Tuesday, June 15, 2010

New City…New Focus

next 2011

Start saving your pennies!!!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

I Thank My God For You

Are you attending Next 2010? If so, we encourage you to pray for yourself and your friends!

While you are praying, don’t forget to pray for the countless volunteers that are serving you, so you can encounter God. To help fuel your prayers, check out this blog post…

I Thank My God For You (Praying For/Thanking the NEXT Team)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Care Group @ Child’s Home

Good morning! Matt asked me to let you know that care group will be meeting at Matt & Stacie Childs home, this week. Check your inbox, we have sent you their address and phone number. Didn’t receive it? Call the church office at, 864.346.2361.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday @ 7pm!!!

Yes, we will be back at the Rawlings on the following week!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

No Care Group This Week

In light of the Family Meeting on Wednesday, there will be no care group tomorrow night (Friday).

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Why Spend The Time & Money?

I don’t know about you, but the older I get the more I realize that money just doesn’t grow on trees. And we all know that time is money. Taking time off for a conference can be a huge step of faith. Spending a couple hundred dollars can seem like millions. Why go? Especially when you can just download the messages from the comfort of your home. I recently came across this blog post and thought it may encourage you, get you excited about the conference, and answer some of those “Why” questions…

If you are like me, each year as you get ready to type your credit card code to sign up for NEXT; try to walk through the months of the year to figure out what month “9” is so you don’t mess up the expiration date; you eventually ask yourself this question “Why am I going to NEXT? Why spend the time? Why spend the money?”
For me it isn’t the thrill of packing in a hotel room with three other guys. It isn’t the rush of joy that I get seeing a Ninja in the morning with a fresh cup of coffee or the head ache I acquire from staying up until all hours of the night. Or the joys of trying to find your way to your Family Group in the morning. All those things are great don’t get me wrong…. They make awesome memories and God uses memories to build friendships so lets keep doing it!
But I keep coming back to NEXT year after year because I encounter the living God. I encounter God through the messages that cut through my sinful soul and strengthen me with truth; I encounter God in those sweet conversations late at night with a brother or sister in Christ; I encounter God through genuine worship to God through both singing and applying God’s word to my life. I walk away each year reminded, my God is real, he sent his son to redeem me and he is worthy of all praise I can give him.
I don’t know where you are at… maybe you punching in that credit card number just because you have done it year after year. Or maybe you have never been to NEXT, you don’t know anyone and it seems like a huge jump into the unknown. Or maybe you are college student and you have discovered money doesn’t grow on trees. If I could just urge you do what you can to make it to NEXT ’10….
I don’t know what God has in store for you, but I know this…. God will be there and you will encounter him…. And when Christians encounter God, wow big things happen! So sign up and maybe we will run into each other getting coffee from a Ninja.
Oh and by the way, September is the 9th month in the year….

Post taken from Next Blog: Why Spend The Time? Why Spend The Money?

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

I’m Too Poor To Attend

I want to go to Next ‘10, but I don’t have the finances. Times are tight and you can only budget so much. The Staff at Next know that it can be hard to find the dough to attend Next. So, they have come up with a couple of posts on the Next blog. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas and make finding cash a little easier.

You can find the link to their first post below. Check their blog later this week for more posts on practical fundraising.

I’m Too Poor To Attend (Fundraising Ideas) by Christopher Cooke

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Next Deadline

image Are you planning on traveling to Baltimore and rooming with us? If so, we need to know soon...very soon. Many details need to be finalized. These details cannot move forward until we hear from you. Please let us know by March 30th (yes or no).

Please contact Jessica at, 864.346.2361 or jessica[at]sgcsc.org.

Costs:
Registration - $150 - www.thisisnext.org
Hotel - $110 (Four people to a room).
Bus - $125

Please note: Registration increases on April 1st.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Care Group @ Payne's Home

Care Group will be held at Dan & Kimberly Payne's home, this Friday night (February 5th). We will be begin at 7pm.

You should have received an e-mail with their address and phone number. Didn't receive the e-mail? Contact Jessica at jessica[at]sgcsc.org or 864.346.2361.

