GLS: Closing Session By Bill Hybels

·      Matthew 16:18  “I will build my church and the gates of hell with not prevail against it!”

·      “The local church is the hope of the world.”

o   For the first 18 years of my life the church was hopeless. 

o   In college is started to become hopeful for the church.

§  Vision moves us forward.

§  People live for vision and people die for it!

§  The local church is the hope of the world.

·      Jesus Christ is the only one that can deeply impact and change the heart of man. 

·      Will the local church, the hope of the world be able to sustain itself until the end of time?

o   Confidence is in Christ. He is the builder of church.

o   This is the only thing that God is doing!  He is building the church! 

o   Will you join the savior of the world in helping Him build the local church?

o   How could you do anything else when God taps you on the shoulder! 

o   Every follow of Jesus should wake up excited about serving the church!  It is the hope of the world.

5 Functions of the Church Leader:

1.    Apostle:  Focuses on the future by creating new expressions of faith communities.

2.    Prophet:  Speaks to what is next.  Can see what is coming and share it with others in a meaningful way.  Inspires others to reach for the vision.

3.    Evangelist:  Reaches out to those outside of the community.  Has a gift to relate, invite, and start spiritual conversations with those outside of the community of faith.

4.    Pastor:  Takes care of those in the community.  Likes to stay with a community for a long period of time.  Excels at care, leadership development and long-term relationship development.

5.    Teacher:  Communicates the scripture.  Can exegete the text and communicate it today. 

If you are serving as a leader in the local church what is your strength?  How are you compensating for the functions that you cannot fill? 

10 Ideas to Break the 65 Barrier by Nelson Searcy

Over the past 16 years God has allowed me to serve in ministries that have grown.  Some have moved quickly and others have taken a little more time.  Though most of my experience has been in the American mega-church over the past few months I have started to learn a little more about ministry growth in smaller congregations and church plants.  Here are some thoughts from a audio lesson entitled: Breaking the 65 Barrier by Nelson Searcy.  You can find more from Nelson here: http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/index.php/

If you are leading a smaller church, ministry or multi-site campus I would strongly encourage you to check out these 10 thoughts and move ahead!

1.    Define Reality

a.    Look over the past monthly attendance

                                                                                   i.     Children and Adults

                                                                                 ii.     Focus on Adult attendance

b.    Look for trends

c.     This could let you know you know where you are.

d.    “The first role of a leader is to define reality.” The Art of Leadership Max Dupree

2.    Grow Yourself

a.    Maybe you put the lid on the church.

b.    “No organization rises higher than its leader.” John Maxwell

c.     If your heart for God and leadership are not growing than you are holding the church back.

d.  You must always be growing!

3.    Make Space for your church to grow

a.    Do you have enough good seats for your church to grow?

b.    70% rule

                                                                                   i.     If you fill more than 70% of your seats you will struggle to grow.

                                                                                 ii.     It could also be a children’s issue or parking lot issue.

               

4.    Cast a Vision for Growth.

a.    When was the last time you spent a day away with God and asked God for a vision for your church?

b.    Are you sharing this vision with others or the benefits of this vision?

c.     Why should this church grow?

d.    Develop a list of a 100 reasons why your church should grow.

                                                                                   i.     When you know the why almost any what is possible.

e.    Transitioning: by Dan Southerling

5.    Tough Conversations

a.    Boarder Bullies

                                                                                   i.     Some people will stand in the way of change.

b.    You may need to have some hard conversations.

c.     It hurts but some people will leave.

6.    Personally Mentor New Leaders

a.    Pick 5 people that will help lead the church.

b.    Invest in them and help people grow.    

7.    Focus on Sunday Service

a.    When are you finished with your sermon?

b.    Make Sunday a priority.

c.     Grow in your preaching.

d.    Plan a preaching calendar.

e.    Re-evaluate your worship services.

f.      Work on transitions in your service.

8.    Break the 65 barrier with a special sermon series.

a.    Do this with and intentional series.

b.    Use this to break other barriers.

c.     Example:  “40 Days of Purpose”

9.    Go Full-Time

a.    Pastor

b.    Full-Time worship leader is the next hire.

c.     You will never have enough staff.

d.    Staff yourself for the next level!

