Toddsturgelllive.com

Fear Not!

2010-09-29T13:55:00.008-04:00

My 10 year old son Ashton is a great little baseball player. He plays shortstop and pitcher and usually bats first for the teams he plays for. The boy has played baseball pretty much his whole life and he loves it!

Over the past few weeks though, he's developed a huge fear of getting hit with the baseball when he's up to bat. He's never had this problem. It is so severe he will go into panic attacks when it's time for him to bat. He starts crying and his breathing goes crazy. It's really really heart-breaking to watch, especially if you've had the opportunity to watch him play before this started. He wants to get in that batter's box so bad, but the FEAR has a grip on him so tight that it makes it to where he can't even function. It breaks my heart to see him this way. We are working hard and praying a lot trying to help him through this. It gets a little better and then it will grab him again. Last night he had a great game and made some big strides in the right direction.

You and I might not have the fear of getting hit with a baseball but we all deal with fears in our lives. It might be a new job or fear of failure or rejection. Maybe it's the fear of taking a risk. I think we all deal with a little fear from time to time but it's what we do in those times that is important. The single command in the Bible that occurs more often than any other is Fear Not. God knew from the very beginning that we would battle with fear. Did you know that there are 366 “Fear Not” verses in the Bible ? One for every day of the year, including one for leap year.

Ashton is having a hard time facing his fear and pushing through it. I believe with God's help he is going to have the courage, at some point, to face this fear head on. When he does he will get through this and be better for it.

In 2 Timothy it says "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

The next time you are dealing with some fear in your life, remember to fear not for God is with you.

iserve 2010

2010-09-04T15:57:00.004-04:00

I love the team I work with. I am so blessed to have such incredible people that make things happen every week. Last Sunday we had our first iserve Celebration to honor all their hard work and it was awesome!!!! We had over 400 volunteers show up for the evening.

The night started with some worship that was about the most electric worship experience I have had in a long time. They were really going for it. After that Karen Brotherton came up and played some Minute to Win It games. It was so much fun. We then honored 4 key volunteers by having there leader tell all the reasons why they are an All Star. In between each person we would play an hilarious video we created called Real Men of Jesus! Too funny.....check them out here. http://www.youtube.com/user/StevensCreek

Marty came up after the last person and just did a small talk about how important being on the iserve team really is. He always does great in those settings. We ended the night by eating some Shane's Rib Shack. A special thanks to all of Stevens Creek staff and family that served everyone. You guys rock!!!!

5 W's of an Encouraging Leader

2010-08-14T14:31:00.000-04:00

Good stuff on leadership from John Maxwell

5 W's of an Encouraging Leader

1) Watchfulness

Encouragement carries more weight when it's specific. Be observant of the people around you on the job. Where do they excel? When have you seen them give exemplary effort? Make note of the ways they stand out, and use your observations as content for encouraging them.

2) Words

Everyone enjoys receiving genuine expressions of praise, especially when they're given in public. As a leader, leverage the platforms of staff meetings and team get-togethers to highlight the performance of your people. Your words of encouragement will reinforce good behavior and communicate value and appreciation to those you lead.

3) Writing

Spoken encouragement is powerful, but temporal. Written words of encouragement, however, are remembered by their recipient long after the writer has forgotten them. People can refer back to an encouraging card or note again and again, being uplifted each time they read it.

4) Wallet

When possible, leaders should reward excellent performance monetarily. However, the dollar figure attached to a reward isn't its only measure of value. As a leader, be creative in finding ways to give gifts of encouragement that have meaning and significance to those you lead. Perhaps it's an extra day of vacation, an extended lunch hour, or a keepsake. Whatever the case, be intentional about giving something of value as a means of applauding those who are doing a great job.

5) Winning

Sometimes the best way to be an encourager is to set an example. People draw strength from watching you persevere through adversity, and they are impacted when they see you make sacrifices to advance your vision. When you win by doing things the right way, your victories leave an impression on the spectators watching you.

Against the Odds

2010-07-08T10:40:00.017-04:00

For the past few weeks I had the opportunity to coach Ashton's All-Star team. It was an amazing experience. We had two teams representing Martinez-Evans Little League because our league is so big. My team, (The National League team) was like the b team. We had half 9 year olds and half 10 year olds. We had me as a coach, a pastor who has never coached on the major league level before and another pastor as my assistant coach. For some reason people just don't think pastor's can coach. The other team from our league (The American League team) was a team with all 10 year olds and 1 nine year old. They had a very experienced coach that has a travel ball team that half of the kids played on. So what I'm saying is no one was giving us a chance. I think my players at the beginning even wished they were on the other team.

What I learned through this is you can listen to the negative talk around you and take it as reality or you can believe for the best. We decided to believe for the best. We won our first game against Athens 13-3. Guess who lost their first game? Yep, the American League team with the good coach. I felt pretty good after that. We lost our second game to the team that ended up winning the whole thing. They were really intense! No, REALLY INTENSE! We didn't let it keep us down.

