The Power of Personal Touch

Sometimes I wonder why we are surprised that our society is hesitant to the gospel.  We've tried every gimmick, punch line and strategy known to mankind to "hook" people into coming through our church doors.  Although we should constantly be seeking out creative ways to present ourselves to our communities in a relevant way that is going to break down the walls that have been built; gimmicks without relationships is a recipe for us to miss the mark altogether.


We have had the privilege of meeting some pretty incredible people in our city through our journey of planting Northpoint.  We've met CFO's of corporations, professors and administrators from the local university, students, people desperately looking for jobs, local business owners, hard working individuals at the coffee shops and restaurants that have become "regulars" for us, individuals just living their day to day lives, and pastors from local churches.  There is a common thread that we have found with every single socio-group we have met and interacted with - they are hungry for connection.  They are looking for other individuals that have a common denominator that is going to bridge the gap to building a relationship.  That's no secret to any of us.  We know this!  Every time we log on to Facebook we are reminded that we live in a society that is hungry for connection.  So, if we know this to be true, why aren't we focusing the majority of our efforts on building relationships?

One of the unique opportunities we have as church planters is the opportunity to build many new relationships in a short span of time.  For all of the strategizing, dreaming and vision casting we will do over the next several months, building relationships will still be the number one priority for us.  If people are walking through our doors on Sunday morning and leave feeling unnoticed and unimportant, we have failed them and missed our vision to connect to and serve our community.  We must embrace the power that is present when people experience a personal touch from our churches.

One of the greatest misconceptions churches have is that connection happens naturally.  We think because our church is full of friendly people, everyone who walks through our doors will instantly connect to us.  It might be true that our churches are full of friendly people, but it's possible that the people walking through our doors get a very unfriendly experience.  If you aren't channeling the friendliness of your people and teaching them to be very intentional with how they connect with someone walking through the doors, what you end up with is a lobby full of very "friendly" churchgoers who are laughing with each other and having a good time while the visitors walking through your door feel lost, unnoticed and often times as if they are intruding.

We are very intentional about strategically placing our volunteers in areas where they are going to thrive and where they are going to have the opportunity to connect with people. If you are a guest at Northpoint, you will encounter at least 5 greeters before entering the worship center.  We have placed men in our parking lot who are friendly and very aware of identifying a new family.  They are quick to direct them towards a parking space and give a friendly hello.   We are discovering that people are noticing our volunteers in the parking lot as they drive by our church.  One couple recently mentioned that they wanted to come to our church, but were not sure if there were people at our church "their age" (they are in their 50's.)  As they drove up they saw a parking lot greeter that was "bald" and in his 60's. They shared that they instantly felt comfortable to come to our church because they saw someone like them greeting in the parking lot.

To balance and highlight the diversity that we are experiencing at Northpoint, you will find greeters representing varying age groups and ethnicities.   They know that their job is important.  We tell them on a continual basis that what they are doing is vital to the ministry of Northpoint. We send them letters of appreciation and let them know that we can't accomplish our vision on Sunday mornings without them.

We also encourage the core families in our churches to identify new families that have come to Northpoint at least twice, and take the initiative to invite them to lunch after the morning experience.  We want every new family to feel a connection, but we also recognize that it takes a team of people working together to make sure no one falls through the cracks, so we encourage our leadership to help us out and bridge the gap in connecting people to Northpoint.

Pastors, we cannot lose the vision and dream of connecting with people.  We must lead the way by example and passionately encourage our team of volunteers to jump on board with us.  Our volunteers receive our encouragement, hear stories of new families that are connecting and see the excitement in people's faces as they leave feeling noticed and connected.  We cannot afford to be complacent and check in to maintenance mode.  We must constantly be working to connect people together.   Every new family that walks through the doors of our churches is searching for something.  We can't let them walk out our doors without knowing their names!  Be intentional about creating an atmosphere of personal touches and watch the excitement build as your volunteers embrace the reality that they are touching lives through a simple hello and a warm handshake!

Don't Let the Snowball Catch You

There's an interesting analogy about the momentum that builds as a church plant launches.  Planting a church is like packing a snowball that you eventually want to push down a mountain.   At first, the snowball is small and somewhat fragile.  If you push the snowball down the mountain too soon, it will roll a couple of times and dissolve into many pieces.  Throughout time, however, the more snow you pack onto the snowball, the more solid it becomes.  Before too long, this snowball grows in size and eventually is ready to be pushed down the mountain.

Gearing up to launch a church is like packing snow on a snowball.  If you launch too soon, you might experience a little bit of a roll down the mountain before the momentum fizzles out.  But if you continue to pack on as much momentum as you can, the minute you launch and release the momentum, your greatest challenge will be staying in front of the snowball that's rolling down the mountain picking up speed and size.

That is what we are experiencing right now.  We had an incredible launch 2 weeks ago!  God showed up in such a mighty way.  We give Him all of the glory.  It truly is miraculous every time we open our doors and people walk through!!  We are running in front of the momentum that is building and trying to stay ahead of the snowball that is catching speed and size.  It's our job as the leaders to navigate our church around any obstacles that would cause this snowball to explode into pieces.

