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8/9/2019 Focus eBook Running

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Bryan Mowrey

SEEKING TO FINISH THE MISSION OF JESUSSEEKING TO FINISH THE MISSION OF JESUS


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1 Chapter 1 Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

5 Chapter 2 Attracting First Time Guests

11 Chapter 3 First Impressions

17 Chapter 4 Leading a Meeting

23 Chapter 5 Assimilation

A-1 Appendix

TABLE OF CONTENTS


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What is it that Drives Your Ministry Decisions?

Why does your church exist? What do you hope to accomplish in your weekend and

midweek gatherings? If you planted your church, why did you plant it? What was

burning in your heart to cause you to do such a thing?

What I have found to be true for many pastors is that there is a certain kind of church

life that they enjoy which has become the motivating factor behind all that they do.

For example, some may really want authentic community and therefore promote re-

lationships and community life. Others may really enjoy freedom in worship so their

priority is to make sure the church is experiencing freedom in worship. For others,

it may be one-on-one discipleship or Bible study or prayer meetingsthe list goes

on and on.

Missiology Before Ecclesiology

While all these elements of church life are essential to being a New Testament

Church, we get it backwards when we place structure ahead of purpose. Our first pri-

ority is to determine who we say Jesus is (Christology), and then we must determine

our mission (missiology). From there we can figure out what our church should look

like (ecclesiology). In my experience, pastors spend way too much time discussing

worship style, length of service, and what kind of small groups to have, while notspending nearly enough time and energy focusing on how we can carry forth the mis-

sion of Jesus.

CHAPTER 1Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

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We Should Seek To Finish the Mission of Jesus

Acts, which records the launching of the New Testament Church, starts this way: In

the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2

until the day when he was taken up...Luke was the writer of Acts and the first book

he was referring to was the gospel of Luke, where he recorded the entire life of Jesus.

As Luke stated, he dealt with what Jesus began to do and teach. Its important to

notice that he didnt say what he finished to do and teach. That little word began is

very key to understanding the nature of this age and how the church should function.

Luke says here:

I have told you a story that began with the virgin birth and ended with the

ascension of Jesus into heaven. I have told you many things that Jesus did and

many things that Jesus said. And now Im telling you that was just the beginning

of the ministry of Jesus and not the end.

That was the beginning of His teaching ministry. That was the beginning of His doing

ministry. Therefore, the meaning of this book Acts and the purpose of the church isthe fulfillment of what He WILL teach and the rest of what He WILL do.

Now, so that I dont confuse anyone, I want to take a step back and qualify what Im

about to stress about Jesus work being only the beginning. What Luke is not speak-

ing to or not contradicting is the finality of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and

in the resurrection. We have complete security in the finished work of Jesus. Hebrews

10:12 says, When Christ had offered FOR ALL TIME a single sacrifice for sins, he

sat down at the right hand of God.Our sins are covered, and the wrath of God hasbeen lifted. At Calvary, the throat of Satan was mortally slit. And now there is no

condemnation for those who are in Christ(Romans 8:1). So please dont hear Luke

or me minimize the once-and-for-all nature of the finished work of Jesus on the cross

for your sin and mine. We do not have a high priest who must offer himself daily in

the temple. It is finished. Your sins are covered if you are in Christ by faith.

Nevertheless, we need to hear that the Bible is telling us that the ministry of Jesus

found in the gospels was only the beginning. Everything from His teaching to His

miracles to His death and resurrection all of it leading up to the ascension was

only the beginning. The Church is the continuation of that story. Today Jesus does

His work through the Church. These weak, fragile clay jars are being used by God to

continue the gospel story of Jesus Christ.

FOCUS | Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

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Therefore, Acts records the creation of the Church that is meant to continue the

ministry of Jesus. The Church is not a building made up of brick and mortar that

you attend a couple times of month. Its not an institution. The Church is a spiritual

house made of up people who are assembled and built upon the chief cornerstone

who is Christ. We are the house of God. We are the body of Christ. We are the instru-

ment through whom Jesus continues His ministry.

Jesus Came to Save Sinners

Early in the life and ministry of Jesus, He made it clear that He was going to befriendand relate to those outside religious circles. In fact, it was among this irreligious

group that He chose some of His twelve disciples (His closest band of friends and

those who would eventually lead the early Church into existence). One of these fol-

lowers was Levi (Matthew) the tax collector. Tax collectors were a group of people

despised by the Jews because they worked for the Romans who occupied Jerusalem

and ruled over the Jews. Moreover, tax collectors made their living by charging extra,

thereby making themselves quite wealthy. So you might imagine the disgust that

Jews had for some of their own who went to work for the enemy. Heres a small clipwe get from Scripture on how this event occurred:

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax

booth. And he said to him, Follow me. And leaving everything, he rose and fol-

lowed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large

company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Phari-

sees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and

drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, Those who arewell have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call

the righteous but sinners to repentance(Luke 5:27-32).

In Luke 19, Jesus entered Jericho and crossed paths with a sneaky little man named

Zaacheaus. Zaacheaus was also a despised tax collector among his countrymen. That

is why Jesus found it necessary to make this statement which summed up His mis-

sion and purpose on earth:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost(Luke 19:10).

