Achiever

This past week our good friend, Richard Kramer, celebrated his 75th birthday. And so our small group gathered together for a summer cook out and get together. And as our custom, we enjoyed a great evening of food, laughter, friendship, celebration and prayer. You can see a slide show here.

In his earlier life, Richard was a sculptor. His birthday cake had a photo of one of his pieces titled, Achiever. Richard wrote this poem to accompany the metal sculpture.

The crucible of life
Destroys us utterly.
But some are purified
And rise above
This common pool of pain
By vision, faith and discipline
To show the way for others.
Let it be me to show
Yet let me also humbly follow.

Richard is an achiever. He grew up in Cologne, Germany during World War 2. Some of his family members were killed during the relentless bombings. Ricard lived on his own as a teen and then moved to Canada when he was in his early 20s. He was alone in a foreign culture, not knowing the language or any people who could help him.

Richard knows the pain of loosing loved ones through death, even suicide. He also knows of a sovereign God who reveals His ways but sometimes keeps the "whys" of life veiled. Richard knows pain, but he also knows grace.

Richard is a unique, one of a kind servant, beautifully forged from the crucible of life. His faith, his vision and his discipline are an inspiration to all who know him! In Christ, Richard is an achiever.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 
Isaiah 55:10-11

Good Sense Indeed

Seth Godin has a great post over on his blog about personal finance. I really enjoy Seth's creativity and practical advice. Here's some of what he has to say about debt and savings.

"When I talk to people who want to become marketers, I almost always tell them to go start something and go market something. The same advice for 15 year olds and seniors. Turning off the TV and building a CafePress store is not only free, but it starts to build a professional-skills asset for the long haul. Pay as much as you need to for things that matter, and as little as you can for things that don't. And never borrow money to pay for something that goes down in value."

Now that's some pretty sound advice. Sounds like what we are learning in the Good $ense course. As we follow God's financial guidelines we become a diligent earner, a generous giver, a wise saver, a cautious debtor and a prudent consumer. Good sense indeed!

Prepare for Impact!

We had an exciting morning today with small group Hosts stopping by to get their assignments and materials. Today is the last day to sign up to participate in an Impact Group as well as to complete Host Orientation. So there was a lot of activity in the lobby around the Impact table! You can click on the picture above to see a slide show of the morning.

Our Small Group Team with Tye Male, Dave Sanders, Susan Krucher, Pat Rieck, James Wartian, and Erin Bird have done a great job in preparing and equipping our church for our Impact Series. We have over 60 small groups participating. And I see that even Bernice plans to participate in a small group. A special thanks to Tye for his leadership with the team and for organizing a multitude of details.

It's been an exciting day. It's exciting to think about how God will use these groups in the lives of people. Let's prepare for Impact!

The Case for Community ~ Part 3

The third case for community that Russ Robinson presented is the The Organizational Case. The church should never be experienced alone. The church needs to organize around community for the following reasons:

• One person or one pastor, cannot possibly meet everyones needs. The one-on-one million strategy doesn't work! Moses received wise counsel from Jethro, his father in law, as he was trying to figure out how to lead the Israelites out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Jethro told Moses that he would wear himself out and that he couldn't handle the work alone. Exodus 18:17-18
• Shepherds are to care for the flock, even search for the strays and lost. It takes organization to ensure that everyone is cared for and that no one falls through the cracks. Ezekiel 34:2-4
• Pastors and teachers are to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up. Ministry is to be shared and leaders equipped in order to have a healthy body. Ephesians 4:11-12
• The body grows as each member does its part. Every person has an important role to play in the body of Christ. Health and growth takes place when people get connected. Ephesians 4:15-16

There you have The Case for Community:

• The Theological Case - God has never been alone
• The Sociological Case - No one should ever stand alone
• The Organizational Case - Church should never be experienced alone

So, what's the verdict? What do you think about community? We render our verdict regarding community every day by the way we live. Are you involved in a small group or adult community? Are you taking time to invest in the lives of people? Are you the kind of person that others like and want to spend time with? Do you look for ways to build up others?

What's the verdict?

The Case for Community ~ Part 2

The second case for community that Russ Robinson presented is The Sociological Case. No one should ever stand alone. We need community for the following reasons:

• We need the input of others regarding plans and decision making. Plans succeed with many advisors. Proverbs 15:22
• We get strength from others during hard times. The person who is alone when he falls is to be pitied. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
• We need accountability. We are sharpened and grow in the context of community. Proverbs 27:17

What sociological reasons could you add to the list? Does the quality and quantity of our relationships really matter? Next time I will summarize The Organizational Case for Community.

