I want to give you four reasons to invest time in cultivating personal relationships.

1. Ministry equals Relationships.  Ministry is the ability to touch people at their needs.  It is simply to discover what is taking place in the lives of people around us and meet them there.  We can’t expect to meet the needs of people around us if we keep our distance from the people around us.  When we love people where they are, that is ministry.  When we demonstrate the love of God by valuing those who are hurt and broken, those who are searching for hope in this world, we can make an eternal difference.  This happens best when we personally invest our lives in the lives of people.  We must work side by side to make a difference for Christ.

2. Discipleship equals Relationships.  We can impart knowledge in many different environments.  However, the ability to share or gain knowledge is not discipleship.  Discipleship is living life together in a way that we not only learn the truth of the Bible, but we also learn how to apply it to our lives on a daily basis.  Proverbs 27:17 tells us that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  This simple principle teaches us that we are more likely to become who it is God has designed us to be as we spend time in Godly relationships.  He uses other people in our lives to sharpen and shape us for His glory.

3. Life equals Relationships.  Our culture is moving more and more toward a culture of isolation.  We are actually moving away from intimacy and accountability with others and replacing it with a technology substitute.  In this day and age of social media, we can feel like we are connected to people because we see what is taking place in their lives because of Facebook, Twitter and other media.  We also can freely share happenings in our day through these avenues as well.  The result is we feel as though we are connected to people without having any accountability for our actions daily.  The questions we need to ask ourselves is “Who would we turn to if we really had a need?” Is there anyone in your life right now that you can turn to with life’s toughest questions?  Is there anyone you’re close enough to (besides your spouse) that you would feel comfortable talking to about your struggles?  The truth is that God created us to live life in a culture of relationships.  Without these kinds of relationships, we are missing out on a big part of what life designed to be.  We are missing out on the opportunity to experience him in greater ways.  When we come to the end of our lives, we won’t want a bigger portfolio or to have climbed one more rung on the ladder of success, we will look back and view relationships as our biggest assets in life.

4. God loved us so much that He wanted a Relationship with us.  God demonstrated that relationships are important by desiring a relationship with us.  He became one of us, lived here on the earth in bodily form and did not sin.  He went to the cross to pay the price for all of our sins and rose from the dead to create the opportunity for us to have a personal relationship with Him.  That is powerful in itself.  God loved us in spite of who we were, in spite of what we’ve done.  He loved us not because of who we were, but because of who we could become.  He simply asks that we believe in Him.  He made the first step in coming to us in order to have a relationship with us.  Let’s follow His example and make the first step in building relationships with those around us.

Relationships aren’t secondary in our lives, they should be a primary purpose of all that we do.  The only thing in this world that is eternal is people.  So let’s intentionally invest in eternity, by spending time with people.  Let’s work hard at not seeing people for what they’ve done, but who they could become in Christ.  Extend grace when possible and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with those he died to save.  Make room in your schedule to have people in your home, in your activities, in your life.  As you do this, you’ll begin to notice a change not only in your perspective of people, but of what it is God has for you to do while you’re here on this earth.

Related articles

• Discipleship is Relational (cwoznicki.wordpress.com)

He is the Creator of all things and still works to hold it all in place.  He is the Sacrifice who gave his life and died in our place.  He is the Savior who rose from the grave.  He is our Redeemer who personally forgives our sins.  He is our strength to live beyond ourselves each day.  He is our hope of what can be when we put our trust in Him.

Because of him, I believe that the church can do great things.  I believe that it can make a difference.  As the church, God can work through even small things to accomplish great things.  Imagine a place where hurt people can find peace, where the poor can find relief, where the grieving can find hope.  Imagine a place where those who are broken can be made whole again.  That place is the church.

In the book of Acts we find that at different times there are descriptions given on how the church is growing. Acts 1:15 tells us the church numbered 120 believers.  In Acts 2:41 we find that believers were being added daily.  This continues to grow as we look at Acts 5:14, believers were increasingly added to the Lord.  Acts 6:1 notates that the number of disciples were increasing in number.  Then in Acts 6:7 we find that the number of disciples were multiplying greatly.  It is obvious that the church here is beginning to move from simply picking up a few people here and there to growing exponentially.  Multitudes are turning to the Lord.  There are a few things that I see happen in Acts 6:1-7 that causes some increased momentum for the early church and can have the same effect for our churches as well.

Four Simple actions that can create multiplying results.

1.  Solve problems quickly.  Anytime you have growth, you have growing pains.  And we see that the church is definitely growing.  So much so that some of the widows were being neglected.  This was a real problem.  In the context of scripture, this was a matter of life and death for many.  But we find in the passage that the apostles didn’t drop everything to take care of this.  They realized the need and knew something needed to change, but also knew that they weren’t the ones to handle the change.  Problems have a way of forcing change in any organization, but it doesn’t have to stop the forward progress of what may already be happening. If allowed to, problems can lead to focusing on internal needs of the church rather than the external mission of the church.  As things change in our church, we have a choice of whether to be a part of the solution or a part of the problem.  Our goal should be to glorify God and be used by Him to solve problems quickly.  When problems arise, we can take those problems as opportunities to further the work of the church but at the same time  keep the focus of the church in check.

