What would our lives look like if we all applied God’s principles on giving? On an average, it’s about 20% of the people in most churches who do all the serving and giving. What could happen if 100% of FCCers all participated in giving and serving? What could our church look like? What kind of impact could that have on our community? All of our bold plans and audacious ideas will be meaningless if we don’t learn to be a people of bold generosity.

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FCC experienced a 400% increase in our average worship attendance between January 2011 and December 2011. God is shaping a powerful community of Christ-followers here and 2012 is positioning us to reach more people with the Gospel than we could have every imagined for such a young church that began with less than ten people in Pastor Jimmy and Cindy’s living room. We are making BOLD moves and excited about where God is taking our journey this year.

Join us this weekend for Friends and Football Sunday as we continue our AUDACITY series in the morning and our Super Bowl party in the evening.

Help TACKLE hunger and feed Chattanooga area needy families during this year’s FCC Super Bowl gathering. The Super Bowl party will be held at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga Sunday night. The big game will be on the big screen with festivities starting at 5:30 pm. Please bring a side dish for the party and non-perishable food items to be donated to needy families in our area.

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This weekend at FCC, we talk about what it looks like to have “Insane Courage”. Join us as we continue our AUDACITY series. Life is no place for the timid!

Help feed Chattanooga area needy families during this year’s FCC Super Bowl party. The FCC Super Bowl party will be held at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga. on Sunday, February 5, 2012. The big game will be on the big screen with festivities starting at 5:30 pm. Please bring a side dish for the party and non-perishable food items to be donated to needy families in our area.

Many people rush into the new year with lofty ambitions and new year’s resolutions without properly evaluating, and learning from, the past year’s experiences. When we don’t intentionally unpack our previous season, we aren’t fully prepared to grow into the new season life affords us. With that in mind, I want to share with you some questions of introspection I like to use at the end of every year. I believe that when we deal with these questions in a very purposeful way, we are best equipped to set new goals and clothe ourselves with the right approach to enter the new year with determined resolve and clean spirits.

This exercise can be done alone or with your family. I prefer to do both, and I encourage you to use this weekend to reflect on these questions, perhaps as part of a family devotion on Sunday morning since we won’t be gathering for corporate worship on January 1.

Questions for Introspection and Implementation

1. What are my fondest memories of 2011? Who and what made them special?

2. Was there a beautiful moment(s) in which God revealed himself more deeply to me? (a relationship, a revelation, a serve opportunity, etc.)

3. What were some of the most meaningful projects, accomplishments, or activities I engaged myself in this past year? What underlying factors made them meaningful and how can I build these factors into my core values for the new year?

4. What did I procrastinate on and fail to get done this past year? What discipline can I add to my life to eliminate procrastination in the new year?

5. Am I closer to my friends and family from my activities this past year? If so, what activities brought me closer so that I can practice them more in 2012? If not, what goals do I need to set to achieve greater relational intimacy in the new year?

6. The things that excite me most reveal much about my priorities. What did I celebrate most in 2011? What does this reveal about my priorities? Are they things that God values (such as one sinner coming to repentance or a person becoming more devoted to Christ, His Church, and His cause)?

7. How committed have I been to my local church: Christ’s primary and greatest agent for changing the world? How can I become more committed to Jesus, His Great Commission, and His Bride: the local church?

8. Who am I taking responsibility to mentor (discipleship)?

9. What happened this year that needs to be remembered, memorialized, perhaps recorded in a journal so I can return to it in the future and recall the blessing (or the rebuke) of God? Making such a record is like those monuments and altars God had the Israelites raise up when great things worth remembering had happened.

10. What have my prevailing feelings been (and what are they at the present)? What has been my dominant mood this year? Has there been a preponderance of sadness, of depression, of fear, of anger, of regret, of joy, of gratitude, of emptiness, of enthusiasm? How has that mood affected others?

11. What have been the “blessings,” those acts of grace that have come through others or—as I perceive it—directly from God himself? Can I express praise and appreciation (sometimes even written in a thank-you note or other expression of gratitude to someone)?

12. Who inspired or mentored me this year? Should I let them know how much they influenced my life?

13. Have things happened for which I need to accept responsibility, perhaps leading to repentance? Why did they happen? Were they avoidable and how can they be prevented in the future?

14. Is there a possibility that I am living in denial of certain realities? Painful criticism, sloppy work, habitual patterns that are hurting me and others?

15. Are there any resentments or ill feelings toward others that remain unaddressed, unforgiven? If I don’t deal with them appropriately, I will carry toxins into my new season in 2012. What must I do to deal with them? Do I need to release someone who has hurt me or apologize to someone I knowingly hurt?

16. Is there an overarching message God has been speaking into my life this year? Through Scripture? Through books? Through sermons? What has he been saying through those in my inner circle of relationships? Through critics? What insights swirl up and out of the deepest parts of my soul? Which of them needs to be repudiated, and which needs to be cultivated?

17. What are the things I might do and say that would make the people in my inner circle feel more loved, valued, appreciated, and even empowered going into 2012?

18. Am I mindful of the socially awkward, the poor, the suffering, the oppressed in my local world and in the larger world? Am I in tune with appropriate current events in the world and perceiving them through the lens of biblical perspective? If not, what can I put in place this new year to help me become more attuned people, community, and events.

19. Am I closer to God now than I was at the beginning of 2011? Why?

20. Now, what will be my goals and resolutions as I move forward into 2012?

Channel 12 news piece on the terminally ill man who collected and fixed up bikes to give away to kids during our Christmas outreach to under-served families.

We also have a number of gift packages going to incarcerated children in the Hamilton and Bradley County juvenile systems. This Wednesday is our Christmas party for low-income kids at Rainbow Creek apartments, and on December 20, we will be distributing bicycles that have been donated for our kids’ outreach at the AOS mobile home park.

This Saturday night, Dec 17, will be our FCC Christmas party. It will be held at the Royal Harbor clubhouse off of Snow Hill Rd., 7416 Royal Club Dr., in Ooltewah. Festivities begin at 6pm. Feel free to bring a friend. Please bring a “White Elephant” or “Dirty Santa” gift to the party. If you don’t know what that means, look up “white elephant gift exchange” on Wikipedia.

On Sunday night, Dec 18, a serve team will be visiting the LifeCare senior assisted living facility in Collegedale, performing Christmas caroling and a children’s Christmas play. If you wish to join us, meet at the Publix parking lot in Ooltewah at 4:30pm.

FCC will be hosting a Christmas Eve candlelight service at our regular worship location on Saturday, Dec 24, at 6pm. The service will feature a beautiful play performed by our Kidz Connection children’s ministry. Join us for this joyful Christmas celebration!

You all have been amazing at stepping up and SERVING this holiday season. I know that JESUS is smiling on our church family as we make His presence glorious in our city this Christmas!

Faith Connection Church

FCC Ministry Central