The Church must continually remind herself that her purpose is to befriend and bring

the message of salvation to those who are not yet believers. Consider also:


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For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as

a ransom for many(Mark 10:45).

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus

came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost(1 Timothy 1:15).

Are you 100% convinced that Jesus came to save sinners? Is your church structured

with this fact in mind?

The Christian Life is about identifying yourself with the person and work of JesusChrist. Its about learning to love what He loved. Its about learning to walk as He

walked. Jesus said it this way, Come follow me.Come live as I live. Leave your old

life (your old way of doing things) and embrace the life that I have for you.

Our churches therefore, must be centered around the mission of Jesus. Our churches

must be harvest-focused.

Next Steps for Pastors

1. Discuss with your elders your theological conviction concerning the purpose

of the church.

2. Discuss with your elders which ministries/practices are aligned with thatconviction and which ones are not.

3. Prayerfully make the necessary adjustments to those ministries so that they

are aligned with your theological conviction concerning the purpose of the

church.


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Growing the church is like filling a bucket with water that has a holeyou have to

add people faster than you lose them. Most churches lose about 10% per year (job

change, backsliding, unresolved conflict, death, etc). A church of 100 will need to

add ten people a year to maintain their current level, twenty people to attain modest

growth (10%) and thirty people to attain rapid growth (20%+).

So how are you going to add new people? Where are these new people going to come

from? Should you put together a big marketing plan? Should you pass out flyers, put

up billboards, do a radio or TV ad? I think yes but not yet.

Jubilee Church has benefited greatly from marketing tools such as good exterior

signage, mailers, flyers, bus stop ads and even billboards; however, we have also

found that we can get no more that 30% of our guests from those kinds of sources.

Most of our guests (usually around 70-80%) come from word of mouthpeople inthe church inviting their friends, family and co-workers (their sphere of influence).

Therefore, we have decided to concentrate our efforts on giving our members a rea-

son to invite their friends and resourcing them to do so.

Giving Your People a Reason to Invite

Most pastors (unfortunately not all) wish their people would invite other people, but

yet they give them no real reason to do so. The first step in getting people to inviteothers is to work hard at giving them a reason to. Rick Warren says that the top two

reasons why people dont invite their friends is because they are embarrassed about

the quality of the service and they dont know what to expect week to week. I suggest

you spend a lot of time toward the following:

CHAPTER 2Attracting First Time Guests

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FOCUS | Attracting First-time Guests

1. Improve the Quality of Your Service. We will get into this in greater detail

in later chapters; but if you expect to grow, you must have a high quality

Sunday service where excellence is the norm. Excellence does not mean

perfection; but rather that you, your elders and your volunteers give their

very best. If youre the primary speaker, seek to prepare the best sermon

you can and be sure to build it around the gospel every week. If youre the

worship leader, seek to lead your band and the congregation the best you

can by minimizing human distractions while making a lot of room for God

distractions. Greeters should greet with their very best. Ushers should usher

people with their very best. Childrens workers should look after and teachchildren with their very best etc, etc. Before you know it, you will have

a church that is serving one another in an excellent way (Romans 12:11

outdoing one another in honor); but more importantly, serving the guests

God has called you to reach. In this kind of environment, it becomes highly

motivating for people to want to invite their friends because the pride and

the ownership they feel is through the roof.

2. Maintain Consistency. Evangelistically, there is nothing worse we can do forour people than to be inconsistent on Sunday. Imagine one of your members

spending months prayerfully building a relationship with a non-Christian,

strategically sharing the gospel here and there, and now finally, they found

the right moment to invite their friend and they actually came! The only

problem is that this was the Sunday the greeters werent on their game; you

decided to give Bobby Sue a crack at leading worship; instead of preach-

ing the gospel, you decided to do testimony hour about the most recent

conference; and to top it all off, your service was thirty minutes longer thanusual. Two questions: Whats the chance that guest will return; and, how

motivated do you think your member will be to invite someone again? The

answer to both questions is not a positive one. That service wasnt for them.

It was for your members. If you want to have services that guests are con-

sistently invited to, you have to maintain a level of consistency that makes

people feel secure in inviting their friends.

To be clear, maintaining consistency does not mean becoming predictable.

There should be a sense of awe (Acts 2:43) in our services. However, there

is a huge difference between being consistent and being predictable. If I

go to a St. Louis Cardinals game, I know what time the game starts, I know

there will be nine innings, and I know that I can get a hot dog and a beer

(for the price of a small country, but theyre available). Thats the consis-

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tency. However, I do not know how many runs will be scored, who will win,

will there be any home runs, or will there be a no-hitter? So while going to

a Cardinals game offers consistency, it is also unpredictable. The Sunday

services should be both consistent and unpredictable, which are great envi-

ronments to invite guests.

3. Be Creative with Your Sermon Series. If your mode of operation is to do stand-

alone messages week in and week out and you do not know what you are

going to speak on until Saturday, you must change this practice immedi-

ately. I am not saying that you should never do stand-alone messages (we doabout 6-8 per year), but you will significantly increase the chances that your

people will invite others if they A) know what the message will generally be

about; and B) it is a message series that is packaged well.

