Nside the Suncoast (Part 2)

Back BS (before Sophie) I started a series of posts talking about some of the internal workings of your church Suncoast. It has been a while so if you missed the first part check it out HERE.

Today, I will let you "Nside" a "typical" week around the church.

Monday: Both Rita and I are in the office on Mondays. Rita updates the website, does the message video and podcast for the website, does all of our assimilation like prayer cards, first time guest notes, second time letters and one month out letters. I 90% of the time have also given her my message for that week by then so she also does the PowerPoint which we then put into Media Shout. I am usually doing administrative type things on Monday's. Attendance, offering reports, checking in with our book keeper about bills coming up this week, checking in how Sunday went with staff and volunteers live or through e-mail... Steve and I usually touch base on Monday's about songs for this coming Sunday and any "special" songs we might want to do for the current series coming up.

Tuesday: Crystal and I are both in the office on Tuesdays. Crystal only works "in the office" one day a week so she tries to get everything lined up for that Sunday's children's ministry on Tuesdays. Printing, planning, scheduling, buying supplies, checking in with volunteers and all that. We also have our staff meetings on Tuesday's twice a month from 12:30 - 2pm. I am usually starting to get ideas and line things up for creating the Sunday service. Videos, illustrations, hand outs, graphics, all the "creative elements" that go into a Sunday at the Suncoast all have to be found, bought, or created from scratch... and I still do most of them for now.

Wednesday: is my quiet day. No one usually comes in the office on Wednesdays so it has become my message day for the following week. It takes me about 6 - 8 hours to do each message on average. I also seem to have more lunch appointments on Wednesdays??? Steve also sends out the music and mp3's of that Sunday's songs to the band and by that time has also worked to see who we have and who we need for the music. Rita also sends the Need to Know (NTK) e-mail on Wednesdays and picks up programs from the printer if we are in a new series.

Thursday: Rita is back in the office with me and gives me the finished PowerPoint and the NTK video for the Communication Card time in the service. By closing time on Thursday our goal is to have the service put to bed, everything that has been created put into Media Shout (the software we use on Sundays), service scripts created and printed, all our volunteers line up, bags and trailer packed and ready to roll for Sunday. Rita also has some volunteers come in and fold programs on Thursdays.

Friday: I am doing my mind map (kind of like notes for my message that I use to preach it) and that takes about 2 -3 hours on average. Anything that didn't get wrapped up from Thursday gets done for Sunday, and during our NEXT Group semesters I am writing curriculum and posting it online for our leaders.

Sunday: We (the staff) arrive from 7:00am - 7:30am with the volunteer set up crews and start unloading the trailer and setting up the school into what you experience each Sunday. It takes about 9 - 10 people about 2 hours to get everything 100% ready to go for the service. Band practice happens at 9:15am. Team meetings happen at 10am. Doors open, church happens, and then we tear it all down and put it back into the trailer by 1pm. We usually eat some lunch and I am on the couch by 2:30pm to unwind and get ready to do it all over again.

Not listed are all the "ministry" type things that happen at the Suncoast with all the staff. Those "interruptions" are where the real life of the church happens to me.

I usually put in about a 45 to 50 hour work week and that is kind of what goes on from one Sunday to the next.

Nside the Suncoast (Part 1)

For the next few weeks I will be posting an "Nside the Suncoast" series of posts that I hope let you get to know your church a little better. Today, we will look at the staff of the Suncoast.

We call our current staff the, "Management Team" and they are the ones that make the decisions around here. We are a staff led church as compared to an elder led (think Presbyterian) or congregation led (think Baptist) church. The current staff members of the Suncoast are Rita Wilson, Crystal Michehl, Steve McCauley and myself.

