We're Almost There!!!!

Can you believe it???? Easter is almost here. I am so excited. Easter is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the spring time with new birth, the green trees, and warm weather. This Easter is going to be the biggest event of our church. We are expecting 300 people to worship with us between the 8 am and 10 am service. Never before has this happened. And our prayer is that out of the 300 people that show up, over 150 people will be unchurched or dechurched people. I want this Sunday to be the biggest event for God.

Here's what's going on this week.

1. Jim Schmidt and I are praying everyday at 5:30 am in the Warm Room at the church.  Everyone is welcome to join us.
2. The Leadership Team is passing out over 300 door hangers this week throughout Lake Mills.
3. Jim Schmidt and I will be fasting (not eating any food) from Thursday to Saturday night.  During this time, we will be in a constant state of prayer for our church, the people in Lake Mills that God will send to us, and our Easter Services.
4. Over 300 postcards will be mailed to residents in Lake Mills inviting people to worship with us.
5. We will run the second newspaper ad in the Lake Mills Leader inviting people to worship with us.

What can you do?  Join us in praying for:

• Every member of our church.
• Our church Leadership.
• Our 8 am & 10 am Easter Worship Services.
• Every person in Lake Mills that receives an invitation to worship with us.  May God open their hearts to join us.

There are great things that are going to be done in this city!  Easter is just the start.

Easter 2010 Countdown

Easter is quickly approaching with only several weeks to go. APRIL 4 is Easter and we have a lot of work to do. I want this to be the best Easter we have ever had. We are going to Maximize Easter and reach out to all unchurched and dechurched people in our community.

Here's the game plan:

1. This week, you will receive door hangers to place on your neighbor's doors. On the hanger will be information about our church inviting them to join us for worship on Easter.
2. On March 21st, you will receive postcards during worship.  Give them to people who don’t go to church.  Hang them on bulletin boards.  Leave them on the table at the restaurant with your tip.  Mail them to friends and family.
3. We are going to hang up posters in the community inviting people to worship with us on Easter Sunday.
4. We will have a quarter page ad in the Lake Mills Leader for two weeks in a row inviting people to worship with us on Easter. 
5. If I can work out the details, we will have a LED sign in the Cook Memorial Garden advertising the Easter Service and welcoming people in.
6. Every 1st time guest that joins us on Easter will receive a free gift to thank them for coming.

I will be starting a new teaching series on Easter called “Prison Break.”  I am really excited about this new teaching series.

Please pray for me, Denise, and our church as we gear up for Easter.  Our whole Leadership Team is fasting and praying once a week and over 20 people in our congregation have committed to fasting and praying too.  Please pray that God sends 300 people to our worship services at 8 & 10 am.  Pray that 150 of those people are unchurched and dechurched people.  Pray that we will lead people to Christ during those services.

Our Vision is “Leading people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.”  This will happen on Easter!!!

The Beginning of my Continuing Education

As many of you know, I have started a 12 month continuing education program with Nelson Searcy at the Journey Church in New York City. I have read several of his books and really enjoy his work. Over the next 12 months, I will use this opportunity to keep you up to date about what I am learning. Even though I am going through this program, it is meant to benefit all of us.

Each month, there will be a two hour training call and then a one hour Q & A call. During the two hour call, I will listen to Nelson teach while I using my computer to look at his computer screen and view the material. The process is called a Webinar. I had my first Webinar on Feb. 18. This call was more of an introduction to the program. We learned more about what would be happening and what was required of us.  I will have homework every month which will include listening to trainings and reading books. It's a pretty intense program. Here are three "soft truths" that I learned.

1. Your church has more potential than is being realized right now

2. You are doing way too much of the wrong things

a.Things are not most beneficial

b. We need to do replacement ministry

3. For your church to grow, the Pastor must grow!

a.Growing churches only grow with growing leaders

Nelson stated that there 8 systems of all churches. Throughout the next 12 months, we will be studying each of the 8 systems. All 8 need to be healthy in order for the church to be healthy.  Here are the systems:

8 Systems of a Church: 1.Worship planning 2.Evangelism system 3.Assimilation system 4.Small group system 5.Ministry system 6.Stewardship system 7.Leadership system 8.Strategy system

If you would like more info on these 8 systems, let me know. As I learn more about these, I will pass this information to you.

It's going to be a good journey. I am looking forward to growing with you.