Not In My Backyard
Over the last few years, I have heard and I have seen written the statement, “Not In My Backyard.” It is a statement that people will make when there is something that they don’t agree with going into the area where they live.
It was over three years ago that it really became evident to me personally was when the church that I am a pastor of was working to sell a portion of our land to another non-profit to develop housing for those that are homeless with physical and mental disabilities. Once people found out what we were planning to do came out of the woodwork to fight what we were doing. Things that they would say were it is going to bring down our property value, there is going to be more crime, and it is not going to look good here. All things that I understand but each one of those things were not true at all. In fact, since we have opened the apartments and we have people in them living a better and safe life we have seen these residents bring life to our area.
You may be thinking well why are you bringing this up since it has already been almost two years since you opened the apartments that you were a part of? Here is why another church in our city was using some of its property to build Habitat for Humanity Duplexes to create some more affordable housing. Something that our city and state need desperately. I mean I have a family member who has two children and they live in a two-bedroom condo because there is just no housing affordable enough for them to get into at least in a part of the city where the children can stay in their school. And this is a family where both adults are working jobs. We have people in our cities that need places to live and we have opportunities especially through our faith communities that own undeveloped land to help. But we still have people that will say, “Not In My Backyard”. The question that I have then is ok then where? Where are we supposed to create places for people to live that will help them move forward in their lives? Because as far as I see it these developments are always going to be in someone’s backyard, my hope is that we would see these opportunities not obstacles to just our own lives. It is an opportunity to look beyond our own yard and see someone that is getting an opportunity to get going. Just a thought or two. Thanks for listening.
How You Argue Shows Your Maturity
One of the things that we all can agree on (which is not much) is that there is a lot of arguing going on
in our world today. Everyone has an opinion on everything and then there are people with the opposite opinion on everything. Which means people argue. Especially when it comes to our online world. There are even memes now online that show how people are willing to say things to people online that they would never say to someone face to face (I like the Mike Tyson one personally).
The sad thing for me is that I see followers of Jesus treating other followers of Jesus in the exact same way. Truth be told in some cases even worse. Then we see men and women in church leadership that are treating
each other this way. Church leaders that have read about biblical conflict resolution from Matthew 18 where we are told to go one to another and talk with each other. But yet they are sharing their arguments with everyone willing to read in 140 characters or less.
But, then I read in the book of Romans where Paul is talking to the church in Rome about how followers of Jesus are to treat each other with differing thoughts and opinions.
Romans 14: 1 (NLT) 1Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.
Paul even goes on to write don’t argue about what food you eat and don’t argue about what day is holy or not. I
am sure that we all can make some similar associations with current areas of argument in our word today especially between followers of Jesus. Did I mask that one good enough? Or did I get my one shot at the conversation? (See what I did there.) But then Paul brings it back around to how we are to be living our lives
when it comes to each other and our arguments.
Romans 14: 10 – 13 (NLT) 10 So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” 12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
As I read these verses it leads me to understand that how we argue as followers of Jesus shows our spiritual maturity it shows me how we treat each other is more about the other follower of Jesus than ourselves and our own opinions. My hope is that if you are reading this, that both you and I will take some time to think about how we respond to other followers of Jesus, and when we do respond, what are we showing when it comes to our spiritual maturity.
The Lost Goodbye
One of the things that I know we will have to deal with when we come out of the pandemic are the goodbyes that we never had the chance to say. You see it is very healthy for someone to say goodbye. In fact, saying goodbye is a way for us to be able to grow and develop our lives to be stronger and healthier. A child development specialist Margaret Mahler who coined the term, “separation individuation” shares how separation or saying goodbye enables children to develop their individual identity. But what happens when you never get a chance to say, goodbye?
We have had co-workers lose jobs because of the economy during the pandemic and because we were all socially distant we will never get a chance to say goodbye.
We have students that are leaving schools and heading off to other places but because schools were shut down many of them were never able to say goodbye to other school mates.
We have church members that because of all of the above have had to move and the people that they knew in a community have not been able to say goodbye because they left when things were shut down.
We have had families that have had people pass away and because funerals were twenty five people or less they never had the chance to grieve and say goodbye in that moment.
One of the things that I know is that not being able to say goodbye can complicate your grieving process as you may experience more emotions such as guilt and regret that coincide with the loss of of being able to say goodbye a moment that brings possible closure in many moments.
That means many people will have to be able to deal with these emotions. But how are we to do this?
- Write letters to the people after you have found out where they have gone. If it is someone who has passed away then write the letter put it in an envelope and place it somewhere special. I knew of a man that took a letter he wrote to his father who had passed away and placed it in a tree in the mountains where they went fishing together.
- Maybe you can find them on social media and along with other people that had relationships with them let them know how much you miss them. Encourage others to do the same.