Some basic info:

Rita - came on staff part time, first as our children's director, and now as an administrator back in late 2006 I think. She does all kinds of office stuff, manages the website and other communications, helps me a ton, and leads our Sunday first impression teams. Rita really does anything I ask and has become a trusted go to person for me on almost any project. Even if she has no idea how to do it! Rita works on Monday's and Thursday's at the Warehouse.

rita@canthisbechurch.com

Crystal - started attending our church in 2009 from a postcard and quickly jumped into volunteering and we hired her in late 2009 part time as our Children's Director. She runs the Coastal Kids scene at the church and has done an amazing job growing leaders and creating a real "Wow" experience for our kids. It is a HUGE job and she works a lot more than part time on it!!! But, she is at the Warehouse on Tuesdays.

crystal@canthisbechurch.com

Steve - jumped in back in 2006 when we had a hole in our band and needed a guitar and some vocals. What started as a favor turned into 5 years of being our music guy! Being portable the only practice Steve gets in leading our band is before church on Sunday's, but week after week he gets out music and provides direction under a lot of pressure! Steve can take a crazy idea I have for a song or service element and give it life in a short amount of time. He can also play everything up there, so the flexibility has been such a huge blessing! AND, he is the only staff member we have never had to pay a dime! He volunteers for all this!!! Steve works remotely from his house through a ton of e-mails.

steve@canthisbechurch.com

Then there is me - I have been here since the beginning and for the first few months was the only staff member. I folded programs, did powerpoint, called volunteers, and even led the band!!! Yikes, I would not want to go back to those days. These days I spend my time working on messages, creating a chunk of the Sunday service, and leading the church overall. Well, I do a lot more than that, but that is the 30,000 ft view anyway. Right now I am the only full time staff member at the Suncoast.

The staff meets twice a month on Tuesday's for about 2 hours over lunch and we evaluate the Sunday services, plan, talk about current needs and issues, and we usually are digesting some ministry or hip new leadership book. If you think of it, we would love your prayers!!! We need them as we listen to God and guide this church.

Next time I will share about how a Sunday comes together. Tune in next Wednesday... unless baby Sophie is here!!!

NEXT Coaching Network (Afternoon Session)

Supportive Feedback…

• Be specific
• Timely
• Explain the effects; state your appreciation (so they feel it)
• Method (one on one, in writing, public, voicemail)
• Touch

Corrective Feedback…

• Specific (describe it behaviorally)
• Timely (close to the event as possible, must see it)
• Focus on actions, behaviors
• Be honest (don’t minimize it or overstate it)
• Eliminate the word “BUT”
• Method (one on one, no e-mail)
• Suggest alternatives, not feedback until suggest an alternative
• Leave the person whole

Motivators…

• Meaning
• Dignity
• Community
• Influence (your voice has meaning)
• Growth (role or personal)

NEXT Coaching Network (Morning Session)

Getting them started...
enlisting a leader (after they are already serving, leadership emerges):

• Vision (Great Commission)
• Goals (Outcomes)
• Expectations (No more than three things)

Helping them along the way...

• Positive recognition
• Coaching (D.E.L.U.M.P) - Divide every large undertaking into managable pieces.
• Feedback (1. Well, 2. Stuck, 3. Do different)

Letting Go...

• Delegate (The authority and responsibility) BUT, don't start here!
• Feedback (Ask questions tied to the vision)

A Must Read

A friend of mine from the Suncoast sent me this post from the blog "Stuff Christians Like" and it is a must read:

Saying you’re having a hard time “connecting” at church.
This church isn’t very friendly. Have you noticed that? We might need to change to a new church, because we’re having a really hard time connecting at this one. We’ve been coming here for six months, sitting in service, not talking to anyone, then immediately sprinting out of the building and going home. And no one has connected with us. Rude!

We haven’t met anyone in small group either. We didn’t sign up for one, but still, it would be nice if a small group kind of magically happened in our living room, on a night that was convenient for us and someone brought banana pudding. Not box banana pudding, but like the kind your grandmother used to make. Is that so much to ask for?

Probably, considering that this church doesn’t really seem to reach out to people who have spent six months attending Sunday morning service and not participating in any other activities.