4. Do Big Sundays. There is nothing that can jump start attracting first time

guests while at the same time raising the evangelistic temperature of the

church like a Big Sunday. A Big Sunday is basically a Sunday or group of

Sundays that you put extra effort into in order to gather as many peopleas possible. Big Sundays work well because they give your people an extra

reason to invite. Here are a few guidelines about Big Sundays:

a. Plan at least four per year (we do them in February, Easter, September

and Christmas). There is no easier time of the year to invite than Christ-

mas and Easter, especially Easter. February and September are also

good times of the year to do Big Sundays because most people stay in

town those months.

b. Use the Big Sunday to begin a series. If you start a series with a Big

Sunday, there is a greater chance theyll come back the following week

because you have given them a reason to do soto hear the rest of the

series (provided its interesting).

c. Budget for them.

To learn more about Big Sundays, read Nelson Searcys book Igniteas well

as Steve Tibberts paper (he calls them High Sundays) on his blog site at

stevetibbertleadership.blogspot.com.


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Resource Your People to Help Them Invite

There are several tools that you can give your people to help them invite to your Sun-

day service. The most effective tool we have is what we call a Wish List(see Appen-

dix, figure 1a and 1b). Our Wish Listis simply a bookmark that has six blank spaces

where members can write the names of the people God has put on their hearts to be

in prayerful contact with. Members stick this bookmark in their Bible and use it as a

reminder to pray for these people and invite them to Jubilee services.

Another tool that is helpful is a postcard or business card invite to your Sunday ser-

vice (see Appendix, figure 2). This card would have your basic church information,

including website and service times. For Big Sundays, we will create a special post-

card for that specific day or series (see Appendix, figure 3a and 3b).

Other inviting tools would be e-vites, websites and promo videos.

Advertising

Now that you have worked hard at giving your people a reason to invite to your Sun-

day service and giving them the tools to do so, you can increase the number of first

time guests through advertising efforts. It can also work well with the efforts your

people are making through personal invitations. How effective is it if a friend of yours

sees a billboard of a message series that you invited him to? Here are some things

that we have found helpful:

1. Good signage on your buildingif you are fortunate enough to own your ownbuilding, use it as a way to advertise your services or a special event.

2. Banners on your buildingthis is really powerful because the advertising

becomes tied to your location.

3. Websitefor many, they will visit your website before they will visit your

church. Your website needs to project both a good feel and have content

relevant to potential guests.

4. Billboards


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5. Bus stops

5. Mailers

6. Door hangers and flyers


1. Ask a sampling of people in your church if they feel comfortable inviting a

friend to church? Ask them, Why or why not?

2. Make evaluating Sunday morning a regular part of your weekly elders meet-

ing to make consistent steps to eliminate the cringe factor (anything that

made a second feel like a minute, a minute like an hour). Be bold in inviting

outside input on this one.

3. Plan your sermon calendar for the next twelve months and make it series-

based. You may not be at a point you can create graphics for them, but at

least communicate what the series is on your bulletin and website.

4. Plan 4 Big Sundays in the next twelve months.


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Its not secret that America is a consumer-driven society. And before we adopt an us/

them mentality about it, all we have to do is look in the mirror to see that we are

caught up in this capitalistic river of desire as well. If you were to examine spending

receipts from the past few months you would more than likely see a pattern of some

kind. Why is it you frequent the stores and services you do? Is it because of customer

service? Maybe you appreciate the value? Or maybe its the convenience that makesyou come back. Whatever the reason(s) behind it, the fact remains that were all

consumers and our consumption is driven by our reasoning.

Like it or not, people within our community treat the Sunday morning service in the

same way they shop for clothes or electronics. If first-time guests do not experience a

warm and inviting atmosphere up front, chances are they will not come back. Impres-

sions made within the first five to seven minutes will often times define the entire

Sunday morning experience.

At Jubilee Church we understand this mindset and have taken some very real steps

to help our first-time guests transition into a Sunday morning atmosphere that makes

it easier for them to connect with Jesus. Here is how we make it happen.

Identify With Our Guests

Every church has people who have been in church for as long as they can remem-ber. While theres nothing wrong with this, it can lead to a sense of isolation that

hinders them from identifying with others who do not share their same experience.

CHAPTER 3First Impressions

written by Rick Hein

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Its important that we help our members recognize just how significant (and at times

difficult) it is for someone with no church background to walk into a building theyve

never entered before, be surrounded by people theyve never met before, and subject

themselves to an order of service that they have no control over. The whole thing can

be frightening!

When our members attend on Sunday mornings, they come with questions and

thoughts such as, I wonder who will be leading worship this Sunday?and I won-

der what the sermon will be about this morning?and I hope I can sit by Jennifer

this morning as Ive been wanting to talk with her all week.

When a first-time guest attends on Sunday mornings, they come with questions and

thoughts such as, If they make guests stand and introduce themselves Im going

to dieand Are they going to make me sing? I hope not because I dont know the

songsand Do I have to give money?and Are they going to make me sign some-

thing? The last thing I want is to be put on some endless mailing list.