We won our third game against Oglethorpe and moved on to play.......you guessed it, the American League Team. This game was awesome!!! We jumped on them early. After the second inning we were winning 10-2. At this point I was feeling pretty confident about things. I even had the thought that we could 10 run rule them. Well, momentum began to shift and little by little they made their way back.

In the bottom of the sixth, which is the last inning in Little League, we were still ahead but only by two 11-9. They started off the inning with a walk and a hit. We got the next guy out before the following player hit a single to score a run. So now it's 11-10 with a man on first and third. The next pitch the runner on first steals second. I decided to intentionally walk the next better and load the bases so we will have a force play at any base. This would have been perfect except we walked the next batter as well to tie the game.

So it's tied up with the bases juiced in the bottom of the sixth with two outs. Our pitcher, G-Baby had pitched an awesome game. He came in and pitched three brilliant innings but was getting a little tired and had given up some runs. So, I had a choice to make. Stay with him or go to Ashton (my son) to try to shut them down. I knew Ashton could do it but I was terrified they might get a hit and win the game and Ash would feel it was his fault. I was a mess of nerves at this point. Right before G-Baby pitched my assistant coach Brent spoke up. You have to make the change, he said. He was right so I called time and made the change to Ashton.

He was as cool as a cucumber. I told Ashton, buddy, I've been saving you for this moment. This is why you haven't pitched tonight. Now is your time. He got up there with ice in his veins and got the guy to ground out to extend the game. I was about to throw up. I'm about to throw up now reliving it. Ashton pitched three more innings of shut out baseball and we went on to win the game in the ninth inning. What an a-ma-zing game! I was so proud of Ashton and the whole team.

Unfortunately the next night we lost to Baldwin County in the semi-finals. Our boys just didn't have enough left in the tank. Here is the life lesson from all of this. When people don't give you a chance, allow it to fuel you to be best you can be. We sure did and we learned a lot about ourselves in the process.

Father's Day 2010

2010-06-21T16:00:00.006-04:00

I love being a dad. Now it's not easy, but I wouldn't want it any other way. There's nothing like watching your kids grow and excel in the things they are doing. I have two cool cats as my sons. I thank God for allowing them to be mine. God has given us father's the opportunity to help shape a generation. Let's do all we can to raise kids that are leaders that love God.

2010-05-27T09:46:00.003-04:00

This is a blog I read from Perry Noble Pastor of Newspring Church in Anderson, SC. I'm going on vacation next week and looking forward to being still and hearing God's voice. Enjoy!

I read Psalm 46:10 the other morning and it SLAYED me as I thought, “MAYBE the reason so many people (including myself) really wrestle at times with doubt and confusion is because we won’t be still long enough to know that HE IS GOD.

That verse doesn’t say, “be busy and know that I am God.”

It says to “be still!” WHICH…if I can be completely honest, I do not like.

Being still is tough, and besides, it is SO much easier to medicate myself with all of the noise that is available to me…why would I want to “be still” when I can check twitter…or facebook…or my email…or all three at the same time.

We get so obsessed with the possibility of missing something in the world of social networking many times that we don’t even realize we’re hearing the voice of so many other people that we just might not be hearing the voice of God.

Question – when is the last time you clearly heard His voice? (It should not take very long to answer this question!)

Because…He is always speaking…and HE wants us to know His will WAY MORE than we actually want to know it.

MAYBE the best thing to do for the next hour or so is turn off your phone, shut down your computer and just go for a walk (WITHOUT an ipod) and…just…listen!

Just a thought…wish I could say I was an expert on this…but I’m actually still learning HOW!!

Schedule for missions trip

2010-03-27T06:59:00.003-04:00

Here is a letter from one of the leaders of the trip explaining where and what we will be doing? He also gives us the spiritual climate of those places.

I’m typing this at 30,000 feet with the recognition that I’ll be conversing with most of you at the same altitude in just a couple days. As you pack your bags and enlist support from your prayer warriors, I want to give you a quick peek at how this excursion is mapped out. Additionally, I’d like to give you an insider’s look into the potential impact your 10-day investment of time, energy, and talent for the Kingdom of God.

For those of you ADD readers, here’s the synopsis: pack light, come “filled” and ready to pour out, stay flexible, and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We will hit it hard on the front end and then have an evening and full day at the end of the trip to unwind, relax, and sightsee in Prague. Your hard travel schedule yields a powerful impact on the historical development of the Church of God in this part of the world.

Central Europe is a pioneer Missions field. I probably should have put that in bold and underlined. Most, if not all, the locations where Tony has led these conferences have been where the church is developed. You traveled together, went to a central location for the Conference, and pretty much stayed there together for the duration. Heads up- this will not be that. This is mainly due to the stage the church is in that you are ministering to. (Note: I’ll be available for any blame or abuse this change inspires, DO NOT inflict this upon Brother Tony)

Just eleven years ago, there were no registered Church of God churches in Central Europe. Today there are nearly 50 and most of these have been planted during this time. Those that joined the Church of God come from a wide diversity of backgrounds and God has knit us together. Few, if any, of the leaders you meet will be familiar with the “who’s who” in the Church of God, but I’m confident that you will see a strong resemblance to our forefathers and you may be surprised at how readily you identify with their ministry model- the COG DNA is there. Big THANK YOU to Tony for all his hard work in putting this team and Conference together for our Region.