No one even called us and asked why we weren’t at the fall festival. Sure, we’ve never given them our number, but google it. And then help us connect.
I thought this church was going to be different. I thought it wouldn’t be like the last three churches we attended. Remember those three? Always saying, “Please stay for lunch and learn about the church. Please let us know if you have any questions. Please come to our first time visitor’s luncheon.” So annoying.

What’s that you say? Where are we serving at the church? Serving is a great way to get connected and plug into a place that is ultimately a two way street of people loving and giving and growing together? Even something as simple as handing out bulletins can jump start new relationships with new people? Ugh, that sounds like a lot of work. Quit judging us.

And start connecting us. We’re having a hard time connecting at this church.

For ways you can connect at Church of the Suncoast click here:
http://www.canthisbechurch.com/next-steps

Policies V. Conversations

From the start of Church of the Suncoast I have prayed, strived, and cast vision for a church that ANYONE could go to and feel "safe" as they investigate the Gospel. We don't need more churches in most parts of the country, what we need are safe environments for people to experience the grace Jesus has to offer them.

For the most part, we are not perfect, but for the most part we have that kind of church today. BUT, that also causes a lot of conflict from a leadership standpoint. What do you do about the girl whose boobs are hanging out each week? Do you let non-believers in the band? When someone is dealing with a moral issue do you pull them? What "lifestyles" are accepted as Christian? What do you do when it doesn't seem like a believers behavior is matching what they are telling others they believe? What about divorce? The list could go on but you get the idea.

The natural tendency of any organization is to meet and craft a bunch of policies so that the issue is settled and you don't have to have the conflict when it comes up. You just point to a policy and say, "Sorry, this is OUR policy." BUT, here is something I heard Andy Stanley talk about recently and it was so right on! Don't have policies, have conversations. This is how Jesus did things. From tax-collectors to adulterers He would have conversations not policies and categories. Maybe if we could learn from that we could not just strike a balance between grace and truth, but a powerful merger of the two that Jesus seemed to embody.

Perspective in Leading

Our staff at the Suncoast is reading the book "Leading on Empty" by Wayne Cordeiro right now. At our last staff meeting I shared a quote that jumped out at me,

"The way we view our problem oftentimes is our problem"

You could apply that to almost anything in life and leadership but here was my realization for our staff. I am by nature a negative person. I have the painful gift of being able to walk into a room and tell you everything that is wrong in a matter of seconds. I see the problems. AND, many times at our staff meetings and conversations I spend all my time talking about the problems and not enough time talking about all the amazing things God is doing in the life of our church. Instead of celebrating with them I drag up any and every problem and talk about what we are going to do about it.

Here is what I realized. Obviously, the staff at the Suncoast thinks for themselves, but as the leader I have to walk that line in how I present things. Yes, I want to be real and when something bad happens it hurts, and I get frustrated, and it is OK for people to see that and for us to walk through the bad things together. We are all in this as a team. Stuff is not always going to go right at the church and that needs to be addressed. But, on the flip side if I don't do a better job at showing off the positive then I run the risk of ruining the perspective of the people around me. Because it is so easy for me to point out all the problems I have to be intentional about this!

So, that is where I am at right now. Trying to do a better job at walking that line. I would be curious to know your perspective and what you have learned as a church planter / leader / pastor on walking the line between dealing with the problems but not letting that ruin your perspective on the church...

Brutally Honest Offering Video

This past Sunday we played this very honest video during the offering. Not sure if it was right or wrong, but it was honest and it was from my heart.

Our church, like many, has been trying to navigate this economy as best we can for the past year to two years. Fortunately, we had some savings we had kept from the good times that helped us get to this point. But, by this past Sunday that was almost gone. Our church has also committed to tithe no matter what! We send back out 10% of everything we take in. We believe God will honor us for our faithfulness. Our church is blessed to be a blessing!

So with the tithe looming and the money gone, here is where faith is built. Welcome to church planting :-)

BUT, the principle here applies to every aspect of life. Take a look and tell me what you think. Leave a comment.

