TCAG Community Group Christmas Party

December 19, 2008 By nick 1 Comment

Last night we had our annual Greenbrier Community Group Christmas Party. Every year all of our Community Groups come together to have one massive party. This is one of the highlights of my year at the church. We have delicious food and a great time playing our “Pink and White Chinese Christmas Ornament Game” or whatever its called. If anyone leaves this party without slightly chuckling a little, its probably a sign you are suffering from massive depression and need serious psychological help :) Here are 53 photos from last night…

Note: When you select the album below the slideshow will switch photos every 5 seconds, to see the caption, place your mouse pointer over the picture, to select individual pictures click the link “Show Picture List”

TCAG Christmas Party
TCAG Christmas Party

The 2008 Annual TCAG Community Group Christmas Party

53 Photos

And My Favorite…

nicki-name-tag

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Brenden Foster Dying Wish Update

November 24, 2008 By nick 3 Comments

Click Photo to Watch Video

Click Photo to Watch Video

11 year old Brenden Foster is no longer with us on this earth, but his legacy will live on. He lost his battle with cancer since I posted the first story about him HERE. As you can see in this new CNN Report, Brenden inspired several groups, including some schools to get involved in helping the homeless who are less fortunate than any of us who have the capabilities of viewing this blog right now.

I wonder how many of us would lie in a hospital bed with only a few days left on this Earth and instead of thinking about the sad state we were in, would spend our time thinking of others and how we could help them? I can’t help but to be inspired by Brenden. I can’t help but to ask myself, “What’s my excuse for sitting still?” I can’t help but to ask, “What’s your excuse for sitting still?” Shane preached this morning about “The Kingdom” and his main point was, The Gospel is lived out with your hands and feet, not your body in a seat.

If you live in the CSRA, especially if you attend The Church @ Greenbrier, you can join us at The Augusta Rescue Mission, this Thursday (yes that is Thanksgiving) to serve the poor and homeless a Thanksgiving meal. It starts at 9 a.m. and most people are working until 2 p.m., but you are free to leave earlier if you need to. Join the Conversation, What can you do to make Brenden’s dying wish come true?

Video URL: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/11/22/jaffe.wa.boy.dying.wish.obit.komo

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Hypocritical People

November 18, 2008 By nick 3 Comments

hypocrite

A few weeks ago I was given the privilege to preach at my church for our series Rock Band, relationships in Concert. This was a tough message for me, I seriously felt like I was speaking at a counseling session. It was probably tough because of the hypocrite story I shared in the message. Despite that, I had several people come to me afterward and share that they received some encouragement or help from the message, so I thought I would post it here, in hopes other people may do the same.

CLICK HERE to download the Audio.

I am not the best speaker in the world, but I trust that if God gave me the opportunity to speak, he can overcome the flaws to get his message across. For more messages from The Church at Greenbrier CLICK HERE for instruction to our podcast or HERE to go straight to the Greenbrier I-Tunes podcast.

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Our Cash Envelope System

November 8, 2008 By nick 3 Comments

Nicki and I went to the ReThink Money Workshop today that our church put on with Casey Graham. Casey talked about using one of three plans to pre-designate your monthly funds: 1. A written spending plan 2. A Cash Envelope System or 3. A computer method (Quickbooks, Quicken, Etc.). If we used the cash envelope system, here’s what it would look like right now:

cash-envelope-system-copy
We are not going to use a cash envelope system, because cash is easier to spend, and we don’t have money to spend, period. Hopefully, applying the principles we learned today will help us save money and cut spending where we can, it is not going to help us overcome my need to start a second job for a while, but it will reduce the amount I need to earn in that job. If you hear of a ReThink Money Seminar in your area, I highly recommend you go to it.

Join the Conversation: Do you use a budgeting system or a spending plan, if so what is it?

rethink-money-image

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ReThink Money Workshop

October 29, 2008 By nick 4 Comments

Casey Graham spoke at TCAG Sunday about God’s purpose for our money. I loved the verse he used from the Message:

1 Timothy 6:17-19 Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

His bottom line thought was: “God wants us to do well (financially) so we can do good.”

His main ideas: God gives us riches (money) so we can…

  1. Do Good
  2. Help Others
  3. Be Extravagantly Generous

The message was an introduction to our new series, “Bling” which will include a financial workshop on Saturday, November 8 from 8:15 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. If you live in the Augusta, Martinez, Evans, or North Augusta area, I highly recommend you attend this workshop. The details for the workshop are as follows:

____________________________________________________________________________

During our next series, “BLING,” Casey Graham, of ReThink Money, will be hosting a workshop to help you get your finances in order.

  • Wouldn’t it be great to learn how to get rid of your personal debt quickly?
  • Can you imagine what it would fell like to have an exact date that you will be debt free?
  • What about retirement…are you ready?

ReThink teaches four life-changing concepts:

  • Spend Less
  • Kill Debt
  • Invest Wisely
  • Provide Hope through Giving.

You can’t AFFORD to miss out!!!  Cost for materials is $20/singles & $30/couple.  RSVP Today or contact our office to sign up.

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Broadcast Yourself Live!

April 8, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment

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My friend Tony, twittered that Carlos Whittaker was broadcasting live the other night. I didn’t know what that meant, so I went to check it out. Carlos is the “Ragamuffin Soul” and Worship Pastor at the North Point’s Buckhead location.

The link took me to Mogulus – Its a site that lets you broadcast yourself live, or anything else that you want to broadcast live via a video camera. It is sweet. Shane and I are discussing how the Next Gen Ministry can use it at TCAG. He would have to do most of the live stuff as I am stuck in a publications office/music room and it is more difficult for me to do anything of quality with people walking in and out. My site (www.mogulus.com/nickcarnes) will primarily used for Lifecasting versus ministry.

This is a really cool concept. People can chat with you via a built in chat room while you are live. It would be great for interactive training, video conferences, etc. We will probably try to use it as a live Bible Study where students can send in live questions and comments. Then again we may use it for other stuff like live broadcasting of our midweek student service (Fusion) – Who knows?

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The Church Being the Church: A Sunday Review

March 16, 2008 By nick Leave a Comment
Tornado Damage Bath, SC

We canceled services today at church (the church @ greenbrier). Last night several local cities and communities were devastated by tornadoes. As you can see in the picture provided some people lost everything, while others sustained major damage to their homes and property. Reports of businesses and churches being completely destroyed have been circulating, more pictures can be seen on WRDW 12′s site.

Instead of having church today, we lived it out. We became Jesus to the immediate community where our church body meets. We helped some of our immediate members who’s yards were destroyed by the tornados, and then we went door to door seeking people who needed assistance cutting trees off of roofs and fences. We were able to help out several people, but many wanted to wait for insurance to give further instructions before they attempted to clean up any damage.

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