Ok, let’s take a walk through our week:

Day 1, Wednesday: The city we will land in, Prague, is the atheistic capital of the European continent. We will travel the same day to Poland, which has less Evangelical Christians per capita than Saudi Arabia. (I wanted to share a few “glamorous” facts first, because there won’t be anything else glamorous about this first day. Hopefully my charm will win you over by the end of the week- but I’m resigned to the fact that you will not like me on day one.)

Within hours of landing in Prague, we’ll all be onboard a train bound for Katowice, Poland. Yes, I’m killing you the first day. The good news? This is a comfortable, high speed train you can rest on and we get there by 6:30pm- in time for a nice meal and a good night’s rest.

Day 2, Thursday: Team A will be staying in Katowice to minister in the local church there. The pastor, Arek Biczak has done a tremendous work with very little- your visit and ministry will be a great empowerment of he and his leadership team. Team B will take a morning train to Wroclaw to minister in the church there- we will arrive about noon and the training will start in the evening. Both of these churches are vibrant, strong, key churches for our national movement in Poland. Team B- I will be traveling with you to a strong church whose pastor is bringing this church into the Church of God. He has been a good friend for years and is with us, but had opposition from former elders in bringing his independent church into the Church of God. Your ministry in this church will be a powerful expression of the benefit of being a part of a larger church family and help him in generating momentum and excitement about the change. This visit and your ministry in this church is HUGELY important for our work in Poland and the Region- literally could result in this church joining the Church of God very shortly after.

Day 3, Friday: Team B- we will leave early from Wroclaw and travel through Katowice to pick up Team A at the train station and continue on together to Ostrava where our host pastor has arranged transportation to our hotel. We will have enough time to check-in, change, and head to the Conference site. The band will set up, and prior to the official beginning of the Conference we will meet with Czech pastors- this will be a time of encouraging lead pastors specifically. We will then kick off the Conference.

Day 4, Saturday: This is Conference day with breakout sessions and worship galore (thanks Steven’s Creek). At the conclusion of the Conference, we will again break up in teams and head out with respective pastors back to their cities in preparation for Sunday (Palm Sunday- which you’ll want to reference)

Day 5, Sunday: Preach, teach and be merry for in the evening we all ride to Prague. Your pastoral hosts will get you to the train station with those farthest away getting on earlier and then others jumping on the same train as it passes through their city on the way to Prague. We all arrive together about 6:30pm for a relaxing dinner, fellowship, and a good nights sleep in a comfy hotel.

Day 6, Monday: Free day in Prague. Unwind and enjoy. As one who lived 7 ½ yrs. In the city, I’ll give you the royal tour.

Day 7, Tuesday: Depart early for the US.

And there you are, safely back at home from a true Missions adventure, wondering how you got conned into such a whirlwind of activity…and then the faces of the pioneers you impacted start to fill your mind. Something moves deep within and you realize you actually enjoyed it with a joy that came from the heart of God. The phone rings and you hear yourself say, “wherever it is Tony, sign me up.”

See you soon,

Jonathan Augustine

Missions Trip

2010-03-17T09:37:00.008-04:00

This time next week I will be in the Czech Republic starting a week long missions trip. Cliff Jennings, Jim Campbell, Christian Walker and myself will be leading and training other ministry leaders in that part of the world. I always feel overwhelmed when given the opportunity to do this kind of trip. We'll be taking a little bit of the Creek to The Czech Republic and Poland. They are so hungry to learn how to effectively win the lost in there communities. Here is a portion of an article I read to give you a better idea of the spiritual climate there.

Communism and Atheism though have been a potent combination in enslaving the minds of Czech people. A regime that preached “THERE IS NO GOD” and persecuted Christians relentlessly has fostered in an already proud and independent people the notion that they need only rely on themselves. That there’s definitely nothing else “up there”. That religion is for other, weaker, people. In much of the western world, many people are professing Christians (say that they are Christians), but practically speaking live their lives as if there is no God. Around 45% of Czechs, on the other hand, are professing atheists. This presents quite different challenges in evangelism..

Here are a few things you can do to partner with us. 1.Pray Pray Pray! Please be praying for us over the next few weeks. I believe God is going to use our efforts in amazing ways. 2. Come to the Creek tonight for a special worship night and bring an offering. This offering will go towards missions to ensure trips like this can continue. You might not be able to go with us but you can still be a huge part. Thanks for your support. Hope to see you tonight.

Baptism @ the Creek

2010-02-25T10:22:00.003-05:00

I love love love baptism night at the Creek. It's the time when we hear awesome stories of how Christ has redirected people's lives. It's a time for the church to come and celebrate those stories and boy did you come ready to celebrate last night. I've never heard so many noise makers in my life. As a church leader and as a church it's a way to measure if we are being effective sharing the gospel. I'm happy to report that over the past few months we have seen 125 people baptized. That is CRAZY! I am so honored to be a part of such a life giving church. I believe this is just the beginning of what God is going to do in us and through us.

