Danville Campus Blog

"Last night I was listening to that song Rainy Night In Georgia. You know that line where he says, 'I feel like it's rainin' all over the world'? I listened to that and I just thought, 'Wow. What can make a brother feel that bad? What can bring a man so low? Just, wow.'" - Arsenio Hall

Apologies to those not old enough to remember the Arsenio Hall Show (no relation to Jon Hall, at least I don't think so). But, I remember when he said the above in an opening monologue once. I was probably in high school. For some reason, what he said struck me and I thought about it a lot. The fact that I recall it now, 20+ years later should indicate how big an impression it left. I love "Rainy Night In Georgia". And every time I hear it I think about this.

Why would this strike me so? Well, I grew up in an environment full of skewed theology, legalistic reasoning and a very strong us-versus-the-world ethos. As a result, I had very little tolerance for beliefs that I had been told were "wrong", and no love for the people who believed other than "we" did. The only kind of consideration "they" were given was when we preached to them to try to convert them. Beyond that, they were valueless, useless, disapproved by us, and therefore by God. The idea of stopping to think about how someone else felt or where their sorrow came from was very foreign to me.

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Jennie Rogers Elementary School is looking for volunteers to participate as guest readers the week of February 22-25. If you would like to volunteer to read a book to a group of students at the school please, contact Lana at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

As the Danville campus has grown over the last 15+ months, we have seen several of it's children's environments grow to capacity. Because of this, next week we will be opening a new environment as well as shifting some ages and grades around. In the image below, you will find a map of the new rooms and age breakdowns for the Danville Campus. In addition to creating more space, this move also allows us to more effectively group our children according to developmental stages. This will allow our teaching to have more impact in your child's life on a weekly basis. Please direct any questions or concerns to Lindsey or Jon.

It's already January 3, 2011 and I'm wondering about those New Year's Resolutions we all made?  How many have been true to their resolve to  go on a diet, exercise daily, stick to their personal budget, give generously, attend worship services or Bible study faithfully, pray and read the Word daily, do a random act of kindness each week?  We live in an age where we want immediate results and changing habits to improve our lifestyle or grow in our spiritual walk take too long.  George Barna, one of America's great researchers, has an interesting article about resolutions - check it out at the Barna website.

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For those of us who call ourselves Christ followers, listening for the voice of God is probably one of the most important, yet least understood aspects of our walk. Sure, we are familiar with the concept, God is supposed to speak... But if we're honest, few of us really know what that looks like in our lives. In fact, some of us may even say that we're not sure we've ever heard God speak in our lives. My observation is that the majority of Christians really only believe that God can speak in two ways, through scripture and through a sermon. Even if that observation is not completely true, it seems as if most Christians operate as if God can only speak in those two ways. God speaking beyond those two ways gets a little blurry and weird. 

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For some reason two radio stations in our area switch to non-stop Christmas music right around Thanksgiving.   My television gives me eight stations of Christmas music this time of year.  The malls and department stores start playing it as the clock strikes midnight right after October 31^st.  I am not sure if it is the fact that we only sing these songs a few months of the year or what it is, but Christmas music is joyful, enjoyable, and timeless.  

Way before iTunes Essentials Ultimate Christmas, I remember that my dad had a reel-to-reel player that he would change out at Christmas time.  Nothing said Christmas around our house like Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, and Johnny Mathis.  Or even further back to names like Bing Crosby and Burl Ives.  Nowadays I can’t wait to get out my CDs of Chris Tomlin, Amy Grant, Garth Brooks and my favorite Steven Curtis Chapman’s, “The Music Of Christmas”.

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What do you think of when you think of creation?  When I think of creation my mind goes to Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. I think of my new son, Benaiah, who was born just four months ago.    I also think of an artist with a blank canvas ready to unpack something never seen before, a brand new creation hidden only in their mind.   A few weeks ago I was talking with one of the kids in our church who said he had a funny dream to share with me.  He said it was so funny that he woke up laughing that morning.   He then described an artist who was painting but not with his hands--he was painting with his mind!  There were all sorts of colors and singing and dancing.  He then smiled and said, That guy is so silly and he ran off. 

Again my mind went back to the story of creation and I thought how fun it must have been to watch God at work.  We might have laughed with joy as we watched Him bring into existence something new.  Creating something brand new out of nothing with only words and, perhaps in light of my little friend's dream, singing and dancing.   This was a powerful moment full of joy and amazement. 

After the seven days of creation I don’t believe God put down His paintbrush.   I believe the seven days of creation served more as a base coat to what He had planned to paint for the rest of history.  He would then add the details to the story through stories like the flood , and people like Abraham, Rahab, Esther and so many more.   Center to his masterpiece is His Son, Jesus, who would bring light and beauty back to the painting.  Still I don’t think He sets down the brush after adding Jesus to the painting.  

Last week at the 11 o’clock service in Danville, we watched as God the Creator brought about new life through Jesus. Two ladies surrendered their life to Jesus and were baptized.  These were the first two to be baptized in our new baptistery.  A verse that came to my mind says, If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 5:17) God still is creating new life in the hearts of people across this city.  My heart was filled with joy as the tears came down and I celebrated how great it was to watch God at work.  The greatest artist of the world started painting with a blank canvas for our lives.  This week Jon’s going to introduce a new series called “God the Artist” and I can’t wait to watch as we look closer at how creative God is.  

