2011 KY Mission Trip

Although the summer’s not quite over, we’re getting pretty excited about our Fall mission trip to Leslie County, KY!

Every fall break, we head to Kentucky to work with an organization called Big Creek Missions. Ask anyone who’s gone before, and they’ll tell you, “This trip is great!”. Plus, with activities like kids clubs, food distribution, and construction, there is plenty of variety for everyone in the family to join in and serve!

The dates for the trip are October 19-23 (fall break, so you don’t have to worry about missing any school) and the cost is $200 per person (which includes travel, food, housing, & ministry supplies). The deposit of $100 isn’t due until September 9th, so feel free to email jason@rollinghillscommunity.org with questions or interests.

Posted in Kentucky, Local Missions, MissionsTags: Appalachia, Big Creek Missions, Community, Kentucky, Service | by jennasanders No Comments

Summer is finally here in full swing, and we’re so excited to have some new outreach ministries here at RHCC!

This summer we will be doing a Kid’s Club over in Franklin Estates (only a stone’s throw away from Cherokee Place if you’re familiar with our on-going ministry there). We will be doing several fun activities, but most importantly we’ll get to meet and start relationships with people in our community.

There are volunteer groups that will be working alongside us this summer, but what we really want is for our RHCC family to be able to invest in this ministry from the beginning! Do you have two free hours and the desire to be part of furthering God’s kingdom? Do any of these apply to you:

• Teacher
• Stay-at-home Mom
• Teenager
• College Student
• Flexible work hours
• Fridays off

Then we need you this summer!

All ages are welcome to serve with this ministry which makes it so easy for families and even youth to jump in. Our Christian walks are all about relationships–about loving God and loving those He’s placed around us. Why not let this summer be one of growth and a deeper walk with our Savior?

The club will be held on Tuesday through Friday from 12pm-2pm at Franklin Estates. If you’re available to serve the week of June 26-29 or July 3-6 (remember it’s only Tuesday-Friday), then we would love to hear from you! RSVP or send your questions to Jason (jason@rollinghillscommunity.org) or Jenna (jennasanders@rollinghillscommunity.org).

Posted in Local Missions, MissionsTags: Community, day camp, missions | by jennasanders No Comments

February is known generally as the month of love, so this month why not grab some friends and help share some love with the homeless community in Nashville. If you can hardly wait until our next Saturday Serve, join us on Tuesday, February 28 as we meet in downtown Nashville to volunteer with The Bridge Ministry. This is an organization that reaches out and loves on the homeless weekly, whether rain or shine, under the Jefferson St. Bridge.

At its start, the ministry sought to alleviate the needs of the poverty stricken in their community, and over the years, they have grown to a place where they now see over 200 homeless friends and volunteers every week for a worship service, food and clothes distribution, and conversation.

It’s hard to truly love your community if you don’t know the people who make it up, so join us the 28^th at the Jefferson St. Bridge! The Bridge Ministry location is under the Jefferson Street Bridge:

1122 2nd Ave N. Nashville, TN 37208

*Please email Jenna at jennasanders@rollinghillscommunity.org to give the number of people you plan on bringing (for The Bridge Ministry’s planning purposes), and then either carpool with your friends or meet us downtown at 5:30pm February 28 for volunteer registration!

http://www.bridgeministry.org/

Posted in Missions, Saturday ServeTags: Bridge Ministry, Community, Saturday Serve | by Jason Hale No Comments

by Jenna Sanders

Recently I’ve been going through Celebration of Discipline, and this week the chapter on the discipline of service really stepped on my toes and encouraged me all at once. I have a lot of friends who love to serve. Some serve with kind words and letters of affirmation, some sacrifice time to just sit and listen, some spend their weekend cutting grass or babysitting, and some invest the little money they have in organizations that meet “the least of these” right where they are.

I’m sure you know lots of people who will serve too, but as I was reading this particular chapter I wondered, “How many of us are willing to be a servant?”

Foster writes, “Self-righteous service comes through human effort. It expends immense amounts of energy calculating and scheming how to render the service. Sociological charts and surveys are devised so we can ‘help these people.’ True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside. We serve out of whispered promptings, divine urgings. Energy is expended but it is not the frantic energy of the flesh.”

He continues to later say, “Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims. It can serve only when there is a “feeling” to serve (“moved by the Spirit” as we say). Ill health or inadequate sleep controls the desire to serve. True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need. [...] Self-righteous service is temporary. It functions only while the specific acts of service are being performed. Having served, it can rest easy. True service is a life-style. It acts from ingrained patterns of living. It springs spontaneously to meet human need.”

What I think we so often forget is that we are called to be servants, to be slaves. To die to ourselves and daily esteem those around us as higher and more important than we are. And when we do that, when we seek Christ first and love our neighbors fully, we become servants.

It shouldn’t be about serving, about working to check something off a list so we feel holier. Instead it should be about seeking, being fully present and meeting needs around us so faithfully that we hardly realize when we do it.

Saturday Serve shouldn’t be a day where we have to schedule a time to serve. It should be a day where we schedule time to serve together. Because, as followers of Christ our schedule should always be one dedicated to service.

Posted in Missions, Saturday ServeTags: Community, Saturday Serve, Service | by Jason Hale No Comments

From beginning to end, Saturday Serve is a great experience.

We all know the importance God places on serving the least, so if nothing else, it’s about obedience. When we step into nursing homes and show compassion on the elderly, when we sort food at Graceworks and Second Harvest to help them provide for the impoverished, and when we simply rake leaves at WAVES homes, we meet the world’s very real needs. And we make a difference in the name of Jesus.

But the beauty of Saturday Serve comes in many forms. As inspiring as it is to simply be available and sensitive to the movement of the Spirit in areas of physical, emotional and spiritual poverty, one of the most encouraging parts of Saturday Serve is simply serving with others.

Before even stepping into the community, Saturday Serve begins at RHCC with corporate worship. It’s a time for us, as a body of believers, to center on the Lord and remember that the reason we left the house early on a Saturday morning is to do whatever we can to bring heaven to earth for people. For our community. And then we GO.

For all the Jesus we’re able to bring to the community, I’m always in awe of how much Jesus I experience in my own life. My serving team, the project, and the people we meet always seem to speak to my heart and satisfy very real spiritual thirsts. I believe most of us who’ve spent a Saturday in service can echo that.

Saturday Serve is about making a difference. And God does… In more ways than I ever expect.

by: Micah Smith

To Register for Saturday Serve or for more information Click HERE

Posted in Missions, Saturday ServeTags: Community, obedience, Saturday Serve | by Jason Hale No Comments

On Saturday, January 21, we need you! What a better way to kick-off the new year, then to be out in the community serving? Here at RHCC we love reaching out and hope you will take advantage of these opportunities to serve.

We have several different ministry sites and mission opportunities set-up throughout the city where you can serve. This is a great opportunity to come together as a family, small group bible study or just a group of friends to go out and make a difference in Franklin. Any age is welcome!

To register for Saturday Serve visit: Saturday Serve Registration January 21

Some of our sites for that day include: Graceworks Ministries, Community Home Visits, WAVES, manual labor teams and more.

We will meet at 9:00 am at The Warehouse in Franklin, 1810 Columbia Ave. The schedule for the day is as follows:

9:00-Registration

9:15-Prayer, Equipping & Training

10:00-12:00-Ministry Sites

12:30-Debriefing & wrap-up back at Warehouse

There is something for everyone that day! Spread the word as we can use as many people possible to go out and serve.

Questions or for more info contact: Jason Hale

jason@rollinghillscommunity.org

Posted in Missions, Saturday ServeTags: Community, Saturday Serve | by Jason Hale No Comments

In her new book, Kisses From Katie, Katie Davis talks about those who go hungry where she lives, in the country of Uganda. She also shares how the organization she started now feeds 1,600 children Monday through Friday every week.

You might be thinking, “That’s great because of course Uganda needs that sort of help, but we’re not in Uganda, we’re here in Franklin, TN, in the United States of America”. And that is true; however, we’re here, in Franklin, TN, in the United States of America for a reason.

Thinking about 1,600 hungry children can be overwhelming, but like Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one”. Certainly we can do that. Our sermon series we just finished here at Rolling Hills was called “Just Love”, and in an attempt to understand what it means to just love, many of us might be wondering how we can practically and physically show love. Fortunately, the opportunities aren’t too hard to find.