For God or To God?

2010-02-14T14:47:00.001-05:00

This is a blog I thought you might find interesting. It challenged me.

I read a verse that stopped me in my tracks this morning. The Holy Spirit arrested me. If I were completely honest, I'd have to admit that most of "my ministry" has been for God not to God. I don't think that is just semantics. It's a whole different paradigm. So many of us are so busy ministering for God that we rarely minister to God.

Ezekiel 44:16 wrecked me today: "They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge." Makes me think of the original commission in Matthew 10. Before Jesus "sent them out" he called them "to him." I think one of the greatest dangers leaders face is this: we get focused on what God wants to do THROUGH us instead of what God wants to do IN us.

Are you ministering for God or to God?

I think it's both/and, but you better prioritize ministry to God.

First Impressions

2010-01-22T09:53:00.002-05:00

Starting this year the Creative Worship Dept. is taking over the First Impression's ministry at Stevens Creek. We have been blessed with incredible people on that team working very hard week in and week out. We have done a ton of things right and will continue to build on the success we have had. With that said, we can always be better.

Stevens Creek has a mission to reach out to those who are lost and hurting. People may come through our doors feeling scared, broken or apprehensive. Even if they aren’t new to the church it is possible that they could be going through a difficult season in their lives. It is our responsibility to welcome everyone in and to reflect God’s love in the midst of their troubles. We want people to feel like they belong at Stevens Creek.

As we start this new season of ministry I am wanting some feedback on how to make the experience people have at the Creek even better. So, here is your chance to help.

The Gift

2009-12-18T15:33:00.006-05:00

The last three Christmas seasons we have presented sermon series that were accompanied with drama sketches throughout the series. During that span, two of them we used from Northpoint Church in Atlanta, "Christmas With Grace" and "Velma's Diner". Last year we took Scrooge, (A full length Broadway production that we did for many years) and divided it up into a four part series. It was pretty awesome!

Well, this year we decided to write our own. After several brainstorming meetings our very own Dave Willis started writing the script and after a few re-writes and tweaks "The Gift" was complete. We are so blessed to have someone as talented as Dave writing for us. I also want to give a shout out to Tony Cooper and the entire cast for bringing the characters to life. You don't want to miss the last two episodes Sunday the 20th and Christmas Eve. It will be a Christmas to remember, I promise!

Third-Person Christian

2009-12-02T09:26:00.005-05:00

This a blog I read this morning from Mark Batterson and thought you might get something from it.......enjoy!

I think some people are what I would call third-person christians. I'm not a grammarian, and I don't know if this metaphor holds up literally, but third-person christians read the Bible in the third-person. They think in terms of "they" instead of "me." They don't personalize it by reading it in first-person terms. And so Scripture is de-personalized.

Here's another example. Third-person christians attend church in the third-person thinking about the people in their life that "need to hear this message" rather than processing it personally! They talk about church in "they" terms instead of "we" terms.

Here's a thought. Simply insert the first-person "I" or "me" or "we" when reading the Bible. It helps you own Scripture. And more importantly, it helps Scripture own you.

Answers to a college students questions about ministry

2009-10-23T12:48:00.004-04:00

I had a college student ask me to answer some questions for her about what my week and my ministry looks like. I thought others might be interested as well. So here you go!

1.) What is your weekly schedule like? Do you have creative team meetings? How do you run your music ministry on a weekly basis?

My week is filled with a lot of meetings. I work Sunday-Thursday and take Friday and Saturday off.

Sunday:

Sunday starts early at the Creek. Call time for my team is 7 a.m. We rehearse the performance songs until 730. From 730-8 we rehearse the worship set for the day. from 8-815 we try to have a tech run and run the drama sketch if there is one. We do drama maybe once a month or so. from 815-830 we take a breath and have a prayer time and get ready to dive into our services. We do three at our Augusta campus at 830|10|1130. I usually leave the church around 1. Very fast paced day!

Mondays:

Mondays are meetings pretty much all day that's why we call it Meeting Monday! I have seven staff members in several different areas so my first meeting goes from 10-1030. At 1030 I start my second meeting with my production staff (Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Video Producer, and my assistant and we talk through projects coming up. At 11-1230 I have a creative team meeting where I take the people who were in my production meeting and add my worship leader from our Grovetown campus and our teaching pastor who is a great writer to help with video and drama scripts. From 1230 -200 I have Executive team lunch meeting which consists of the Lead Pastor and the associate pastors which consists of me Kevin,and Dave. After lunch we usually come back and meet for another hour or so about upcoming events staffing issues etc...

After Mondays I am fried!

Tuesday:

I use Tuesday to get ready for Wednesday Worship and to put into action the ideas we came up with in creative team meeting for Sunday. I have a lunch meeting on Tuesday's from 12-130 these days because we are writing drama sketches for our Christmas season. After that I try to catch up on e-mail and phone calls and deal with some staff issues.