                                                                                   i.     Staff yourself like a church of 125

10. Think 125

a.    Think like a church that is twice your size!

b.    Look at churches that are just one or two steps ahead of us.

c.     Put some resources in growth learning.

d.    Set a goal to break the barrier!

Love for a Broken World

“Love for a Broken World” is a weekend message I preached at Crossroads Church in Cranberry, a growing church in the north hills of Pittsburgh, PA. In this message we look at the kingdom of God and how we can be a part of restoring this world thought acts of love and service.

Review: Wiki Church by Steve Murrell (Part 2)

 Steve Murrell serves as the founding Pastor of Victory Church in Manila, Philippines.  In Wiki Church Steve chronicles the unique experiences that lead him to start a church thousands of miles from his native Mississippi, and shares many of his leanings along the way.  This is an excellent read for those leaders who believe their current leadership model is too complex and those who long to develop empower leaders to further the kingdom.

·      Catching Birds, Fishing for Men and Ashtray Evangelism

o   Jesus was able to engage his culture because he was not afraid to have contact with those around him.  He was not afraid that this would tarnish His Holiness.

o   Engage:  Luke 15:1-7, 1 Corinthians 9:22, Share the Gospel.

·      Good Façade, Bad Foundations.

o   Tragically, many spiritual lives are built with more concern about façade that the foundation.

§  Storms will come.  Invest in the foundations first.

§  This is established by time in God’s word.

o   Establish:  Matthew 7:24-27, 1 Corinthians 3:10, Establish the faith, word and church.

·      The Myth of Maturity

o   Three Discipleship Truths

§  The Truth of Mentoring

·      It is not the pastor’s job to primary minister to the people but to equip people to minister to others.

§  The Truth of Ministry

·      While many people feel that they are not “ready” yet, God is ready to use them now.

§  The Truth of Maturity

·      We can’t wait until every one feels mature.  The time to move is now!

o   Equip:  Matthew 4:19, Eph. 4:11-13, Train members to minister.

·      The Man of God Syndrome

o   You Choose: Build a Ministry or Make Disciples

§  Create an empowering culture

§  Mistakes are OK.

o   Empower: Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:2, Instill confidence and competence in others to make disciples.

·      Leading With the Next Generation

o   If we do not empower the next generation in some way now, we will lose them.

§  Identify and develop Emerging Leaders.

o   Security: Established leaders must be secure when your leaders start getting credit.

o   Respect: Established leaders must make room around the table for emerging leaders.

o   Humility:  Established leaders must continue changing and improving the disciple-making process.

o   Unity:  Established leaders must build a multigenerational team that is deeply committed to a common vision.

o   Trust:  Established leaders must learn how to trust the next generation.

·      His Last Command, Our First Priority

o   Follow Principles, not models

o   Focus on Process, not events

o   Develop a culture, not methods

o   Concentrate on consistency, not creativity

o   Build relationships, not programs

Review: Wiki Church by Steve Murrell (Part1)

Steve Murrell serves as the founding Pastor of Victory Church in Manila, Philippines.  In Wiki Church Steve chronicles the unique experiences that lead him to start a church thousands of miles from his native Mississippi, and shares many of his leanings along the way.  This is an excellent read for those leaders who believe their current leadership model is too complex and those who long to develop empower leaders to further the kingdom.

·      What is a Wiki Church?

o   Engage, Establish, Equip, Empower. (Repeat)

o   Focus on developing a simple Culturally relevant process of making disciples.

o   The goal is making disciples.  Not the process!

·      The Reluctant Leader

o   Let Compassion compel not just gifts or abilities.

o   Leading and Leaving

§  Work yourself out of a job.

§  “From the very beginning it was never about creating a position of a ministry for ourselves.  We were always leading with the idea of leaving.”

§  I have never forgotten what it was like to have someone believe in me.

§  We exist to Honor God. This is all for Him.

·      One-Armed Judo

o   Commit yourself to one great thing.