- Take some time to write a list of all the reasons that you enjoyed having them in your life. Then take that list and share it with them some way.
- Pray for them and ask God to be able guide and direct them wherever they may be. If this is someone that has passed away then I would encourage you to pray that God would enable you to see all of the ways that you were blessed by this person and then pray prayers of thankfulness through this list to God for all of the ways this person was a part of your life.
Whatever you need to do to walk through those emotions and experience some closure is important for your heart and for your spirit. But my hope is that we will all be able to experience healing after the hurt. So, I want to be able to say, “Goodbye for NOW.”
If you feel comfortable share either a goodbye that you weren’t able to have with someone, or a way that you see that can help if someone is unable to say goodbye.
Re-sharing a Friends Blog
Disciple Making Gone Horribly Wrong by Geoff Surratt
After a long day of ministry Jesus is exhausted. He desperately needs to get away from the crowds and rest, so he gets into a boat and tells his disciples to head to the other side of the lake. After a few minutes, the boat gently rocking as they cross the sea at sunset, Jesus lays down on a cushion in the back and falls sound asleep. While he’s sleeping a violent storm builds over the eastern mountains and suddenly drops onto the sea. Soon the boat is rocking violently, the sail is snapping in the wind threatening to tear in two, and the mast is bending to the point of breaking. Even the experienced fishermen begin to panic. They wake Jesus up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are going to drown!” We’ll let someone who was in the boat finish the story;
‘Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”’
Matthew 8:26-27 (NLT)
I love the irony. The men who’ve been with Jesus the longest…they’ve seen him heal disease, cast out demons, even turn water into wine… they are afraid that this whole thing might end with the Son of God drowning in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. The creator of the universe’s grand story of salvation will end because of a thunderstorm he didn’t see coming. This is a very revealing moment in Jesus’ ministry; months into being with Jesus 24/7 his followers have no understanding of who Jesus is nor his bigger mission on earth. It is now clear they are not maturing as disciples.
We are in one of those Sea of Galilee moments right now. A storm unlike any we’ve seen before is rocking our world. In the middle of this storm the maturity level of the disciples we lead is being revealed, and its pretty discouraging. Attendance at online services is declining, fewer people are engaging in small groups, and the initial surge of volunteerism has all but disappeared. The one place we see many in our congregations actively engaged is arguments on social media over Covid conspiracies. Some days it feels like our boat may indeed sink before this pandemic is over.
There’s another way to look at it, however. In one way this is an incredible gift, to clearly see where we are making mature disciples and where we are not. Without this pandemic we might have continued blindly on, assuming our services, classes and small groups were leading people to take next steps toward maturity. Clearly they are not.
The Navy Seals reportedly have a saying that under pressure no one rises to the occasion, they sink to the level of their training. I believe that is what we are seeing now in churches. Most attenders aren’t stepping up in greater faith, love and sacrifice, they are falling back to their true level of maturity and discipleship. This is a great opportunity as leaders to rethink how we approach making disciples in the American church. Here are three questions to consider as you reassess your church’s approach to disciple making:
- What do you believe, within your context, are the characteristics of a mature disciple? The worst thing we could do right now is to start new programs, write new training classes, or implement new systems without stepping back and re-engaging the question, “What are we trying to accomplish?” As you rebuild your definition of a mature disciple avoid the mistake of measuring discipleship by activity; church attendance, serving in a ministry, participation in a small group, Bible reading, quiet time. These are all valid activities that can lead to mature discipleship, but it is also possible to do all of these things and remain immature. Focus on outcomes rather than activities. Good places to start are the Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit in describing a mature disciple.
- What has your church done to intentionally help people develop these characteristics of a mature disciple? Make a list of everything you do as a church to help people become mature disciples. Spend time evaluating each activity for effectiveness; How are we seeing people grow in specific mature discipleship characteristics as a result of this program? What is leading people to grow, or to remain stagnant?
- What should we stop, start or change to improve our ability to develop mature disciples? If there are things you do as a church that do not seem to help people become mature disciples it might be time to stop doing them. This gets really difficult as sacred cows are potentially sacrificed on the altar of effectiveness, but desperate times call for desperate measures.There are other activities that need to be massively altered if you are going to raise the bar for discipleship. For example, for most churches the weekend service is the single biggest activity they engage in to make disciples, but it seems massively ineffective. Are we going to keep doing what we’ve always done and hope it works, or are we willing to make significant changes in order to truly engage our people to become mature disciples?
We are in a Sea of Galilee moment as church leaders. The wind and waves have rocked our people, and their true maturity as disciples is being revealed. We can try to get back to what we were doing before and hope it works out better this time. We can beat ourselves up for our lack of better leadership. We can be angry with the immature mob of misfits God has stuck us with. Or we can see this as an incredible gift from God and rediscover what it means to be a church that makes disciples who make disciples.