Wednesday:

Is preparing Musically and spiritually for Wednesday Worship and making sure things are coming together for Sunday. I have rehearsal at 6 and service at 7. Usually leave church around 9 P.M.

Thursday:

Thursday is what we call Thriday because it represents our Friday. This is a faced pace day to finish up and get everything ready for Sunday. Several meetings in the afternoon to make sure everyone is on the same page. Sometimes things aren't done and I have to finish stuff up on Friday.

2.) How do you deal with not burning out?

You have to take time off. I am very blessed to have a pastor who believes it's important to be away and take time off. I also think it's important to be somewhere you love. Not liking the people and the place you work will cause burn out QUICK!

3.) How would you handle a situation within your choir (or praise team) such as if two of your members are fighting or just don't get along?

Unity is one of the most important things for your team. If you don't have unity trouble is right around the corner. I would teach unity and make it a part of the culture so when times like this come up you can remind them of this.

4.) Do you have a mentor? How important is it to you to have someone in your life that you can call to be your mentor?

I have a lot of mentors. A mentor helps shape who you are. Mentors that I talk to on a regular basis are my dad and my friend and pastor of Stevens Creek Church Marty Baker. I also have mentors that I have never met like Bill Hybels and Louie Giglio who influence me through the books they write. Read and watch others as much as possible.

5.) What services to you provide to the community you currently serve in and what should you contribute as a ministering musician?

Our whole church is for our community. We do everything we can to create a place where people can come and hear the life changing message of Christ.

Calming The Storm Notes

2009-10-22T16:24:00.003-04:00

I've had several people ask if I could post my notes from when I spoke on Calming The Storm. Here they are.

Incredible

CALMING THE STORM

That day when evening came, (Jesus) said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side (of the lake)." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" Mark 4:35-38

YOU ARE IN THE STORM

1) BY HIS DESIGN.

Possible storm sources:

· Storms from bad decisions.

· Storms from the enemy.

· Storms from a broken world.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28)

2) WITH HIS PRESENCE.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

3) FOR HIS PURPOSES.

The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

Mark 4:38b

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

· In storms, we want God to do a removing job. He wants to do an improving job.

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:39-40

2009-10-19T09:35:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was an amazing day! I was able to be at the Grovetown campus for the first time. We had a total of 210 people....WOW! I am so proud to be a part of such a great a church. My dad is doing a great job leading that team and Cliff and the band are rockin' it out every week. We are blessed! If you go to Grovetown, keep up the great work. If you don't, please keep them in your prayers as they make the name of Jesus famous in Grovetown.

A New Day!

2009-09-18T09:45:00.003-04:00

It's a new day at the Creek. Sunday we added our second campus in Grovetown and it was awesome! The G-team worked so hard to get ready for the opening of this campus and the work paid off. We had 358 people show up. How awesome is that! Things went really smooth. A few bumps here and there but overall it was great! I can't wait to see how they continue to grow and reach the Grovetown area for Christ. IF you live in Grovetown check it out this Sunday at 10:30 at Grovetown High School. http://stevenscreekchurch.com/

It's finally here!

2009-09-12T14:24:00.002-04:00

Well, It's finally here! Stevens Creek Grovetown launches tomorrow and it will be an historic day in the life of Stevens Creek Church. Thanks to all who have worked so very very hard to make tomorrow possible. I can't wait to see all of the lives that will be changed by the ministries of this campus. If you live in the Grovetown area check it out tomorrow at Grovetown High School 10:30. Go G-team!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2009-09-05T16:35:00.002-04:00

I love this time of year. College football is underway and Pro football starts this Thursday night. My team , the Tampa Bay Bucs, play this Sunday against the How 'Bout Them Cowboys. I think we will be awful this year but I still love to watch them. So don't expect to see me hanging around after the 1130 services this fall. I will be at out the door to get home to see the Bucs play. Happy football everybody!

A Great Heritage

2009-08-27T08:56:00.006-04:00

This world lost a great saint last Saturday night. My pawpaw Sturgell left this world to join my mawmaw in Heaven after a long battle with cancer. What a great man of God he was. He served his church as a volunteer his whole life. I remember him being Sunday School Superintendent and driving the the church bus to pick up kids who didn't have a ride to church. Man, he loved being in church. He was such a faithful servant. He taught my dad what it meant to be a man of character and to love God more than anything and because of that I am the man I am today. I pray that I can transfer that same great heritage to my two boys. We will miss my pawpaw greatly but know that he has gone to the place that he had dreamed about his whole life. I love you pop!

Brand New Stevens Creek Church Website

2009-08-14T16:47:00.002-04:00

The website is finally done. We've been trying to get a new website up for about two years now and this week it is finally up and running. Just wanted to give a shout out to Brennan Baxter who has put in a ridiculous amount of hours to make it happen. Also, to Jeff Brotherton who helped Brennan with graphics and creative direction. These guys are incredible and I'm honored to have them on my staff. Check it out at http://stevenscreekchurch.com/ You're going to love it!