Volunteer Community

THIS Saturday night we have our next Volunteer Community, 7pm at the Warehouse. Volunteer Community is something we did for the first year or so of our church in 2006 - 2007 then we took a break for a while and tried some other stuff, but this year we rolled it out again with one purpose. To show our volunteers a good time! We are not trying to attract people and hopefully get them to volunteer. We are not trying to cast big vision and bore them with church stuff. We simply want to throw them a party, feed them some awesome food, have some crazy fun together, give away some stuff, and get to know each other better.

We have the gatherings catered, we play some kind of game to get people going, we eat, and then we break up into our teams for about 10 minutes. This is a time volunteers can bring things up and feel like we are listening to them.

This quater we are doing just one more thing and that is giving everyone a copy of our new Sunday playbook. We have been working on this for 6-months and it contains everything in words and pictures that needs to be done for Sunday to work and work well. It has step by step parts and expectation parts all in one document.

So that is Volunteer Community. If you are a volunteer at the Suncoast right now don't miss it, bring the kids if you want! RSVP, just so we know how much food, with Rita rita@canthisbechurch.com

If you are a church leader and want more info just shoot me an e-mail: brian@canthisbechurch.com

Favor and Followship by Jeff Kapusta

Recently, I got to talk with a church planter in North Carolina who has been at this about the same length of time I have (4 years). We had met back in South Carolina at a friends house a year ago but got to really chat for about 30 minutes the other day and it was refreshing to hear his heart behind this blog post. I can relate to the journey of church planting and the challenge when things are not up and to the right. If you are a church planter I hope this will bless you like it blessed me:

We’ve all got a unique journey
by Jeff Kapusta

This past year has been a challenging one on many fronts. It has been a roller coaster ride of joy and frustration. God has been teaching me many things and someday I’ll pass them along. However, one of the things I’m learning is that God really does see things differently than we do. I read this today and it literally stopped me in my tracks.

“There is always the temptation to look at someone and judge the amount of God’s blessing upon his life based upon the number of people who have chosen to follow him. But if numbers tell the whole story, we would have to assume that God removed His blessing from Jesus toward the end of His ministry! In the weeks prior to His crucifixion the crowds began to wane. In the end there were only a handful of faithful men and women who dared to be associated with Him. Followship is not an accurate indicator of one’s worthiness to be followed.” Andy Stanley–The Next Generation Leader.

Too often I’ve judged the favor of God based upon whether or not all the numbers were up and to the right. How wrong I was. Next time you are tempted to think that you are any less blessed because the numbers are down and nobody is asking you to speak at conferences just remember that Jesus’ numbers dropped too and He never spoke at a conference either. Your journey is unique! Enjoy it!

Sunday Suicide

If you are on staff at a church OR you are a key volunteer then you know what Sunday's can be like. It is kind of like the build up to the big game or opening night of a performance. There is a list of things that have to get done and limited time to do them in. Typically, that means you are running around making sure all the details get done.

In Luke 10 Jesus has come to Mary and Martha's house for a meal. In many ways they were doing what we do every Sunday. We get ready for Jesus to meet with us and try to entertain as many guests as we can. You know the story, Martha is running around making sure everyone is comfortable and that the meal is coming along. But, Mary is in the living room just chilling at Jesus feet as He teaches. That doesn't sit real well with Martha so she storms in and tells Jesus how hard she is working and that He should tell Mary to get off her blessed assurance and help!

You know the tension as a church leader or volunteer now right?

Listen to what Jesus says in the Living Translation to Martha:

"Martha, dear friend, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it--and I won't take it away from her!" Luke 10:41-42

Here is my take away from that. The details matter. I have blogged about that in the past. But as individuals in charge let's not get so busy that we don't stop long enough for two things:

Relationships and Worship

Let's not be the person who uses our work as an excuse not to talk to people and let's not use our responsibilities as an excuse not to stop long enough to worship the One we are here for. My prayer is that we will discover both this Sunday.

"What! Who's Leaving?"

