I’ve been reflecting and thanking God a lot this week for what has taken place around Southland in 2009! In our elders meeting last night we spent over an hour talking about all the amazing things God has done through you! Your surrender, your sacrifice, your obedience, your joy, your love, your generosity, your enthusiasm, your passion, your repentance, your courage, your humility, your hunger…wow! God has really used you to make a difference in the lives of others! You’ve changed my life in so many ways! So “thanks” for following Jesus with everything you have and everything you are!
 
As of today 973 people have given their lives to Christ and been baptized at Southland in 2009! 973 people!!! And that’s only the beginning!!! 10-7-5 is here! I can’t wait to reveal the total for our year end offering…be here January 2/3…You won’t want to miss it!!!
 
This morning I put together my top 10 Southland moments for 2009…here’s my list:
 
1.      Explicit Lyrics—walking through Song of Solomon with you was a blast! Laughing, blushing, saying, “Is that really in the Bible?” was a highlight for me! Reminding students that God can restore their virginity and that waiting is worth it! And seeing over 1,200 couples renew their vows in one massive wedding ceremony was off the charts too!

 2.      Easter Weekend—it fell on Spring Break so we didn’t think we would have near the attendance and response we had the year before. Boy were we wrong! 15,400 people showed up and over 300 people were baptized that afternoon in the coldest water this guy has ever stepped foot in!

3.      Nic Vujicic—Don’t ever forget his message! We have nothing to complain about! Nothing! We have a lot to be thankful for!
  
4.      Staff Retreat—In the spring, our team took a few days to reorient our lives around the mission of Jesus. I have always dreamed of serving with people who have no selfish ambition; people whose only ambition is to make Jesus famous! We prayed like we’ve never prayed before and we focused all of our attention and discussion on what would happen if a church like Southland dared to start over? What could it be like if we poured all of our energy and effort into launching a church that Jesus would want to be a part of? Everyone put their ego and preferences and job descriptions on the line and all of us committed our lives to chasing a vision that would forever alter the city of Lexington and beyond! We spent the summer praying and fasting around the clock…24 hours a day…and each day God revealed more of Himself to us and more of His plan! We have come so far since that retreat…but we have so far to go! As the classic Rock song says, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

5.      IT—Long live the pink stickers! I’ve never been more alive in my life than I was the first weekend of the IT series! Can it get any better than seeing over 400 people come to Christ and watching thousands more join in the celebration of heaven!!! IT was so freeing to see so many people passionately rally around a powerful mission to help people fall in love with and follow Jesus! IT was so invigorating to see so many people lay aside their denominational differences for the sake of Jesus and his Bride, the Church! IT has only begun…more of IT is coming!

 6.      Southland Danville—We thought we might have 300 people show up the first weekend…to say we were way off in our calculations is the understatement of the year! 817 people showed up that first weekend and each weekend since someone’s life has been transformed by the grace of God!

7.      The Dollar Club—$1 per person each weekend. In the last 15 weeks, above and beyond our weekly offering, you have given away $150,941 to people in need that live right here in our own back yard. You’ve put roofs on homes, paid for surgeries, purchased cars, paid off debt…you name it, you’ve done it for others! You’ve brought Jesus to his feet in excitement and applause! And that’s just a small part of the story! In the worst economic times since the Great Depression you have given 11 percent more each weekend than our budget requires! In a season when churches are having to cut programs and lay off staff, you’ve made it possible to do more in the Kingdom than any leader could ever wish for!!! Because of your giving, we’ve been able to help plant churches in New York City! We’ve been able to train over 90 pastors in Mozambique, curbing decade long AIDS statistics as we go! We’ve been able to fund continued church planting efforts in New Orleans and Ethiopia! We’ve been able to educate children and feed the hungry and care for the medical needs of 1,600 women who have been raped and traumatized by years of civil war in the Congo!  And look at how God has blessed your generosity!!! Keep trusting God’s promises!!! The landscape of heaven will be different because of your love and faithfulness!!! It really is more blessed to give than to receive!!!

 8.      Circles of Influence—You all feed several hundred elementary students each week in the Lexington area through our backpack program. They take a backpack full of food home each Friday and return it on Monday and thousands of you buy more food and refill them by Friday! You provide free health care to over 1,050 patients at a cost of $1.50 per patient—unbelievable! Twice a week, you provide a warm place to sleep and warm food to eat for 32 homeless men. Every year you give away enough clothing, furniture, and food to care for 14,000 families in over 7 counties in Kentucky! You throw the greatest party on the planet for more than 1,200 physically and mentally challenged people each year! You cook meals and provide gifts and love and prayers for hundreds of young women in the exotic dance industry. And this year you renovated a house and gave another $70,000 so that five women would have a place to heal for the next year. You provide job training for former prisoners, the unemployed, and the homeless through our Jubilee Jobs program. You create a safe place each week for hundreds of people with dangerous habits and hang ups to find healing through Celebrate Recovery. You throw parties for the elderly, you provide sports camps for inner city children, counseling for the wounded, and hope for prisoners…and on and on…I think the question we all need to pursue in prayer is, “What’s next?” or even better, “Who’s next?” Who is God calling us to be a voice for, to care for, to love?

9.      608—I’ve never been a part of anything like it! It’s quadrupled in size in a year and from what I can see, there is nothing that will stop it from revolutionizing what takes place on college campuses all over central Kentucky! The future culture-shapers and world-changers have shaped and changed my heart for the lost this past year in ways that I am forever grateful for! And the mechanical bull and David Crowder were memorable as well.

10.  1,056,024 meals—“I was hungry and you fed me.” 2,000,000 meals in 2010! Enough said!

“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too!” (Acts 17:6) 2010 is shaping up to be a year like no other for Southland and those who call it home! I look forward to worshiping with you this weekend and serving with you in the months to come!