Danville Blog & Events

Spring is in the air and it's time to get together for a good old-fashioned family picnic! Our Children's Ministry is hosting a Spring Family Picnic on Friday, May 10, from 6-8:30pm, at the Kroger Shelter (Millennium Park).

We're providing everything for a cookout, plenty of games and activities, face painting, and even some carnival-type food. All you need to provide are the blankets and/or lawn chairs!

See you May 10!

Cindy Willison
Executive Assistant to Executive Team

Waiting. Waiting for anything seems to become more and more difficult these days as our culture bulges with quick fixes and instant gratification at every turn. While we may not be good at waiting, we all would defend that there are things worth waiting for, and that many times the things or people we’ve had to wait on, are the things or people we value the most.

Scripture encourages waiting and even offers insight into how to wait and some of the benefits of waiting. We wait on the Lord, but sometimes, I believe He waits on us. Certain requests God makes of His people do not require waiting, they simply require doing.

We’ve been introducing a new song lately called “Here and Now.” This song calls us to action and says, “I want these things to be true for us right now. These are things we don’t have to wait for, these are things we can be and do in the here and now.” For me, this song creates a modern day creed for the church or manifesto...

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Amanda Carter
Worship Leader

As we settle into the new campus at Richmond Road, the vast majority of people I encounter are very positive about the look and feel of the new building. They also are supportive of Southland and our mission in the community. Occasionally, however, I talk to people who are highly critical about the amount of money we "raise." "The church is always asking for money," they erroneously add.

I strongly disagree. You know why? Because it simply isn't true. In reality, it's the world, not the church that always ask for money. When was the last time you went to the grocery store and they didn't ask you for money? When was the last time you received a note from your mortgage company that said, "Don't worry about making a house payment this month, it's on us!" The church doesn't withhold 15-35 percent of every dollar you earn; the federal government does. In fact, there are no "free lunches" anywhere in the world...except at church! People come and go week in and week out; no admission charge whatsoever. If you're sick, we will visit you. If you need counseling, we will provide it. All of our classes are free. All of our ministries to the community are free.

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Gary Black
Richmond Road Campus Director

I love how God uses creative people to design and produce memorable, life changing experiences at churches all around the world. At Southland, I believe we truly have some of the best. Each week we see their dedication and talent at work, creating moments where we can have a fresh encounter with God. We want God to take the efforts of the brainstorming, planning, message preparing, music arranging, light cue programming, video production, band rehearsing, and many other areas of creativity, and multiply them outside the walls of our campus buildings. 

We've seen great success in what has been the Southland Hour on WTVQ 36. Our tv program will still continue each Sunday morning at 10am, but beginning this Thursday, April 11, you can watch our service online as well! It is part of a greater vision of reaching people with video services.

Each Thursday, at noon and 8pm, you and your friends are invited to join in on our weekend service, in it's entirety, at southlandonline.tv. Whether you missed an entire weekend, or want to participate in worshipping with us again through the message and music, we have you covered! Also, this is a less intimidating way of inviting a friend to check out Southland before attending a campus.

So join us for Southland Online and connect with God and his Word as we worship Him together! See you April 11th at noon!

Mike Vandemark
Programming Director

John 1:33 - But the God who sent me to baptize with water told me, "You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; He is the ONE who will baptize with the Holy Spirit."

John 3:3 - (Jesus speaking) “I tell you the truth, unless one is born again, he cannot be in God's Kingdom."

John 3:16 - God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but have eternal life.

John 5:24 - (Jesus speaking) “I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the ONE who sent Me has eternal life.”

John 6:38-40 - (Jesus speaking) "I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do. Here is what the ONE who sent Me wants Me to do: I must not lose even one whom God gave me, but I must raise them on the last day. Those who see the Son and believe in Him have eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day. This is what My Father wants."

We have been given the most amazing gift. The gift of eternal life, forgiveness, and new life! When was the last time you shared this gift with someone? When we have good news, we don't keep it to ourselves, we share it, text it, tweet it, blog it! We want people to know. We have the best news ever, and this news has the power to give people freedom from their sin, worth, and hope. Why don't we share it every chance we get? I want to be more like John the Baptist. I want to make the most of every opportunity given to me to share Jesus with people, to point people to Jesus. I want to stop focusing on myself, my problems, and my agenda and be more intentional about the opportunities God gives me to share Him with others. The silly things that take up my time are not life changing or eternal.