Dave Rizer, Danville Campus Pastor

Our thanks to the dozens of volunteers who came out to serve on Thanksgiving Day.  While we didn't have a ton of folks to serve at Jennie Rogers, lots of volunteers took to-go boxes and served folks in the hospital waiting rooms, or shut-ins, or folks who had to work on Thanksgiving Day.  And that's what being the church is all about!  To view our photos, click here.

Moms4FamilyTV, a grassroots organization of moms with the goal of supporting great family television, is working with Walmart and P&G to support high quality entertainment that families can watch together.  Their goal is to bring back family movie night and create an opportunity for families to connect and grow together. 

The first film we've been made aware of is A Walk In My Shoes which airs on Dec. 3, 8/7c, on NBC.

About the Film

What would you learn if you stepped into someone else's life? Things are difficult for four individuals whose lives unexpectedly collide - a stressed out schoolteacher, a struggling student, a single mom trying to make ends meet and a Marine beginning to adjust to civilian life. All their lives are transformed by Molly, a mysterious stranger, who causes them to see the world through the lives of others. Nancy Travis (Becker, 3 Men and a Baby) stars in this captivating and powerful story. No one will be left unchanged. You can watch the trailer here.

What are your intentions?  When I think of this question I remember back to the first time I met my wife's dad. He walked into the house with his pistol still on his belt!  My intentions that day almost were to get back in my car and drive the 1500 miles back to Maryland.

I don't think about what my real intentions are very often.  I like to make lists and I like checking things off my lists even more.  It seems like my everyday tasks tend to be the way I intentionally live out my day.

I got a new perspective on intentionality last Thursday when I was a part of a 'Treasure Hunt." The idea is to pray, but instead of dominating the conversation, you just listen.  You listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you and guiding you to.  It may be a person, a color, an object, or any other descriptor.  Then you write those down.  Share and compare your descriptors with those also going on the 'treasure hunt' and then set out to find what the Holy Spirit is leading you to.  Here is the tricky part...don't be surprised when you find what you are looking for.

For my 'Hunt," I was starting to get frustrated that I hadn't found the exact situation when I heard the Holy Spirit say "Go pray with those two ladies."  Sheepishly I went over and I listened to hear from Michelle and Hailey about the person they were visiting in the hospital.  After hearing about their story I was able to pray with them.  This wasn't what I had set out to find.  I didn't find "someone exercising outside on this very hot day who needed water," but what I did find was two women who were going through a rough spot and needed prayer.

I love being intentional.   So now part of my everyday lists are going to include; Intentionality.  I may not always find what I set out for, but I love being on the lookout.

 

Brian Lucas

Experience Leader

Last week we re-launched ONE80, our weekly worship experience for middle school and high school students. Looking back, it was a great kick off. We worshipped together, we prayed together and our students were challenged as we learned what it looks like to be with Jesus, in community and on mission. The night went well but all did not go as planned. Some things didn’t go as well as I hoped they might. There were some glitches and kinks that I wish had gone differently. But through it all, I simply had to trust God with that which was out of my control. I know that ultimately, our programming matters very little. The only thing that matters is the presence of God and the Spirit stirring in the hearts of the students.

Isn’t life the same way? Things don’t always go as planned. The pieces don’t always come together perfectly. We experience things like pain, and hurt, and confusion. People let us down. Sometimes it even feels as if God has let us down.  It’s times like that when we have to choose to trust God.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28

God will use every difficulty that we go through to develop and strengthen our faith. Not an ounce of our pain will be wasted. God will take our hurt and use it in beautiful ways if we only learn to trust his goodness. His ways are higher than ours and we won’t always understand but if we’re honest, when we look back at our lives, hasn’t God more than proven himself as faithful? 

Jon Hall, Age Level Leader

Life Groups are Biblical communities which meet outside the walls of the church in the places where you do everyday life. If you would like to invest in building friendships with other Christ-followers, this is a great step for you!  We're getting ready to launch several new groups before the end of September.

If you want to get connected in a Life Group, or are just interested in talking more about what a Life Group is, send an email to danville@southlandchristian.org. If you’ve signed up but have not been contacted, please e-mail us at danville@southlandchristian.org so we have your interest in writing.  We want to make sure everybody is included!

Reflections from Brian Lucas from Danville's recent Worship on Wednesday

Psalm 100:  Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

For me there is just something about seeing the people of God worship with praise and singing.  I don’t know if it is my love of music or my love for God.  But I can’t think of anywhere else where it is alright and accepted to come into a building and sing, close your eyes, raise your hands, and express your love to something bigger and better than ourselves.  Sure we can go to concerts of our favorite singers or bands and do a lot of the same things but I don’t believe there is the same emotion behind going to a popular concert.  There is something in us that wants to show our love for God in this way.  

It is neat to see guys I have played golf or softball with letting go of the tough guy image and just worshipping.  I also love to see the kids, eyes closed tight and hands in the air, singing as hard as they can.  Or families sitting together all worshipping together.  It is just neat to see the body of Christ letting go of themselves and giving it all to Him. Let’s all take time this week to live out Psalm 100.  We have so much reason to give praise.

Recently we got the chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus through a work day at Jennie Rogers Elementary School here in Danville. About 15-20 of us volunteered a Saturday morning to do some much needed painting in several classrooms and offices. This is only the beginning of our partnership with Jennie Rogers. If you would like to know how you can get involved, contact Lana Yeary at 502-594-5219.

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.