If you've experienced a launch Sunday, you know the "buzz" and excitement that is in the air.  God's presence is electric and there is such a sense that something new is happening.

Here are some of the things we are doing to keep momentum going and obstacles we are navigating around in an effort to stay ahead of the snowball and keep the excitement going:


1.) GETTING THE WORD OUT
We live in a world that is driven by technology, and especially social media.   We have been amazed at just how powerful a tool social media has proven to be for us.  The week of launch, we saturated Facebook with posts on our church page, our personal pages and encouraged everyone we knew to do the same.  We created a graphic for launch and encouraged people to change their profile picture to our promotional graphic.  We created an event page for launch and invited everyone we could think of.  Before we knew it, 5000 people had been invited to Northpoint through our event page.   If you aren't using Facebook - learn it and use it!!  It's free and it's one of the best tools out there.


2.) FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP
 At launch there will be a lot of people walking through the doors.  They are excited and expecting a number of things.   One of the things they are expecting is connection.  Don't underestimate the value of personal contact.  Set up a system that gets information into your hands with people's name and contact info.  Every week we have what we call "Connection Cards" on the seats as people walk in.  They literally have to pick them up to sit down.  During our morning experience, we have everyone (not just 1st time guests) fill out the connection card.  On the front there's a place for them to check what ministries they'd like more information on and a place for them to indicate if they are a 1st time or 2nd time guest or a regular attender.  We have a place on the back for them to share prayer requests.   Before Wednesday we send out a hand written letter to 1st and 2nd time guests and Thursday or Friday we personally call our 1st time guests to invite them back the following Sunday.  SIDE NOTE - Lead pastors - people need to hear from you on a personal level.  A phone call doesn't take long, but it means a great deal to people when the leader of a church takes the time to genuinely connect with them.  That's why we are here -  to build relationships and connect with people!! We can get so caught up in the "business" of planting a church that we neglect to connect with the very people God is calling us to shepherd.

3.) CLEARLY COMMUNICATE
We have an information center in our front lobby with information on every ministry at Northpoint, our vision and beliefs, bio's on our pastors and upcoming events.   Don't miss the opportunity on launch Sunday to get information into people's hands!!  They are coming to launch excited about something new, but don't forget that they also want to know what's next.  What ministries do you have for their kids, youth?  Do you have things going on mid-week?  Do you have small groups?  Do you have information on what you believe?  Who are your pastors?  These are all questions that someone will ask.  We have staffed our information center with volunteers that are excited about what's happening at Northpoint and are equipped to answer questions.  "We're not sure yet" is not a great answer to a question.  Anticipate what people are going to ask and have an answer ready to clearly communicate.

4.) HAVE A CLEAR PURPOSE
When you are launching a church, you will hear a multitude of ideas and suggestions.  These are great! Listen to them -  hear what your community is saying.   Notice we said listen to them, we didn't say follow every idea and suggestion.  This is where we as leaders must pray up!!  You don't want to create programs and ministries for the sake of filling up your information center with a plethora of options.  Hear what people are asking for, pray for God's guidance and then jump.

Before launch, people in our community were asking about mid-week services.  In our city, this is part of the church culture.  We didn't want to offer something mid-week simply because it's what's done;  and yet, our community seemed hungry to connect to Northpoint mid-week.  We knew we were going to need a very clear purpose for this mid-week experience for it to be successful.

After launch, we jumped into a mid-week experience and momentum is building.   We have a very specific purpose for our mid-week experiences.  For our kids and youth it is discipleship.  For adults, our mid-week experience is an opportunity for us to cast vision as we share what Northpoint's purpose is in the community.  Our devotionals and break out discussion times are focused on discipling people on what outreach and servanthood looks like.   By focusing on this topic, it isn't a jump for people when we ask them to give up a Saturday to help serve in our community, because they've been hearing about servanthood and outreach at our mid-week experiences.

5.) DON'T UNDERESTIMATE
When God shows up - He shows off!!  We heard a pastor say this statement recently, and it's so true.  When you have prayed up and prepared, don't be surprised when God shows up and shows off.  Don't underestimate what might happen.  Be prepared for more than you expect and then let God do His thing.

We have learned through this journey that God's timing is perfect.  Seek wise counsel, pray as if your church depends on it (because it does), and get ready to run in front of the snowball.  Just don't let it catch you!!

The Land In Between

There are times when as church planters we feel as if we are walking in between two lands.  There is the land we came from, the territory where we became excited about the journey ahead of what God has in store for our new churches.  There is the land we are going to, which consists of the territory of seeing our baby churches take off and move forward as a fully operational church in our community.  But what do we do when we are in the land in between? How do we navigate through the daily pressures of making sure that we don't get stuck in the land in between? 

It's very easy to become overwhelmed in the land in between.   We understand this reality and recognize the daily struggles that come with moving forward towards launch.  There are times when you might question your strategies, and other times when you might question how far you've come vs. where you thought you would be at a certain point.  Every church planter will walk through the land in between.   The reality is that while walking through this land it will become apparent what kind of leader you are going to be.  It's during this time of walking through the land of in between that you will settle who is in charge of this journey you are on. 