I love the part of John 6:39, where Jesus says, “I MUST NOT LOSE EVEN ONE whom God gave.” WOW, what if we lived like that? I must not lose even one that God has given me! I get so excited to think about this because if we lived like this, there would not be a single person in Danville who did not know that; God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but have eternal life - John 3:16.

In preparing for Easter weekend, lets decide to make the most of every opportunity to tell people about Jesus, and how they can have eternal life!

Shannon Colwick
Danville Children's Ministry Leader

On March 3, Financial Planning Ministry will host a seminar at Southland for anyone who would like to attend. This a unique opportunity to learn from experts on how to establish your living trust fund.

Designing Your Legacy will allow you to:

Pass on your values - Preparing for the future reflects good stewardship and protects the things that mean the most to you.

Save yourself and your beneficiaries time and money - Establishing a living trust may lower your estate taxes and will eliminate probate. On average, this saves your loved ones 9 months to 2 years and $16,000 to $60,000 in probate, alone.

Have peace of mind - In your legacy plan, you can ensure your desires on medical decisions, guardianship of your minor children, and distribution of your valuables will be fulfilled. Your instructions are legally binding and guaranteed to be followed.

There is no pressure, no commitments, and no cost.

Join us on Sunday, March 3, 11:15am in Building F, Room 116F at the Harrodsburg Road Campus

We’ve all heard the old Chinese Proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” That same philosophy is the foundation for our new Financial Care program.

We used to “give away fish” (provide financial assistance) here at Southland – now we’re teaching folks how to fish. And we need fishing instructors (Life Coaches) to walk alongside folks who need help to become financially stable.

Our life coaches meet with clients three to six times. They assess needs, evaluate current financial condition and provide tools to help families get a handle on their spending, project future expenses, and life within a budget. Our goal is to help families become healthy and enjoy a sustainable future.

Join us to see how you can become a life coach! You don’t need a financial degree or a career in banking, just common sense and a desire to help.

Our next training will be held at 6pm, Wednesday, February 27 at our Danville Campus. If you would like to attend, please contact me.

Be a part of the solution!

Candy Williams
Helping Thru Him & Financial Care Coordinator

We're kicking off a new series on February 2/3 called Married-ish. No matter where your marriage is on the spectrum of health, God has a blueprint for marriage, and a plan to make your marriage better.

We've got some homework for you beforehand. Watch the video above to get more info.

Married-ish Resources

• Subscribe to Daily Devos
• Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller

Dave Rizer
Danville Campus Director

This past weekend, we were challenged to pray together as families every day for the next month. We genuinely believe that God reveals Himself in prayer; and by simply praying together, we think the next thirty days could change the course of the families here at Southland.

Derrick Purvis
Communications Director

Last week hundreds of people came out Tuesday and Wednesday nights to both Southland campuses for the first of our summer Drive-In Movie nights. Not only was it a blast to see families come together , worship and just hang out, but the home-made cars they brought were unbelievable.

Kids and parents went over the top creating their cardboard masterpieces. One of the hoods actually opened to reveal the engine inside and at least a handful had real working headlights. Our team estimates that we had around 75 different home-made cars between the two campuses. These families were all in!

The best part of this, of course, is that families spent a lot of time together to make their cars and, in the process, made something much more valuable, a special memory they’ll carry with them the rest of their lives. And that’s really what it was all about, giving families a fun excuse to sit down and spend time together.

At Southland we value sacrificially serving our families, and that can take many different shapes, but all of them start with the same key ingredient – spending time together. Being available to our kids is the price of admission for having real spiritual influence in their lives. So don’t underestimate the spiritual pay-off you may someday experience because you sat down and made a cardboard car with your child. That’s the relational investment that earns you a voice in the person they’ll someday become.

If you missed the first Drive-In Movie night, or didn’t get a chance to make your own car this time around, be sure and join us next month, 6:30pm, at the Harrodsburg Road campus or in Danville.

Jason Byerly
Children's Pastor

Our "Drive-in" family movie event was awesome!

We started the night with worship, gave out a few prizes for the amazing cars our kids and their families made, and watched the Pixar classic Cars, while enjoying some popcorn and other snacks. I love our families and the community we get to experience when we come together.