We look forward to seeing you there!!!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Care Group Location CHANGE

This Friday (January, 29th) the Singles Care Group will be meeting at Wendy C’s house. Please check your e-mail for directions and parking instructions.

Didn’t get the e-mail? Please e-mail Jessica at, jessica[at]sgcsc.org.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Parenting Seminar

Case for Kids ColorCover What!?! Why is there information about the Parenting Seminar on the singles blog? As Matt mentioned in care group, we would like your help. We are looking for babysitters!
Many families in the church will not be able to find childcare for this event. Would you consider volunteering to watch someone’s kids? This will enable both parents to attend. The classes are on Sundays from 3 – 5pm.
Class Dates:
February 28
March 14
April 11
April 25
May 23
June 13
June 27

Want to help, but don’t know who to ask? Click HERE to e-mail the church. We will gladly find a family for you.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Update on Haiti Relief Efforts

Below are some quick bullet points on developments in Haiti
1. Relief has begun getting into Haiti via the Dominican Republic (DR) 
What a unique, but powerful example of what it means to be a part of a ‘family of churches’. Al Pino (pastor in our Miami church) has been working with our contacts in the Dominican Republic (DR,) who we found out already had medical clinics in Port-Au-Price (PAP), to get additional resources to them to fund their work there. Thanks to the SGM Disaster Relief Fund we have already been able to get over $25,000 to them to continue their work in that area.  We are now looking over strategies to utilize these routes to get additional aid into the country, as well as specific help, for the churches/orphanages that we relate with in Haiti.

2. Doors continue to open each day.  Marlaine Alix was able to leave earlier this week to travel into Jacmel, Haiti via the DR to start an initial assessment of the needs there and to determine what we can do to further help them. She will be working her way back to Florida so we can continue to assess what the best next steps are soon. Both Daniel and Marlaine hope to travel there the first part of next week to begin evaluating local resources in the areas around the churches/orphanages that were hit. The churches in the DR have graciously offered to assist in whatever ways that they can in the initial response in Haiti. So, we are currently working to get those two groups in contact with one-another to coordinate their work. While Daniel and Marlaine are in Haiti, we are shifting our primary contact with them to their daughter Vanessa who will help us coordinate any efforts stateside as well as assist us in gaining a better idea of what is going on.
We have learned that most of the churches there, that did have buildings, were hit pretty hard during the earthquakes. At this time, it is difficult to get a clear picture of what exactly this looks like but it is not hard at all to quickly pray for those whose lives were completely changed in such a short time. In addition to the destruction of the church buildings and the loss of some church-members lives, many of the church members have lost their homes, loved ones and their livelihood.

3. What’s next?  This is a common question and one that we hope to be able to answer more clearly as we gather information on what is actually happening on the ground from our contacts. We are trying to sift through a myriad of information as it comes in rapid-fire succession from Haiti, the DR and other sources.
Please pray for wisdom to be able to sort through everything and determine the right course of action to pursue.

Right now we are mainly focused on directing our attention on the following

a. Offering what care we can to the leaders we have been working with in Haiti
b. Getting resources to the DR for their work in PAP
c. Pursuing opportunities to get additional relief into Haiti (targeting areas with churches/orphanages)
d. Assessing what the condition of the churches/orphanages is currently
e. Support for those who are there
f. Considering what long term impact we can have that would best serve the churches

4. What can our church do? – The fact that so many of you think and respond this way make it such a joy to serve these hurting people. Please focus people’s attention on two things right now: Pray, Give to SGM Relief Fund.

a. Prayer. Pray for all of those whose lives have been affected by this. Pray for protection from disease as well as protection from the violence that has resulted from the food, water, clothing and housing shortages. Pray for on-going funding and wisdom in the decisions that lie ahead. And lastly, pray for strength for those serving in that region.

b. Giving to the SGM Relief Fund. This allows us to quickly get needed resources into affected areas via the most direct means possible. It also offers us flexibility in getting resources into the country when there really are no other direct routes for now. Many larger and more experienced relief organizations are struggling to get resources in there right now, so we are being mindful of our role in the long term rebuilding efforts in that nation as well as in serving the churches in that region.  Although many would like to donate food or other good directly, it is difficult for us to manage the logistics of this and it is more expedient to work through funding local contacts to distribute relief and care.