2.  Set your priorities correctly.  The apostles set their priorities as prayer and the ministry of the word.  They knew that these were two areas of the church that could not be neglected for any reason.  Stepping away from these two areas would have devastating effects on the spiritual life of the growing church.  Prayer releases the power of God in our lives and in our church.  Without it we essentially cripple the work we are trying to do.  The ministry of the word gives us the only true source of truth that can change people.  It is easy to get caught up in running programs in the church and lose sight of the main purpose of the church.  When the program or system becomes the end goal, we have lost sight of our purpose.  We should be seeking to reach people at all times, laying a foundation of prayer and ministering the word as we go.

3.  Share the responsibility.  The apostles delegated portions of the ministry needs to others.  They didn’t try to do it all themselves.  We should be always in the process of including more people in the work of the ministry.  There are a lot of good things to do in the church, but each of us will only have a few God things that He has called us to.  The apostles knew what their God thing was and stuck to it.  They could have added some more good things in, but that would have taken away from their God thing.  At the same time, God had men He had been preparing to do this specific God thing that was needed in scripture.  Let people take ownership of specific areas.  We should encourage people to do their part and find a place to serve within the church.  This actually multiplies the results and effectiveness of ministry.

4.  Saturate everything in prayer.  I know we have already looked at this, but it’s worth repeating.  The very first thing they did when they started wasn’t getting a food pantry started, developing a Widows in Need program or getting a list of names of all of those who were being neglected.  They didn’t just jump in and start working.  We see in the scripture that the apostles laid their hands on them and prayed.  We could see a lot more happen in our lives, in our families, in our churches and in our communities if we would really take hold of the power of prayer.  Prayer has a way of changing the world around us.  It can and does make a difference.  Matthew 7:7 tells us to ask.  This requires us to admit we don’t have all the answers and we aren’t in control.  But it also requires us to admit that we know that God is in control.  He can make a difference in our churches if we let Him.

If we want to see a multiplication movement take place in and through the church, we must place prayer and the word as a priority.  Also we must make it a part of our culture to raise up leaders who will share the load.  When we do things in our power, we get what we can do.  When we do things through prayer, we get what God can do.

Imagine you go to 2 restaurants.  One has paint coming off the walls, the table is kept from rocking by some cardboard shoved under one leg, a dead fly is on the table when you sit down, the menus have some sort of sticky residue on them, and you’re treated like you’re intruding on someone else’s time.  This environment will effect your attitude toward the meal you are about to eat.  You order a steak, but you’re not certain that’s what they brought you.  The end result is that your experience was less than perfect.  The other restaurant has just the right lighting, not too bright, not too dark.  You’re treated like you’re family.  The menu’s are clean.  The tables are clean. Everything seems to be good.  This environment will effect your attitude toward the meal you are about to eat.  You order a steak.  It’s just what you were hoping for and as a result you’ll definitely be back.

Imagine you go to 2 hotels.  One was built in 1970.  It was modern in it’s day, but over the past 40+ years it’s lost its’ appeal.  The burnt orange  carpet is no longer ”fancy”. The dark paneling is dented and scarred from years of guests coming and going.  Even the clothing worn by the front desk personnel is dated.  It’s almost as if you walked back in time to 1970.  It’s really no longer a relevant environment.  And you’re hoping that the bed is newer than 35 years old.  The other hotel was built the same year.  The difference is that it just underwent renovation to bring it up to date.  It will still serve the save purpose.  It’s just a little more relevant.  A fountain and greenery were installed in the lobby.  Large tile floors, abstract painting, new furnishings and much more were included in the renovation.  You can immediately feel a sense of relaxation when you walk into this environment.

The truth is that we make our choices of restaurants, hotels, even where we want to watch a movie because we like the environments that are there.  Environments are important to how we respond to situations.  This is true for our worship as well.  As far back as Genesis, we find environments of worship being created.  In Genesis 8:20, Noah built an altar for a sacrifice to God.  This had to be built before he could worship.  We also find that Solomon built the temple.  Following God’s leadership, he built it with only the best gold and precious jewels. Nothing was spared.  This was to be the house of God.  The environment had to be suitable.  We even have current examples of environments of worship.

Today, God doesn’t dwell so much in a place as much as he does within us.  However, to be able to reach the world that we live in we must be aware of the importance of environments.  The world around us uses a variety of gadgets, computer graphics and technology to communicate in large environments.  Because of this, we have to be aware that what we do in an environment of worship is important.

Our goal is to create worship environments that are appealing, relevant, changing and current.  Probably the best example of what we attempt to accomplish is our own homes.  When we have people over, we attempt to make them feel welcome and comfortable as our guests.  We put our best foot forward by making sure our house is clean (usually).  We want the decorations to look good and for everything to be in its’ place.  We don’t hold back!  It’s only the best for our guests.  And we may even surprise them with a few unexpected things.

So what does this mean for us as we develop environments of worship where we are?  How do we create a relevant environment for worship and what exactly does that mean?  There are a few things that are important.

1.  The People.  We need people who are contagious.  This is the most important aspect of setting our environment.  Attitude counts!  We’re not a looking for a fake personality, but a genuine excitement for what God is going to do.  From the time people arrive on any day of worship, we set the stage for worship.  A Guest Services team should be ready to greet people at the door to invite and encourage them to worship.  They create an environment in the refreshment area and meet and greet people there.  Praise singers, audio visual, children’s workers, instrumentalists, greeters and others all play a vital role in creating an environment of worship.  That’s why people are a vital key to a successful environment.