Where did the summer go?

2009-08-04T09:36:00.009-04:00

Where did the summer go? It seemed like yesterday my boys were getting out of school for the summer and now that same summer is GONE! We have had a great time though. We were able to go to the beach three times. The first time was just Me, April and the boys. We went to Myrtle Beach for a few days at the beginning of June. I love going with just us but it is no relaxing vacation with two boys under ten. They constantly want your attention....no really, CONSTANTLY! I had to keep reminding myself that in a few years I will wish they wanted to play with me. They grow up too fast.

Our second beach trip was to Oak Island, NC with April's family. We always have a great time there. We have gone for the last 8 years. It's a small beach town with nothing to do and that's what makes it great. Just rental houses all along the beach. It's always a very relaxing week. We love it!

Our last beach week was in Daytona Beach with my family. This one is the complete opposite of Oak Island. It was crowded and busy and all you could ever want to do and FUN! The place we stay has a lazy river, 3 huge pools, 4 Jacuzzis an outdoor putting green, a nine hole putt putt course on the 4th floor and I could go on and on. It was a lot of fun. My brother Ben was able to be there the whole week and the boys so enjoyed spending time with their crazy uncle.

Well that was my summer.....can't believe it's gone.

Stevens Creek Grovetown

2009-07-07T21:38:00.004-04:00

I spent the first part of my day with Kevin, Jeff and Wes at Grovetown High School. It really got me amped up about what God is getting ready to do out there. What an opportunity God has given us. God is truly doing even greater things than we imagined at Stevens Creek. Get ready for launch on September 13th.

I Love My Church part 2

2009-05-24T16:50:00.002-04:00

Today was another incredible day at the Creek. I love seeing people engage in worship to our creator. As many of you know we are in a series called “I Love My Church”. It has been awesome! Many of you have written your comments at stevenscreek.net and I have so enjoyed reading them. One of my favorites is from a guy named Jake.

MAY 14  I have always struggled with faith. It was never introduced to me properly and I have shied away from it for many years. My wife has never given up on me and I started going to church in Ohio 2 years ago. I enjoyed the pastor as he was a fantastic speaker and he always found a way like Dave Willis to relate topics in a way that applied to my life. We moved to Georgia in the last year for my new job and we tried out the Creek. This church doesn’t\'t force anything on me like others have in the past, and I am able to come to Christ in my own way. There is guidance and support at every turn. Not to mention the band, sweet baby Jesus, I love that band. I cry every single Sunday listening to the music. Todd rocks out and April can flat out knock you down with those golden pipes. I am lifted up and I’ve learned to not only make room in my heart for Christ, but to empty myself so I can be saturated. Let Him work through me, not the other way around :) I love my church!

-JAKE

I just thought that was awesome…. “Not to mention the band, sweet baby Jesus, I love that band”. HILARIOUS!

The service today kicked of with an 80’s flashback with Danny singing a little Huey Lewis and the News, Power of Love. People loved it! Gary ripped the solo on that song. The set list for worship was:

Salvation is Here…..Lincoln Brewster

You Saved Me…….Gary Baxter

‘Til I See You……...Hillsong

Saviour King……….Hillsong

Dave did a fine job as usual. I bet you didn’t know he has pneumonia. He is a machine! Well, I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day. Make sure you take some time to remember those who have died so that we have freedom. We are blessed!

Baptism Tonight at 7

2009-05-20T09:38:00.001-04:00

Tonight we will be baptizing 51 people. Every time we think we have a final count we get a call from someone else wanting to get dunked. This will be the largest baptism we have ever had at the Creek. How Awesome is that! This is what our church is all about. Seeing people who are away from God find hope in Christ. Don’t miss tonight! This is when we celebrate as a church what God is doing. We don’t need to take this for granted, it’s not happening everywhere. See you tonight at 7.

I Love My Church!

2009-05-17T22:07:00.004-04:00

I wrote in my last post that I was working with the Langley Church of God's worship team over the weekend. While they had some great people there, it really reminded me why I love the Creek so much. I love my church.

Speaking of the Creek, we had an awesome day today. We had great crowds and the energy was through the roof! Jordan started off with a Remedy Drive song called "Something Made To Last". After that we had an Around the Creek video to give us the 411 on what's going on. Great job on that Wes and Christine. Then we had the Dance.......so fun! The dance team did a jam up job and the costumes were of the chain.

The congregational worship set list was: O Happy Day - My Glorious - The Stand

I thought it went really well. Band sounded great!

Marty did an awesome job reminding us what Stevens Creek is all about. At the end of the message I sang a Tenth Avenue North song called "Love Is Here". We put a baptism video with it that really brought an emotional touch to the service. Great job an the video Brennan. I could watch people being baptized all day.

Well I'm looking forward to another busy week around the Creek! I have the best job in the world!