There is an ancient Jewish blessing that was given to those becoming disciples, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi."  What a powerful blessing, and what a great reminder for church planters that are walking down the dusty roads of the land in between.   It is easy to walk off course while in the land in between.  Priorities try to get shifted, vision tries to take a back seat, pride tries to wrap it's fingers around our heart and fear of what tomorrow holds entices us to lay our thoughts on the unknown. 

This journey we are on of planting churches is filled with unknown territory and off-roads just waiting for our attention.  So the question we must ask ourselves is, "Whose dust am I walking in?"  Am I walking in the dust that I've created by my own doing as I run down this road full force in my own power?  Am I walking in the dust of someone else's legacy?  Or I am walking so closely behind my Rabbi, Jesus Christ, that His dust is covering me from head to toe?  I must tell you, at the end of this journey through the land in between, when we've reached the land before us and have launched our church, I want to be completely covered with His dust!  We desire that every victory celebrated, every inch of territory gained and every person who walks through our doors would be covered with the dust of our Rabbi.  He is the one gaining ground, He is the one leading us forward and He is the one who will take us into new territory. 

Stay covered in His dust!

Partnering Up

Parachute church plants have the unique challenge of building a launch team from the ground up.  Mother churches are not in the equation, so teams must be built from relationships made by the church planter in the community.  

It has been exciting to build relationships with people in our community, but it has been equally exciting to build relationships with pastors in our community.  We began praying early on in our journey of church planting that God would open the doors for us to connect with several local churches and the pastors of these churches. We knew that God was going to have to open the doors and pave the way if we were going to build relationships with pastors and ask them the hard question of how we might be able to partner with their church as we worked to plant our church.  

We learned quickly that when you are reaching out to pastors and sharing your needs with them, timing is critical.  There has to be a certain sense of trust that has been established before a partnership can begin between an existing local church and a church plant.  We are currently partnering with two local churches who are geared up to provide us with team members at the beginning of launching our church.  We have also been the recipients of financial support from our local church partnerships.  But this didn't come overnight.   We have spent time getting to know the pastors, their dreams for their churches and their vision for seeing the church community as a whole ignited with a passion for working together.   

Once relationships had been established with local pastors that shared the same vision and passions as we did, it came naturally for us to share our BIG needs for launch team members and volunteers leading up to launch.  We have made it very clear, and continue to make it clear, that we are not looking to steal sheep.  God has not called us to build a church from the overflow of other churches in our community.  He is calling us to reach into uncharted territory and connect with those who are not connected to a body of believers and our partnering churches in this community share this same vision. 


With this in mind, we are asking for our local partnering churches to send us missionaries for a season. This will help us get on our feet and move forward with momentum.  Once this season is over, we will lovingly send these missionaries back to their home churches and praise God for the territory that has been covered because of their partnership with us.  

We've also held to one other very important mindset during this journey of partnering with local churches.   A common question we receive from people in our community is, "Why do we need another church on another corner?"  We have been very careful not to disregard or talk against the work that is already being done by the existing local churches in our community.  We are not the church that "gets it" while all of the other churches are wandering around aimlessly trying to find purpose.  If we slide down the slippery slope of talking about what other churches aren't accomplishing in our community we are walking into the trap of self-promotion.  We want to build the trust of our fellow pastors in this community and that cannot be accomplished if we are focused on building up our church as the answer to people's frustration with their local church community.  

Don't miss the blessing of connecting with local pastors that share the same passions as you do to see the Kingdom of God established in your community.  The pastor of one of our local partnering churches made a statement that we hold on to as we grow our church in this community.  He looked at us across from his desk and said, "A win for the kingdom is a win for the kingdom."  Praise God!  He is exactly right.  It doesn't matter who gets the credit when someone comes into a saving relationship with Christ.  It isn't important what church receives attention when a part of our community is touched by the generosity of a body of believers.  You might have to spend some time looking, but keep looking until you find a pastor in your community that is passionate about seeing a new work begin.   Church planters need connections with the local church community.  Your church will experience momentum when local churches breathe life into the journey of launching a new work in their community.  Ask the tough questions, be real with the pastors you are connecting with and together go  impact your communities!  




Be encouraged today!

Location or Fixture?

Every church planter will walk through the journey of trying to find a location for their new church.  You find yourself making statements like, "That could make a great church" when passing by an empty warehouse or storefront.  Location seems like such a critical aspect of the church planting process.  Certainly a church's location can magnify their visibility in the community.


If you have talked about your church to people in your community, you have probably been asked this question, "Why does our city need another church on another corner?"  This question is very loaded.  It forces us as church planters to examine our motives and agendas for planting a new work.  The reality is, most of our communities don't need another church on another corner.  They aren't looking for a church that is simply going to be another location for people in the community to attend.


We have talked with so many church planters who have experienced great frustration when trying to find a location to rent.  The challenge is growing increasingly more difficult to find a school, place of business or theater that is open to renting their facility to a new church.  Pastors are forced to think creatively and out of the box in order to find a location that will meet their growing church's needs.