2.  The Decorations.  Cleanliness is important.  We should have an inviting place to come and worship and for our guests to come and worship.  Don’t be afraid to change things up.  Create fresh looks by using new banners and graphics.  Change is a good thing because it helps keep us from falling into a rut or a routine.  We set the stage for our environment by providing a visually stimulating environment.  Everything works together.  Those who work on cleaning the property, maintaining the property or decorations all work together to help create an important aspect of our environments …

3.  The Gadgets.  We live in a technical world.  Any concert you go to is maxed out with lights and sound and visuals that are top of the line.  Check out the computer graphics in movies these days.  It’s amazing what can be accomplished by the stoke of a key on a keyboard.  To reach this computer driven age, we must be relevant.  Our technology and audio visual is important in creating a relevant and current environment.  It’s important to realize how these just aren’t extras if we want them anymore.  They are things that are expected as much as hymn books were expected in many churches.

4.  The Unexpected. Everyone likes being entertained.  Although church is not “an entertainment”, it’s not intended to be boring either.  One of the main reasons people go to different concerts, movies and more is because they’re looking for the unexpected. So let’s plan to be unexpected in what we do when we worship God.  We can change our flow of worship, change how things are presented, and even change how things look.  As we create the unexpected in our worship, we must always stay true to the truth of the Bible.  That is one thing we cannot change!  Scripture demonstrates that God has been worshiped in a variety of different ways throughout history.  As we do things that are unexpected, it allows us to worship God in fresh ways.

We need to realize that we all have a role in creating an environment of worship whether we’re the Pastor or have just been worshiping for a short time.  Because of this, we need to plan ahead.  What attitude do we need to have? What needs to be cleaned up?  What needs to be changed or added?  What are some creative things that can be done to engage people in worship?  How can we have a sense of worship that is contagious?  Everything we do works together to create an environment of worship.  Our Worship involves the whole body.  Once the environment is set, we can let the worship begin!

1.  We are not managers, but Spiritual Leaders.  A manager can direct traffic in any organization simply by conveying a list of things that need accomplished.  As spiritual leaders, we have the opportunity to move people from following out of a sense of obligation, to following because they believe in the goals we set out.  We must convey the goals and the overall vision in such a way that it inspires people and motivates them to become something more than they could ever have imagined.  We can’t just do this with good, persuasive words.  It must be accompanied with much prayer and discernment on our part.  We should see that, as spiritual leaders, we must spend time daily with our Leader and Lord.  This should be a priority in our schedules if we ever hope to accomplish anything for Him as we lead.

2.  Relationships Matter.  A manager can function apart from any real relationship with those that are managed.  Again, it’s simply conveying a list of things that need to be accomplished and the people who do it are just a means to an end.  As a spiritual leader, we must follow the example of Christ in what we do.  If we examine how He was able to have such a broad impact, we can see that He invested His life in people through relationships.  We can look at His relationship with the disciples and see that these were the people He poured into.  How were they able to go on and turn their world upside down? It’s because they had been inspired by their leader through their relationship with Him to become leaders of others.  We should make it a point to invest in the lives of the people and leaders we lead.

3.  Direction Matters.  We must be able to cast a vision for where we are going.  For those who follow, they want to know that what they are doing has value.  They want to see that it accomplishes an overall purpose or goal.  No one likes busy work.  No one wants to look back and see that they have just been working in circles and have nothing to show for it.  We must constantly remind those we lead where we are leading them to.  What is our purpose? How will this grow the kingdom? How will this impact the church? How will it help those who are hurting?  As we have one on one conversations with people, lunch with people, meetings with groups, we must always restate the vision in different ways and in different settings.  This allows us to remind them, as well as ourselves, where we are going.

4.  Grace is necessary.  As a manger in the work force, I would often find myself in situations where policies were broken by employees and action would have to be taken.  There were often times where I had to go in and demote people or terminate people from their positions because of their actions.  But as a Spiritual Leader, it’s not just a matter of enforcing policies. Although, we do desire that people work within the boundaries laid out.  We must be consistently communicating with those we lead.  If there is a situation or confrontation that needs to take place, it must be done in grace.  This doesn’t mean that we allow people a free pass to do whatever they want or to work against the vision or direction of the ministry.  It simply means that we are not the judge and jury.  We all do the wrong thing sometimes and we need people to come into our lives and lovingly guide us and correct us.  In these times we should follow Matthew 18 and talk with those who may have offended us one on one.  I have discovered that some clear communication at this time can go a long way to restoring and refocusing everyone on the overall vision and direction.  I’m reminded of Peter’s denial of Jesus at the cross.  Jesus knew it was coming, but it must have been devastating to Peter.  But Jesus showed him grace and Peter became one of the key leaders in the early church.  Grace can go a long way.

5.  Truth matters.  We should always be honest as we lead.  Everyone wants to follow those who have a strong character and live in integrity.  Grace is important, but it must always be measured with truth.  If someone is living in sin and/or refusing to follow spiritual leadership it must be confronted sooner rather than later.  If we sweep it under the rug or just hope it will go away, we can actually do more damage than addressing the issue.  We shouldn’t confront people in anger, but in truth.  If our emotions are high, we must take some time to pull away and pray.  It’s amazing how some time alone with God can change our perspective on situations.  Often, it becomes less about us and more about Him.  When this happens, we can address people from the truth of God instead of a personal agenda.