"Bless those who use bad words about you. Ask God to do good to those who trouble you." Luke 6:28

Two of the things that get talked about the most at our management team meetings is who are all the new faces and people who are checking out the Suncoast and taking their next steps here, AND , "What happened to so and so? And, what about this family? I hear they are checking out other churches..."

There have been hundreds of people that have been a part of the first four years of Church of the Suncoast and probably almost as many that have moved on. If you are a church planter then you know what I am talking about. You pour your life out into people. You even let your guard down and make friends with them. You have them over in your home and circle up in groups. You go to their kids games and then BOOM! First they miss one week, then two, then you send them an e-mail to see what is up and after about 2 or 3 months you just figure they have moved on. It hurts! Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't.

My wife Cheryl and I have had to deal with a lot of this. She had to pull me back from the edge from time to time because you start to wonder what is wrong with you! But, here are some things I have learned... NO, that is not right. Here are some things I am learning because just because someone leaves your church doesn't mean you didn't make a difference and it wasn't a win for your church.

The reality is the more connected a person is the more people know their buisness, and sometimes people just don't want the church knowing their buisness. So they leave and there is nothing you can do about that.
Sometimes there is a family situation that comes up and God has other plans for them? Sometimes they need to change up the routine for them to take their next step?

BUT, here is the bottom line. The time you invest into people doesn't get wasted! What steps did they take at your church? Did they accept Christ there? Did they make some next right choices? Did they kick a bad habit? Did they get a taste for serving and getting outside of themselves? The next steps they took at your church count! Even the small ones, they started coming back to church again for the first time in years and it took your church to do that! Wow! That is huge!

The investment you make as a church leader, staff member, volunteer leader, or fellow church member will not return void (read the Bible). One day on the other side of this life we will get to see the truth of this.

Just because people leave doesn't mean you are a loser, a bad speaker, a poor leader, or mean you didn't try hard enough.

Count even the small stuff as wins!!! And, continue to put yourself out there! God will bless that and He will grow your ministry in ways you can't.

Hey Pastor! Cut the Crap!!!

The other day I had a conversation with a pastor I have not talked to in a while and he was asking me about things with the church and I was trying to be open and honest and he laid out a line something like this, "So how is God-moving among your people to become more missional... blah, blah, latest leadership buzz word... blah, blah... quote from Andy Stanley... blah, blah."

Seriously, pastors / church leaders can we cut the crap. We don't have to try to impress each other with who we just read or what fancy church leadership buzz words we know! Only other pastors know what you are talking about and honestly, I hate it.

I am a terrible leader that God has been working on, and to be honest compensating for, ever since we started Church of the Suncoast in 2006. I don't like to read a lot of leadership books because they are talking about answers to questions I am not even asking.

Here is what I care about. Are people taking their next steps with God and are people accepting Christ. If so then you are missional and vision driven and Spirit-filled and... OK, so this might be a little strong but hear my heart. Why would you try to impress someone with what you know and how smart of a leader you are when really God has called us to just be obedient and faithful and He says He gets the glory when we are weak.

Hi, I am Brian and I am a weak leader :-)

Learning and Leading (Part 2 of 2)

I talked back on Monday or Tuesday about how things had been a bit too busy and a bit too dry this past month or so. A lot of doing and not a lot of learning and as a leader you stop leading when you stop learning. Read it (HERE).

I shared a few things I am changing and her are two more:

4 1/2 Days.
Since Sunday turns into a full blown work day, I am up at 3am and done with church stuff by 2pm, unless there is a Sunday night deal... I am trying to work 4 and 1/2 days during the week. My goal is to get to 4 days during the week but right now the goal is only a 1/2 day Friday. As a leader you need time to get away so you can see the forest and not just the trees. This one kind of goes hand in hand with the last post where I said I am trying to move some stuff off my plate church wise. The times I have been most sure of the direction God wants to take our church have been when I took some time off and got away. Friday afternoons are going to be that time!