Fear often times is enhanced due to a lack of information. Therefore, in everythingwe do on Sunday mornings we seek to give as much information as possible. This is

why you will find information titled What to Expecton the inside page of our Sunday

bulletin. It is why, after the first song, we welcome our guests and give them a quick

verbal road map of the service that day. Its also why we explain various elements of

the service that our guests may not be familiar with, such as prophetic words and

spontaneous worship. Finally, its why we explain to our guests that we have no ex-

pectation for them to contribute to the offering, as it is an expression of worship for

those who are members or regular attendees.

Believe it or not, these are things we do every Sunday. Though our members and

regular attendees have heard and seen these things literally hundreds of times, its

good news when a guest hears and sees it for the first time. It also serves as a great

reminder to our members and regular attendees to be consistently mindful of guests

amongst us.

Attention to Facilities

Familiaritybreeds contemptis more than an expression, its a reality. Whenever you

visit someones home for the first time, you tend to take it all in (at least the women

FOCUS | First Impressions

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do). You notice the color of the walls, the way the living room is arranged and the kind

of furniture thats there, just to name a few things.

At the same time, you tend to forget these same details when it comes to your own

home because its your home and you are so used to being there that eventually the

details of your surroundings get lost in the maze of familiarity.

This is also true when it comes to church facilities. After attending your churchs

Sunday morning services in the same building Sunday after Sunday, you stop seeing

things like the dingy and dark walls, the trash in the bushes, the fact that there are

no directional signs directing people where to go, no easy access into the auditorium,no information table, and no provisions for security in place.

Its important that we look not only at our facility, but our entire Sunday service with

guest eyes. Most of the time this requires a purposeful effort. You may even consider

inviting in some people who are not a part of the church to do a walk through and

give you their honest feedback. Whatever it takes, put forth the effort to make sure

your facilities give off a favorable first impression that wont be a roadblock to your

first-time guests.

Courteous and Trained Childrens Volunteers

Andy Stanley says that the sermon begins in the parking lot. While this is true,

the most lasting first impressions for first-time guests usually take place when they

take their children to their nursery/class. A bad impression at this point can almost

be irretrievable. If a first-time guest has a bad feeling upon leaving their child in

the nursery/class, the chances of them connecting with Jesus in the worship servicedecreases exponentially. Their mind wont be on the music, the songs, or the sermon.

What theyre thinking is, I hope Junior is okayor Will they remember to change

his diapers?or Will they give him the attention he needs?or What happens if he

cries?or How will they contact me if he needs me?

Here are some things Jubilee does to address this issue:

1. We train volunteers in regard to what their specific responsibilities are as a

J-Kidss Ministry Volunteer.

2. We encourage our volunteers to be courteous and go the extra mile with

first-time guests in order to ease their obvious fears.


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3. We have a smooth and yet simple registration process that allows for easy

check-in and safe check-out. This system gives first-time guests a sense of

security to know that their children are safe.

4. We have a definable system in place for how to contact a parent if they are

needed in the nursery to help with their baby.

5. We make sure our Childrens Ministry Volunteers understand that the role

they play as volunteers is a vital part of Jubilees mission, which is to Con-

nect People to Jesus Resulting in God-honoring Life Change.

Friendly, Welcoming and Trained First Contact Team

The First Contact Team at Jubilee consists of greeters and ushers. This is one area

of service that took a long time in developing. We have run the gambit of trial and

error when it comes to greeting and ushering. Through the help of some dedicated

volunteer leaders however, we have one of the best systems in place that I have seen.

When putting together a volunteer First Contact Team the following things need to

be in place:

1. Be picky about who serves as a greeter. Our greeters are some of the most

friendly and courteous people in the entire church, and thats not by ac-

cident. While people do volunteer to serve as greeters, many of our best

greeters have been specifically recruited. If a person is not friendly and

warm they should not be a greeter. This doesnt mean they are a bad person,it just means they wont make a good greeter.

2. Train greeters thoroughly. Dont leave anything up to chance. Make sure

each and every greeter understands what they are supposed to do and why.

This means knowing what to say to guests (Welcome to Jubilee Church,

its great to have you with us this morning. My name is Rick), as well as

members/regular attendees when they enter the facility. They also need to

know where each and every childrens class is so they can help direct first-time guests with children to these classes. At our City Location each greeter

has a specific place to stand with specific responsibilities to maintain. The

entire system makes for a very inviting and warm atmosphere that helps our

first-time guests feel relaxed and comfortable.


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3. Make sure you staff enough ushers. Few things are as embarrassing as get-

ting ready to receive the offering and George, the head usher, is tapping

people on the shoulder saying, Hey will you help me with the offering?

4. Make sure ushers are thoroughly trained in regard to issues such as com-

munion, unruly people, needing more chairs, thermostat settings, light

switches and other things such as this. Once again, dont leave anything

up to chance. Make sure every scenario is covered. This is easily done by

adequately planning ahead.

Clear Communication

If youve ever attended an event in an unfamiliar facility, one of the first things you

do upon entering is to look for a sign that tells you where to go. Having the right kind

of signage in place goes a long was to making guests feel comfortable and welcomed.

Make sure your signs are high enough to be seen in a room full of people and simple

enough not to confuse someone who is not familiar with your facility.

An Information Table is a great way to direct the attention of your guests to the things

that you want them to notice. For example, Jubilee makes a point to place a prom-

ising, self-standing sign of the current preaching series on the information table.

Therefore, guests immediately know what the message that day is about. We also use

the Information Table to make literature available that answers their most prominent

questions such as, What kind of church is Jubilee?and Are you a denominational

church?and Do you have small groups?Its important that the literature you place

on your Information Table is not only of high quality, but also purposeful. At Jubileewe make sure we have a First Contact Team volunteer around the Information Table

at all times, in order to be available to answer questions that guests usually have.

The final aspect of Clear Communication has to do with nametags. Next to our Infor-

mation Table we have a small bar-type table that we place self-adhesive nametags

on. We encourage everyone who enters (including members and regular attendees) to

fill out a nametagmake sure you have Sharpies on the table as well. The value of

nametags is almost unimaginable. Because everyone has one, it offers a simple way

to recognize a guests name without making them feel singled out. It also provides

a way for the guests to recognize the names of all the new people they meet on a

Sunday. As the church grows more and more, people are added into the ranks, mak-


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ing it impractical for members and regular attendees to know everyone. Nametags

are a helpful means to aid in the relational connection process amongst members

and regular attendees.


1. Go with your elders to another church (preferable one not like yours) andtake note of what they did or did not do to make you feel at home? How were

you greeted? Was it clear how to get involved? What did they do to set you

at ease? What did they do that make you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome?

2. Plan and facilitate regular training of your volunteers. Jubilee does training

events semi-annually, but hosts monthly meetings with volunteer teams as

well as weekly pep talks (15 minutes).

3. Indentify two or three areas where communication is unclear and do your

best to make it clear.


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Never Be Dull

Dull should never describe any church. When the early church gathered, ...awe

came upon every soul...(Acts 2:43). There was an edge to this group that poked

and prodded everyone that came into their midst. There are many reasons for this,

but one for sure was there was a razor sharp prophetic edge that was released and

pastored among them. I fully believe that for a church to be harvestfocused and ef-

fective among the lost, the church must not settle for dull prophetic gifts, but rather

ensure they are sharpened and deployed in powerful ways.

Leading a Meeting

I think leading/anchoring a meeting is one of the more difficult jobs on Sunday

mornings. It requires Holy Spirit sensitivity/awareness, sound doctrine, split second

decision-making, and confidence to lead. Its what we (Jubilee elders) spend more

time discussing than any other aspect of our meeting.

Let us take a look at Peter at Pentecost as a model of leading the church into dynam-

ic Holy Spirit activity that is guest aware. The principles well see in this event are: 1)

readiness, 2) recognition, and 3) response. I think they work together like a pyramid.

Story of Acts 1 & 2

In the beginning of Acts 1, Jesus gives His Great Commission speech (go be the

church) and then ascends into heaven, leaving the disciples gazing into the sky. A

CHAPTER 4Leading a Meeting

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couple of angels appear and say to the disciples, now come on, lets get on with

it!So the disciples get on with it by devoting themselves to prayer (see chapter 9).

In the midst of their prayer gathering, the first great move of the Holy Spirit comes

crashing down on them, characterized by things like sounds from heaven like a

mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire, all being filled with the Holy Spirit,and

some spoke in different languages.So you can understand why this drew the at-

tention of people walking by from every nation under heaventhey were bewildered

because they were hearing praise to God in their own tongue. Luke goes on to re-

cord that some were amazed and had questions,and some were, these guys are

drunk;and in my imagination, started walking away. However, something stirs Peterand ignites him to stand up and give a response that connected the current Holy

Spirit activity with the Old Testament prophet Joelsomething his crowd would have

been aware of. Luke then writes that they were cut to the heart and repented.The

result of this gathering was that 3,000 were added.

What can we learn from this about running our meetings as it relates to Holy Spirit

activity and the prophetic?

Readiness

READINESS THROUGH PRAYER

Acts 1:14 & Acts 2:42 says that they devoted themselves to prayer.

Jesus is the Model

Peter, most certainly, would have noticed the pattern of prayer in the life of Jesus

because He was always praying. At Jesus baptism, He is praying. The night beforeHe selects the twelve disciples, He goes up on a mountain and for the entire night He

prays. He prays early in the morning and late into the evening. At the transfiguration

He is praying. Before the cross He is praying; and then, on the cross He is praying.

Jesus did not just simply teach on prayer, He lived prayer. In fact, its probably safe

to say that prayer is not so much a thing Jesus commands us to do as much as it is

the way of Jesus (what it means to be a Christian) because He was always praying.

He always seemed to be connected, inseparably connected, to God the Father. I

think Peter, who was a part of Jesus inner circle, remembered this and said to get

it done we need to be continually in prayerministry well happen in the middle of

those times.