If you want to learn more about Geoff and Sherry Surratt then CLICK HERE and make sure that you follow all of the things that they are doing.
My Friend Justin!
I have had the benefit of growing up and being around people from different races and from different places. So, when the horrible death of George Floyd happened I immediately started thinking about the men in my life that are black. I without moments noticed began texting them and asking them how they were doing and how as their friend I could serve them.
Out of that text message conversation with Justin came this conversation. I am so blessed to be able to not just talk with Justin about race but about faith and the opportunity that we have to be a part of change and effect change in our world. It is my hope that you will enjoy the conversation that Justin and I have. This conversation will be available tomorrow on Youtube and as a Podcast so please make sure you SUBSCRIBE and share a review.
If you are interested in the message that I shared at Elevation Christian Church after Justin and I met that week just CLICK HERE.
The Funeral for No ONE
Several months ago, I was asked to perform a funeral service at a local funeral home that I work with consistently. They invite me to do services for people that are not a part of a faith community and want a pastor to perform the service. To me, it is a loving opportunity to be involved in the lives of people that are dealing with loss and pain.
But when the funeral director asked me to perform the service, he let me know that there would not be anyone attending the service. I was shocked. I had to ask him if he meant that it would only be family and that no one else would be there. To which he responded by saying that no one, not even family would be there for the service. The individual served in the Air Force and there was going to be military honors and the presentation of a flag but the flag was going to be given to the funeral director. I have been involved in quite a few funeral services where there were only a few people there but never a service where NO ONE was there. I have to be honest it was very upsetting and I was not sure what to do with this at all.
That meant I needed to think and pray. After a day or two, I really felt like this was an opportunity for our community of faith to respond. I invited people through a video on our Facebook page to come and join me at the service for a man who at the end of his life was going to have no one show up. Then I forged ahead preparing the service for the man that had no one coming to his funeral service.
My amazing wife made sure that she was going to be there with me for the service. We got to the funeral home about thirty minutes before the service to make sure we had everything planned with the honor guard and the funeral director. Then at about fifteen minutes before the service was to start people from Elevation started to join us at the funeral home for the service for a man that had no one coming. By the time we started the service, there were twenty-five people sitting quietly in the chapel and not one of those people knew the man that the service was for.
The honor guard did an amazing job and presented the flag for this serviceman to my wife. As I sat there and looked at her from the front of the chapel, I saw tears begin to run down her face. She later told me that she was overwhelmed at the thought that this serviceman who had served our country and was someone’s son had no one show up for his funeral. I also was overwhelmed by emotion and had a difficult time presenting the service but my emotion came from seeing the people of Elevation come to a funeral service for a man that none of them knew.
For me, it was an amazing picture of the love of Jesus being shared through the sacrifice of the people of Elevation to show up at a funeral for someone that no one else was going to show up. Here is my question to you, who is going to show up at your funeral and why are they going to be there? I have no idea who this man was and I have no idea why there was no one there. But I do believe it is a moment that can help us see how we are living our lives and how we treat people and how we can be the ones that care for the people around us.
I do want to share my appreciation for the people of Elevation that came to that funeral and for being a community of faith that cares at all times.
The People at this Church don’t Look Like Church People
Over four years ago we moved into a church building that was owned by another church from a different denomination. And over the last four years we have done some building changes on the outside but most of our work has been on the inside. So most people that either live close to this building or had come to the building before would have noticed the subtle changes we have made. But recently we had a neighborhood meeting where we invited the community to come in and talk with us about one of the things we are doing when it comes to the building property.
We are developing the back 2.1 acres of our property to where there will be an apartment complex built for low-income housing. For people that are coming out of homelessness, people with disabilities, people dealing with mental health, and those that are transitioning from prison. The goal for us is that we want to be a part of the housing solution in our community for those that need the most help. So we knew that we were going to have some people that were not going to be supportive of what we were doing. During this neighborhood meeting, we heard from a few people that were very against the work that we’re doing.
But when it came to this meeting it was not a comment about the low-income housing project that stuck with me the most. It was from a man that has been living behind our building who says he is a Christian and it was about the people that come to Elevation. Here is what he said, “We liked the other church that used to be in this building because those people looked like church people. The people coming now don’t look like church people.”
Which made me want to ask the question; “So what does a church person look like?” Is it suits, is it nice cars, is it nice looking people? What does a church person look like?
Church people look lost but are now being found, church people look lonely but are building relationships, and church people look left out but are now being brought together as a family. Church people have different cultures, church people have different languages, church people have different races, and church people come from all over. So if that is what it looks like here at Elevation I am good, no matter what someone says.
Living Terricited!
What if I told you that every day should be a little terrifying. What if I told you that if you aren’t walking through your life of faith a little nervous then you aren’t living at all. The problem with both of those statements is that they make us UNCOMFORTABLE. Something that most people in the western community of faith don’t like to hear. I mean we want to be comfortable in our chairs, we want to be comfortable with our coffee, we want to be comfortable in our groups, we just plain want to be comfortable.
Well when my family and I felt that God was leading us to start a church in Colorado we all came up with our own word, “Terricited”. Because every day we were terrified and we were excited at the same time. We were terrified that we were to move back to Colorado a place where I grew up and not as a follower of Jesus. (Dealing with your Past) But excited to be able to share with those same people about how my life has been drastically changed because of Jesus. We were terrified that we didn’t have a place to live and we were struggling to find a place. But we were excited about getting a place that would be a home base for raising our kids as the graduated from high school. We were terrified because I had never been the lead pastor of a church, but I was excited because I had never been the lead pastor of a church. In the New Testament you can read:
Mark 10:32a (NLT) 32 They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear.
The people that were walking with Jesus the son of God in flesh, were in awe of what was going on were also overwhelmed with fear. What does that mean? They were “terricited”! So let me ask you this, where in your life are you terricited? Where are you experiencing the awe of Jesus and the overwhelming fear where you need to see him show up? Where are you terricited? Because honestly I think that more and more of us need to be less comfortable and more terricited. Let’s take some time this week to start getting a little TERRICITED.
Crazy Community!
So while I was looking through my Facebook feed the other day this is a video that was posted by Larry Leith from Tokyo Joe’s. (By the way I love their food and I love the culture that they have created for their business.) It is a great little coffee shop that is located down in Colorado Springs just an hour from where we live here in Aurora. The whole idea of the video is that people would go and visit other coffee shops in the area because of the community that has embraced them and by doing so end up with a free drink at Loyal Coffee. They are calling it the “Dis-Loyality Card”! What an amazing idea!
Here is where this video took me though – the church community. Isn’t this what we should be doing as the church? Letting people know that the community of faith is here for each other and build a community that is for the city not just ourselves? I was recently a part of a conversation about two churches in a community coming together for an event that helps grow leadership for both the city and the communities of faith. It was going to be an exciting opportunity to see the KINGDOM of Jesus respond in a way that would be a huge influence in the city. Well unfortunately one of the churches was not willing to partner in this endeavor because the building where the event was being held was not good enough for their people. Are you serious? The building is the reason that these two churches couldn’t come together to make a difference in the city like never before?
What if we decided to have “Dis-Loyalty” Sundays where we encouraged the people of our churches to go and support another church in the community? What if we called them BIG KINGDOM Sunday’s and we showed support for the big kingdom of Jesus?
What do you think about the coffee shop idea? What do you think about the BIG KINGDOM Sunday idea?
It’s not About What gets Done.
Over the last 10 weeks I have been working with about 20 guys when it comes to our Spiritual Fitness Process at Elevation. It has been an amazing opportunity for these guys to get to know one another and for them to get to know what it means to be a follower of Jesus that makes followers of Jesus. So one of the recent weeks we began to talk about what is most important when it comes to helping people volunteer and work together as the church. It was a conversation that you could tell was creating energy in the room and was really starting to gain ground in each of the guys minds. So for me being a visual learner I started putting what they were talking about to a graph on the wipe board. (The Picture Above) When we were done this is what was fleshed out.
Now here is the thing. I believe that what we walked away writing out does not just pertain to a church community but to business as well. Here are the bullet points to the idea that we came up with:
- Most leaders are Baby Boomers or Gen X. so they are looking for tasks to be completed. Is the job getting done?
- Most Millennial’s or Generation Z (See this book.) would be looking for a relationship to happen with the person they are working with. Are we working together?
- So what we said was that if the job is not getting done, then the leader is going to get frustrated. If there is no relationship then the follower is going to get frustrated.
- The big idea for both to grow is that there is supposed to be talking/teaching while the tasks are being completed. (The idea: you watch, I do, we talk.)
- Then the leader and the follower grow and the opportunity for business or church growth happens as well.
What are your thoughts about the idea? What do you think is missing? Where do you feel the most frustration as a leader and as a follower?
Carrying to much?
So yesterday as I was heading to the airport with my wife and daughter to fly out to an event that I was going to speak at something caught my eye. We were sitting at an intersection that we always go through about three to four times a day and there was a man on the corner with a refrigerator. That’s right a refrigerator all by himself on a dolly. Then as we pulled up the light changed and he painstakingly hauled the refrigerator across the street to the other side, but when he got to the corner it got stuck. So he worked and worked the refrigerator up on the corner as all of the cars in the turn lane waited and honked. Then once he got it up on the corner sidewalk he paused caught his breath and then hauled the refrigerator down the street to some unknown destination.
As I watched this happen I was thinking first, how I could get out and help this guy with out getting run over and with out being late for my flight. Then the second thing that came to mind was why is there no one to help this guy to move this refrigerator? Why is he carrying so much of a load all on his own? I thought that it was really interesting to see this since this last weekend at Elevation we talked about the need and call for community. We talked about “Relationships lead to community and community fuels maturity.”
It made me think about all the people that are involved in faith communities (churches) that are carrying to much on their own. Whether it because of their own choice of not being involved in community by choosing to be that person who just shows up and never gets to know any one. Or that they are involved in a faith community (church) that doesn’t make relationships a priority. It burdened my heart to think about how we have so many people that say they are following Jesus but have made a choice to forget about the “One Another’s”. Through out the New Testament there many “One Another’s” and there is one that I thought of when it came to the man on the corner with the refrigerator.
2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 (NLT)
When did we start to think that we need to handle things all on our own? When did it become ok to know of the struggle someone is having and to do nothing? It is my prayer that today you will notice the family member or friend that is carrying to much, like the refrigerator and get involved. Who do you know that you can help carry the refrigerator down the street today? Don’t miss out on sharing in the burden.
Generosity is who we are . . .
One of the things that I have come to realize is that when it comes to being a generous person its not about what we do it is about who we are. For me I was raised in home where being generous to people around you was just who you were. It wasn’t something you had to think about, or guess about, you just did it. So when I got married I just started doing what I thought was the natural thing to do. Well my wife had grown up differently then me and it was a point of great conversation for us. (That’s called an argument.) So we both had to come to a mutual understanding of what we were going to do when it came to being generous. Which honestly was a really good thing for both of us to come to as a couple. I would really say it was a great chance for me to grow as a husband, father, and as person that works in the faith community. (church)
You see because of that difference between my wife and I it enabled me to see how and why people struggle when it comes to being generous in and with their faith community. For us at Elevation we talk a lot about being generous in fact we want to be known for our “Insane Generosity” to the community around us. But for a community of faith (church) to be generous that means the people of the church need to be generous with what they give to that church. If you are a part of a faith community then you will have heard this is about offerings and about tithing. (We are not going to argue Old Testament vs New Testament giving.) So we want people to see that for us to be generous as a church community then the people need to be a part of that through their generosity through their tithes and offerings.
But most people honestly struggle here because of the different ways that they were raised. Some were raised that all you had was yours and that you take care of your own. Some were raised without anything so you had to keep whatever you had to be able to make it. Others were raised where you were just generous enough to make sure you looked good. While as others were raised with the idea that helping someone in need is just what you did that you were generous.
So it is my hope that I can encourage people to live out a generous life. Whether it is by caring for your neighbor. (Hopefully you know who they are.) By providing some food for another student at your school. (Had one of my kids do this.) Or through the tithes and offerings you share with your community of faith. (My wife does this for us now.) Because as you begin to do this you will be amazed that the words of the New Testament begin to be lived out your life in an amazing way.
Acts 20:35b “You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
How are you living out a life of insane generosity in your life? How are you being generous with your faith community so that they can be generous with the community around it?
Celebration Matters
We see celebrations happen every weekend. We see football players soak their coaches after a big win. We see college fans rush the court after their basketball team accomplishes a big win. Soccer fans will line the streets of their cities after there is a win at the World Cup. Businesses have a salesman ring a bell once they have made a sale. (Watched this when my daughter bought her first car.) So why is it that the church community does this so poorly? Why is that celebration has been reduced to a simple AMEN? Why is it that when we see God do something amazing in the lives of people that we keep it quiet? Why is it that when the church team accomplishes something together we receive grief from other followers of Jesus for sharing and celebrating?
Well one of the things that I have learned over the last five years of starting a church is that CELEBRATION matters. That is right we need to celebrate more of the things that are happening in and through our church teams. This last weekend some people at Elevation chose to celebrate a great day at Elevation where 15 people said, “Yes to a relationship with Jesus” by dumping confetti over my head. (Thank you for not using Gatorade) over the top of my head. It was something that was really awesome! I was touched as the pastor of Elevation to celebrate what had happened in our church. We all know that God is the one that made the life change happen. But the people (Wendy & Marissa) chose to celebrate that day by doing something that we see every week in sports. We had people watching that were just checking out Jesus and His church, they all cheered and laughed. But then it created conversations about why that happened. We all were able to share with them that we were celebrating what Jesus is doing in the lives of people. To which one man that I talked with said, “I love that you guys have fun celebrating! I have never seen this in a church before.” To which I thought, WHY?
Maybe this week I can challenge you to think about how you celebrate. Maybe it is celebrating something in your marriage. Maybe it is celebrating something that has happened in your kids lives. Maybe it is celebrating something that has happened in your work. Maybe if you are a church volunteer or leader celebrating something in your church. We can throw parties, give gifts, send thank you’s, and maybe dump confetti over someone’s head. But let’s take the challenge this week what and how we celebrate.
Baptism Celebration
Baptism is a celebration and it is amazing.
So yesterday at Elevation we had a baptism celebration at Elevation. It is one of the things that we do that amazes me that I get to be a part of. As a church family and team over the last four and a half years we have celebrated 194 people getting baptized. The baptisms are amazing as we see husbands, wives, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and friends baptize the people that they know have taken the step of saying yes to a relationship with Jesus. There is nothing more amazing then watching a little boys face as he looks up at his dad after he comes out of the water. I get emotional when I see a spouse that is getting the chance to baptize the person that they are staying with for the rest of their life and eternity.
But then you get to hear the stories of how and why they said yes to a relationship with Jesus. You get to hear about the struggle, the mess, and many times the hurt that lead them to realize their need for Jesus. But then you also get to hear the stories of how families lead in the area of faith, about how students knew that it was what the knew they needed to do, and amazing stories of a life of faith and growth. No story is ever the same and no baptism is every the same because of what is happening in that persons life.
What I am excited to think about though is the stories that I have yet to hear. I am excited about the faces, the families, and the friends that we get to take pictures of baptizing those that are making their life with Jesus public. Who knows maybe you are one of the stories that we are going to get to share.
“Empowering people”
We are working to Serve One
As we go through the “I Love My Church” series at Elevation this month we are going through the different areas that we believe are important for the people that make up this church. One of those areas is “Empowering people to serve with passion and focus.” We know that as followers of Jesus and the people of his church we are called and directed to serve those that are around us. We don’t because we have to but because we want too, especially because Jesus set the example.
Mark 10:45 (NLT) 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
So what does it look like to Serve ONE:
- Serve One is Relationship – we serve because of our relationship with Jesus, ultimately its about serving him. Its also because of the relationships that we have with people in our lives.
- Serve One is about Health & Hard work – we serve because it enables us to become healthy spiritually, physically, and relationally. We also know that serving is hard work and it is something that is going to challenge us. When you serve people the hard work comes from serving the people around you the way that they need to be served not necessarily the way you want too.
- Serve One is Focus – we want to be a church team that serves because we have focus together and individually. We focus our efforts together in what we do as a church every week. We also want people to focus on the way that they are created, gifted, and passionate.
We are excited as a church team and family to “Empower people so they can serve with passion and focus.” We are going to be continuing the conversation about “Why should I love the church today?” this week at Elevation. If you want to find out more about Elevation just click here to go to our website.
What are some ways that you are serving the people around you?
“Come & See”
Its about engaging people in a relationship
“Engaging people with experiences that lead to life change.”
When we moved to Colorado to start Elevation it was a passion and desire in us to reach people that didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. Michelle and I had come back to a place where family, friends, classmates, and work friends were living a part from a relationship with Jesus. So from day one we knew that we had to think of how we were going to engage people with experience that lead to life change. One of the things that I have enjoyed is to see how we can follow Jesus lead in this area of our life and our church team. In the New Testament in John there is an amazing interaction with Jesus and some disciple of John the Baptist and then those disciples who began to follow Jesus and their family and friends. But here is the conversation that Jesus has at first:
39 “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.
Jesus invites these men to come and see. Come and see what? His home, his new sandals, or maybe to see his new X-Box (ok not that)? The invitation was to come and see his life. It was an engaging statement to say come and follow me personally. So many people that are followers of Jesus want to have a process or a mandate on how to reach people for Jesus. The problem with that is in the New Testament we are commissioned to go but it doesn’t necessarily say how to go or exactly what to say or even do. So what I have done is spent my time going and hanging out with people and when they ask me how my life is different or has changed then when we were in high school or college I invite them to come and see. I invite them to spend time together and walk through life together so that they can see who Jesus is in my life and how he has changed me.
I also invite them to join me at the church where I belong. Now I know there are some people that are thinking why would you do that? Church why church? For me it is to get them to see that there are other people like me that have a relationship with Jesus. It also creates the opportunity where they might see or find someone that is dealing with stuff that they are dealing with in their life. That they will get inspired by what they here and experience. It is a “Come and See” about doing life where we accept you warts and all. I am only going to be able to connect with so many people and so are you. So why not create opportunities with a church team where someone that you are in a relationship with just might connect with someone else on the church team that will take them further in their faith journey with Jesus. The goal is that people will experience life change in Jesus. Not that I have all the notches on my bible where people said a statement or made a prayer about Jesus. It is about being involved in a life long spiritual fitness plan that leads to health in a relationship with Jesus and others.
I know that there are going to be people that disagree with this idea. I know that there are going to be people that think we should be running down every street with people yelling about Jesus. That is great and it awesome that you disagree because it still doesn’t change who Jesus is and it doesn’t change that we are called to tell people about Jesus. We all have been gifted and challenged to do it differently because of who we are as a follower of Jesus. Let’s just make sure that we spend more time telling people about Jesus then telling other followers of Jesus that they are not doing it right. Because if that were the case even Phillip who after he was invited to follow Jesus would have been in trouble,
John 1:45 45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” (my emphasis)
He said, “Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth” he didn’t say Jesus the Son of God. What he did is he took what he knew at the moment and he shared it with a friend because he wanted to share with his friend how Jesus had changed his life. He then says,
John 1:46b 46 . . . “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
What are you doing this week to engage people where you have the opportunity to say, “Come & See”?
If you would like to see more about “Come and See” feel free to watch a talk that Scott gave at Elevation this last week. (Click Here)
Why do I love my church?
Find out what I Love My Church.
When I was in high school I have to be honest, I did not love my church I didn’t love any church. I was at a place in my life where it was not a place where I felt I was welcome or even wanted. Not because of all the people but some of the people. But when you are in high school you make some generalized assumptions about people and places. (Not that adults do that at all. SARCASM) It took some very tough situations and some very caring people to get me to the place where I realized not only that I needed the church. But, that the church actually had a need for me. That through time I realized that “I Loved The Church.”
Now for some of us I may need to make a clarification. The church is not the building and it is not about religion. It is about Jesus and the people that come together that become the church through a relationship with him and others. It is a place where imperfect people come together to follow a perfect savior, Jesus. The church is not perfect because people are involved. But it will be some day when we all get together as a huge church and stand before Jesus.
But “I Love My Church”! Not because I am a pastor and not because I am a church starter. But because I am a follower of Jesus and I love to watch the church be the church. I love to watch people receive Jesus radical grace! I love to hear about how the church is serving people not because they have to but because they want! I love to see the church love on people even when it gets messy! I love to watch the church become a group of people that are willing to lead and multiply! I love when Jesus takes a hold and does what he loves to do through imperfect people to engage people so they experience life change.
I Love My Church, because Jesus loves his church.
#Why We Eat Our Own
One of the things that I love to do is be able to share with the people around me is a good book. Well this is not just a good book it is a great book, especially if you are involved with Christian people.
I have been involved in working with churches for almost 20 years and I can honestly say that I have seen the best and the worst. I believe that what Mike Cheshire has written about in this book, “Why We Eat Our Own” there is still a lot for us to learn. I want you to know that it is not just my opinion but also the one of my mother. She read this book and continued to call me as she was impacted over and over through out this book. I also have a guy on our staff at Elevation that has created a list of people that he is going to send this book to as well.
This point should show us that we can and should really evaluate how we are living lives of grace and mercy to the people around us. That we need to understand that the relationships that God places in our lives will help us grow more and more like His son Jesus. That we will be able to walk through the messes of these relationships and see that we are able to either direct or destroy people. So I have to ask are you loving or eating the relationships up around you?
Read this book and then tell me what you think. You can find it on Amazon or you can go to Punch First Publishing.
Gold Rush Day!
What if I told you that you could meet some of the guys from the Discovery Channel TV show “Gold Rush”? What if I told you that you could win some gold pans that were autographed by the guys from the TV show? What if you were able to see, “How to Survive The Holidays”?
On Sunday, December 15th during the Sunday Experiences at Elevation Christian Church we are going to have with us some of the guys from “Gold Rush”. They are going to be sharing with us about their lives and their stories. So I want to encourage you and the people that you know to come and join us at Elevation. You never know what is going to happen and you never know who you might meet. To make sure that you know all about this awesome day make sure that you go to www.elevationcc.com
What are some questions that you would want to ask the guys from “Gold Rush”? Who knows if you show up we just might use your question.
What about Spanish speaking?
At Elevation we have what we call the “Advance The Line” campaign. It is our hope that we are going to reach 1,000 people in the city of Aurora in the next year. So we have developed this campaign and prayed about what it would look like in our community. One of the things that we realized about the city is that we are seeing more and more people that speak Spanish. That there are families that have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation families that are from a Spanish speaking background in our community.
So we thought what would it look like for a church in Aurora to bring both english and spanish speaking people together. What would it look like for a church to develop a process of having the different generations of spanish speaking people all in one church. A church that is not the typical spanish speaking church with it’s traditionalism or even the charismatic side of things that are associated with a spanish speaking church. Through all of this we are excited to let people know that we have added to our team a leader that we believe is going to help us create this new opportunity as a church in Aurora for all of these people.
