church vision – My Ministry Breakthrough

2_01: Leonard Sweet – How Almonds Keep Us Focused on Jesus

By mmb_admin | September 5, 2019

Breakthrough Ideas with Len:

Show me a weakness inventory and I will show you where God can bless others through your life.
Our translation of the word “Word” for LOGOS is inadequate; we must embrace the tension.
In a “well curve world” we should live out of the overlap of opposites coming together.
Our world is both getting more global and more tribal – don’t resolve the tension and celebrate them.
We were made for this in between place… paradoxy is orthodoxy.
All middles are going, and churches who want to play safe in the middle will be going too.
The sanctuary should not be a safe place from risk, but instead be a safe place to take risk and bring the extremes together.
What does it mean for us to bring the extremes together and not resolve the tension?
Churches will be getting bigger and getting smaller, we cannot be afraid of the opposites.
The Early church had to be properly oriented – facing East toward the future of Christ’s return.
The double orienting of every church is toward the future and toward Christ.
Are we keeping our eyes on the future, or are we getting lost in programmatic distractions?
If we can keep our focus on Christ, we can have a future.

Breakthrough Resources in this Episode:

Rings of Fire: Walking in Faith through a Volcanic Future

Author of more than two hundred articles, 1500+ published sermons and sixty books, Leonard Sweet’s recent publications include the groundbreaking textbook on preaching, Giving Blood: A Fresh Paradigm for Preaching, the best-seller From Tablet to Table, The Bad Habits of Jesus, and the fall 2019 release of the twenty-year successor to SoulTsunami, Rings of Fire: Walking in Faith Through a Volcanic Future.

Len often appears on the “50 Most Influential Christians in America” listings, and in 2010 was selected by the top non-English Christian website as one of the “Top 10 Influential World Christians of 2010”. His “Napkin Scribbles” podcasts can be accessed on leonardsweet.com or spotify. His Twitter and Facebook microblogs are ranked as some of the highest in the religious world.

Len works with graduate students at four institutions: Drew University, where he has occupied the E. Stanley Jones Chair, George Fox University, Tabor College, and Evangelical Seminary, where he currently holds the Charles Wesley Senior Professorship of Doctoral Studies. In 2015 he launched his own homiletics resource preachthestory.com. One of the most sought-after speakers in the religious world today, he resides on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands.

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10: Chris Driver – Fifth Street Baptist, Levelland TX

By mmb_admin | November 19, 2018

Breakthrough ideas with Chris:

The ethos of six-man football reflects the grit and resilience of small-town life on the west Texas plains. It also inspired this church’s vision.
Who will reach the small town? Who will take the gospel to those places that were once the center of life in our rural communities?
This church of 80 has plans to plant 100 churches, and God is providing in exciting every resource they need. How was your weekend?
Three church planting breakthroughs from the south plains of west Texas.
What does church planting look like in the small towns of west Texas? Learn about Fifth Street Baptist’s disciple-making mission points.
What does authentic and effective discipleship look like in a small town?
Small town residents understand living in community – you don’t have to teach that. But they desperately need to experience Christ-centered community.
You don’t have to teach community and caring for each other in the small town, you just need to connect it to Gospel purpose.
God delights in using small things in big ways. Here is an example from the southern plains of west Texas.
How do we let our people truly invest in each other’s lives? Community is bigger than just having Sunday school or small groups.
What happens when a church has a lot of history but not a lot of legacy?
Years spent in existence as a church do not automatically amount to multiplication influence in the community by the church. Hear the story of one established church leaving a legacy.
This church believes that reaching 10 people in 100 small towns is the way that a church of 80 can reach 1000 people each week.
Relationships overcome geography when discipleship looks like this.
What happens when you really believe that discipleship is for every believer not just the spiritually elite?
Claim ownership of your own discipleship first. Stop waiting for someone to disciple you and start being a disciple maker.
Effectiveness in the small town means that every man woman and child can realistically hear the gospel and have a chance to respond. Here is one way.
A church of 80 attendees has planted five churches in the last 18 months. How is your multiplication strategy working?
Smaller is easier to reproduce. There is something to being a simple church in simple places with simple people sharing a simple message.
Is your operational vision bigger than just more people in weekly worship? It should be.
You can sometimes make people do what you want them to do, but vision ownership like this goes beyond getting what you want to be done.
What happens when a church starts the multiplication process as soon as they start meeting. What does it mean to be “born pregnant” as a church?
God has not forgotten the small town. He has a plan and a purpose to do big ministry in small places.
Get out of the office. You cannot influence people you’re not in contact with.
Busyness in the office does not equate to effective ministry. Ministry “along the way” reflects the way of Jesus.
Irresponsible vision reflects an indescribable God. Be faithful with what He has given you and leave the results to Him.