These aren’t intended to cover everything about Spiritual Leadership, but is a good place to start.  Just working through these has reminded me of some areas that I can focus on more in order to be a better leader.  What are some thoughts on Leadership you might could add to this?

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budget (Photo credit: 401K 2012)

Many churches start their new budgets in September.  So with that in mind, I am writing this blog post with a few thoughts on creating a budget.  I’ve been working with budgets for years; personally, in business settings and in ministry settings.  One thing I have learned is that you do not set a budget based on what you need, but on what you have available.  A budget says “If” we bring in this amount of money, this is how we are going to spend it.  They are actually designed to focus on making effective use of income rather than searching for money for expenses.  With that said, you should always start with a clear understanding of your income for the set time period.  When you are calculating this, you should never use percentages of increase to project your budget.  Always use real numbers.  If the past two quarters showed an increase of $2,000 each, trends would tell us that there is a good chance that the next quarter will show and increase of around the same amount if all other factors stay the same.

Projecting Your Income:

• Numerical Projection:  Determine what your history has been.  You can look over a given history to help you in looking forward.  If possible, use at least two to three years of history to get a clear picture of giving.  Use this picture to identify trend of giving based on your history.  If in looking at the previous two to three years, you see that each year you had an increase of $50,000 annually, then you can project that conservatively you will see $50,000 in additional giving in the coming year.  You don’t go up on your projected giving until you have a track record that shows your giving can increase.  Use real numbers.
• Per Capita Projection:  What is your per capita giving?  Take your average attendance and take your average weekly income for the year and divide it.  You will come up with the per capita income per person per week.  (The longer the length of time is for your averages, the more accurate your per capita giving will be.)  You then can use your average attendance and your projected attendance to make an calculated per capita projection.

Calculate both the numerical projection and the per capita projection and compare these together.  If there is a huge difference between these, you may need to look at what some variables may be that would be causing a huge difference.  Have there been some huge one time gifts?  If so, you may need to pull these out because they are skewing your results.  I’ve found that, generally, using both of these calculation methods put me very close to the same projections.  Once you determine an annual projection using real numbers, you can begin to move forward.  It is a good idea to be conservative on your projections.  You can always do more with increased giving, it’s harder to cut back from initial projections when the giving falls short.  Conservative budgets also will give your staff freedom to spend their budget as it is needed.

Creating Your Budget:

Once you have a good understanding of your estimated income you can then create A, B and C budgets.  The A budget is if God really blesses and everything goes right (could be anywhere from 10 to 20% above budget).  The C budget is if things get tight and things go wrong (maybe 10 to 20% below budget).  The B budget is the primary operating budget and this allows shifting up or down.  You need to plan all three budgets in advance.  It’s easier to make alternate plans in advance than when you’re in the middle of the storm.  As you create these, have a simple one page broad budget by major categories.  Don’t get too detailed, just list general categories (i.e  Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry, Evangelism etc…)  Have 2 or 3 line items in your budget that are open and flexible, these could be designated as “Special Projects & Events”, “Ministry Expansion”, etc…  This gives you opportunity to also meet needs as they arise through the year using these categories.  When you are assigning dollar amounts to budgeted areas, don’t make it so tight that ministries can’t function.  Allow room for flexibility.

Filling in the Details:

Look at the overall pie and determine the percentage of the pie that goes toward Staff.  Keep in mind that churches are largely volunteer in structure, so we need staff to lead them.  Only use percentages for allocations.  Payroll should be no more than 50 to 55% of budget.  If your payroll is below 30% you are probably understaffed or not paying your staff enough.  Building needs should be 20% of budget.  Missions should be at least 10% of budget (this is all missions including international, national, state and local). Areas of Ministry should be 10% of budget.  This leaves 5 to 10% for other areas.

You need to know your seasons so you can manage cash flow.  When is your biggest quarter? When is your weakest quarter?  Are there times in the year that the cash flow expenses may naturally increase, but at the same time the cash flow income slows down?  Generally first quarter is going to be one of the strongest quarters.  At the same time, the end of second quarter and third quarter can also be a struggle.  Have a plan of action in place for if you consistently miss budget.  When will you move to “C” Budget?

If possible, allow your ministries to have the same budget as previous year plus half of the planned overall percentage of increase.  (i.e. if after you determine your dollar amount projection, you determine it will be a 8% increase, allow each ministry to increase their budget by 4%.)  Then look at what was spent in each ministry.  Identify growing ministries that may need slightly more of an increase to cover needs.  Prior to having the staff develop their budgets, give them the specific dollar amount they will have to spend for the year.  Don’t give percentages or expect them to calculate their overall budget.  Once they have their overall budget, have the staff submit 3 budget requests.  The first request is their General Budget Request (this will match the number they have been given).  The second request is a One Time Request.  This is when a ministry has an expense that is not a reoccurring expense.   The third request is a Ministry Expansion Request.  This is to expand their current ministry into a new area that will be an ongoing part of the ministry from that point forward.

Reserves:

Don’t think you have to spend surplus just because you have it.  At the same time, you shouldn’t hoard what God has given to the church just because you’re not sure about what will happen in six months.  We serve a big God who is capable of providing our every need.  You can set aside a Cash Forward Reserve (2 to 4 weeks of operating budget) in a separate account so that if things slow down, you have a few weeks to make budget adjustments.  Anything past this amount would be considered idle money.  One of the principles from the parable of the talents is that God hates idle money.  It should be put into play for the Kingdom.  Not doing so will limit God’s blessings on your church.  Our faith is in God, not in our money.