We have experienced the challenges of helping lead a baby church through the growing pains of existing as a "church in the box."  We hold fond memories of the days spent worshipping in a non-traditional setting.  We have experienced leading worship experiences in school gymnasiums, cafeterias, warehouses and performing arts centers.   We have also experienced the challenges of leading worship experiences in a church sanctuary.


We have discovered a common thread throughout the years between the people that experienced worship in very different atmospheres and locations.  The common thread is - people are hungry for connection!  The location can be great, but if the connection factor is missing, they feel as if their experience has somehow been cheated.


If a church's identity is wrapped around a location, efforts are spent on getting people to walk through the doors.   It's the, "Let's put a sign up and people will come," mentality.  Relying on location is dangerous.  We have the rare opportunity of planting our church in an existing building that is on a major 5 lane road across from an elementary school.  We know that we are blessed!  But we also know that we must keep our motivations and focus in check.  We constantly remind ourselves that people are hungry for connection, not buildings to meet in.  This doesn't mean we won't give our very best to make sure our building is relevant to our culture, however, our building isn't what makes us who we are.


We have walked in to the lobby of some beautifully decorated churches, and left 2 hours later feeling disconnected and unnoticed.  In the same respect, we have walked in to the lobby of some churches that were decorated comfortably and economically, and left 2 hours later feeling connected and noticed.
The point is, we can work to make our churches look beautiful inside and out, but if we miss the boat on connecting with our community and the people walking through our doors, we are just another church location for people to visit.  


When our church becomes a location, we open our doors to the community on our terms.  We open our doors when it is convenient for us.  We determine the hours of operation.  Our ministries are not developed out of the felt needs of our community, but rather, our ministries are driven by what we think will attract a crowd.


So the question becomes, "How do we turn our churches from being locations in our city to fixtures in our community?" We start by asking the same question Dino Rizzo asked in his book, "Servolution" -  "If our church closed down tomorrow, who would notice?"  If our church is a location in our community, the only people who will notice we have closed down are the people inside our four walls.  If our church is a fixture in our community, OUR COMMUNITY will notice we have closed down!

Matthew 5:14-16 puts it this way - "You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.  God is not a secret to be kept.  We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.  If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you?  I'm putting you on a light stand.  Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand - shine!  Keep open house; be generous with your lives.  By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." (The Message)


Keep open house!  Be generous with your lives!  Open up to others and prompt them to open up with God!  God is calling us to be the city on a hill to our communities.  If we aren't meeting the needs of our community, opening our doors when it isn't convenient, we are hiding under our buckets!  Every single week church goers all over this great country will carry their lights into their churches.  The reality is, we're not called to light up our church buildings, we are called to light up our communities!  Hope and healing happens when we become the city on the hill that is providing light to our community.  When this happens, we are transformed from being a church location to a church fixture.


Be encouraged today!

Don't Miss It

When planting a new church, there are so many things you try to absorb in such a limited amount of time.  There are timelines to be made, teams to be built and dreams to be realized.  I must confess that there are times when I find myself so absorbed with the tasks at hand, that I neglect to just "be" in His presence. 

At the beginning of planting our church, it was so easy to spend time with the Lord.  I felt so close to the Lord.  I felt like a fish jumping in a great big ocean with no idea of where the currents were going to take me.  And yet, there was peace in knowing that I had a direct line to the navigator of this journey I am on.

But the closer we come to launching Northpoint, the stronger the currents become.  We are no longer wading in the soft currents of this journey.  We are now swimming quickly through the currents that are taking us full force towards birthing this baby church.  These currents leave little room for error and even less room for complacency.  So in the midst of swimming through these currents, it's no surprise that I find myself struggling to "sit" in His presence. 

I'm not sure about you, but I certainly am not immune from the challenge of spending time with God.   Wouldn't it be great if church planters could automatically have spiritual disciplines written into their DNA?  We have had so many conversations with friends in ministry about the reality that we have the opportunity to build our church's DNA.  We aren't inheriting a church's "way of doing things."  We get to start fresh and passionately lead people toward the vision God has placed in our hearts. 

God has reminded me of another reality this morning as well.  Right now I have the opportunity to build the DNA of my spiritual disciplines as the leader of this church.  There is no one preceding me to be compared to.  I won't hear the words, "Our last pastor did things this way..."  So the question becomes, "What is going to be status quo for our leadership team?"  Because whether we like it or not, the ministry team we build from this moment on will be looking to us for spiritual guidance.  They will be watching our spiritual disciplines and many will follow the model we have developed.

In 1 Kings 9, God reminds Solomon of the importance of remaining in His presence - "If you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgements, then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel, make it a sure thing on a solid foundation."  He continues on to say - "But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off."  (The Message, 1 Kings 9:4-7)

If there is one thing that has been evident to us from the very moment we began the journey of planting Northpoint, it has been the overwhelming proof that God's hand is on our church.   All glory to God for the miracles we have seen and the doors He is opening.  I praise Him for His provision.

I read in 1 Kings 9 that God's provision came through His presence.  It came through Solomon's constant communion with God.  God warns that the moment Solomon walks away from the presence of God, ignoring His guidance and judgement, is the moment God walks away. 

