Crippled

I was reading Acts 20 today and I wanted to share some points:

"As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. 10 Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” 11 Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. 12 Meanwhile, the young man was taken home unhurt, and everyone was greatly relieved." Acts 20:9-12 NLT

Here is what we can pull out from this text:

1. Youth can fall while at church (verse 9).

2. While a fall can be great and potentially dangerous, it doesn't have to be spiritually fatal (verse 10).

3. When the young boy fell, no one emailed the pastor. No one blamed Paul or anyone else. No one left the church. No, they all went "back upstairs, shared in the Lord's Supper, and ate together." (verse 11).

4. Despite the youth's fall, he went home unhurt because of the obedience the church displayed after he fell. (verse 12).

Here is the point: In church, casualties happen because the church involves people. And people are flawed. But the type of casualty and severity of the casualty is based on how we respond when the fall occurs.

If you leave church cripppled, you shouldn't have left until your limp was healed through love, grace, forgiveness and mercy.

7 Reasons Why You Need To Be In Our Community Groups

Hey Adventure! I'm beyond excited for our church to be launching our Community Groups. This is something I've personally been praying about for over 5 months and it's awesome to see several families step up to hosting our first 4 groups!

As a pastor of Adventure, please allow me to share 7 quick reasons why you should commit to a Community Group.

1. You can influence from a distance but can only make an impact when you're up close and personal.

Pastor Mike and I can influence you on Sunday mornings through a message but you're going to make life-changing decisions that only come from long-lasting relationships. Joining a Community Group will allow others to impact you personally and relationally that Pastor Mike and I can't do from a pulpit on Sundays.

2. You can not only create a wave but also ride it!

These Community Groups are new and they will change the relational make-up of our church. This allows you to be a part of something fresh and dynamic from the start and years from now, you'll reap the rewards of paving the way for the multitudes who will join us.

3. Adventure is a church for real people, not robots.

You are a real person with real stories, real experiences, real issues. And guess what? You're not alone. Each of us have a life full of dreams, interests, goals and personalities and we were created to share them with one another through community.

4. Community Groups will give us one more way to Go Wide.

Are you constantly getting rejected when inviting someone to church? There are neighbors, co-workers and friends who will be 100 times more open to checking out a Community Group before checking out a church. This gives you and your group the opportunity to show them love, acceptance, relationships, fun and most importantly, a unity that only comes through Jesus Christ without them even stepping foot in our church.

5. Community Groups will help you be obedient to the Bible.

Missions and Fellowship are what truly define a church as a New Testament church. Coming together and sharing life together is one of the purest ways Christians can demonstrate Christ's love to one another. Not to mention doing missions through Reason #4.

6. Community Groups will give us one more way to Go Deep.

When you combine #4 and #5 and do them correctly, depth will occur. You'll have deeper relationships, deeper fellowship, deeper unity, deeper vision, deeper purpose and a deeper understanding of who God is and His desire for His Church. And I know you want that because deep down inside, you've either told us or wanted to tell us that you want to go deeper. And the good news is you don't need to tell us because we already know. The Bible says so. God created us for depth.

7.

I'll let you decide the 7th reason why you should join a Community Group. After all, it's your group.

So there you have it! 7 Reasons why should join one of our Community Groups. What are you waiting for? People are waiting on you to share your life with theirs!!!

A Caboose Full of Leaders

All through my life, I have heard people say, "Don't try to be someone you're not." And as a kid and teenager, I always thought that applied to copying others and trying to fit in with people who weren't like you and you weren't like them.

Fast forward to where I'm days away from turning 29, I have learned that saying has another meaning, especially when it comes to leadership. So let me give you a different version of that saying as it regards to the leadership topic.

If you have to tell people you're a leader, you probably aren't one.

The word "leader" is more of a verb than a noun. A leader is an example; a model; a demonstration. A leader points in the direction one should go. And a leader motivates that one to want to go there.

But so many people think of themselves as leaders and call themselves leaders but they don't have much to show for it. I, too, have fallen victim to this trap. It's so easy to fall into because we tend to think of ourselves in a way that isn't very realistic. We tend to believe that we are somewhat better than what people think or know. Which is probably why we justify our sins as "not that bad." Sin is sin right?

So wouldn't leadership be.....leadership?

You're either a leader or you're a follower. You can't be one car ahead of the caboose and think you're the leader.

So what we must do is strive to seek our unique design and calling that only comes from God. Allow Him to not only lead us, but to lead through us. Allow Him to give you a vision. Allow Him to establish your authority. Allow Him to guide you as you guide others.

Otherwise you're just a follower who isn't willing to be led. I know that may not make sense.

But calling yourself a leader when no one else is following you doesn't make much sense, either.

How To Support Children's Ministry Without Getting Sucked In

When you hear the phrase, "Children's Ministry" and you're not currently serving in children's ministry, you automatically try and find the nearest hiding place.

But let me give you 3 quick ways to support your local church's children's ministry without having to step foot in the classroom:

1. We know children's ministry is always looking for helpers but ask yourself, "What else do they need help with?" You can usually be a blessing to the children's ministry, it's staff and the children that attend by helping with snacks, putting together any crafts or providing classroom decorations.

2. Most children's ministry workers are overworked and underappreciated. Before or after the service, make a dash for the children's ministry wing of your church and pray over the workers and/or thank them for what they are doing. This also gives you a chance to see what God is doing in those classrooms and to find out directly from them how you can do step #1 above.

3. Welcome new families by guiding them to their kids' classrooms or welcome center. You don't need to be serving in children's ministry to welcome people and show them where they can drop their kids off.

I challenge you to do at least 1 of these steps (although we both know you could do all 3) tomorrow.