Note: You should never promote that you are behind on budget.  People do not want to give to a sinking ship or a need, they want to give to a compelling vision. So promote a compelling vision.  What is God doing? Where is He leading? What needs can be met? Make it a habit to talk vision at every opportunity.  It is also good to identify your annual turnover rate of individuals/families in your church.  This number is good to know as it will help you not only understand the importance in developing a culture of giving in your church, but also realize that every year there is a portion of your income that is always changing.

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In ministry, our main goal is helping people become who it is God has made them to be by reaching them where they are and helping them to get where God wants them to go.  That is our goal.  But how do we get there? Is there a process, a system, strategy, or a structure in place that will serve as the runway?  The truth is, many times we want the big goal, but fail to put a system in place to accomplish it.  I’ve noticed that having a system or structure is, in fact, a Biblical principle.  If you examine Scripture, you start to discover that God is a God of order and plans.  He has overall goals that He wants to accomplish, but He usually uses a system to accomplish it.  Explore the first chapter of Genesis, the book of Nehemiah, Jesus sending out the disciples, the plan laid out in The Great Commission, Acts 1:8, God’s redemptive plan of Salvation.  In all of these, you can see some sort of structure that was used to move toward the desired goal.

I’ve also noticed that not only is structure a Biblical principle, it is also necessary for us to be able to efficiently accomplish the overall goal.  Below are a few things that help us better understand how it is necessary:

A system is necessary to:

• Focus our Efforts.  We need to work smarter, not harder.  In order to do this, we must have a plan to include others in the ministry.
• Minister in our Context.  There are needs that exist around us that can’t be met if we don’t PLAN to meet them.
• Work with a Team.  If we’re going to all work together in the same direction with the same goals, it must be structured.
• Communicate Clearly.  We should be able to communicate our vision and our plans simply enough that even a fifth grader can understand them.
• Stretch our Faith.  As we develop our ministries, we will dream bigger than before, reach further than before and trust God even more in the process.
• Get us There.  We need to have a system or systems in place with an overall goal that we can see is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time sensitive.  The system doesn’t just help us get there, but it helps us know when we accomplish the objectives of our ministry as well.

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We live in a generation where knowledge is power.  It seems that if you know the most, you have power over those who know less.  We esteem information over just about everything else.  This is why we are often consumed with learning how to do things better.  We spend hours and days in training and seminars learning how to do many things.  Now let me say here that I believe education is valuable to a point and training is important if it helps you become who it is God has made you to be.  But there is a point when the training must stop and we should put it all into practice.

I know I personally have sat for many hours learning “How to share my faith”.  When I think about that, it almost seems wrong.  I have listened to others pour into me about how to share something that, if I have it, should be easy to tell.  It is, after all, MY FAITH.  What is it I believe? Who is it I believe in? Where do I place my faith?  The story of Jesus is a simple and powerful story.  We don’t have to read into it or add anything to it.  We just have to tell it.  We shouldn’t be afraid of it, but embrace it.  Our faith will see us through.  If we do believe in Him, we should be excited to tell the truth any time we have opportunity.  We will have a desire to share it with anyone we come in contact with as God provides the opportunity.

We are to be witnesses.  Acts 1:8 tells us that we are to be witnesses to those around us.  A witness is someone who tells what they have seen, heard or experienced.  That’s it.  We are just supposed to tell the truth and let God work out the details.  We should tell about what we have seen Jesus do, what we have heard about Him and what we have experienced personally.  It’s not a memorized presentation, but telling about something we have personally experienced.  A presentation that comes from the heart is more powerful than one that comes from a script.  You can reference scriptures as God brings them to mind, but know that in telling the truth, it doesn’t have to be a perfect presentation.  It just has to come from a witness who is available to be used.  If that is the case, what is it that keeps us from telling the story of truth?

Our faith may be misplaced.  This is easy to do in our lives.  It is much easier to believe in things we can see than in things we cannot see.  We often become tripped up by our own good intentions.

• Our faith may be in others.  We don’t want to offend someone.  We don’t want them to become uncomfortable.
• Our faith may be in ourselves.  We are afraid of what they will think of us if we tell them the truth.
• Our faith may be in this world.  We are afraid that we will lose status, possessions, power or comfort if we tell the truth.

His story becomes our story.  We shouldn’t just tell the story as a statement of history, but as a statement of how it has impacted our lives as well.  If the people we talk to hear us telling our personal experience, they will relate to it.  We can’t sugar coat it or make ourselves look better or worse than we were.  We must simply tell the story of what happened in our lives when we believed in Jesus.  What changed?  Describe the peace.  Describe the feeling of freedom.  Describe how it has changed every day since.  Tell about how Jesus is actively working in and through your life today.  Simply put, we should tell the truth.  Below are a few keys as you prepare to use your personal experience as a witnessing tool.