Reading.
I by nature don't like to read. I sometimes think I am the only church leader who doesn't like to read the way everyone talks on their blogs. But I am going to get back to reading a few things each week:

• Blogs like Perry's, Tony's, Mike's...
• Leadership Books
• Messages (well this is actually watching!!!)

Of course the Bible is in there. I am currently way behind on my www.YouVersion.com reading plan.

What are you doing to grow and learn???

Learning and Leading (Part 1 of 2)

You might have noticed not a lot of action over the past two weeks here on my blog??? Well, all I can say is I have been so busy leading that haven't stopped long enough to learn much of anything over the past month and that is not a good thing. I missed a local church planter gathering called INC last month. Our staff finished reading "Lasting Impressions" about a month ago and I have not found another book for us yet. Sad to say my time in the Bible has dwindled down to message prep over the past two weeks, sorry God. I just have not put myself in a place to learn and as a leader the moment you stop learning you stop leading. I'm sure you have heard that before.

So, starting this week and next I am making some changes. Here are a few of them and then later this week I will talk about this more...

Drive.
Our staff and a couple other people are going to the Drive Conference at Northpoint next week. We leave on Sunday after tear down :-) and get back on Wednesday night. I know a lot of my church planting friends talk down conferences and make fun of them, but for me... I need that time away and I think our staff needs to get a taste of the vision that could happen at Church of the Suncoast. Plus, you get to network and see people you have not seen in a year or two. They are worth it for me. Even though the trip will cost our church a couple thousand dollars it is an investment in our staff and in our own relationships with each other. Spending 3 days that close is fun :-)

Working My Way Out.
I am also getting serious about working my way out of a couple things here at the Suncoast to free me up to seek God and His direction for me and this church. I have gone through various stages of this in our four year history based on the staff and volunteers we had at the time, but it always gets better by making the effort not by people just showing up and doing it for you! OK, sometimes that will happen... but most of the time it is a process God wants to take YOU through!

The Successful Leader

Yesterday at INC (a local Tampa Bay gathering of church planters and leaders) the issue of size was brought up. Someone brought the idea of the shepherd / pastor where the job of the pastor is to lead his "flock" to the green pasture and the cool waters and protect them from the wolves. For most of his life he said he had been trained to just get more and more people. More people was always better, but he was wrestling through if that was really true. How could he be the shepherd if he had more than 100 or 200 people. He said maybe bigger is not wrong but maybe smaller is better so we should start more smaller churches to advance the Gospel. The conversation went back and forth for about an hour.

Here is my take on that. There is no way you can be the shepherd for everyone. Even with 100 to 200 people you can't do it. So, for a while the larger church pastors have said since I can't do it for everyone then I won't do it at all. I won't go to any kids ball games, I won't do any hospital visits, I won't do any dinners at peoples houses, I won't mentor groups of men. I have to keep my focus on the big picture, that is why you have a staff, and I agree with that...

BUT, just because you can't do it for everyone doesn't mean you can't do it for some. Now, this means you can't be fair. You will go to some people's things but not others and that is not fair and... hey, fairness stopped in the Garden of Eden. God cannot even be fair to everyone (let that sink in). So, my take is you should be someone's shepherd in your church. You can't be every one's because you can't and if you try you will miss the bigger picture stuff, but we can all serve some people. I am reminded of the words of Jesus when He said:

"Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be your servant... Your attitude must be like my own, for I did not come to be served, but to serve, and give my life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:26 & 28

I think that is what makes you a successful leader / pastor. You do for some what you wish you could do for everyone. And that example becomes contagious.

What do you think? Leave a thought...

Dust It Off

This morning I was reading in Matthew and came across the time when Jesus was sending out his disciples for the first time and basically told them if you go into a town and they welcome you then bless them. BUT, if the people in that town reject you (or maybe today criticize you, blog about you, tweet about you, get angry and leave your church) then dust it off like dirt from your shoes.

Pastor, shake off the criticism or the people leaving like dust from your shoes. Start doing the end of the day thing. Let yourself wrestle with it until the end of that day then never again!

