Category Archives: Church Planting

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Just Follow – The Direction for 217church

I am SO PUMPED about the next season at 217church! Starting Easter Sunday we enter into a brand new series called “Live Differently.”  This series will address the heart transformations that happen when we follow Jesus, particularly in the area of spiritual, financial, physical and family health.  Our #1 energy going forward will be to architect a church where discipleship and multiplication flow at the speed of the Holy Spirit.  I believe a church plant happens in three Phases:  As a matter of fact I think every church needs to cycle through these phases every so often recognizing that churches have seasons.

#1 Establish – Getting everything up and running, getting all of our vision, systems, values cemented so we can have a strong future.  We have had an INCREDIBLE Launching pad for this church.  WE ARE ESTABLISHED.

#2 Empower – People flourishing and 217groups owning the responsibility to make the vision of the church happen through serving, learning, inviting, caring (praying) and eating together.  Every group cell has the power and the DNA of the church built in.  Experience a 217group and you have experienced the potency of 217church!  Every group has the relationship base to become a disciple making group.  I believe we are in the dog days of the Empowerment stage. I believe we will make a major transition from Easter 2012 to the Fall into the following stage:

#3 Extend – Multiplying Disciples, which multiply groups in different neighborhoods and then eventually send missionaries abroad. We will launch various discipling models for people in different circumstances but they will have one marked uniqueness.  They will be 1-1 transformational relationships.

 

Here is what this means for us:

A Philosophy I hold close is I believe discipleship best happens 1-1, life on life.  I am amazed at these two simple words of Jesus… “Follow Me” (Mark 1:13) I have had a 1-1 coaching/discipling relationship ongoing for almost 10 years now.

The vision statement for 217church is to “Create Environments where people can meet and FOLLOW Jesus.”  Meeting someone is one thing, following someone is a totally different thing. Following Jesus is hard work and I need help.  If we pattern our lives after Jesus eventually we will have to battle the heart issues of pride, possessions and purity. Paul encourages in 2 Timothy 1:13, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” 

Our guiding word will be COACHING…why coaching?  I believe it best describes what a disciple maker does! Coaching is a discipline within disciple making that we will focus on.

 

Here are our guiding principles:

#1 We will coach in order to learn to coach –  The second part of Mark 1:13 is often forgotten when talking about disciple making environments… “and I will make you become fishers of men.”  You are discipled in order to disciple. What God entrusts to you through relationships, he EXPECTS you to impart to others.  Jesus fully expected the disciples to do something with their experiences with Jesus.  They were transformed by Jesus and were responsible to lead and disciple others.

#2 We will leverage 217groups to do life on life coaching – By the fall every leadership team member and every small group leader will have a coach.  This is someone who will disciple them.  This represents about 15% of our congregation.

#3 We will Develop a coaching culture that will trump everything else – This is how we will measure growth in our church.  Everything in our church will point to coaching relationships.  This multiplication will lead us into the Extend phase:  2 Timothy 2:2 says “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”   That’s FOUR GENERATIONS of discipleship in 1 VERSE! Did you see that?

#4 We will use various tools/methods – There is no one size fits all, but we have our hands on some great proven tools and some we developed on our own that speak to the culture of Central New Jersey and our church.

This will not be easy.  This will be messy. This will be hard work.  This will be Holy Spirit driven.  This will be a movement. We will get attacked.  We will persevere.  We will be transformed. This will be very expensive…

“Salvation is free but discipleship will cost you everything.”  Your leaders are preparing…Who is in?

 

 

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Why Signage Matters

After 650 miles of driving, with my family of 5 in the mini-van, we were about to ascend a hill on I-80 East in Pennsylvania.  There it was towering above the tree line. It stood alone in the sky as a symbol of restaurant supremacy.  The sign actually looked suspended from heaven. A haven for weary travelers waiting to grease their arteries with “potatoes” and suck down endless amounts of HFCS…AKA Sugar.  You guessed it, the Golden Arches. A well placed sign stops people in their tracks!

Why was the SIGN so powerful?

#1 Uniqueness – It stood out – it was perfectly placed, don’t place your sign among the clutter of others, find a spot and own it.  The genius is they made their recognizable symbol unique by placing it strategically.

#2 Placement – It was the only sign “in the sky” – It was obvious someone figured out how tall those trees would grow and built that sign with maximum visibility and powerful effect.  View your sign from EVERY angle you can, walk through, drive by, fly by, view the sign and make sure you get it right!

#3 Brand – It was just a symbol – It wasn’t full of all their daily specials.  They were just trying to communicate “we’re here, c’mon in!”

#4 Readability – After becoming a “yard sign” junkie, I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of the worst yard signs ever.  Traveling at 40 miles an hour, you expect me to read your 12 font lettering on your yard sign?  Communicate MORE with LESS words.  The placement must match the purpose of the sign.

#5 Visibility – Built on a platform that had to extend at least 125 feet in the sky…enough said.  Do whatever you have to making certain your sign WILL be seen.

Now, think about your organization…I happen to pastor a mobile church.  Having a mobile church presents all kinds of challenges when it comes to communication. Where should people park? Where do I take my kids? Which theater do I go to?  Is this the right part of the building?

We set up close to 50 signs EVERY week.  On the street approaching the theater, driving up, coming in, everywhere.  Every sign matters, is placed meticulously and has designated font size and coloring to communicate the intended result!   But please don’t forget… Your PEOPLE are your best signs.  glossy print may wow someone, but a high quality experience will keep people coming back.  Almost every week we get feedback stating how easy it was to find our meeting rooms, BUT…The people made the experience.  The signs serve the people and the vision:  “The church for people who aren’t here yet”

Take some time and ensure your signs maximize the leverage above.