• Think it through.  Remember the details of your salvation experience as clearly as you can.  When was it? Why did you want to be saved? What did you do?
• Write it down.  We are more likely to remember things when we write them down.  Be sure to write out the details.  It will also help you make it clear in your mind.  The truth is, we will not tell the truth until we feel comfortable with talking about the details of what God has done in our lives. (What you have written down is just to solidify some thoughts in your mind so you will be ready.  It is not a script for you to memorize.)
• Organize it well.  What was your life like before Christ? How did you receive Christ? Are there any verses that were used that you could share with your friends?  what is your life like now that Jesus is Lord of your life?
• Practice it often.  Once you know your story.  Tell it.  You may start with just telling it to a friend who is already a believer.  Here is an important tip: Don’t ask, TELL.  We don’t ask people permission to tell them a story of our latest mountain climbing experience or the game we watched last week.  We just tell them because we’re excited about it.  The same should be true about the experience with Christ as well.  We need to have that same kind of excitement about telling the truth about our experience with Jesus.
• Know how to invite them into a relationship.  Once you tell your story, you can ask if they have ever experienced a personal relationship with Christ.  If they have, ask to hear their story of faith. If they have not, ask them if they would like to today.  Here you can use a simple gospel presentation (Romans 6:23 is a great verse to use to describe what God has done for us) to confirm some thoughts with them and invite them to pray and ask Jesus to be their Savior.

Let’s not over complicate this.  Let’s be willing to be witnesses.  Let’s be willing to be bold.  Let’s just tell the truth!

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1.  You can’t force relationships.  We worked really hard assigning people to groups because we wanted to make sure they were with someone.  We discovered that many times we were working against ourselves because we were the ones making the choices for the people in our church.  They had no ownership in the decision.  Because of this group attendance was hit and miss at best and the discussion seldom went past surface level.  We even tried this with 2 to 4 people to create opportunities for one on one discipleship to take place.  But there again, we were the ones matching people up and were in a constant state of frustration when many of the pairs/groups didn’t go well.

2.  Group settings require a forum.  We have discovered that really 6 to 8 people are the smallest forums we want to have healthy discussion and dialogue during the weekly group meeting.  Fewer than this and it often moves into more of a lecture format or very little discussion taking place.  In order to have this as the minimum, we try to sign up 16 to 20 people in each group.  This allows for people to be MIA at times and gives and average weekly meeting of 8 to 14 people. (Special Note: Even though this is a forum, it’s not an open forum for discussing church business or openly criticizing direction, ministries or staff.)

3.  Not everyone fits the stereotype.  Not every empty nester wants to be in an empty nesters group and not every college student wants to spend their time in a college group.  Because of this, we allow people to sign up for whatever group they feel would be most beneficial to them.  An exception to this, of course, would be gender based groups.  We have discovered that having a broad age range within one group often helps to add many different perspectives to the group setting.

4.  Leaders must come from within.  We have discovered that the leaders that excelled in their group are the leaders that had personally grown from being a part of a group within our church and had a heart to help others experience the same thing.  Giving a leadership role to someone who is new to the church is very tempting but often would come back to cause us issues in the future.  Even though new comers may show leadership skills and look like they would be a perfect fit, we discovered that waiting for at least 6 months would allow them to experience groups and us to experience them.  This approach has eliminated some of our frustrations with groups.

5.  Common Ground is essential.  For any group to fully engage those who are in it, there must be some common interest, study or pursuit.  This is why we now have implemented a lot of variety within our groups system.  We do have groups that tend to be age graded, some groups that go through certain books together (i.e. parenting, marriage, finances, etc…), some groups that explore a book of the Bible together, and some groups that are centered around specific interests.  This allows us to engage people where they are and let God work to shape them into He wants them to be.

6.  Change can be good!  Change is essential to any growing organization.  The same is true with groups.  We have found that within our culture, short term groups of 8 to 12 weeks work great.  We then reshuffle the deck and sign up for new groups.  This constant change makes it easier for newer people to jump in, keeps it fresh for people involved in groups, and allows many relationships to be cultivated throughout the church.  Change is also a defining force in our culture.  We know that once we have found “what works” that it will only be temporary, as the culture changes around us.  We continually make adjustments to impact and involve more people.

The truth is you’ll never get to where you want to be if you’re afraid to fail in the process.  We failed many times in our attempts to create healthy group environments within our culture.  But in the process, we learned new truths that helped us get to where we are today.  Don’t wait until you think you have all the answers.  Get started and discover that there is a good chance you weren’t even asking the right questions.  Enjoy the journey.

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I have found that once or twice a year as you are teaching a series on giving or one Sunday on giving, you can use the tithe challenge to jump people from initial givers and systematic givers to tithers.  It’s just as easy to ask for a 30 day commitment as it is to ask for a 3 month tithe challenge.  If your asking for a 3 month challenge, you can also modify it to a 4 month challenge.  In Malachi, God says test me.  Encourage people to test God.  ”For the next 4 months I want to encourage you to take this challenge and see what God does in your life.”  Along with this challenge, you could give out copies of the treasure principle to those who take the challenge.  Either hand it out that day or mail it to them.  Mailing it could be better because in the packet with the treasure principle you can include a letter from the pastor with info about the challenge and a mail in envelope and even ask them to use auto debit.  After the challenge Sunday, send an email from the pastor encouraging them about their commitment.  Then one month in, send another encouraging email, “Right now your being challenged and are wondering what is going on and you are considering taking back what is God’s…”  Again at half way through the challenge, send another email requesting stories about what has happened since they took the challenge. (Tangible or Intangible)  Do they feel better, have inward peace, seen financial blessings, seen financial struggles, etc…  And one month before the challenge ends, send out all of the stories you received to encourage others and invite more stories from those in the challenge.  If you’re ambitious, you can also do a daily devotion dealing with money to people who took the tithe challenge.