Langley Church Of God

2009-05-15T23:13:00.003-04:00

I have the opportunity to work with the Langley Cog's Worship team tomorrow morning. Working with other team's really gets me amped up. I will be working with their choir, worship team and band. As you can imagine, It's going to be a good bit different from the Creek. For example, in their band they have a flute and a tuba. Not really the instrumentation we use at the Creek, but I'm always up for a challenge. On Sunday night me and a few guys from the band will go and join with the worship team from Langley for their Sunday night service. Should be fun.....I'll keep you posted.

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T09:15:00.002-04:00

I hope all the mom's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. It was a great day at the Creek! Started with baby dedications which always throw a little wrench in the service. There is just no easy way to do them, especially when you have 10-12 you are trying to dedicate. It worked though and baby's are dedicated and I think most momma's are happy.

The singing portion of worship was powerful! The set list was, Sing Sing Sing, Everlasting God and Desert Song. During Everlasting God I read Isaiah 40 to encourage all of us to put our hope and trust in God who will never grow tired or weary. It was a good moment. I really felt like people were connecting especially in the first service. First service peeps, you guys ROCK! After that April and Melissa lead the Desert Song and it was awesome as usual. April prayed a prayer after the song that was amazing and so appropriate for the day. I love that woman!

Then Margie was back on stage for the first time in a long time presenting a monologue that I think all mothers in the place could relate to. She did a jam up job. After the sketch Marty came up and presented a very practical message on how we can honor our mom's. He did a great job. Speaking on Mother's Day is not his favorite thing to do.

At the end of the service we decided to do an old Rod Stewert song, Have I Told You Lately. We put it with some video of people telling there mom's how much they love them and how much they mean to them. It was a sweet moment in the service. Great job Wes! I was singing the song so I got to see all the ladies crying and that let me know that it was a hit. If you can get mom's to cry on mothers day, all will be well in the world. You can watch the service @stevenscreek.net.

Well now it's on to next week. Starting a new series called I Love My Church! It's going to be Awesome!

Lee Singers @ the Creek

2008-11-17T09:21:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was another great day at the Creek. We started a new series called Gifted and had the Lees Singers in from Lee University to sing. The Lee Singers were great! I was so proud of them. My friend Brad took over as director last year and has done an incredible job bringing energy and excellence back to this group. Well Done Bradley! Two of the Singers were our very own Wes and Paige Lutes. They are so awesome. I also felt a little old because one of the girls in the group was mine and April's flower girl in our wedding. Time is tickin away.

We had friend day last week and had a record non holiday attendance record of 1648. So I was interested to see what our attendance was going to be yesterday. We had 1500 on the nose. I will take that any day. Last year this time we were running about 1100. God is really up to something and I'm so excited to be a part of it. Keep up the work all you Creekers. God is using you!

To top it all off my Bucs beat the Vikings yesterday to go to 7-3.. SWEET!

Friend Day at the Creek!

2008-11-10T09:09:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was an awesome day at the Creek. We had 1654 peeps show up for our friend day. We gave away $600 of gas in all three services. We had games and inflatables for the kid's (and adults). Danny our funny man was out in front of the church broadcasting live into the auditorium. People were pretty excited. I don't have the total count but a whole lot of people received Christ for the first time. I love serving at Stevens Creek, it really is a great place.

Live Recording update

2008-10-30T15:05:00.006-04:00

Where do I begin? It was an incredible night of worship. The energy was insane. I think that's what happened to some of the mics. All the electricity coming out of the packed crowd was causing things to go crazy. Those of you that were there know we had a few mic issues, but that was a small portion of the things that were going wrong on that night. So I decided I will give you a blow by blow account of the evening. Here are a list of things that went wrong:

1 the bottom of my mic came apart right at the end of rehearsal 30 minutes before start time. I fixed it and thought it was fine. WRONG!

2 My mic didn't work at the beginning of the first song. We had this awesome drum loop going and the lights were where you could just see our silhouette and we started singing the line o happy day happy day over and over again. the anticipation was building and building just as we planned. It was all leading to the loop cutting out and me singing You washed my sins away" and boom the lights would come up. That all happened except for my mic wasn't working and so it was just silence. VERY DISAPPOINTED!

3 Know I have to take someone else's mic to use because it's kinda important that the one who is leading can be heard. As I trade with Adam who was standing next to me the whole bottom of my mic falls off and lands on the ground.

4 Since I don't have my mic I can't hear my vocal in my in ear monitor mix because it was set for my mic. So I can't hear a thing. Not the way I wanted to start the night.

5 At the end of the third song I broke a string on my guitar! no really all this is happening. Luckily we had a back up. So I go get it during a video we were playing to introduce a new song that we wrote.

6 I go over to sing the song Fill Me at the piano and one of the pieces of my mic stand had fallen out where I couldn't adjust to where I needed it to sit at the piano and sing. So I just ripped the thing down without loosening it. It was at this point I just started laughing and told God, I don't know what's going on here but I give up. Do what you want tonight. From that point on we didn't have any major issues. I thought I had told Him that before the night maybe I didn't.