Pastors, we cannot for once second take for granted the power of God's presence and provision.  We cannot drift along in the currents of our journey with the hope that God will continue to show up and move us along in the right direction.  God's provisions and guidance are found in His presence.  We also cannot take for granted the truth that God will not be second in command. 

I don't want to miss it!  I don't want to go one moment without His hand on my life and the life of His church that I am blessed to lead.  Every day I must (and you must) carve out time to spend in His presence.  It must be intentional and it must be focused. 

Don't miss it!

What Do They Really Think?

In order to build a healthy church that is relevant to the culture around us, it is critical that we take a hard look at what the culture has to say about their experience with Christianity.  We live in a city that is familiar with the church culture.  There are many denominations represented here and it's not uncommon for people to claim a church as their "church home" even if they attend only once or twice a year.  We are discovering, however, that there are groups of people that are disconnected with the current church culture here.  Many of these people are Christ followers that just can't seem to settle into a body of believers.  There are also groups of people in our city that are hungry for a church that is relevant to their lives and their views of what a church should value.  It's safe to say that this current trend is popular in many of our cities.

We then venture over to the people in our culture who have either been burned by the church or see the church as completely irrelevant to their lives.  So the question we find ourselves asking is, "How do you connect the Christ followers who are wanting more in terms of their church experience to the group of people who are skeptical of Christianity?"

David Kinnaman, the president of The Barna group, has conducted an extensive study with 16-29 year olds on their view of Christianity.  In this study, only 16% of non-Christians in their late teens and early twenties said they have a "good impression" of Christianity.  And only 3% of this group showed a favorable view towards evangelicals.

This study also discovered the following perceptions that non-Christians have about Christianity:

87% say we are judgmental, 85% think we are hypocritical, 78% say that we are old-fashioned, while 75% believe we are too involved in politics.

If these statistics don't open our eyes, the following should:

Young churchgoers were asked to give their perceptions of Christianity, and over half of them perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, and too political.  And 1/3 say it's old-fashioned and out of touch with reality. 

A common theme that was expressed during this study was that "Christianity no longer looks like Jesus in today's culture."  

After a three-year study was conducted, researchers realized that the perceptions shared by non-Christians and young Christians alike were not based on misinformation or popular views.  The perceptions towards Christianity were more often centered around experiences and personal interactions with Christians.  

As leaders, this study should greatly disturb us.  As church planters, this study gives us great insight into growing a church that is relevant to our culture.  As lead pastors of established churches, this study should give us a new resolve to take an honest look at the perceptions our churches are evoking among young people in our city.  

This culture is looking for change, they are desperate for relevancy and they are hungry to be a part of something that is making a difference in their community.  It's interesting that in this study conducted by The Barna group, the negative perceptions shared were not in regards to people's view of Christ.  Their issue isn't with Christ - their issue is with those claiming to have been transformed by Christ. 

If you are planting a church, you are no doubt asking yourself some of the same questions we are.  "How do we create a church culture that is authentic to our city's culture?"  "How do we tear down the walls of skepticism in our city and present ourselves as relevant and real?"  "How do we cast vision for our church and build a collective purpose with our launch team?"  

It starts with the vision of our churches.  Andy Stanley has been quoted as saying, "Vision leaks."  This is true for established churches and church plants alike.  Our goal is to cast our vision in such a clear and concise way that our people could tell someone in one sentence, without hesitation, what Northpoint's vision is.  The vision of Northpoint is to connect people to Christ and to be devoted to meeting the needs of our community with passion and love.

As church planters, it is vital for us to make our vision very clear from the very beginning.  Proverbs 29:18 sums it up well, "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed." (The Message)

If walls of skepticism are going to be torn down, it must begin with us.  It is going to take action on our part.  If we are going to change the perception that we are judgmental and hypocritical, it is going to be through rolling up our sleeves and proving that we are concerned with what's happening in the lives of those in our community.  It's going to be through opening our doors to people that aren't "like" us.  Skepticism diminishes when we serve with no strings attached.  Taking action and putting our walk where our talk is quiets the notion of hypocrisy.  

We believe God is creating a movement in our community through Northpoint and that movement is to serve anywhere the opportunity arises.  We know that at first the skepticism is going to be high.  People will question our intentions and analyze our authenticity.  We also believe that it is our job as Christ followers to earn the trust of our community.  If perceptions are ever going to change, it is going to have to be intentional on our part.   

Can you just imagine what would happen if it became the resolve of every church to change the perception of Christianity in their communities? When people begin to connect together through serving and meeting needs, a movement ignites.  Walls are torn down and perceptions are changed when we offer ourselves to others with no strings attached.  Our prayer is that today we will have the courage as leaders to make the first bold move towards building a bridge with our brothers and sisters who desperately need to see Jesus with skin on.

Be encouraged today!

It's a God-story

When we began this journey we made a promise to God.  We promised that every step of the way He would receive the glory and the honor for what was happening in our church. 

We recognize more each and every day that the building of Northpoint has absolutely nothing to do with our efforts and everything to do with the power of God at work around us.  God has invited us to take an unbelievable journey with Him, not because we have abilities that He needs, but because through this journey He can continue to bring us to a deeper understanding of our complete dependence on Him. 

