"State of the Church" update

Every year the President gives a speech before Congress called the "State of the Union" address. So...I thought it might be good and appropriate for me to share with everyone where we are in the church planting process. God has blessed and we give Him the glory!!

At our last staff meeting we discussed our situation by compiling different lists on things we have and things we need. Here is what we came up with as of Saturday (10th).

OVERHEAD/EXPENSES
$72 year--website
$600 month--rent
$30 per each Bible study in library

ITEMS WE HAVE
Building
Projector
Screen
Keyboard
Guitars
Drums
Bongo Drums
Trumpet
Laptop
Fax machine
Copier

ITEMS WE NEED
Sound board
monitors
microphones
lapel mic
Children's lit

PRAYER NEEDS
Music Pastor
Youth Pastor
Core Group Bible Studies beginning on April 19th
Funding/support
Townsend spring festival
Westview Baptist mission trip in July
For us to glorify God and not ourselves

Since my last post, God has blessed us with many things. First He has surrounded me with two guys that I trust very much and whom I would consider balances an area of weakness that I have. Second we have been able to locate a building to use for our services. I cannot emphasize enough how much of a blessing this has been. This is only something God could have done. The building is on 321 headed toward Heritage High School and is called "Music Row." Many in the Maryville area are familiar with the building because it is home to Bluegrass Gospel music concerts on Saturday night. It has enough room for 350 people and has adequate space to do classes and the like. What I like most about the building is that it is located right on 321 and is very accessible and easy to find.

It seems as if the "items we have" column grows weekly and in the process we are staying true to the vision. The church's name is Foothills Baptist Church and evangelism and missions are at the core of our DNA. It's an exciting time as we continue with this journey. In the coming weeks we will be meeting with different churches; in an effort to form partnerships and find support from local congregations. Also beginning April 19th we will begin a series of Bible studies.

The Bible studies will be held at the Blount County Library and the first of which will be me explaining to hopefully you the vision/mission of the church and what is our biblical basis for doing such. While at the Bible study we are going to ask you to do something bold...to pray for us and for you to pray and seek God's will concerning your involvement with us.

Our goal and wish is that the Lord would receive all the glory from Foothills Baptist Church. This is not about me nor is it about anyone else on the staff. Many church plants are becoming trendy and developing rock star pastors. This will not be us. I am not going to spike my hair nor bleach my teeth. We have chosen to include "baptist" in our name simply because it provides doctrinal clarity. We perceive the term "Community" as another trend in church planting. In short our goal is not to be "cool," it is to be biblically solid.

Some have argued that planting a church is now the "cool" thing to do and that no need now exists for a new congregation in Blount County. My response is that church plants are inherent in the Great Commission. Combine that with the statistics available through the North American Mission Board and the evidence is overwhelming. It is estimated that 75% of SBC church goers are lost. Most churches have now plateaued or are dying. For the first time ever there are missionaries who are waiting to be sent by the NAMB but are on hold because of a lack of funds to support them. Statistics show that the SBC is getting older and not reaching the younger generation.

All these things point to one basic fact: we are not sharing the Gospel with those who need it.

This is my passion...to see souls saved and I believe that King Jesus is going to accomplish this through Foothills Baptist Church. We simply do not want to exist and be another church; we want to exist to make a difference for the Kingdom.

Jeremy