FOCUS | Leading a Meeting

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Peter Continued this Model

We know that Peter guarded this time because in Acts 6, ministry got a little over-

whelming, and one of his primary concerns was that prayer not get pushed to the

side. So he got someone else to look after the day-to-day ministry so that he and the

other apostles could focus on prayer and ministry of the word.

READINESS THROUGH KNOWING THE GOSPEL

1 Peter 3:15 says, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks

you for a reason for the hope that is in youOn Sunday morning (as well as on

Tuesday at the coffee shop), there are people amongst us who want to know why wesing songs the way we sing songs, why we give money the way we give money, why

we serve the way we serve, etc. We need to be prepared to stand up in the middle of

that and give a defense, a reason.

I suggest that you learn to share the gospel in 15-20 seconds (brevity is key) from

multiple different angles. If you need to borrow one in the meantime, try this gospel

nugget from Tim Keller: Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death

we should have died.

READINESS THROUGH DISCUSSION AND DIALOGUE

EVERY week the elders discuss Sunday morning, and the part of the meeting that

always lasts the longest is the part where we discuss the contributions use of spiritual

gifts given; and more importantly, how we handled those contributions. Did we lead

too strongly? Did we lead strongly enough? Did the contributions help? How could we

have better guided people? I believe getting it right is a moving target and requires

you to live in the tension of too loose and too tight. Your church is probably either/orand discussing it often keeps you from favoring one side over the other.

READINESS THROUGH TEACHING

In the Bible, nothing good happens because of a lack of knowledge (Isaiah 5:13; Ho-

sea 4:6). It is important to continue to give good teaching to your people on spiritual

gifts and how to rightly administer them. At Jubilee, we include an entire section on

Charismatic Worship to help people understand both whyand howwhen it comes

to spiritual gifts. We want people to understand what prophecy is and why spiritual

gifts are Biblical. We also pepper in teaching right in the middle of worship. We will

often quote 1 Corinthians 14:26 and add, If you are new, its possible that you have

never experienced worship like this. Let me assure you that this is completely Bibli-

cal. When you come together, each one has a hymnThese little moments offer

assurance to people; and I have found, releases them to share.


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Recognition

While praying in the upper room, the disciples were readyingthemselves for a

move of God. However, their readinessmight not have meant as much if Peter hadnt

recognizedwhat the Holy Spirit was doing and recognized the people around him.

This is where its important to get both right: recognizing both the Holy Spirit and

people (because you can sense spiritually activity), but also being disconnected with

people, in the sense that leadingimplies others are following. On the other hand, you

can also connect with people and not sense spiritual activity. We need to recognize

both.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?

Recognizing God activity only happens if you have made yourself ready by being

prayed up, being full of the Spirit and having discussed with your team what you

hope happens. If you know what youre looking for, you can spot it when it occurs.

For Peter it was Joel 2:28, the teachings of Jesus, and an understanding of where

his brotherswere. Do you know what you are looking for when you gather? Do you

know what Holy Spirit activity looks like? Do you know where your people are at (whattheir week may have been like)? Are you in touch with culture? Do you understand

the spiritual climate in your city?

Response

LEAD PEOPLE

Paul encouraged leaders to respond to prophetic words. He suggested that it should

be done after two or three words/contributions. We dont want to be legalistic aboutthis, but it is helpful to summarize what we believe God is saying in a meeting after

a few prophetic words have been given, otherwise we can lose track and their effect

can be lost. I see our job to anchor a meeting as not just being there to test, but to

give weightto the word that has come. Sometimes that means asking the congrega-

tion to respond and to be bold in doing so. We see this with Peter in Acts 2. He stood

up in the middle of Holy Spirit activity, preached an average message, but boldly

asked people to respond. The result: 3,000 added.

RIDE THE WAVE

I like to think that leading a meeting is like riding a wave. There are two extremes

to avoid: one is where people try to work up everything in their own strength not


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realizing the power of the Holy Spirits wave, and the other is where people dont

paddle when the wave comes and therefore miss the momentum the wave can give

your church. May it never be that the only thing you got out of Sunday morning was,

Wow, that was a great wave!or Wow that was a great meeting!

WHAT IS THE GUEST THINKING?

Like Peter, do not let people walk out of your meetings saying, They are out of their

mind.To help prevent this, our anchors are always asking the question, Would a

new person understand whats happening.So we are always thinking, How can I

connect what is happening to the truth with Scripture? How can I connect this toanother experience that would be common to them?Sometimes its just a language

barrier. Tim Keller says, If you want the neighborhood to show up at your meetings,

speak as though they are already there.

THE ART OF BRIDGING

The art of bridging is the ability to link up potentially disjointed segments of the

service so that the actual experience is a smooth one. This helps people follow along

and is conducive to the flow of the Holy Spirit. Meetings that start and stop and go offon tangents are seldom great meetings. God is a God of order and is not the author

of confusion.

LAST SONG BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENTS

We need to let people down gently from the heights of heaven to the more mundane

matters of notices. This requires that the leader recap through a statement (i.e. Isnt

Gods presence wonderful? We are going to continue to enjoy Gods presence through

the teaching of Scripture.) or a prayer. Dont rush this part; be gentle with people.

