JOSHUA Series

Last Sunday, I kicked off a new series on the life of JOSHUA.  He was an incredible, fearless leader of the nation of Israel.  There's just so much to learn from his life.  Last week, we began the series by looking at his 40-year boot camp under the direction of Moses.  This coming Sunday we look at how to obtain courage and confidence like Joshua had.  Here's the layout of the series:



June 26th – Leadership Boot Camp
July 3rd – Strong & Courageous
July 10th - A Radical, Risk Taker
July 17th - Leading People into Battle
July 24th – Finishing Strong


If you miss a week or want to hear or watch a message online, go here:  LCC Media Player 

Please be praying for our students and adults who left today for their missions trip this week in Norfolk, VA.  We have an awesome group of students participating this year. We are going with the World Changers organization again.  World Changers seeks to provide a dynamic, week-long missions experience for Christian youth and adults with opportunities to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others through practical learning experiences that teach servant hood and personal commitment to missions.  

• Pray for the safety and strength of each student and adult.
• Pray for hearts of our students to be changed as they work and minister with the people they encounter.
• Pray for the receptivity of the hearts of the people they will be reaching out to.

Here's the list of who is on this trip: Angelo Downing, Rita Downing, Jessica Downing, Jared Downing, Lazarus Downing, Morgan Ellison, Erik Ellison, Nic Gay, Rachel Giles, Jacob Gray, Andrew Hough, Anthony Johnson, Justice Jurascheck, Loyal Jurascheck, Tesia Jurascheck, Cory Logue, Mikayla Logue, Tori Markle, Joel Sanders, Britney Tingtstrom, Caleb Feehs, Jeff Keeny, Nicole Keeny, Mike Sanders, Jessica Ellison & David Einwechter

Father's Day at LCC

This Sunday at LCC we are excited to have a guest speaker sharing the message with us.  Jason Rhodenhizer has been a pastoral staff member at churches in Idaho and Alaska and for the last 5 years at Calvary Road Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia.  (This is the same church where I served for 6 years before starting LCC.)  He has recently resigned his position to plant a church this Fall in the Leesburg area, which is one of the fastest growing areas in our country.  Jason is going to share a little about his vision for church planting and then preach a Father’s Day message entitled, “Never Too Late.”  Jason and his wife Mandie have 5 children…so he’s definitely equipped to speak about fatherhood!

Don’t miss this Sunday!  We’ll be giving away a great gift to one special dad and we’ll also give every dad a gift as they leave the service.  Bring your dad to church this Sunday!

Weekend Review

An amazing weekend for our family...watching our son graduate from high school on Saturday was a surreal experience.  It seemed like it all happened so fast...the time just flew by.  In reflection, I can say that I feel extremely blessed and have no regrets.  I know I was far from a perfect dad, but I am so thankful for all the incredible times that we had through Zac's childhood - all of his teams that I was able to coach, all the great family vacations, all the holiday gatherings, and even the ability to share the church planting experience as a family.  I am also so thankful for all the family, friends, coaches, teachers, etc that made a positive impact on Zac's life.  We are looking forward to what the future holds for him.


We experienced a great day Sunday at Life Community Church.  God's presence was definitely there in the service.

• 2 individuals prayed to receive Jesus as Savior in the service!
• 2 new first-time families
• Awesome time of fellowship and coffee before the service - thanks to the Bells for the great food!  I loved the peanut butter cake :-)
• Several people told me how timely the message was for their lives...so if you missed it, you can listen or watch the message on our website (or iTunes).

It's Graduation Day!

We're so proud of our oldest...Zac graduates at 2:30 this afternoon at the Patriot Center on the George Mason campus.  We are proud of all of his accomplishments athletically (making the all-district and all-area baseball team) and academically (ended his 4 years, ranked #8 in his class of 540).  But...we are more thrilled with the man of God he has become.  We thank God for Zac's integrity and strong moral character.  We cannot wait to see what God does in his life in the future and he heads off to Liberty University this August.  Great job son!

* The picture is from the Senior awards ceremony yesterday at Forest Park.

COME EARLY FOR COFFEE & REFRESHMENTS THIS SUNDAY…this Sunday is our monthly Coffee & Refreshments at 9:30 before the service.  Come out early for incredible coffee, delicious refreshments, and great fellowship.  We are serving Thousand Hills Coffee and selling bags for $11 each to help support missions in Rwanda.  Read more here: http://www.drinkcoffeedogood.com/

Riding the Waves...this Sunday!

Life comes at us in WAVES...the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the highs and lows.  How do we handle the waves?  Do we focus on our circumstances and our surroundings or do we focus on God?  Do we panic in fear and have an emotional overreaction or do we relax knowing God is in complete control?

This Sunday, June 12th, I am sharing a message entitled, Riding the Waves of Life.  We'll be looking at the story of Jesus and the disciples on the waves.  Check out Matthew 8 if you want to read ahead.

