Greg Surratt

Dad is ok, a guy with big hair and another campus

FAMILY NEWS: A big thanks to all of you who prayed for my dad. The surgeons did a double bypass on Sunday morning and Dad came through fine. Please continue to pray for his recovery. God is good!

BIG HAIR NEWS: Do you remember our curly-headed friend from American Idol? Well, Chris Sligh is releasing a brand-new CD and has chosen Seacoast Church to be his release party. One of the songs, "Empty Me," has already cracked the top 20 on the national charts. On May 4th in the Warehouse of our Long Point campus, and May 6th in the auditorium of our Greenville campus, Chris will be performing songs from his new CD. For more info or to get tickets, go here.

CAMPUS NEWS: Our Manning campus is opening on May 4th. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in Manning! Please pray for their grand opening, and maybe consider a road trip on May 4th to join in the fun!

A Note from Greg - April 17, 2008

As I write this email, I am in Birmingham, Alabama, for the ARC conference. I had the privilege of speaking to 1000 pastors, telling them your story and how we have experienced God's presence during our response times at the end of services. It was incredible to see and hear how God is using ARC to encourage pastors and plant churches across the nation. It was fun hanging out with our campus pastors and some of my buddies in ministry. I got to meet and hang with Brian Houston, pastor at Hillsongs Church in Australia. It was neat to hear their song "Shout to the Lord" on American Idol last week!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to speak live at the Summerville campus, and I had a blast! Their new building was totally packed out twice - there wasn't an empty seat in the place! Check out  my blog to see a couple of pictures. We are starting a third service in Summerville on May 18th. If you attend the Summerville campus, I want to ask you to consider attending the 5:30 p.m. Sunday night service. Can you help? If you can, click here and let me know. As I told the Summerville campus this weekend - 8% tithe at this service :)

That's a wrap for this week. Don't forget that God is able to do infinitely more than you can ask or imagine!

PS - We just found out that my father had a second heart attack and will have surgery this weekend. Would you mind remembering him in prayer?

A note from Greg - April 10, 2008

Here are a few things going on that I wanted you to be aware of...

Last week we began our Reflect series at Long Point and will start at the campuses this weekend, and we are already receiving feedback about the study journal and how it is helping many of you in your personal growth. Make sure and make this study a priority for the next few weeks with us.

Next Tuesday I will be speaking to approximately 1000 pastors and leaders at the annual ARC conference in Birmingham, Alabama.  We will be celebrating the planting of 60 churches and sharing plans to plant at least 20 more next year.  I will be sharing with them how God is using our response time in worship to bring us into a sense of God's presence and power on the weekends.  If you have a story of experiencing God during response time, why don't you leave a comment here. 

I also wanted to let you know some exciting news from my family.  We had a new addition to the Surratt family this weekend. Addison Grace was born to Jason and Jenna on Sunday night toward the end of the service (in the hospital!).  Debbie and I are ready to spoil another grandchild!  You can click here to see her.

I can not wait to worship with you this weekend!

A note from Greg - April 3rd, 2008

Here are a couple of things happening I wanted you to know about...

-  Taking steps to further your personal growth can always be challenging. To give you one more tool to help we are going to take 6 weeks to study Luke 6 in our Reflect series.

To take you beyond the weekend message, we have designed a study journal to provide you with the tools for personal reflection, action steps, and discussion questions for your small group as well as your family. My prayer is that through this study, you will discover intentional personal growth and experience a deeper level of sharing and reflection on your journey to becoming fully devoted followers of Christ.  This series will be starting soon at your campus!

-  Here was a fun number that came across my desk this week: On Easter weekend, there were over 130,000 people worshipping in ARC churches. Just think...what started out as a simple church planting conversation with Billy Hornsby on the 18th green at Dunes West in 1999 has grown to include churches in over 20 states! Very cool...

-  Also, look for information soon about our campus in Manning. This will be a whole new way of campus-planting, and we're really excited about it!  If you have friends or family in Manning, let them know Seacoast is coming and to look for more information soon at www.seacoast.org

A note from Greg - March 27th, 2008

Easter was incredible. Record numbers of people worshipped together. Check out Geoff's blog for some cool pictures and a great recap of the day.

The most exciting thing about this Easter, however, wasn't about numbers; it was about changed lives. A friend shared a story about a new Seacoaster he met this weekend. His story probably sounds a lot like some of yours.

Invited by a friend, he stepped into Seacoast as someone who had not been connected to God in a long time. As he watched you worship, he knew something was different about this church that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Over the next few weeks, he would watch with a nervous anticipation as people responded at the cross, lighting candles, receiving prayer, and taking communion, but he wasn't quite ready to move.

On Easter Sunday, for the first time, he took that journey to the cross, connected with God, and watched as a painful part of his life dissolved in the water before his eyes. Stories like these still remind me that we will continue to be amazed that God can do more than we ask or imagine.

I look forward to seeing you this weekend.


PS - If you attend Seacoast Church Don't forget our Reflect series beginning in 2 weeks. You will want to make sure you pick up a Reflect study journal April 13. If you're not part of a small group, consider joining one now!

A note from Greg - March 20th, 2008

What a weekend we have coming as we celebrate Easter together. We will have 34 worship experiences at 12 campuses and expect to have about 13,000 Seacoasters worshiping. I wanted to give you a couple of ideas that will make Easter a better experience for you as well as give us the much needed room for your friends and family that you have invited.

• In Summerville, will you consider attending the 8:00 service? We are expecting huge crowds      as we have our Grand Opening in our new building and need several hundred people to commit to attending the 8:00 service.
• How about checking out the James Island campus? We will be meeting for their first service at the James Island Charter High School on Fort Johnson Road, and it is going to be a remarkable day.
• In Asheville, this will be the first weekend we will be having two services. We will now have the room for you to invite a friend - Easter is a great weekend to start!
• At Long Point, will you consider attending one of our Saturday or Sunday afternoon services? We are expecting an amazing turn-out and the 4:30 p.m. services on Saturday and Sunday will be a great place to attend if you are a regular Seacoaster.
• At all of our campuses, if you are not already committed to serve for the weekend, why don't you   contact your campus and find out where you could help? We have a lot of guests coming and we want to be the best hosts that we can!

This weekend we will be exploring the Luke account of the Easter story and how we can find life in the most unexpected places. There will be a lot of people attending church this weekend who do not normally attend, so please pray with me that they find life and that God moves in their lives this weekend. We have a special time of response planned that I think will move many of us closer to God, and for some this will be the weekend they begin a relationship with Jesus. I cannot wait!

Also, I want you to remember that in just a couple of weeks we start the "Reflect" series. If you have not joined a small group yet, this is a great time to do so. You can start by visiting www.seacoast.org.