There is not a week that goes by that we don’t sit back in utter amazement at how God is opening every door at just the right moment.  We stand in awe at the way He is moving and stirring the hearts of those around us.  Our vision is clear to us and He is enabling us to share this vision with passion and clarity.  Miracles are happening all around us.  These miracles are a direct result of our prayer force and their faithful prayers on our behalf.  This experience has taught us that we will never walk through one day of ministry without a prayer force behind us.  

Romans 4 has been speaking to us lately.  Through this chapter we have been reminded of what it means to follow after God’s heartbeat.  In  Romans 4:2-3, we read “If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it.  But the story we’re given  is a God-story, not an Abraham-story.  What we read in Scripture is,  Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point.  He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.”  (The Message)

At the end of the day, Northpoint is not a Chris & Lynnlee story, it is a God-story.  We pray that we never forget this important truth.  What a privilege it is for each of us to enter into what God is doing for us.  

Romans 4:4 encourages us with this truth -  “But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it’s something only God can do, and you trust Him to do it – you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked – well, that trusting-Him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God.” (The Message)

Can you just feel the power behind these verses?  As a church planter this has got to be one of the greatest verses for Church Planting 101.   It’s not about us!! We’re not building this church.   We aren’t the ones moving in the hearts of the people in our community.  God is at work, and all He has asked of us is that we would jump on board with Him and trust Him to finish what He has started.

Romans 4:18 holds another nugget of encouragement for us.  “When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.”  Has God given you a vision, a promise for your church?  Pastors, it’s time for us to fall to our knees in surrender and allow God to be Lord of our lives, our ministries, our future and our reputations. 

This last one is an especially difficult one to surrender.  For us, we have to keep in check the lies of the enemy that creep upon us in regards to our reputation.  The “what-ifs” try to invade our thoughts at the most inopportune times.  “What if you fail and everyone who believed in you is disappointed?”  “What if someone misunderstands your intentions?”  What if people don’t show up like you hope they will?”  The list is continuous and is damaging to the spirit of Christ within us. 

We must press on with the promise that God will do what He says He will do.  He has given us a promise for Northpoint and He does not intend to fail.  We must stay out of the way and allow God to work in His timing and wisdom.  The best part of embracing Romans 4 and the truths it has to offer is this, the more God moves, the less desire we have to be in control. 

We pray you are encouraged today as you discover God’s story at work around you. 

Be encouraged today!

 

Building a Launch Team

For us, building a launch team has been a challenging experience.  We fall under the classification of a "parachute" church-plant, so we literally dropped into our community with 2 contacts of people who "might" be interested in knowing more about our church plant.  Starting cold turkey on building a launch team has taught us some valuable lessons.  Every day we learn more about how to dissect this challenge of growing a team.

One of the questions we have found ourselves asking over the last few months is, "When do you begin meeting as a launch team?"  Our approach from the very beginning was to get into our community, period!  The first several months we focused on meeting people in any way possible.  We signed our son up for summer sports, joined community affinity groups such as a local mom's clubs (well, at least Lynnlee did), Chris signed on as a substitute teacher in the schools, and we have had more than one "God-appointed" conversation sitting in a local cafe.  It's amazing, when you start walking with your ears open for opportunities to have a conversation with someone, God opens the doors.  We have hosted many dinners in our home with families and have occasionally met families at a local restaurant.

There have been some relationships that we have established that will continue to be just that - a connection with someone in our community.  By taking the time to get to know families in our community, we have been able to identify those who are interested in knowing more about Northpoint, and those who God has placed in our lives simply for friendship and fellowship.  

The challenge for us wasn't getting in our community and meeting people.  The challenge for us came when we had to make the decision of when to begin meeting as a launch team with those people we had identified as potential members.  We had to ask ourselves how long we realistically felt we could continue to meet individually with various potential members before they would lose interest in joining a launch team.  We didn't want to jump too soon, but we also didn't want to stall people.  

The following is what it looked like for us.  We moved to our community in July and focused on relationship building for several months.   Many of our weekends were committed to traveling to other churches to gain financial support and to build our prayer force, so weekdays were very valuable to us.  We spent time in our community working at local coffee shops and restaurants.  We invited people into our home consistently for cookouts and game nights.  We got our kids together with other kids for play dates and sports.  We identified the people who were interested in knowing more about our team and grew those relationships to a deeper level.  We began to plant the seed that we were going to start meeting as a launch team at the beginning of the year.     

At the same time, we were asking ourselves if it would be better to continue to grow our existing relationships and build new ones before venturing out with a new launch team.   For us, the right choice has been to start meeting with the people who want to be a part of our launch team, and fire them up to connect people in their area of influence to our team. was to start meeting as a launch team at the beginning of this year.  We have been meeting with our team every week for two months and are consistently growing in numbers.  Our team is fired up and ready to tell people they know how to get involved at Northpoint.  