Breakthrough resources in this episode:

Fifth Street Baptist Church

Exponential Conference

God Dreams by Will Mancini

Download the whole Fifth Street story: Big Vision for Small Places

Real Life Discipleship by Jim Putman

Chris Driver is the Senior Pastor of Fifth Street Baptist Church in Levelland, Texas. Chris enjoys coaching youth sports and is passionate about the sport of six-man football.

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Episode #8: Phil EuBank

By mmb_admin | October 22, 2018

Breakthrough ideas with Phil:

Reaching the lost requires removing every possible barrier of understanding – even some things you love.
It’s time to let go of some of these weird practices of the church that have nothing to do with Jesus.
Are your worship services evangelistically understandable? If you are not sure, they probably are not.
“Thank you for making me not feel stupid.” How to be a church where people can seek God and walk back to him.
Inspiring people to trade church the way we want it to become a place where God is moving is a critical job of pastoral leadership.
Making it possible to follow Jesus with a few non-essential *(stylistic, personal preference-driven) barriers as possible.
Talk about where God is calling you to go and don’t get tired of talking about it. Don’t get bored or give up… persistence toward God’s better future is critical.
Find the common ground of a church on mission and filter needed changes through a better future that God has ahead.
A unifying direction must be more than a catchphrase or neat sentence but brings a thread of accountability and direction to every part of the organization.
Everybody says they want vision but what they don’t realize they mean is that they want their own vision. There is no way to satisfy every expectation only to go where God wants us to go.
It’s easy in ministry to get consumed by the activity and lose track of Gods productivity in the lives of people.
When there are no stories, either we are not paying attention or what we are doing is not actually working.
Without purpose and meaning toward life change – church becomes a hobby and a terrible one at that.
When team members are free to share good ideas and share new approaches, they are able to take greater and greater ownership.
Time rarely solves the problems on their own… next steps matter more than a statement.
Separate the urgent from the important. Not everything that is happing now is important and not everything that is important is happening now.
When everything seems urgent, your team cannot easily discern what is actually important.
Deciding when you use these essential communication tools can define a clear line between the urgent and the important.

Breakthrough resources from this episode:

God Dreams – Will Mancini

Deep & Wide – Andy Stanley

VOXER – staff communication tool

H3 Leadership – Brad Lomenick

The Problem of God – Mark Clark

The Reason for God – Tim Keller

Phil EuBank moved to Colorado two and half years ago where he serves as the Lead Pastor of Eastern Hills Community Church. Phil makes sure everyone knows that He has a gorgeous and brilliant wife and 3 really cute kids. He loves seeing people who have given up on God or church unnecessarily coming to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

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Episode #3: Brady Cooper

By mmb_admin | August 12, 2018

Breakthrough Ideas with Brady Cooper:

To fight complacency in the church, we must stay hungry evangelistically.
Building a church culture that engages men, requires a shared value toward challenging men.
For his staff, the intentional discipleship of 2-3 other people is not up for negotiation.
Keeping your family healthy is your primary responsibility as a senior pastor.
Growing a thriving church can quickly produce a starving family, pastors can and should seek professional help.

Brady’s call to preach came during his days at Belmont College. After graduating from Belmont and later from Southern Seminary, he served New Vision Baptist Church as the youth pastor. Brady left for First Baptist Hendersonville and returned in 2003 to serve as New Vision’s Senior Pastor. The church has grown from 400 to 5,000 in weekly attendance over the last 15 years, with three campuses (one inside of a jail!). Most days off for Brady include hunting, fishing or enjoying a great ball game.

Breakthrough Resources:

Accidental Pharisees by Larry Osborne

New Vision Outdoors

RealTime Congregational Survey

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Episode #2: Dave Rhodes

By mmb_admin | August 12, 2018

Breakthrough Ideas with Dave Rhodes:

The physical location of your church and the mission of your church should be inseparable.
Moving to the fringe of the organization, instead of the center, empowers younger generations to step up and lead.
Boomers and Millennials CAN get along; however, each generation must take a different approach to the other.
You cannot multiply the church at the rate of possible opportunity, only at the rate of people development.
Are you working to rest or resting to rest? Why this matters.

Dave currently works as the Pastor of Discipleship and Movement Initiatives at Grace Fellowship Church and co-founder of Younique in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a sought-after speaker, writer, consultant, and coach. He is the co-founder of Wayfarer, former US Team leader for 3DM, and a collaborative partner for several other movement organizations specializing in discipleship, leadership, and mission.

Breakthrough Resources:

The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard

100 Movements

Auxano

Church Unique by Will Mancini

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