5. Are we planning to send teams into Haiti? – This is a great question that helps confirm that our folks are really seeking to care for one-another in deed as well as in prayer and giving. Right now, this is not the most strategic way that we can support them at this time and right now, we are not able to send teams into Haiti. There are a number of factors being considered in this regard as we continue to monitor the situation on the ground and look at what we can do to best serve the people of Haiti.  In the days ahead, we will be trying to determine how we can best set our churches up for success in that nation. Pray along with us that God’s kingdom would come in the hearts and lives of the Haitian people. Since this is a part of an ongoing work in that nation, we will continue to re-evaluate the situation to see if we can be of help by sending service teams.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

e-News

P5240067-3 We’re trying out a new form of communication this week. Instead of sending you multiple e-mails, filling your inbox, and generally confusing you with data; we’ve decided to try out an e-Newsletter. Check your inbox! You should have the first ever SGC Singles e-News waiting for you. Please let us know if it serves you and what you think! We’re always open to ideas and suggestions.

Don’t have it yet? You can also view it online: http://mim.io/12f12

Friday, January 15, 2010

Haiti Disaster Relief

In response to the devastating earthquake that occurred in Haiti on Tuesday, Sovereign Grace Ministries has opened a Disaster Relief fund to help deliver food, medicine, and other needed aid there. We will distribute the funds we raise primarily through existing ministry contacts we have on the island—both in Haiti and the Dominican Republic—who are already involved in relief efforts.


If you want to join us in our support of these efforts, you can donate to the Disaster Relief fund on our website or by calling 800.736.2202. On behalf of our friends in Haiti, thank you for considering this opportunity to give.

Regardless of your ability to make a donation, please join us in praying that those affected by the earthquake would receive aid quickly, and that despite these hardships the gospel would continue to go forward in that nation.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Gift Wrap Pics

Here are some pictures from our Singles Gift Wrap Outreach and our Singles Christmas Party.



Thank you again for all your help. Both events were a huge success!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Bows, Gingerbread, & 2010

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5th Annual Toys R Us Gift Wrap!

This Saturday

9am – 3pm

Toys R Us (Haywood Rd.)

Wear a red shirt and Santa hat. We’ll see you there!

n12636818_39228380_2804 2nd Annual Gingerbread Contest (and Christmas Party too)

This Saturday evening

6pm – 9pm

Bring $5 & a wrapped gift for the gift exchange.

banner3 (2)

Registration Is Open!!!

Registration for the Next 2010 conference is open. Join us as we worship the Savior, listen to some great speakers, fellowship, and make a lot of memories.

Register for Next HERE.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Care Group Location Change

This Friday night our Singles group will be meeting at 7:00pm at Wendy C's house.

It should be a great time together to fellowship, worship and apply God's Word to our lives practically.

Need directions? Check your e-mail (Matt R. sent out a link) or contact the church office, 864.346.2361.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Next Is Back!

banner7 (4) The Next Website & Blog are up and running. What is Next? It’s a conference that we are very excited about. For more information, click the links below…

Next 2010

Next Blog

Promote Next on your blog or website…

Friday, November 20, 2009

Caregroup @ The Rawlings' house tonight

Hey Caregroup!

I am looking forward to seeing you all tonight at our Singles Caregroup. In case you were wondering, yes, we are meeting and we will be back at my house tonight.

I know it was only a couple of weeks ago since I got to be with most of you but I missed you last week and I’m anticipating a great time worshipping together with you and hearing how God has been at work in your life lately.

Please don’t be discouraged by the colder weather and early onset of night-time these days – it will be sure to be warm and bright inside our cozy little abode!
I’m looking forward to seeing you all.

Your bro,
-Matt

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Care Group @ Payne’s

Hey Care group,

This week we will be meeting at the Payne’s.

I hope all is well and you are able to make it Friday at 7:00 pm

Your bro,

Matt