REMINDER: we are in the process of moving the blog to our church website (http://www.rccfranklin.com/). As soon as the subscription plans are worked out, we'll make the final move. Until then, you can read the blog here or at the site. As always, thanks for taking the time to read.

I always love worshipping with the people at Ridgeview but probably more so now than ever. I get this real feeling that the momentum is building and the excitement is growing. I really feel like we are coming together with a sense of expectancy and anticipation--that we really believe that every week God is going to show up and do something in someone's life.

And why shouldn't we? Look where we are and where we have come from. I remember the first meetings with our "core group" before we launched in the Fall of 2004. They were a curious bunch and eager to serve. Our first meetings at the school in October of that year were learning experiences: how to set up and tear down (our first set up took almost 3 hours), what our church would "look" like, and how our vision would "play out" in Franklin.

Then came Launch Day. Over 300 supportive onlookers came. I warned the leadership then that most would be gone within two weeks. They were wanting to see what was happening and who else was involved. They were curious. Within three weeks, we had gone from 327 to 134.

We settled back to around 100 regular attenders but they were a willing bunch, giving up time and resources to see that RCC laid the proper foundation for her future. I warned myself, as we began to grow, that most of these people would not be here a year from now. Every new church has to go through such a period--testing the waters, casting and re-casting the vision, sorting out the curious from the committed. It's a long process. Typically, in a new church, 60% of the people you start with don't make it through the first two years.

Here we are, three years later. I don't have to warn people any more about who might not be here later. We have some of the best supporters on the planet. They get it. They understand Ridgeview's call and purpose. The fire is hot; the passion is growing. I've seen several of the RCC family this week around town and they are saying the same thing over and over...it's going to be great in 2008 at RCC. I believe it. Our whole staff does.

I invite you to join us this week as we begin to ask the hard questions about the essentials of our faith. We begin this week with questions we have about the Bible...the handbook of our faith. And you'll want to make plans to be a part of our LIFE groups as we continue the discussion after worship is through. Make sure you check out the LIFE group page on our website for more information there. We're taking the gloves off, getting dirty and messy as we ask God to answer some really hard questions for us. You will not want to miss this!!