Until November 20, you have the opportunity to “Share Your Shelf”. If you come to the Warehouse at any time between now and the 20th, you will find paper bags by all the entrances. On the bags there are lists of things that are needed, and I feel certain that if we check our pantries, we’ll find that there are lots of things we could live without—things we can share.

We might not be in Uganda, but needs and hurts are not confined by geographical boundaries. There are hungry people here in our own community; there are families struggling financially, families who have trouble providing food for their children, families who need us to just love. Don’t miss this opportunity! Let’s grab a grocery bag and just love people by filling it with a small portion of what we’ve been blessed with.

Posted in Local Missions, Missions, UncategorizedTags: Community, Food, Giving | by Jason Hale No Comments

On Saturday, November 12, we need you! We had a great time back in September and are looking forward to being back out in the community for the next Saturday Serve. We have over 10 different ministry sites and mission opportunities set-up throughout the city where you can serve. This is a great opportunity to come together as a family, small group bible study or just a group of friends to go out and make a difference in Franklin.

To register for Saturday Serve visit: Saturday Serve Registration, Nov. 12 2011

Some of our sites for that day include: Graceworks Ministries, Operation Christmas Child, WAVES, manual labor teams and more.

We will meet at 9:00 am at The Warehouse in Franklin, 1810 Columbia Ave.

There is something for everyone that day! Spread the word as we can use as many people possible to go out and serve.

Questions or for more info contact: Jason Hale

jason@rollinghillscommunity.org

Posted in Missions, Saturday Serve, UncategorizedTags: Community, Serve | by Jason Hale No Comments

We are very excited about this upcoming Saturday and opportunities for you to serve. If you have not registered, no worries, there are still many spots for you to be involved. Here is what you need to do:

1. If you want to serve in Franklin, show up at the Warehouse at 9:00 a.m. At that point, we will place you on a team and you will be on your site around 10:00 a.m. Your options include community parties, manual labor, care packages for community workers & nursing homes. It is important that you wear CLOSE-TOED SHOES. For all of the sites, we will break for lunch and give you a chance to grab some food and then head back. Many of the sites are very kid-friendly.

2. If you want to serve in Nashville, show up at Second Harvest Food Bank at 9:00 a.m. Second Harvest is located at:

331 Great Circle Road, Nashville, TN. 37288

This is a change of location due to the women’s half marathon downtown and the anticipated heavy traffic.

The choices to serve in Nashville include Second Harvest, Nashville Rescue Mission and community parties. Lunch will work the same way in Nashville.

It is important for all sites to come wearing CLOSE-TOED SHOES.

If you have any questions, contact jason@rollinghillscommunity.org

Posted in Missions, Saturday Serve, UncategorizedTags: Community, Service | by Jason Hale No Comments

This Saturday, September 24^th is a great opportunity for you to get out into the community to serve. We have over 10 different ministry sites and mission opportunities set-up throughout the city. This is a great opportunity to come together as a family, small group bible study or just a group of friends to go out and make a difference in Franklin & Nashville.

If you click on the following link you can register you and your family to serve or you can just show up on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m.  Pre-registering can be very helpful for those bringing children as we will notify you where you will be serving in advance and what to prepare for.

Saturday Serve Registration, Sept. 24 2011

Some of our sites for that day include: Nashville Rescue Mission, Cherokee Place Community Block Party, Graceworks Ministries, Making care packages for community workers, Second Harvest Food Bank, outreach teams, nursing homes and manual labor/construction teams.

We will have separate kick-off celebrations both at the Warehouse in Franklin and in Downtown Nashville at the LifeWay visitors parking lot located on 10^th Avenue in downtown Nashville for those serving in Davidson County.

There is something for everyone that day! Spread the word as we can use as many people possible to go out and serve.

Kick-off celebrations begin at 9:00 a.m. for both locations and all groups can plan on serving from around 10:00-2:00 (depending on the individual sites).

Questions or for more info contact: Jason Hale

jason@rollinghillscommunity.org

Posted in Missions, Saturday Serve, UncategorizedTags: Community, Service | by Jason Hale 1 Comment