Be encouraged. Jesus knew we would face this from time to time and it tells me you are right in His will for your ministry!

WATCH Unleash Today

Hey you can watch the Unleash conference today right here:

(9:00am & 3:30pm are the main sessions)

*If you missed the live feed check out the sessions here once they are posted:
http://www.unleash.cc/

AWESOME Post by Perry

If you are a pastor, or if you wonder why we are the way we are sometimes, READ THIS from Perry Noble (who is much taller face to face than he looks)

"Every pastor I know has, at one point, wrestled with the question, “Is THIS really worth it?” I will admit that I’ve had that thought more than once in my ten year journey as the pastor of NewSpring Church. There are days when I feel like I can conquer the world…and then there are others where I feel the world has conquered me.

If you are a pastor then I know you’ve been there…

• You feel like the sermon was horrible.
• You had a staff member go south on you.
• You lose sleep at night while you wrestle through a decision.
• People lie about you (or tell half truths, same thing really!)
• The critics take shots at you.
• The level of spiritual warfare in your life increases.
• You feel inadequate to do the job most days.
• You experience being lonely on a level that very few people can understand.

I could go on and on…but you get the point. In the past 10 years in being the pastor of this church I’ve experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. AND…yes, I have caught myself asking the question many times, “Is it really worth all of this?”

And EVERY TIME God speaks to me and says, “YES!” Hey pastor…if He called you then He has equipped you and will sustain you! He is WITH YOU and will NEVER leave you. HE is SO worth it!

Yesterday was one of those days for me…Jesus completely overwhelmed me and reminded me that following Him has been worth it. Yes, there is a price to pay in ministry…but it is NOWHERE near the price the ONE we follow paid for us!
It’s worth it!

And…as Jesus was drawing people to Himself yesterday during the invitation I kept thiniking to myself, “I am SO GLAD that I haven’t quit or given up on the vision God gave me in 1996 to start a church…following Him has not been easy, but it is SO worth it!”

Pastor, God did not call you so that you could prove yourself to Him (and others,) but rather He called you to “prove” His Son to the world! The reason so many of us wrestle with wanting to give up so often is that we feel like we have sometime to prove…

BUT…there is tremendous freedom found in a ministry where the man of God has fully determined that he has nothing to prove and dedicates himself to working for the applause of heaven and NOT the applause of man.

Yes, it’s worth it! So…stay in the game, focus on Christ and beg Him to make His voice so clear to you so that you will know what He wants next!

Don’t EVER give up on the God who has never given up on you! (Philippians 1:6)

Community Groups (Small Groups)

Right now at Church of the Suncoast we are looking at our Community Groups (small groups) and seeing if they are really hitting the mark. I have been frustrated with the groups process this past year. We have not seen huge numbers of "new" people get plugged into a group. We get a few groups going for a semester (we do semester groups) and then they dwindle down and it usually becomes the same people over and over again. Not saying that good things have not happened with them. Some real friendships have been made and some life change has taken place. But it is a huge effort (mainly on my part) and it seems like we are fighting the wind instead of throwing up a sail and harnessing it.

As I was praying through this yesterday here were some of my thoughts:

People's Need's (as they see them)
> Someone to hear them
> Someone to encourage them
> A break from "life"
> Some direction
> To laugh
> A place to belong
> A "3rd place"

Spiritual Needs Met in Community
> Learning how to pray
> Learning how to read the Bible
> Praying for each other
> Sharing burdens
> Care

Obstacles Between These

1. People are BUSY
2. People are skeptical of opening up and going to a "strangers" home
3. Child care (we are portable and do vouchers for people to get their own care but still an obstacle)
4. People already have friends and don't see the need for community

I also want to get our groups or whatever we do more focused on the community and the mission of the church overall. We need to be serving the community more I think.

So there is where I am at as I plan for 2010. I know people need community. I know we need to connect more "new" people into community if we are going to close the backdoor we have. Praying for guidance.

Would love to hear from you too! Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail at brian@canthisbechurch.com