Note: Know that there will be some people that will not continue tithing after the challenge is over.  But there will be a good percentage of those who took the challenge who will realize the value of giving and continue to do it on a regular basis.

Times of change are good times to start a tithe challenge.  These would be the months January or Feburary and then again in August or September.

A Side Note on Tithing

Malachi 3 is the basis for tithing.  The best time to teach on giving is when things are going good.  It should be a part of the normal routine.  If you taught on money as much as Jesus taught on money … it would be every third week.  A third of Jesus’ teaching is on money.  You should challenge people to give more so they can grow more.  When you are not tithing, God is not proactively against you.  But at the same time, He is not proactively for you.  The curse from not tithing is the absence of God’s blessings in your life.  Partial obedience in the tithe is complete disobedience.  Genesis 4 is another good passage where it talks about Cain and Able.  Cain gave what was left over … it says he gave some of his fruit (not his best fruit).

A common excuse for not giving is debt.  But, the way to get out of debt is to pay God first and let him manage the debt, not to pay down the debt and ignore God.  Proverbs 3:9&10 tells us to honor the Lord with our wealth.  Additionally, the tithe should be given to the church not other organizations.  The church belongs to Jesus Christ.  It is the organization He left behind.

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Missions & Evangelism Ministry Breakdown

Overview:

The basis for our missions’ ministry is found in Matthew 28:18-20.  The passage tells us to “Go and make disciples of all nations …”.  It is our responsibility to “Go”.  Every child of God is commanded to “Go”.  This is not dependant on some calling to foreign, national, state or other missions.  God did not leave this as an optional area of service.  He has told each and every one of us to share the gospel throughout the world.   The structure for this ministry is found in Acts 1:8 – [Jerusalem (Local) / Judea& Samaria (Regional)/ Earth (National & International)].

Our purpose is to involve every member of our Church in missions as an effort to encourage personal fulfillment of the Great Commission, both locally and globally.  The foundation of this ministry will always have a goal of sharing the gospel and demonstrating the love of God in radical ways.  The vision and desire of the missions’ ministry is to increase the passion of our Church for personal evangelism, local, state & foreign missions, and missions efforts in general for the glory of Christ through training and involvement in missions opportunities.

This ministry will function under the direction of the Missions Pastor working with the Point Person of each area of missions to determine needs and plans for spreading the Gospel.  The foundation of this ministry should always have a goal of sharing the gospel and demonstrating the love of God in radical ways.

Trip Selection & Planning

Finalization of Trip Selection is to be determined by the Pastors and Point Person of each area.  These trips will be the church promoted/sanctioned trips for the year.  There may be some trips that are one year trips while others commit to a longer relationship with the field.  Those with longer relationships should be planned with the intentions of a multi-year commitment to the field.  These trips should be designed with the intention of developing relationships with the field.  Types of these trips could include: Evangelism, Construction, English teaching, Pastoral Training, Medical, Leadership Training, Life Skills, VBS, Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry, Orphanage, Church Planting, and more.  The goal of all missions’ trips should be to support and/or help establish local churches with indigenous leadership.  National and International trips should be prayerfully selected, approved and scheduled by July 15 of the previous year.

Trip Funding

Missions Ministry Leadership will annually prioritize ministry objectives to determine funding.  Portions of church sanctioned trips will be offset by the Missions Fund. (The Missions Fund is supported by the annual missions offering and special gifts given throughout the year to the Missions Fund.)  Each trip’s offset amount will be independently determined by the missions/stewardship team based upon the total cost of the trip, type of trip, availability of funds, and total mission efforts that need to be funded. Because of the missions ministry offset of the trip cost, each team is asked not to conduct a corporate fund-raiser aimed at the Church membership until after the annual offering is received.

Trip cost offset funds are only available to members of our Church.  And team members must contribute a minimum of 50% of the cost of the trip before offset funding will be considered.  Offset funds may cover anywhere from 0% to 50% of the trip depending on fund availability and trips to fund.  There is NO guaranteed percentage or amount for support.  Offset funds are guaranteed only for a set number of participants.

Deposits should be made by all participants on dates determined by team leaders.  Plane tickets may not be ordered until there are sufficient funds (including offset) to cover price of ticket.

NOTE:  Funding assistance for non-sanctioned missions’ trips by church members will be considered on an individual basis. Support will be determined by the missions’ team/pastoral staff with consideration given to other trips and funds available.

Trip Participation

• The necessary qualifications including age, physical ability, mental & emotional stability, missions’ experience, and spiritual maturity of participants should be determined by the team leader in advance of advertising the trip.   This should be determined based on the requirements of the trip and type of trip.
• Team participants should submit application including personal testimony to participate on trip.
• Must be willing and able to share a gospel witness if needed (training will be provided)
• Must attend mandatory pre-trip meetings
• Must have or acquire a valid passport at their own cost prior to purchase of tickets. (If trip is International)
• If the team capacity is not filled from the our membership, openings may be filled by individuals of similar faith. All other requirements remain other than church membership.

