Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Why I Didn't Preach Last Weekend

I didn't preach at DIscovery Church last weekend. I was at the theater (and no, I wasn't just skipping to watch a movie) but others led in worship and teaching. I've been asked a few times why and here's the reason:

Reason #1: We have talented teachers who need to be given the opportunity to grow and use their gifts.
At Discovery, we've been blessed with some incredibly talented teachers. Yesterday, one of those talented individuals, Janet Oberholtzer, got the opportunity to share about the purpose of and her passion for ministry to college-students. Each time she has preached, she has done a good job...and she's grown in that gifting. Later this summer, you'll have the opportunity to learn from Matt Breivogel, another young, gifted teacher in our midst. I look forward to teaching more at Discovery (and One Life) in the days ahead. However, some times it is good for me and for the body of Christ for others to have the opportunity to share what God is teaching them.

Reason #2: I was serving in KIDS ministry.
Our KIDS ministry rocks! The team does a great job each week in preparing quality lessons that teach and grow our kids. And our KIDS ministry is growing. Sunday, I got the opportunity to pour myself into the life of the kids for one morning. They got to know that their pastor loves them, cares about them, can be goofy, and wants them to love Jesus. All very important lessons in my book. Another exciting part of leading in our KIDS ministry was the chance to teach my incredible 7 year old. Dads, it is so cool to get to lead and love your kids and set great examples for other kids at church.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

How to Think Missionally

The following post has been ripped almost word-for-word from the One Life playbook in preparation for the launch of One Life West. Thankful for the hard work and great teaching of Bret Nicholson.

What would you do if God spoke to you this weekend and told you to move to Yemen by this time next year? What steps would you take? What would you do once you arrived? When this question was asked in a recent training session, the lists were formed quickly.

Prior to leaving, many of us would study the culture. Yemen is really different than Evansville. We would study the language. We would learn how to connect with the Yemenis. We would pray. We would begin to arrange our financial situation to prepare for this new reality. The next 12 months would be filled with excitement and anticipation.

Once we arrived, we would begin to identify the
needs in the area. We would look for quick wins that would give some credibility to the more important messages and work that we would be sharing. We would look for individuals to partner with. We would begin to engage the Yemeni population in their cultural water
ing holes.

No matter where a missionary would go, they would go through a similar process. This process defines what it means to think missionally. Missional thinking approaches the environment with a mindset that God has placed you there to make a difference.

Here's the catch: God might not be calling to Yemen. He might not call you to Afghanistan, China, or Egypt. However, if he has not called you to someplace else, it means He has called you to where you are today. How can you begin to think missionally about how you reach your neighbors, your co-workers, and others that God has put within your sphere of influence.

Side note: David Platt noted this morning that North Yemen has 8 million people and only 20-30 are Christians. Maybe God is calling you to Yemen.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Second Look @ Sunday

Some quick take-aways from yesterday:
  • Our set-up team is so dedicated. I wish there was a better way to celebrate them but here you go: Thanks Marty, Chet, Chase, Kirk & Jack! I appreciate all you do.
  • Speaking of Chase: He did an awesome job on the lights yesterday.
  • The band did a great job of leading us in worship. Love the hard work that they put in each week.
  • Highlight of the day: Getting text messages all day long that said, "I'm in." At the end of the message yesterday, I challenged those who wanted to commit to following Jesus for the first time to text me that message. Literally all day I was getting messages. So sweet.
  • Thankful for the team that God is bringing together at One Life West (Discovery). Awesome stuff.