Our focus is to build, build, build our launch team.  In his blog, Planting Churches, Doug Foltz,       shares this startling statistic - of 88 churches surveyed, those who, on opening Sunday, started with a launch team of 40 or less had a morning attendance of 142.   Those who, on opening Sunday, started with a launch team of 41 or more had a morning attendance of 340.  That tells us one thing - we must build a strong launch team!  God is opening doors for us to partner with other churches in our city as we build our launch team.  We have learned through some very valuable resources and workshops that successful launch teams are approached with a 360 degree viewpoint.  Our team can consist of many different "types" of people.  Some will be with us permanently and some will be with us for a season until our feet are firmly on the ground.  

The name of the game here is to grow your team!  Look at growing your team from many angles and establish relationships through many avenues.  This is one of the most critical stages of the church planting process, and one of the most rewarding as you meet new people in your community and excitement builds.

Enjoy the journey!

  

Who Holds The Keys?

This has been an incredible week for us.  It never ceases to thrill us when God opens yet another door of opportunity for us to walk through.  

From the moment we began planting Northpoint we have prayed for God to open doors.  We have always believed, and still do, that the only way this baby church is going to see a healthy birth date is if God opens every door of opportunity along the way.  

It's a strange feeling: the moment you find yourself being handed the keys of responsibility for planting a new church.  Your mind reels with endless possibilities and ideas.  You find yourself dreaming of "over the top" strategies and methods of ministry.  Depending on your situation, planting a church offers some freedoms you might not otherwise have while serving in a ministry position in an established church.  There is the freedom to try new things and build your baby church's DNA (after all, nothing has been done from which to draw comparison.)  

The challenge comes when faced with the temptation to build His church in your own power.  It’s easy to hold on to the things that you think are vital to the growth of His church and if you aren’t careful, you try to force open doors that were never meant to be opened.  

In many ways we are much like the little girl who valued her dime store pearls.  These pearls were shiny and beautiful.  Everywhere she went people noticed the pearls around her neck.  One evening, as the little girl got ready for bed, her father came to tuck her in.  With excitement in his eyes, he told her that he had a very special gift for her.  The little girl’s excitement grew until her father asked her for her dime store pearls in exchange for his gift.  Defeated in spirit, the little girl clutched her pearls and said, “That’s alright Daddy, I’ll just keep my pearls.”  For several days this exchange continued between father and daughter.  Until one evening the father walked in to see his little girl crying quietly on her bed.  As he sat down, the little girl lifted the pearls to her father and said, “Here Daddy, if the pearls mean that much to you, you can have them.”  The father scooped his little girl up into his arms and pulled out a beautifully wrapped box.  As the little girl opened her gift, she could hardly believe her eyes.  Tucked inside this tiny box was a strand of the most beautiful freshwater pearls the little girl had ever seen.  

If you are planting a church, you are faced with the challenge of growing a church that will be healthy and thriving when launched.  If you aren’t careful, you will find yourselves holding onto things that are “good” while God is standing on the sidelines trying to give you the “best.”  You can’t settle for what’s easy and convenient.  Sometimes it will hurt to let go of the things you cherish.  There may be people who leave your team before you open your doors.  There may be ideas you have to table because as a church you aren’t ready to see those ideas become a reality.  You will have to allow others to step in and take responsibility for things, instead of keeping everything on your plate.  

It can be so very easy to hold on to the keys of responsibility. That is, unless you've experienced first hand what can happen when you relinquish the keys to the master locksmith.  

We are discovering more each day that our efforts will always pale in comparison to what takes place when God divinely intervenes on our behalf.  

Relationships are being built and partnerships within the community are being developed.   One of the greatest challenges we face is giving up the keys to our life, and just as importantly, the keys to our church, to the master locksmith.  There is only one set of keys and the choice is ours.  Who is going to hold them?

It's Your Move

One of the greatest challenges for any church planter is moving forward into uncharted territory.   We recently took inventory of all that God has shown us and accomplished since we moved to Beaumont to plant a church.  His hand has been so evident and He has opened so many doors for us.  There has been time spent on our knees as we poured out our hearts to God, asking for His favor and anointing.  We have burned the midnight oil many times as we strategize and internalize the vision we feel God has placed upon our hearts.  We have prayed the prayer of Solomon when he pleaded, "Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil."(1 Kings 3:9) 


We also took inventory of how the enemy has tried to thwart our efforts.  He has tried to discourage us. He has tried to lead us towards complacency and has tried to focus our attention on the challenges of the journey ahead of us.  


As we worked through our inventory list a fresh excitement began to build within our souls as we once again grasped the reality that God is in what we are doing.  He is moving in mighty ways.  He is opening doors that seemed impossible to pass through.  Oh, what a mighty God we serve!  Our inventory also served as a reminder that God is expecting us to do our part.


The question that is in front of us from the moment we wake until the moment we lay our heads to sleep is, "What are we going to do with this new church plant today?"  We recognize more and more everyday that the most effective card Satan can play against us right now is the complacency card.  (We will be bold enough to say that it's very likely the most effective card he can play against you as a church planter, as well.)   


The tasks that lie ahead of us as church planters can often seem daunting.  The weight of responsibility is heavy.  God has given us the incredible and exciting task of building His church and furthering  His kingdom in our communities.  There are relationships to build, launch teams to motivate, buildings to renovate, communities to be reached and spiritual disciplines that must not take a back seat in our list of priorities. 


