the Grapevine (late August edition)

[Mark Jackson]

the Grapevine

August 19th & 26th, 2009

a publication of NewLife Community Church

 

Making A God-Sized Dent: Recap
 
First, I want to say a huge "thank you" for all of you who helped make this last weekend the special experience for the folks here at NewLife... you led worship, cooked food, took care of kids, made sure the room was ready & put together supplies. Even when I'm the "up-front" guy most people see, great things like this don't happen unless lots of other people give generously of their time & talent. Your work is greatly appreciated.
 
Second, I want to take a minute to give you some bite-sized nuggets from the weekend...
 
Breaking the Barrier

• When you look at the numbers, NewLife has been head-butting a classic growth barrier (125 in attendance) for a long time... with a couple of exceptions, in fact, it's been the story of the last 20 years here.
• Since we believe that God wants our church to grow (that's the "normal" pattern of the New Testament church in Acts 2 & 4), the question is NOT "how do we get our church to grow?" but "what is keeping our church from growing?"
• We talked about a lot of different reasons for that: the need for more folks to work with children, the lack of good signage (which makes new visitors comfortable), and the need for small groups/Sunday School to help people have places to connect (more about that later.)
• But the most telling observation of the morning was literally the first thing I wrote down on the giant sticky notes we were using: "waiting for someone else to..." (I didn't say it, btw; I just wrote it down.)
• Over & over throughout the day, we kept coming back to this - how often do we wait for somebody else to step up & deal with problems and/or opportunities? And when we do that (or, better said, when we DON'T do something), what kind of effect does it have on NewLife and Christ's call to make a God-sized dent in this community?

Rethinking Small Groups

• I'll be writing a lot more about this over the next few months... but the "above the fold" headline on this one is that we'll be starting 5+ small groups in February 2010 that will run 8-12 weeks... which is just the first step in moving to a semester-based system for small groups. (Like I said, I'll be giving you more details in the weeks to come.)
• Here's the starting point: our weekend service opens the front door & lets people into NewLife... but our small groups ministry closes the back door & gives people the chance to connect to NewLife in a meaningful, life-changing way.
• Please start praying right now for how this kind of small group ministry is going to change our church - making it easier for more folks to be involved & for more people to become fully developed followers of Jesus Christ.

Our Competition

• The church's competition is NOT the church down the street - in fact, here in Easton, they are some of our best allies!
• Our competition is whatever else is competing for the time & attention of people in this community: sports, going out to eat, TV, earning money, etc.

Blue Sky Time

• The Disney Imagineers have as part of their brainstorming process a time for "blue sky" dreaming - in other words, the sky's the limit. You can come up with anything & no one will knock it down. (BTW, that's why the "Blue Sky Cellar" at California Adventure is where they show the preview models, videos & drawings of rides they're working on.)
• During our "Blue Sky" time, we came up with a lot of different ideas, dreams & questions. Again, I'll be sharing more about those in the weeks to come, but I want to focus on the five we picked out for immediate (or near-immediate) action.

The Big Five (the next right steps for NewLife)

1. pray for & prepare for small group launch in February... including polling the church about what to call small groups (the poll will happen in September)
2. create, purchase & install church signage (names on buildings, room signs, directional maps) - deadline for this is September 13th
3. pray for & seek out leadership for our 18-25 year old group... we have a number of young adults who need a place to connect & grow
4. pray for & seek out folks with administrative talents & gifts to help with organizing outreach, children's ministry & small groups
5. pray for & seek out more volunteers to work with nursery, Sunday School for kids & children's church... over the next 6 weeks, Church Council will be discussing moving to a semester based volunteer system to ease the burden on our volunteers

 That's just skimming the surface of the weekend... we laughed, we prayed, we worshipped, we ate, we dreamed. Most of all, we sensed God at work in our midst... He has big plans for NewLife.
 
And regardless of whether you were able to attend or not, He has big plans for you. You are not here @ NewLife by accident!
 
Quote of the Week
 
That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.
     Acts 2:42-47 (MSG)

 

Making A God-Sized Dent: Getting Ready
 
As I'm writing this, Shari & the boys & I are getting ready to go camping. (We have not, however, turned over some kind of proverbial new leaf & begun packing for NewLife's Family Camp - we're actually going with some other homeschoolers this weekend & family camp next weekend.)
 
It's not a one hour job, either. Shari & the boys went to the grocery store yesterday for provisions; today, they'll pack clothes & organize all the stuff while I make sure the camp boxes have the correct supplies in them. Tomorrow morning, I'll be in charge of the life size game of Tetris that is getting all the camping equipment into the minivan. Shari will be using "the list" (thoughtfully provided by Nancy Marthedal) of essential camping stuff to make sure we don't miss anything.
 
And preparation doesn't stop once we've reached the campsite... then we have to unload, prep the place where the tent is going (no lumpy rocks or branches, put up the tent & camp kitchen, inflate the air mattresses... yadda, yadda, yadda. Only then can we take it easy and relax.
 
The goal is worth the hassle... being out in the beauty of God's creation with my family & friends is a delight. Sitting by the fire reading a book, hiking along a bubbling creek, watching my boys explore & become men of courage and adventure, enjoying camp food (esp. S'mores!) - all of these things are solid justifications for all the blood, sweat, toil & tears it takes to make them happen.
 
The same thing is true for us as a church as we prepare to create an ongoing small groups system that involves upwards of 100 people. It's going to take planning, prayer, dedication, diligence, humor & hard work... but it's going to be worth it.
 
Part of that preparation is education, so over the next few weeks I'm going to write about the basic principles that are guiding our next steps as a church. You are welcome (heck, encouraged!) to ask questions & make comments
 
Small Groups: Big Idea #1
 
Think from the outside in, not from the inside out.
 
The purpose of small groups is not to make people already inside the church feel all warm & yummy about being on the inside... it's to involve as many people as possible in communities of faith where the Bible is studied & practically applied to life and people pray together. If that's true (which, as you've probably guessed, I think it is), then we need to structure our system to make it as easy as possible for new folks to join in.
 
Small community groups are the Velcro that helps people "stick" to NewLife... IF we design them to work that way. It's very easy for a family to visit & then disappear if they haven't made a meaningful connection.
 
Quote of the Week
 
If I were to sit down for tea with Jesus, I would not feel comfortable saying, "Hey, Lord, listen, this whole 'love one another' thing isn't working for me."
 
"You mean my new commandment?" Jesus smiled.
 
"Yeah, dude. That one is super hard. Besides, there were already the 10 Commandments; did we really need a new one? I'd protest.
 
"I was thinking this one wrapped them all together," the Savior would reply between sips of tea.
 
"Yeah, I don't know, with the ten I can sort of pick & choose & feel pretty good that I obeyed like, seven or eight, which out of ten is pretty good." I wasn't going down easy.
 
"I am afraid you may be missing the point." He reached across the table & put a gentle hand on my shoulder. "The ten are for you, gifts to remove the burden from your journey; the new commandment is the journey;. So, if you want to show Me you love Me and you love your heavenly Father, show me by loving my people."
     Dan Merchant, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers