wide, you’re not going to catch a fish any bigger than that. You’re setting yourself up for a small catch. If you want to catch a whale, you better cut a bigger hole in the ice.”

There’s no question that this is a whale-sized hole in the ice. God has set us up in such an awesome way, we’ve got to continually hit our knees in response. It’s like Ephesians3:14-14 says, “My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives it’s name.” The Lexington Mall is an opportunity for that family, God’s family, to grow. We hope that you’ll join us in responding in prayer.

Pray for our leadership. Pray for the process. Pray for God’s glory to always be the centerpiece to this decision.

Thanks for walking this journey with us.

We're excited to say that Chris Tomlin is on his way to Southland for October 20. Tomlin’s stuff is music that we use and encounter God with almost weekly here at Southland. If you think you’d be interested in coming, and trust us, you’ll want to come, they are offering Southlanders a presale ticket at 10% off August 9-12. Just click here to purchase your tickets (wait until the August 9, of course) and use the password "hellolove." You can also 1-800-861-0850 and use the same password. The tickets will go quickly, so you've got to be quicker!

Here's a great opportunity for you to serve an organization Southland loves.  Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) is a campus ministry at UK that reaches college students in lots of ways.  Here's one... Every year when school starts back, CSF throws the World's Largest Water Balloon Fight as a cool opportunity to meet new students.  Last year there were 119,411 balloons and 3,902 people. That's a lot of balloons... a whole lot. We can help CSF throw this event by filling up water balloons.  CSF is looking for groups of 4-12 people to fill up water balloons.  It's very easy to do.

• Contact CSF and they'll bring you everything you need (you just need a water spigot).  
• They'll pick the balloons up when you're done.  
• The last day your group can fill up balloons is Aug 25th.
• 10 people filling up balloons for 90 minutes can make 1,000 water balloons.   

If you're interested in setting up a time for you or your life group to serve, call CSF at 859.273.5433 or email at balloons@ukcsf.org.  If you just want to come to the Water Balloon Fight, it's Aug 27th at 11:55 pm next to the UK Football Stadium.  Anyone is welcome.

It's getting close to the World Equestrian Games being right in your back yard... or front yard. I'm not sure exactly where you live. As the community revs up for some major international hosting, we thought we'd take an opportunity to let you know they're in need of volunteers. We think it would be a great way for you to meet up with other people who value volunteering and serving like we do. There's lots of ways to build relationships and lots of needs that could be met. If you're interested in serving at the WEG's (It's fun to say that out loud... "WEG." Come on. Try it.) just visit their volunteer page of the website. It would be great to see you out there serving.

Here's a great question when you're thinking about putting your kid in a lifegroup... Which Group Is Right For My Child?

Southland offers two different type of group experiences for children ages preschool through 5th grade.  Which one is right for you?
 
LIFE GROUPS are small groups for kids designed to help them find deep friendship, belonging and spiritual encouragement.  In Life Groups, kids form relationships with a consistent adult Life Group Leader and with other kids their age.   Life Groups do outside events together including both celebration times and service projects to help kids grow spiritually.   
 
Fall Life Groups kick off Sept 18/19 weekend in all Children’s Ministry environments.
Children must be able to consistently attend the same worship hour to join a Life Group.   Once an adult completes the registration card, children will be placed in a Life Group the following week.  Registration cards are available in all Children's Ministry environments.
 
MAGNET GROUPS are small groups for guests and for families who do not typically attend the same service hour from week to week.  Magnet Groups are designed to help connect less connected kids to the church and to Jesus.  Kid in the Magnet Groups do the same activities and large group time as everyone else, but will not necessarily be with the same kids and leader.   Magnet Groups require no previous registration or commitment.
 
BOTH GROUPS meet during our weekend worship service times at 5:30, p.m., Saturdays; 8:30, 10 and 11:30 a.m., Sundays. as part of the children’s worship service in their specific weekend environment.

What Do You Get the Kid Who Has Everything?

Remember the first time your child asked you for something? I remember the day I visited Babies R’ Us with my daughter, Emma, when she first became aware of toys on the shelf. I wanted to buy her everything. There’s something hard-wired into the heart of a parent to give our kids good things. That’s why we sometimes overload their schedules with sports, dance classes, swim lessons, etc. We don’t want them to miss a thing. We want them to have all the things we never had.

This fall, if you really want to give your child something that will last, don’t just settle for another activity or more stuff. Give them the gift of community. At Southland we offer an experience called Life Groups, where children ages preschool through fifth grade can build deep relationships with an adult leader and other kids their age. Life Groups let kids experience what’s it’s really like to be a part of the church where they are known, loved and shepherded in their growing faith.

They meet during our weekend worship services at 5:30, p.m., Saturdays; 8:30, 10 and 11:30 a.m., Sundays as a part of your child’s weekend environment.

To register your child for a group, fill out one of the Life Group registration cards available in the Children’s Ministry rooms.

Thanks,

Jason