CAPITALIZING ON HOLY MOMENTS

While sometimes singing a good song is a sufficient blessing, it can also be the

launching pad for something more explosive for prophecy, prayer or ministry. For

example, we were singing the song, Savior, He can move the mountains and

I popped up and said, Everyone in this room has a savior. We are all looking to

someone or something to save us. Can your savior move mountains? Jesus can move

mountains. Lets continue to sing this song with the understanding that no matter the

situation, Jesus has the power to move mountains in our life.


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1. Discuss with your elders what an ideal service looks like in relation to

spiritual contributions.

2. Discuss with your elders whether you are too loose or too tight in your

facilitation of spiritual gifts?

3. Discuss with your elders ways to lead/explain different kinds of spiritual

contributions to someone who would be new to this type of a service.


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What is the Assimilation Process?

Websters Dictionary:to include into the larger whole; to involve; to make one.

The assimilation processat Jubilee Church is the process by which someone who

has never attended our church, becomes a fully devoted member. To discover what

your assimilation process is, you must first ask the question what is the mission of

my church? At Jubilee, we are looking to connect people to Jesus resulting in God-

honoring life change. We want to find people who were once not a part, and now have

been made a part by the life-changing presence of Jesus.

Once you have established where someone will end up as a result of your ministry/

church, you then need to ask, What are the typical steps people take along the way

starting from the beginning?For us at Jubilee, it looks like this:

!" First-time guest

!" Second-time guest

!" Third-time guest

!" Attend: Get to Know Jubilee

!" Be a part of one of our serving teams

!" Attend: Action Track

!" Attend: Membership Course (Connect Series)!" *Become a Member

CHAPTER 5Assimilation

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Now, it does not always work out quite like this. Sometimes people will attend just

once and then attend Get to Know Jubilee or will even sign up for an Action Track

right away. However, this is the typical process someone goes through in becoming

a fully devoted member.

(*If they are not a Christian, our hope is somewhere along the way that they commit

their life to Jesus. Becoming a member is the only step where we require that people

be a Christian, as well as be baptized.)

Why Do You Need an Assimilation Process?

Colossians 4:5 says, Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most

of every opportunity.The truth be told, everyone has an assimilation process, it just

might not be a very good one. At Jubilee, we want to be wise in the way we respond

to those who do not yet belong, making the most of those opportunities. And there

are some great opportunities! Every week, God directs the steps of the un-churched

to attend one of our services. We dont want to take that lightly, but do everything we

can to steward those opportunities.

Getting Started

CREATE AND USE A COMMUNICATION CARD

The Communication Card is a very key piece to our assimilation process. Some may

call this a communication card or response card, but what it may NEVER be called is

a guest card. Why? Because you want more than just guests to fill this out. Hope-fully this fact will become clear the more you learn about what is required to have a

successful assimilation process.

I have included a copy of our Communication Card in the Appendix section of this

booklet (figure 4a and 4b). Why dont you save your place here and take a quick

look at that so I can better describe to you how we use this card. Here are some key

principles to follow to get the most out of this card:

You MUST encourage everyone to fill this out. Guests want to be as anonymous

as possible and are more likely to fill out a card if they see everyone else filling

out a card.

This card MUST be placed in every seat.

FOCUS | Assimilation

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You MUST provide a pen or a pencil. Do not give anyone an excuse not to fill

this out.

You MUST pass a basket at the end of the service in concert with your offering

to collect these cards. This might change your order of service, but I have not

found any way around this. Having a basket or box that people can simply drop

the card in on their way out will result in a very low return on the cards you

receive. You should work toward receiving cards from 50-60% of the adults in

your auditorium.

Change the information on the card on a weekly basis. There is some informa-

tion that is static (i.e. name, address, email, etc), but a key to getting the most

amount of people filling out the card every week is new information. This will

typically happen in the Next Step section.

Be really good at following up with people who fill out cards. In the back of ev-

eryones mind when they are filling this card out is, I wonder if anyone actually

reads these? When there is no, or slow follow up, their concern gets validated.Therefore, if someone uses your Communication Card to sign up to serve on your

maintenance team, make sure they get 24-48 hour follow up. This will reinforce

the behavior to fill out this card every week. It will also make the Communication

Card more personal. If they dont get this kind of follow up, the next time you

get up to ask them to fill out that card, they will think, Why should I? No one

reads these anyway.

GET KEY PLAYERS ON BOARDLead Pastor/Location Pastor: The lead pastor is the key person who makes the as-

similation process happen. First of all, nothing takes on much prominence if the

Lead Pastor is not fully convinced of it and actively promoting it. The assimilation

process is no different. So the Lead Pastor must make sure the Communication Card

gets mentioned at least twice on Sunday and is incorporating it into his message.

Secondly, you need to set up the system that you want or find someone more capable

than you to do this. You can NOT however, be absent from the process, especially

in the beginning. Currently, we are cresting over 400 and there is not a ministry of

the church I pay more attention to than how we are assimilating people. I find that

it helps to understand where people are at and how they are connecting. Finally,

the Lead Pastor needs to be working as hard as he can to make a connection with

as many guests as he can every week. This is especially important if you are under

200. Currently, Jubilee is at a point that I do not get a chance to meet every guest,


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but I make it a priority to connect with at least five per week and get lunch or coffee

with at least one or two. I, of course, only meet up with males and prioritize potential

leaders. If you are able to, I would set your schedule to invite one guest to lunch with

you every Sunday.