Trip Leaders / Trainers

Leaders and/or Trainers must be a faithful member of our Church who meets the qualifications for the First Lead level of ministry.  They must have participated in at least one other church sanctioned trip and/or been approved by the missions leadership and pastoral staff. They must also have served as a co-leader with an approved trainer before leading their own trip.  Additionally, they should have good organizational skills including the ability to contact local missionaries, make all travel arrangements, and manage the team while on the field.  They will be responsible for planning the trip itinerary, team size, project costs, and leading the necessary training sessions prior to the trip.  Team trainers are church pastoral staff members and other leaders who have the experience necessary to qualify as a trainer as approved by the missions leadership and pastoral staff.  Those going as co-leaders may receive additional financial assistance from missions’ funds because of an increased level of involvement as determined by missions’ leadership and pastoral staff.

Structure Developed

National & International

• One to two main areas of focus will be developed for the church with the possibility of other relationships being developed on a lesser scale.

Regional

• Church Plants will receive high consideration in this area as a way to multiply churches throughout the region.  We will discover ways to partner with and help various church plants.

Local

• As part of the full spectrum of our missions’ obligation we must participate in missions efforts on a more local level.
• The Missions Ministry will promote and help coordinate local mission projects throughout the year to help involve more our members in missions.
  • Servant Evangelism (use groups as a vehicle) – these are acts of kindness with the purpose of showing God’s love.
  • Community Involvement (church wide events) – these are opportunities to team up with existing ministries (i.e. food pantries, foster care, homeless shelters, etc…) to assist them in their efforts.  We don’t need to recreate the wheel that someone else is already doing well.  Also, should look for opportunities to partner with other churches to increase our overall efforts and reach.  Our goal is Kingdom growth!
  • Quarterly Collection Projects – (coats & blankets, food for holidays, cereal for kids, etc…)
  • Work Days @ Park / City clean up / etc.
  • Big Days – 3 or 4 per year.  These are more attraction type events that allow our people to bring their friends and family into our environment for worship.

• One Dayin the community (make use of Servant Evangelism ideas)
  • Prayer Walking and Neighborhood canvasing Teams (get Easter door hangers)
  • Kite Day @ Lake Willastein (children’s and Family outreach event)
  • Car Show (community event)
  • Evangelistic FREE Car Washes (find location)
  • Evangelism at car washes and Laundromats
  • Yard Work/ Minor Home Repairs – Various Locations
  • Bottled Water Team (parks, etc…)
  • Senior Adult Ministry – (Nursing Homes)
  • Block Party (children’s and Family outreach event)
  • Dental & Health Clinic
• Evangelism Group or Team
  • The vision for the group is to reach outside our comfort zones to share the gospel and build our faith and trust in God at the same time.
  • The tools for the group will use an evangelistic survey, evangecard, tracks (from E3) and invite cards to the church.
  • Demonstrate the tools to the group and how to use them.
  • Have those who have gone out tell stories about what has surprised them the most about going out and what opportunities they have had.
  • Have the group break up and practice scenarios including: How to approach people, What to say and How to close the conversation
  • Challenge the group to learn the E-card before the next meeting because it will be time to go out and put it all into action.

Missions Rally

• This is designed to cast vision, promote opportunities, celebrate what God has done and pray for the harvest.
• Missions Rally Plan (once or twice a year … below is an example layout for the meeting)
  • 6:00 – Welcome (Excited about what God has done)
    • Upcoming Opportunities in Missions
    • Praying for fields we have ministered in
• 6:15 – Pray
  • Testimonies from missionary teams

Evangelism Training

• The MISSIONS MINISTRY should function as an evangelism arm of our Church.
• The MISSIONS MINISTRY will lead / help promote at least one evangelism training study or event annually to encourage the church body to become more able at personal evangelism.
  • Evangelism Explosion / Share Jesus Without Fear / FAITH / Way of the Master
  • The MISSIONS MINISTRY will work with the Groups Pastor to ensure that Servant Evangelism is a part of groups every semester.

Prayer in Missions

Daily prayer is necessary if we want to see something happen that only God can do.  We must encourage our church to pray as they are involved in missions opportunities.

• PRAY for God to give you patience and flexibility as you minister.  Prayer is an important part of any missions effort.  There won’t be any wasted time as we minister … just more time to pray!
• PRAY for God to bring us people who need to hear about Him and His salvation.  Pray that God will use YOU to share your faith with another person.
• PRAY that God will bring people in the ministry area to be saving faith in Him.
• PRAY for the churches of your area.  Ask God to guide them as they ALL seek to reach the city for His glory.
• PRAY for church as a whole and the leaders of the church.  Ask God for wisdom, guidance, opportunities and safety for those who serve.
• It is also vital that each person participating in a missions project have a prayer team of at least 5 people who will commit to praying for them daily.

Miscellaneous

• The MISSIONS MINISTRY will lead and help coordinate along with the pastoral staff an annual missions’ season to promote the missions efforts of the church.  (November through January)
• The Missions Ministry should seek out new and better ways to promote missions among our church family.
  • Missions’ conference / Missions Rally / etc.

Church Missions

Team Participant Application

Name _________________________________________________________

Email __________________________________________________________

Best Phone ____________________________________________________

Are you a member at our Church? Yes      No

Will you commit to pray for this trip daily beginning today?         Yes      No

What do you hope to see God do in the mission field on this trip?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you hope to see God do in your life personally on this trip?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My personal Testimony: (Including Salvation Experience)

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