You may be fighting the temptation to pull the blanket over your head and declare  - "I'll tackle this another day."  

Here's the reality - it's your move.  If you are a church planter, you have walked behind enemy lines.  You are on the front lines fighting for something that isn't even in existence yet.  Your dreams for your church have yet to be fully realized.  You are walking in the land of the unknown.  So what are you going to do about it?  


What are you going to do once you've poured your heart out to God?  What's next once you've strategized and laid out your vision for your church?  Our prayer is that you are going to MOVE!  Get out into your community.  Reach out to the schools in your city.  Build your launch team and stay in touch with them throughout the week.  Be their greatest encourager.  Be available to them.  Stay current with social media (this takes almost daily time and effort.)  Plan ahead - build your calendar (or in church planting terms... your timeline) and work it!  Know what's coming and over-prepare.  Anticipate the hurdles as you work towards your block parties and your community events leading up to launch.  Have Plan B in place.  Above everything else - just MOVE.  Don't fall into complacency.  Begin your day with a plan  - even if your plan is to work at the local coffee shop for the day.  By the way, three of our launch team members are a direct result of time spent in the coffee shop praying for God-appointed conversations.


Everything you are doing right now matters.  Launching your church is exciting and an obvious accomplishment that we all want to experience.  But remember that God is moving right now during the process of building your church and leading your team towards launch.  2012 holds seemingly endless possibilities for our churches.  Don't let this year get away from you.  Seize every opportunity God gives you and look for the opportunities that He might be placing right before you if you'll only open your eyes to see them.  


He has called you to a mighty work - now it's your move.  What are you going to do about it?


Be encouraged today!

Building an Effective Website for Your Church Plant

From the very beginning of our journey we felt it was critical that we have a website up and running, even if at first it was bare bones.  Our good friend Tommy Bailey, who owns Collision Media, has worked with us  extensively to help us develop social media outlets that work for this leg of our journey with the church plant.  Tommy and his team at Collision Media have shared with us some very helpful guidelines when building your church website and we'd like to pass those on to you. 

WHAT ARE THE TOP 10 MISTAKES CHURCHES MAKE WHEN BUILDING A WEBSITE

1.  Not keeping it simple.

a.  Your website needs to be simple.  Think about the most visited website in the world, Google.  When you visit Google.com you have one option, and that’s it.  You don’t need to under simplify your website, but your potential website visitors want simple instructions on where to find information.

2.  Focusing on features rather than content

a.  Church leaders often get caught up in adding the latest and greatest features to their website (Twitter feeds, live streaming, blogging, etc.) at the detriment of focusing on the most important content that your website users will primarily require.

3.  Focusing on design rather than content

a.  Church leaders often get caught up in creating a website that simply looks pretty at the detriment of focusing on the most important content that your website users will primarily require.

4.  Not thinking through sustainability when putting together your website.

a.  Consistently updating your website is a discipline, and it’s not easy.  When building your website, make sure your are thoughtful about what you and your team can continue to update on a continual basis.

5.  Not putting your times and directions front and center on your website.

a.  This is one of the most common mistakes on a church website.  The number one thing a user wants to know is where you are, and when your services start.  When you church has launched make your times and directions very apparent on your homepage.

6.  Using Flash technology

a.  Flash is a technology that is going the way of the buffalo, it’s dying.  It doesn’t work on most mobile devices and it consistently has security issues.  When working with your web developer make sure they don’t use Flash, or if they do, make sure it’s minimal.

7.  Using auto-play

a.  Auto-play is at the top of the list of annoying things your website can do.  When a user loads a page they don’t want your webpage to automatically play a video or audio.  Give them the option to start and stop media on their own.

8.  Not incorporating online giving

a.  Online giving is easy with services like PayPal, MinistryGive, and many others.  There’s no reason your website can’t accept online giving right from the start.

9.  Using “your nephew” to create your website.

a.  We’ve heard this story many times.  Use a professional to develop your website, not your teen nephew who’s taken an HTML class.  You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a great website, but it’s an important investment, so choose someone who knows what they are doing.

10.        Bad photography

a.  You’re probably not a photographer, and just because your friend bought a new fancy camera doesn’t mean she’s a photographer either.  Hire a professional to take a few quality photos of your leadership and church.  Remember, most people who visit your website don’t know you - your photography may be their first impression.

WHAT IS THE #1 PRIORITY CHURCHES SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING THEIR WEBSITE

Keep your website simple.  This doesn’t mean that your website can’t be robust and feature rich, but simplicity and organization of your content is important both for you and for your visitors.

• For you:  You’re working at a church, which is a lot of work, and rarely do church leaders have time to consistently update more than a few sections of their website.  There’s nothing worse than an out of date website.  Sustainability will help you in the long term, and ultimately create a better communication strategy for your church.

• For your website visitors:  You have around 7 seconds for a visitor of your website to decide to continue looking for the information they want, or to leave.  Keeping your website simple and organized is the best way for your visitors to find the information that they need.  Most importantly, make sure your times and directions are easily found on your homepage.

CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH COLLISION MEDIA:

http://collis.in/tw06Qc