Administrative Assistant/Information Manager: You need someone who is good at

collecting data and entering into excel, google docs, and/or some church manage-

ment software. Information collection is key. See the Appendix for examples of the

information Jubilee collects.

Director of Assimilation: For most churches, the Lead Pastor and a good Administra-

tive Assistant will do, but as you grow, you will need someone who is both adminis-

trative and good with people to run this ministry while you keep an attentive eye on

the process.

Assimilation Team: As your church grows, it will take more and more people who are

willing to make this process happen. My advice is to keep the team small and only

grow the team if you have to. The reason for keeping the team small is that com-munication becomes increasingly difficult with a large team. Good communication

is a key part of the assimilation process (not letting people fall through the cracks).

Serving Coordinators & Small Group Leaders: If the truth be told, your whole church

is hopefully a part of the assimilation process. Hopefully, everyone is looking to do

their part to see new people connect with your church. Your serving coordinators and

small group leaders however, are key people because they need to know how to wisely

receive in new people as fast as possible. The faster people can get into serving op-portunities and relational networks in your church, the better.

THE PROCESS IN DETAIL

Step One: First-Time Guests

First-time guests receive a 36-hour email/phone response (see Appendix) from an

Assimilation Team member.

First-time guests receive a 72-hour handwritten letter response (see Appendix)from

the Lead Pastor/Location Pastor, which includes a book and any information they

might have requested (note: these letters are written on Monday morning). Some-

times, we will include an additional gift such as a $5 gift card to Starbucks. This


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typically happens after a Big Sunday.

Our hope with first-time guests is to simply say that, we noticed youand that we

care you were there.We typically dont try to plug them in anywhere unless they ask.

Step Two: Second-Time Guests

Second-time guests receive a 36-hour email/phone response from an Assimilation

Team member.

Second-time guests receive a 72-hour handwritten letter response from the Lead /

Location Pastor that includes both an encouragement on the information on how to

get more involved.

Second-time guests came back because they liked your service, generally agree with

your teaching, but may or may not be sold. A good second experience is vital as well

as strong follow up; and this time, we want to throw a hook out there on how to know

more. Typically, this means an invite to Get to Know Jubilee (which we do monthly).About 50% of first-time guests become second-time guests.

Step Three: Third-Time Guests+

Assimilation Team continues to make phone/email follow up, encouraging them and

showing them how they can get more involved. Sometimes they will try to person-

ally connect with them over coffee or introduce them to someone they would enjoy

spending time with (always males with males and females with females).

Guests who return for a third time have communicated clearly they like your church.

In their mind, they have had two good experiences and the only thing that will cause

them to drop off is if they confront a theology they just dont agree with or they never

get relationally connected. This is where the Assimilation Team is so important. May

it NEVER be that anyone leaves your church because they never felt a part. If you are

a small church, the Lead Pastor/Location Pastor should have definitely had a meal or

coffee with this person/couple by now.

About 40% of first-time guests become third-time guests (80% of second-time

guests).


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Step Four: Get to Know Jubilee

What is Get to Know Jubilee?

It is the Readers Digest version on what Jubilee is all about (15-20 min).

Top 3 Values

How to Connect

Who are the Leaders

Its an opportunity to connect with the Lead Pastor/Location Pastor.

It is an opportunity to ask questions.

When is Get to Know Jubilee?

Happens monthly

Happens in between our 9 am and 11 am service. Prior to going to two

services, we facilitated this event thirty minutes prior to our service start

time. We found that doing this event prior to service worked better for us.

Information We Provide

Newfrontierspublications Get to Know Jubilee brochure

CD of a message where Bryan explained what kind of community Jubilee

hopes to be

Flyer on current series

Flyer about Action Tracks

Wish List bookmark

Steps 5-9

The Assimilation Team and the Leadership Team work together to move people along

in steps 5 through 9 by providing easy and accessible information about each step.

Each Assimilation Team member is assigned a person whom they walk through each

step until Membership.


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APPENDIX

figure 1a: Jubilee Church Wish List, front

figure 1b: Jubilee Church Wish List, back

A-1


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join us on sundays @ ten a.m.

4228 South Kingshighway Blvd.

Saint Louis, MO 63109

314.832.9033

[email protected]

www.jubileestl.org

A-2

figure 2b: Jubilee Church Sunday Service Invitation, back

figure 2a: Jubilee Church Sunday Service Invitation, front

FOCUS | Appendix


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A-3

figure 3b: Jubilee Church Big Sunday Invitation; e.g. XXXPosed Church, back

figure 3a: Jubilee Church Big Sunday Invitation; e.g. XXXPosed Church, front

FOCUS | Appendix


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A-4

figure 4a: Jubilee Church Communication Card; front

FOCUS | Appendix


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A-5

figure 4b: Jubilee Church Communication Card; back

FOCUS | Appendix


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