This is a time of year when many of us are going through changes with the end of another school year.  For us personally, we are watching our oldest graduate on Saturday and dealing with the WAVES of emotion and change.  It's all good and part of God's plan.  Be there Sunday!

3:05 & 4:12

Those were the times on the digital clock when I've woken up during the night recently.  I've personally been falling asleep easily, but with much on our minds these days, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night or extremely early with lots to think about.  Anyway, I had this thought this week that instead of lying there stressing over stuff, think of a Scripture verse with a reference that coincides with the time. 

4:12 - When this time came up a few nights ago, I thought of  1 Timothy 4:12  "Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity"  I began to use that time to thank God for my oldest son Zac, who is graduating this Saturday and is living as a great example for his peers and other believers as a true follower of Jesus.  I am truly blessed by how he lives his life.

3:05 - Last night when I woke up at 3:05, I went to John 3:5 and then James 3:5 in my head, but ended up resting on Proverbs 3:5  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding."  It was the perfect verse to meditate upon and fall back to sleep to for a few hours.

Maybe this technique could help you...you might need to keep a Bible close by!

Weekend Recap

We had a great Monday morning staff meeting.  Always fun to recap Sunday, discussing the highs and lows and the in-betweens of the weekend.  It was a busy weekend for sure for me with a wedding in the mix, but God was good and His presence was felt in our service.


We honored our graduating seniors in the service.  We had 11 seniors participating and I've just got to give them props for being such an awesome group of young adults with bright futures ahead.  We have 2 heading to West Point, 2 to Virginia Tech, 2 to Liberty, 3 to NVCC, 1 to UNC-Wilmington, and 1 to Belmont.  Please pray for them and their families as most graduate this coming week.  I know my wife and I are feeling the emotion of our first kid graduating...it just doesn't seem possible already!


This past Sunday we concluded our Q&A series at LCC.  I know many learned a lot and hopefully we did a good job of answering as many questions as possible.  As I said often throughout the series, we are just scratching the surface on most questions in the sermons...so do some deeper digging on your own!  For me personally, it has been a challenging series...especially in delivery, because the messages don't have the normal, comfortable flow.  Yep, I'm looking forward to getting back into my normal style this week!


It was great to have 2 new families this Sunday...once again that road sign at the corner of York Drive and PW Parkway is making an impact - both families came because of that sign.


I gave a challenge at the end of the message series to remember that it's not about just gaining knowledge about the Bible, but it's about living it out in our lives.  We need to remember our purposes!  

• Reaching Up in Worship of God
• Reaching In through Relationships in Small Groups and Serving
• Reaching Out by sharing our faith in our communities

Here's a little tidbit of advice about personal worship.  I said yesterday that worship is more than the 20 minutes of music we sing together with the band.  It's also our personal time of prayer, praise, Bible reading, meditating that needs to happen daily in our lives.  Another aspect of personal worship which will enhance your Sunday experience is listening to some worship songs during the week.  Did you know that Josh posts the song lists and artists each week on our website?  Click here.  I encourage you to buy those songs online,  download them to your iPod and make a "worship" playlist...and watch how God uses that in your life!  (Yes, I'm talking from personal experience!)

Want to read ahead for this Sunday's message...check out Matthew 8:23-27.

This coming weekend at LCC

This Sunday is the conclusion of our Q & A Series.  Here is this week’s line-up of questions: How did all the races come about?  What is the Christian view of things such as dinosaurs that seem to suggest an old earth?  What actions are considered blasphemy? What happens to someone who commits suicide?  How long should a person grieve?

Also, this Sunday, June 5^th, we will be honoring all of our graduating seniors in the service.  This is for both high school and college graduates.  If you have not already done so, please send me an email to let me know you or your son or daughter’s plans to participate in this.  We will have each graduate share where they are graduating from as well as their future plans.

This Saturday morning, June 4^th is the monthly Men’s Breakfast at Old Country Buffet on Prince William Parkway at 8 am.  No agenda…just show up for some good food and fellowship.

Our Student Ministry is raising funds for their upcoming Missions trip during the last week of June.  They need your support.  Feel free to give designated donations through the offering to support them.  The 23 participants have to raise a total of over $5,000.  There are two upcoming opportunities to help

• This Saturday, June 4^th – Yard Sale at the Lorton Fire Department.  If you have anything that you would like to donate, please drop it off at the Hough’s house tonight or Friday evening. They live at 9105 Ridgely Drive, Lorton, VA. Please call them before dropping things off to make sure they are home. They can be contacted at 703-690-1738.
• Saturday, June 18^th – Car Wash from 10 am – 2 pm at the 7-11 on the corner of Prince William Parkway and Telegraph Road.  Come get your car washed and tell others!