7 oh yeah I forgot the stuff that happened in preparation The look we have on stage with the light truss was plan B. My first idea was a bunch of white circles hanging that we could through light on and make different colors. I've seen it other places and it looks great. We spent hours finding hula hoops painting them white, putting white material on them and trying to hang them. When we started hanging them we had some that looked like eggs others that looked like footballs and one or so that looked like a flippin' circle. NOT HAPPY! So this is Thursday and we have to come up with a new design. The only good that came out of it is I think I like the look of what we ended up with more than the original idea.

My team did an awesome job. We had sound men running all over the place trying to get mics to work. Vocalists trying to figure who needs what mic after I had to take one of theirs. Luckily all the mic issues won't effect the recording because we were recording through a different board than the house board. So all of that is fine. (-: I have an incredable team. The most amazing thing is that through all of this junk God really showed up and worked that night. I think it will be a night people will remember for a long time to come. I know I will.

3 Days Left

2008-10-23T08:55:00.003-04:00

3 days until the recording. We have so much left to do. I'm so thankful for my team. I don't know if people realize how much time goes unto something like this. My team makes it happen, I am blessed. You don't want to miss Sunday night, it is going to be CRAZY! I really believe people will leave differently than they came. See you at the Creek at 7.

Disney Cruise and Bucs Game

2008-10-21T09:20:00.008-04:00

Just got back from an awesome trip with my family and our good friends the Wallers. We went on a 4 day Disney Cruise and it was a blast. The ship was awesome with tons to do, the weather was perfect and the company was even better. The only bad part of the trip was Grayson got sea sick the first night and was blowing chunks all night long. He got better the next day and so did our trip. I recommend a Disney Cruise for sure. The have there stuff together. From when you get there to when you leave they have it planned out. The shows were amazing I mean really amazing. I felt like a little kid again singing all the Disney songs. It was great! After the cruise I realized the Bucs were playing at home in Tampa that night. I thought they were playing in Seattle. So we decided to try and get some tickets and found some. It was a great memory for all of us. Ashton and Grayson loved it and I thought it was pretty cool too. Well, that is the skinny on our trip, glad to be home.

You Saved Me

2008-10-13T09:22:00.002-04:00

The first song I will introduce is a song Gary Baxter our electric guitar player wrote with some input from the rest of the band. It's called You Saved ME. Here are the lyrics:

1st verse

So unaware of the one who cared

Enough to rescue me

One prayer away from a love that saved

An aimless child like me

Chorus

You're the one who holds my heart

And forever I'm not ashamed

To declare you as my Lord, You saved me

I'm so humbled that you came

And forever one truth remains

When you found my at the cross

You saved me

2nd Verse

Simple words I bring to a faithful king

Who gave His life for me

God of grace fill this empty space

And forgive me all my sin

Gary is awesome with a heart of gold. I am honored to serve along side him. Remember the live recording in two weeks on October 26th at 7:00.

How to Spice Up Your Marriage

2008-10-11T13:19:00.006-04:00

You don't want to miss being at the Creek tomorrow. We are wrapping up our Family Time series with a day on How To Spice Up Your Marriage. It's going to be an awesome day with some surprises so you need to be there.

Live Recording 18 days and counting

2008-10-09T08:51:00.000-04:00

Well we are 18 days away from the live recording we are doing at the Creek. We are in the process of writing some songs and rehearsing the other songs we will put on it. We have written three so far and I think that will be all we will be able to put on this one because of time. I hope next year the whole recording can be songs we write. The three songs we have written are:

You Saved Me written by Gary Baxter

Response written by Corey Baxter, Jordan Lucas and Danny Rankin

Fill Me written by Todd Sturgell (me)

Over the next few days I will highlight each of these songs to give you a picture of where they came from. Some really awesome things happening at the Creek. Make sure you save the date for The live recording Sunday October 26 at 7:00 and be a part of a night you won't forget.

Thankful

2008-09-27T21:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I had a very interesting day last Friday. It started out great. I took Grayson to school and met April to eat some breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I had made plans to go and trade my car in after breakfast. So, I tell April bye and I set out to North Augusta to do the deal, but that was not going to happen on this day. As I was driving down washington road in front of Club Car I was not paying attention to the road and I ended up slamming right into the back of a pickup truck with a trailer on the back. The air bag came out and beat the crap out of my face, the front of my car shrunk up like a slinky. It was not good. The first thing I thought as I was trying to figure out if I was hurt or dying was Oh God forgive me of any sin I have in my life. I just wanted to make sure.I got out of the car and was amazed at how bad the car looked. I am a blessed man to come out of that ok.

Baptism @ the Creek

2008-09-25T09:17:00.000-04:00

Last night we had baptism at the Creek. I went into the night a little disappointed because we didn't have as many as we usually have being dunked. As the night progressed and I had the privilege of baptizing these folks I was reminded how blessed I am to be at a church that people actually come to Christ on a regular basis. So many churches are dead and drying up but the Creek is alive and vibrant and growing like crazy. Fellow Creekers we are blessed!