Danville Blog & Events

Summertime is almost here. That means swimming pools, popsicles and best of all, the drive-in. This summer the Big Picture Show Children’s Ministry will be hosting another drive-in movie event for preschool and elementary families to come out and make some memories. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket and invite some friends to join us Tuesday, June 11th, 6:30 pm in the Auditorium at the Danville campus.

We’ll be watching the Dr. Seuss’, the Lorax, and there are two different ways you play along to win a prize:

1. Decorate a home-made Seuss car.
   Just like we did at last year’s event, we’re challenging you to make your own family “car” that kids can sit in for the night. But since we’re going Seuss this year, we’ll be giving prizes for the wildest, wackiest most Seuss-like home-made vehicles you can create. The sillier the better!
    
2. Come dressed as your favorite Seuss character.
   Dress up as the Cat In the Hat, Horton, Cindy Lou Who or anything that looks like it comes from the world of Seuss and you will have the chance to win.

Just like last year, we’ll kick things off with worship, popcorn, give-aways then get straight to the show. No, we won’t be out under the stars, but we do want to create an opportunity for your family to connect with other families and each other.

So come on out and make some family memories with us before the summer passes you by.

We love middle schoolers here at Southland. Middle schoolers have a perfect combination of curiosity like a child, but the critical brain of an adult. This past school year has yielded so much fruit in the lives of our students that we have been praying and processing for months about what's next for LIFT (Middle School Ministry) at all of our campuses.

Check out this video to hear a little bit of our heart for middle school ministry, as well as some important changes we are making in our approach, starting this fall.

If you have any questions at all regarding the content of the video, or simply the vision of LIFT, please don't hesitate to e-mail me or call me. I'd love to discuss this further with you. I'd also love to talk to you if our vision is resonating in your heart and you believe God may be calling you to be a leader in our ministry!

Either way, we are excited to follow our God into this next season of ministry at Southland.

In John 12, Mary gave an outrageous offering to Jesus - a fragrance worth a year’s wages! She took the perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet with it. Her love was costly but the fragrance filled the entire house!

Saturday, May 18, we will have the chance to send up a fragrance of Jesus’ sacrificial love at Jennie Rogers Elementary. We are throwing an end of the year block party in the Jennie Rogers parking lot from 11am-1pm to celebrate the hard work of students and teachers this year. There will be food, face-painting, a slip ‘n slide, carnival games, and more!

Bring your family out to unleash love on the students, families, and teachers at Jennie Rogers before they go home for the summer. If you are interested in volunteering at one of the activities, please let me know!

Each year at Southland, we have the opportunity to support the ministries of Assurance Care Center in Lexington and The Pregnancy Resource Center of Central Kentucky. With your help, these ministries can offer free confidential medical and counseling services to men and women in the midst of crisis pregnancies and also healing through a post-abortive ministry.

Your part is simple. This weekend, May 11/12, grab a baby bottle after service, fill it with change, cash or checks, and bring it back on Father’s Day weekend (June 15/16). 

Your change will go a long way to help these ministries offer healing and hope to post-abortive women and men.

Despite the stormy weather, we'll be having our annual Spring Family Picnic tonight, but indoors!

Instead of meeting at Milliennium Park, we'll gather in the Connection area. Same time, food and games – just a whole lot less mud.

See you tonight!

Do you live in constant bewilderment of your student's mood changes and growth spurts? Are you beginning to notice a new smell coming from your son's bathroom - a strange mix of B.O. and Axe body spray? Are your daughters spending more time at the mall "shopping" than they do at home?

If this describes you, then you might be a middle school parent! And we love you!

Our LIFT Middle School Ministry exists at Southland to partner with parents and assist you in the discipleship of your kids. We know you have a tall task at home, and we want to do whatever we can to be your cheerleader from the church.

In order to maximize our communication and to inform you of some very important details regarding the future of LIFT, we'd like to invite you to a parent meeting at Mallards on Sunday, May 19th after our 11:15am LIFT service. It should be a short meeting, but there will be a lot of content.

Let me know if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!

LIFT Middle School is headed to Louisville, July 14-19, for a Summer mission trip!

From July 14-19, 6-8th grade students are invited to come and serve Louisville. While we are there, we will be working with the elderly, playing with kids, hanging out with the homeless, and getting to know Louisville's community. But don't worry, this trip won't be all work! There will be plenty of time to hang out, build relationships with other students and leaders, and do some fun things in and around the Louisville area.

Cost for the trip will be $285, which includes transportation, meals, and housing for the week. Grab an application at any LIFT event or through the Student Ministries office. Applications are due by Sunday, May 12.

Parents, do the words tweeting, texting, and posting strike fear in your heart? Do you break out in a cold sweat when you overhear your son or daughter talking with friends and using these terms? Are you curious to know what it’s all about?

If so, the Parent Internet Safety Tech Seminar is designed just for you!

And, thanks to some folks who have taken the time to research this topic thoroughly, have tech savvy kids, or because they care about all our kids, are coming to Danville! Plus, you’ll get to meet some of our other student leaders and ask questions (no need to be embarrassed -- they know you might be a little behind on the cool terminology and rocket-science technology gadgets your kids seem to have been born with!), and at least walk away better educated than you were before you got here.

So, mark your calendars now for Monday, April 29, at 6:30pm.

Oh, and don’t miss this night for anything... Duck Dynasty and Downton Abby can be recorded! Just ask your kids, they’ll show you how to do that too!

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!

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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This past January, my friend Emmily started a once a month Bible study and prayer time for kids at the Woodlawn Elementary School. There is about 40 kids so far that meet in the library on the third Tuesday of each month. Different people from the community and all different churches have had the opportunity to lead the kids.

This past Tuesday, three of our Boyle County High School girls, that serve in the children's ministry every Sunday, spoke to the kids and led them in prayer. I was so proud of the way they were each on time, prepared, smiling, and confident in what God had given them to share. Our kids were hanging on every word, because they could relate to them. The girls shared their favorite scriptures and how they try to lead out at school for God.

I thank God for the opportunity to know and serve alongside these girls.

At the beginning of April, I was given the opportunity to lead worship at a youth conference in Haiti and it really changed my life. The conference was at Sonlight Church and School, which is the same one that Jon worked with when he lived down there. It was the same church a group of production staff from Southland visited and did a technical install last fall and it was an amazing experience.

After a days worth of plane rides and a six hour bus ride, it was great to arrive at the church and see that most everything was working great from our install last fall. There were a few things to tweak, but for the most part everything looked and sounded great.

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It's that time of year again… Students are finishing up school and gearing up for summer - a time for sleeping in, having pool parties, eating a lot of junk food, and, OH YEAH, moving up to the next grade in school! Starting Sunday, June 2, all current 5th graders will be officially considered 6th graders at Southland! We know it's a big transition to move from elementary school to middle school, so here are a few dates and events coming up that we'd like you to be aware of:

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Is It Time to Do Something Big?

We live in a world that loves big. The biggest roller coaster in the world is almost 500 feet tall. The biggest cruise ship is over 1,000 feet long. The biggest building? Almost 3,000 feet tall. Bigger seems better.

Deep down we all know God has put us in the is world to do big things. Make a big impact. Change the world. Big, planet shaking stuff.

But what if we discovered we could actually make the biggest difference by going small instead? What if the most astronomically huge thing we could do in God’s kingdom is invest in the tiniest people?

God’s kids.

When Jesus’ disciples were fighting over who was the biggest among them, Jesus pulled a kid over to stand beside him and basically said, “You want to know who’s biggest? Let me tell you who’s biggest. Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you who is the greatest.”

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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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