So I would love for you to meet Neill Snyder he is the guy that we believe that God has brought to us so that we can be exactly the church for Aurora. He and his wife are going to be helping us reach out to the spanish speaking people of Aurora. So if you would like to meet Neill, talk with Neill, or give Neill a big hug you can email him at neill.snyder@elevationcc.com Over the next several months we are going to be working to forge a plan where we are going to engage people so they can experience life change in Jesus. We are planning as of now to be launching spanish speaking experiences on Easter weekend in 2014. If you are interested or if you are just curious please let us know or even take the time to come and check out Elevation as we prepare to “Advance the Line“.
Elevation Dream Team
Here is one of the amazing people that makes up the Dream Team at Elevation. You see we call of the people that serve at Elevation the Dream Team. Why the Dream Team? We believe that God has brought together the perfect team to accomplish what He wants to accomplish here in Aurora through Elevation. Each person on the team has been gifted and created to make the team the best it possibly can be to win the game. So we have people that serve in many different ways and make a difference in many different people’s lives. In fact we are so excited about the people that are on the team that I am going to be taking the time to share with you about who some of these people are and what they do at Elevation. Here is the first DREAM TEAM member that I want you to know about:
Alex Lopez and her daughter Genesis who is along for the ride with mommy. Alex serves alongside with her husband Josue on the Parking Lot Team. They are a major blessing to the church and the prepare the school for people to come every Sunday. They understand the importance of making sure that people know how to get in the building as well as where to park once they get to the school where we meet. You see she is one the people that makes it possible for us as a church to engage people so they can experience life change in Jesus. If you are unsure where you should serve on the Dream Team then I want to encourage you to be come to the Elevation offices and check out the Discover Workshops that we make available each month. It will open your eyes to the place where you can make the most impact. Get on the Dream Team!
Students are not an ADD on
Over the last 20 years I have spent working in churches I have always felt that students have ben looked up on as just an add on to what we do as the church. I was always asked as a pastor to students to make sure that we had something for the students to do on Sundays and then something to do during the week. It always felt a little like we were just to add something on for them. Just to keep people happy or keep the students out of the way.
Well when we started Elevation here in Aurora we felt that students shouldn’t be an add on but a big part of who we are as a church team. So this is what we did:
- Students are included in the main times on Sunday. We try real hard to make sure that we have communication that will involved them and encourage them as followers of Jesus.
- Students are asked to serve on our Dream Team just like the adults. The middle school students need to serve with an adult. The high school students can serve any where as an adult. (Sometimes better just because they can grasp technology quicker and they are quicker to reach out to new people.)
- Students are invited to be a part of the church as Team-mates just like everyone else. They are not just an add on they are team-mates.
- Students still need some time with there own age so we do that in Community Groups. Just like we do the adults.
Students are not the church of the future they are the church of today. So why not let them be a part of the church instead of just being an add on. Let’s help them identify as being a part of the body of Jesus not just something in the back hall that as long as there are no stains on the carpet or holes in the wall we are doing something good. What can you do to help make sure that students are a part of the church? How can we do things differently to enable them to grow as the body of Jesus?
(This is not a judgement on any church or any type of ministry. Just a process
of thinking through how we are integrating the students in our care.)
Sunday Night Thoughts
It has been an amazing last three years since we first started Elevation here in Aurora. As Michelle and I spent Saturday together we talked about many of the things that have happened in the last three years at Elevation. We talked about the things that brought smiles to our faces and we talked about the things that hurt our hearts. We still hang to the word that we created as a family when we left Northern California to move to Aurora, CO to start Elevation, it is “terriciting”.
You see when you are starting a church or when you are actively stepping out in faith as you follow Jesus it is two things:
- It is terrifying. It is a scary thing to step out in faith, it is a scary thing to walk with in the unknown, it is a scary thing to no know what is going to happen next, and it is a scary thing to not have total control over what you are doing.
- It is exciting. I mean it is exciting to see how God shows up when you didn’t know how. It is is exciting to walk where you have never walked before. (Like a good trip in a new country.) It is exciting to not know what you are going to experience next. We have seen some amazing things happen in people’s lives. It is exciting to not to have any control of what will happen. (Just like a roller coaster.)
So to all of those that are preparing to start a church, or to step out and try something new when it comes to your spiritual development, I encourage you to go for it. I want to encourage you to know that it is the most “terriciting” thing that you can ever do and it is well worth it. I hope that today as you read this you are hearing that still small voice of God telling you to do something that you know is just crazy. Because you when you hear that voice and you step out you are about to embark on the most “terriciting” thing possible. Have a great day, week, month, and year being “terricited”!
By the way I am so “terricited” for the next year that I just can’t contain myself, what about you?
"Psycho for Jesus" Scott Bloyer 