Building Community ~ Connecting People

We had an outstanding Small Group Conference this morning with around 140 people in attendance representing 15 different churches. Russ was fantastic. He spoke two times on The Case for Community and Small Group Leaders: God's Catalyst For Life Change. Over the next several days I will be posting my notes and thoughts from the Conference. You can click on the picture above to see a slide show of the Conference.

The first evidence that Russ presented for The Case for Community is The Theological Case. God has never been alone. He is a community being in His essence.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26

The Trinity is the forebearer of marriage and the church. We can be separate yet one; plural and singular at once.

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery–but I am talking about Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:31-32

Jesus left the crowds to spend time with the few. And then at the end of His life, He prays that His followers would be one. He prays that they would establish community according to the Trinitarian design.

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name–the name you gave me–so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17:11-12

Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one, that they would experience a community that is hard to imagine.

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20-21

It was a great morning. It's a great vision. It's a great call .... Building Community ~ Connecting People.

The Real Deal

New Covenant is one of the sponsors of the Small Group Conference tomorrow with Russ Robinson. Russ is the author of The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry and a small group expert. We heard Russ at the Advanced Small Group Conference at Willow Creek in May and were really impressed with his heart for God and people.

The sponsor churches had a special session with Russ over lunch today. In addition to all of his other credentials, Russ is a small group practitioner. He speaks from a place of experience.

Hi-lights of the session for me today:

• Russ has a great concern for the future of the small group movement in the US. It goes against 2000 years of church history.
• The early church adapted the Jewish synagogue model with an emphasis on place and person, becoming the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
• After the Reformation, the Protestant Church adapted a model with an emphasis on place, person and programs.
• Change from a program model of ministry to an organic small group model takes more work and time than most people realize.
• Have a clear picture of what your church would look like after the transition.
• Be patient, set priorities and have a ten year view in mind. Everything doesn't need to, and can't, change in one year.

I'm really encouraged regarding where we're at in this transition. Mark Forstrom and Mark Eades have both incorporated small groups in a greater way in youth ministry this year. High School has added Pods on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays and Middle School has added Huddles on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. Men's Fraternity will connect men in community around tables as they discuss the topic presented each week on DVD. We have recruited over 60 Hosts so far for the fall Impact Series.

We have a long way to go to connect every person in our church to a small group, but we are well on our way. There is no substitute for meeting face to face with a small group of people to discuss Bible truth and share life together.

We are fortunate to have someone of Russ's stature in town to speak. Do whatever you can to get to the conference tomorrow morning. You won't be disappointed! Russ is the real deal.

Family

Small Group Conference

A group of us just returned from an Advanced Small Group Conference at Willow Creek. There were over 90 people in attendance from churches all over the country who gathered to learn more about how to develop and implement a comprehensive small group strategy. You can click on the picture above to see a short slideshow of our trip.

The conference was more like a workshop, with short presentations by Bill Donahue, Russ Robinson and Greg Bowman followed by "team time" around our table for discussion and implementation. Each table had a facilitator and ours was Bill Search from Ada Bible Church.

We came home with four newspaper pad pages full of issues that we need to address in order to make our small group ministry more effective. It was so timely that we were able to attend this conference, especially after Bob Gilliam's recommendations.

I'm excited about the things we talked about over the past several days and how we can structure our small groups to be even more effective in helping us become a family of growing disciples! I'm thankful for our Small Group Team (Dave Sanders, Susan Krucher, Erin Bird, James Wartian, Pat Rieck, Tye Male-our Team Leader and myself) that has been meeting this past year and their commitment to make our small group system even stronger.

It's our desire that every person at New Covenant be connected to a caring community of believers. A community where no one walks alone, and where we can be open with one another. A community where lives are miraculously transformed and hearts restored. A place where we become family.

Prepare for Impact!

Our fearless leader!

We met this morning to assign people to 80 plus Impact Groups. The Hosts pick up their materials and assignments tomorrow. We are totally excited about what God will do through this spiritual journey and the small groups. Click on the picture above to see a short slide show of our work session.

It's still not too late to become part of an Impact Group. Stop by the Impact Table in the lobby or email Tye at tye.male@newcovenantbible.org.

What can God do through a small group of people who unite their hearts to pray for the people they love? What can God do through a small group of people who model the life of Christ by the care they show for others? And what can God do through a small group of people who partner together to share their spiritual journeys with the lost?

Our Impact~Connecting Your Community to Christ spiritual journey is going to be a great adventure. Stop by this blog often to leave your comments and stories about what God is doing in your life and group. Let's trust Him for big things. Let's prepare for Impact!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21