§  Simple, Biblical, transferable discipleship process.

o   Growth vs. Control Some pastor stay small because they want control.

o   Count what counts.

 

·      Hitting the Wrong Target

o   Define the Target

§  When does discipleship start?  Are groups the back door or front door to ministry?

o   What is Outreach?

§  “Write down everything you love to do then go do it with those not connected with God and his community.”  Rick Warren

§  It is about relationship.

·      The Power of Process

o   We are all in spiritual process.  This never ends.

o   Churches need to develop systems to help move people along in their spiritual Journey.

§  “My Brother Wesley acted wisely: the souls that were awakened under his ministry he joined in class (small groups), and thus preserved the fruits of his labor.  This I neglected, and my people are a rope of sand.”  George Whitefield.

o   This should be unique to your gifts and culture.  Do not copy but learn from others.

o   Focus everything around your process and adapt. 

10 Things to look for in a church: where you work

From time to time people will ask me what to look for in a good church working environment.  In order to answer this I have created two lists: 10 things to look for in a church you attend and 10 things to look for in a church where you work. If you are in transition for whatever reason, here are 10 things to look for in a local church where you might work.

1.    Integrity:  Are the stated values of the church shared and defined?  Do people act on these or are they just thoughts that no one really lives by.  Are people held accountable to the shared values?  Does the senior leadership submit to these values or are they “above the law?”

2.    Commitment to following Jesus:  Does the leadership talk about their relationship with Christ?  Is this part of your staff meetings? My current boss asks me weekly how my personal relationship with Christ is going weekly.  In 15 years of full-time ministry he is the only boss to ask me this consistently. 

3.    Care for staff families:  Is the church relationally intelligent?  Do they care about their staff’s families?  I have one friend who works at a well-known mega-church whose boss routinely calls home to his wife to see if there is anything he can do to help his family.  He asks about workload, time commitments and financial support.  This shows great care for the entire family.  It will serve to keep great staff longer and motivate staff even deeper if they feel they are more than just part of a ministry machine.

4.    Developing vs. Using staff:  Does the church value the developing of leaders as part of their mission?  Do they have a process for this?  Funding for education?  Is there upward mobility or will you have to leave the church if you feel God is calling you to another type of ministry?  In a meeting with David Browning, Senior Pastor of Christ the King Community Church, he told me that he believes that the future success of CTK will be based on how many leaders they can grow.  “I realized a number of years ago that I had to stop looking at it like they work for me and had to approach it like I work for them!”  Is your senior pastor insecure?  Will he limit the success of those below him if he feels threatened by their gifts and leadership abilities?

5.    Work-Life balance:  Quite simply, does the church demonstrate a biblical theology of work-life balance?  All of us should be motivated to expand the kingdom, but not to the detriment of those closest to us, our families.  Some pastoral friends of mine work in cultures where they are required to work 6 days a week.  Some have job descriptions with 65-75 hours a week.  Is that healthy?  Is it biblical?  Does the church teach work-life balance to their members but expect quite the opposite from their staff?

6.    Freedom:  Will the church allow you the space and resources to accomplish the work you have been given?  Is there a culture of trust or suspicion?

7.    Pursue vs. Protect mentality:  Is this church looking to the past or looking ahead to the future?  Are they protecting past success or dreaming about what God has next.  Is the ministry built for those who are not here yet or for those who have been here for 20 years?

8.    Heart:  Why does the church exist?  What is the motivation?  Is it a call to reach those far from God?  Train leaders for the future?  Is it success? Ego? The legacy of the Senior Leader? Make sure you have clarity on this before you join in.

9.    Leadership:  How are the staff meetings?  Does staff look forward to them?  Are they a celebration?  How does the staff honor each other?  How does the leadership receive feedback?  Is honest and loving critique well-received by leadership as a tool for growth and development?  Is the leadership secure or insecure?

10. Conflict Management:  All relationships have conflict.  How does this church handle conflict when it arises?  Is there a process?  Is this handled with integrity?  I recommend calling the last three people who left that church to ask this question as well as the previous 9!