My favorite part of the night was worshipping with our kids and watching them lift their hands to heaven when they sang, "we belong to Jesus".

It doesn't get any better than that.

Save the date for the next one happening on Wednesday, July 18!

Shannon Colwick
Danville Children's Ministry Leader

That’s because we're about to give our pre-school and elementary environments a complete make-over. We've already tackled the Harrodsburg Road campus and the Danville campus is coming up soon! 

More than just a superficial facelift, this radical redesign of Children’s Ministry is part of a total rebranding of the preschool and elementary ministry as the Big Picture Show. The Big Picture Show is a collection of movie-themed environments designed to help kids find their place in God’s big story. This is all part of our effort to create the most compelling environments to unleash a revolution of love with our kids.

This redesign took months of preparation, months that would normally have gone into staging Who’s In the House, our big summer production for families. That’s why we’ve had to press the pause button and take Who’s In the House off stage this summer to give us time to complete our remodel project and prepare for the launch of the Richmond Road campus in January.

But fear not, Who’s In the House fans! Who’s In the House will be back in June 2013 bigger and better than ever, this time on all three campuses!

In the meantime we aren’t leaving Who’s In the House fans high and dry. Even though the Who’s In the House live event is off stage for 2012, the Who’s In the House home edition is now online right here!  We’re calling it the Big Picture Show Summer Movie Challenge. Each week we’ll be uploading another classic Who’s In the House clip for families to go check out together to get you talking about faith stuff at home.

Don't miss this awesome opportunity!

Jason Byerly
Children's Pastor

A friend of mine who used to work for Toyota said it took about 14 hours to build a car, which is pretty amazing to me. But as incredible as that sounds, I have to say that Toyota has nothing on our Children’s Ministry team. We built this car in 23 minutes flat!

Think your family can do better? Now is your chance to prove it.

Next week your family will have the chance to show off your own sweet ride at our first big summer Drive-In Movie Night. We’ll be meeting at 6:30 pm in Building B at theHarrodsburg Road campus on Tuesday, June 19 and at our Danville campus on Wednesday, June 20 for a fun night of worship, popcorn and a special showing of the Pixar classicCars.

So grab some cardboard and make your family’s own home-made car to come and show off to your friends. We’ll be awarding some awesome prizes for our families’ most spectacular creations. You’re welcome to just bring a blanket or a lawn chair, but c’mon, won’t this be way more fun? We’ll see you next week at the Drive-In! 

Jason Byerly
Children's Pastor

It is summer.

Grills are fired up, sunburns are setting in and minivans are groaning in expectation of the next big trip. Summer gives us a chance to spend extra time together as a family. Here at Southland we believe God has called us to sacrificially serve our families. A few of us staff kicked around some ways to both spend time as a family and be intentional to serve not just our family but others around us. Help us unleash a revolution of love this summer:

In the neighborhood…

• Throw the sprinkler in the front yard and hand out freezer pops in bulk!
• Set up a movie projector in the driveway and pop some popcorn for the neighborhood.
• Grill in the front yard. Buy enough for many to eat!
• Invite another family to Free Friday Night Flicks in Lexington.
• Invite another family to the pool with you.
• Help a new family move in. Drop a meal gift card by while they are unpacking boxes.
• Invite a family to Drive-In Movie nights at our Harrodsburg Road and Danville campus this summer

On your sports team…

• Invite the team and their families over to your house for a cookout.
• Make goody bags for the team as a family.
• Pray together as a family for your team and their families.
• Ask God to create spiritual conversations while you are on the bleachers.
• Be intentional to listen and love your team and their families.
• As a family, talk about ways you can serve your team and their families.

To serve each other…

• Dad’s - do the laundry or dishes for a week
• Mom’s - mow the yard or take out the trash
• Kid’s - make all the beds in the house

Other ways to sacrificially serve…

Pray.

Take time daily to pray for your family members with your family members. If you are married, pray for your spouse and with your spouse. If single, focus on at least one family member and lift them in prayer. Pray for your future spouse if you desire to be married one day. Pray for your children, with your children for their past day and for their future - including their friends, future mate, children, in-laws.

Let us know how you plan to live out Expression 2. Tweet @southlandcc with #E2 so we know what’s up! We’ll retweet to spread the love.

Nathan Head
Executive Pastor of Ministries