We certainly understand the trepidation and anxiety that comes from visiting a new church, "Where do I park?", "Which entrance should I use?", "Where do my kids go?", "How do I  get to the main auditorium?" and a hundred other questions. You may even be concerned that once the service starts, someone will embarrass you by identifying you as a guest, or by asking you to raise your hand to receive an information packet. We promise that will not happen to you at our church. At SouthPointe, we understand all of those concerns. In fact, that is why we have created this important link on our web site. Our goal is to make your visit as enjoyable and as stress free as possible.

ARRIVAL AND PARKING
As you drive down the main entrance, the first building you will see is the sanctuary building. All Sunday ministries and activities take place in this building. Guests can choose to use the front entrance by dropping people off and then parking in the main parking lot or by parking and using one of the two side entrances. All entrances are well marked and will take you to the same places.

If you choose to enter the front entrance, you will immediately see the SouthPointe Cafe, the Information Center, and the entrances to the main auditorium. If you use either of the two side entrances, you will be in Waumba Land and/or the Kidzzone and nursery area. You can get to the main foyer area from either entrance hall. Someone will be glad to assist you.

PRE-SERVICE SUGGESTIONS
Our main worship service begins at 9:30AM every Sunday. We always encourage people to arrive early to enjoy the SouthPointe Cafe, get helpful information at the Information Center, meet new friends, or go directly into the auditorium to enjoy pre-service worship and praise music.

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING A WORSHIP SERVICE
The First Five
While we certainly desire for each service to be unique by being sensitive to the leadership of God in our midst, we generally follow a certain pre-planned order for each service. At 9:30, we begin with prerecorded announcements and upcoming events we call THE FIRST FIVE. This takes approximately five minutes.

Worship
The main thing we do throughout the service is to maintain a high view of God. As we worship, we understand that people worship God with different hearts and from unique experiences and perspectives. We are glad to know that regular attenders and guests may only be beginning their journey of faith, not knowing for sure who Christ really is, or what they believe. As a Church, we desire to be a welcoming place where anyone, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey, can come to worship, learn, grow, and establish relationships with others and God. At SouthPointe, worship is not just something you do on Sunday - it is the way we live our lives.

Music
At SouthPointe, we recognize the importance of connecting music, praise, and worship. All three are an integral part of worshipping God in Spirit and truth. We also understand that these three elements uniquely prepare our hearts for the teaching and preaching of God's Word. Musically, we use a variety of different instruments in a band style format. Presently, we use guitars, keyboards, drums, violins, and flutes. While most of our songs would be considered modern, the main focus in selecting the songs used in worship is to make certain they are scripturally based and God honoring. We also use performed music and videos in our services. The music portion of the service generally lasts about 20-25 minutes.

Reflection and Challenge
At the end of each message, we allow for a time of personal reflection. This is a time for each person to carefully consider what God has said to them through the message; "Do I need to repent of something?", "Do I need to make something right with someone?", "Is God asking me to do something?".
As the Pastor leads in our closing prayer, we encourage you to use this time to focus on God, and to thank Him for speaking to you through His Word.

Although there may be times when the church as a whole may be asked to pray where they are sitting, or to come forward and pray as directed by God, generally, SouthPointe Church does not use what is commonly known as "altar calls". If you have further questions about the message or would just like to speak to someone about your relationship with God, please feel free to contact us.

Offering
Sometime after the music has ended, we will give our regular members and attenders an opportunity to give. At SouthPointe, we practice the giving of "tithes" and "offerings". A tithe is 10% of our income. We believe tithing is taught in Scripture. An offering is given according to the generosity of a person's heart. We believe this also is taught in Scripture. While owners (members) are expected to give willingly and sacrificially, guests are not expected to give anything during the offering time. Guests are simply encouraged to complete a "Starting Pointe Card" and place it in the offering plate.

Teaching and Preaching
The main emphasis of each service is when we have the privilege to open the Word of God together. Although we understand that it is the Holy Spirit who is ultimately responsible for opening our hearts to receive and understand the truth, we also recognize how important it is for us as a church to present the timeless truths from Scripture in a compelling, relevant way. If the Word that you hear in a message doesn't have any application to our personal lives, then we have wasted our time. At SouthPointe, we believe it is important for the Word to be alive and active, not boring.