11 things to know for 2011...

Happy New Year Trinity Church!  As we head into 2011, there are the eleven things that I want each of you to know. 

1. Prayer is the foundation.  Join us New Year’s Eve for a time of prayer as we start 2011 by intentionally seeking God’s presence.  This worship based prayer time will be from 10 pm until midnight.  We also need your help filling prayer slots for the 24/7 prayer event.  If you are able to fill a slot please call the church office.  Prayer is the work of God’s people, moving the church in the mission of bringing God glory.

2. Focused on being the church.  This Sunday, January 2^nd, we will celebrate and clarify our direction as a church family.  The Elder Board believes God is asking Trinity Church to be a prayer driven, kingdom multiplying church that makes disciples who love God, love others, and serve the world.  We will be talking about being the church instead of going to church.  Too often church is viewed as an event, activity, or location.  But, the church is God’s people fulfilling God’s mission here on this earth.  Being the church means we are people focused on God’s glory and this is revealed by changed lives.  You won’t want to miss this Sunday, and if you must, check it out online.

3. Groups are essential to following Jesus.  We encourage everyone to get in a group and engage in the lives of others on a personal level.  The investment we make in Christ-centered relationships matters for eternity.  Groups that are focused on discussing what God says and then living it out produce changed lives.  Being connected to other followers of Jesus is how we grow in our ability to love God, love others, and serve the world at a deeper level.  Group sign-up is going on now.

4. Multi-site launch.  We are on the verge of announcing our first multi-site location.  This is a huge praise!  We continue to seek God as he works out the details to impact communities throughout Western Iroquois County with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is exciting to be on track for an Easter 2011 campus launch!

5. Ministry teams.  Ministry teams are the foundation of our church’s ministry areas.  As we have transitioned to the “team” format, we have experienced changes in how we do ministry.  This is healthy, and will continue as we put people in positions to use their gifts to lead ministry areas for God’s glory.

The worship ministry is an area that I would like to address specifically.  This past fall it underwent a time of transition.  With the impending launch of our first multi-site campus, we transitioned from an individual team approach to an overall worship ministry team approach.  This has caused some confusion in our church family and I take responsibility for that.  Our worship ministry team has done an excellent job in the transition and deserves our full support.  They do an excellent job in seeking to lead us into God’s presence with heartfelt and thoughtfully designed worship services every weekend.

6. God’s provision continues.  We began this fiscal year with an aggressive budget goal, as we looked to the launch of our first multi-site campus.  As of this communication, we are ahead of our budget need for the fiscal year.  This should be an encouragement to each of us.  It also serves as financial confirmation that we are on track with the vision God has given us as a church. 

7.  Online giving.  Another way to facilitate faithful giving, is a secure online option.  A current user commented, “Online giving helps me be consistent in my giving.  I never miss a week!”  This year, consider online giving. You can check it out at www.mytrinity.tv.

8. Decisions to follow Jesus.  This past weekend we saw God do amazing things at our Christmas services... 12 people made decisions to follow Jesus, and more than 50 people recommitted their lives to following him.  This is a huge praise!   As we head into 2011, join me in praying that God would continue to move in the lives of people and that they would follow Jesus.  What a blessing it would be as a church family to see at least one person a week come to know Christ personally.

9. Intern on staff.  We have an intern joining our church staff.  Ashley Wolf is a senior from Lincoln Christian University who will be working with the Community Life and Missions ministry areas.  This is an unpaid position.  She will be looking for work in the local community to offset her expenses and will be with us from the beginning of January until the first part of May 2011.

10.  Serving people.  A HUGE THANK YOU to all of the amazing volunteers that step up week after week to make sure all of our services and events happen.  Your willingness to do what you do makes an eternal difference in God’s kingdom. 

11.  A spiritual battle.  These are exciting days for Trinity Church.  While there is much to celebrate, there is also a real spiritual battle underway.  Ephesians 6:12 is clear that if we are in Christ, we are never battling one another.  I ask for your partnership in praying at a whole new level as we head into the next year.  Prayer is the beginning and end of this list for a reason. 

My prayer for every one of you is that you would love Jesus more at the end of this coming year than you do today.  I am so grateful to be the Lead Pastor here and part of the team that God has assembled to lead Trinity Church in the pursuit of him and his heart for our church.   

May God bless and keep each of you as we head into the New Year!

“Missional” Communities

In my last post I talked about being the church instead of simply going to church.  The best way for us to live as the church is to be part of a smaller community of followers of Jesus that meet regularly to live life together being connected to each other and to God’s Word.  This smaller community is where growth actually happens.  Andy Stanley is known for saying, “things happen in circles that never happen in rows.”  When we step out of the classroom mentality to the active partner in living in God’s presence mentality, everything changes.

Acts 2:42-47 describes the church as the first mega-church was launched almost 2,000 years ago.  Over time that relational community has turned into something far different from the biblical description of Christ centered community.

A healthy group will move past simply talking about what the Bible says to actively doing what Jesus says.  When we do that we can really focus on the mission of being the church instead of attending church activities.  That is what “Love God, Love Others, Serve the World” is all about.  Our mission as followers of Jesus is to actively pursue being part of God’s disciple making mission, not to keep busy with inward focused activity.

As a church family we ought to be praying that we would each be connected to a group of fellow followers of Jesus.  We should also pray that those groups would become fully functioning, healthy “missional” communities.   The life-changing power of God is displayed when people get serious about living out what God says in community.  What an amazing way for people to see exactly who Jesus is.

Being the Church

Christmas time is a special time for many people for all kinds of different reasons.  You don’t even need to believe in Jesus to have the Christmas holiday be a significant event in your life.  But as the church, Christmas for us should be different.  Christmas offers us a great opportunity to be the church.

The word “church” in our culture has a few different meanings.  To some it is a building set apart to practice religion; to others it is a religious activity to attend.  But neither of those views aligns with how the Bible uses the word “church.”  In the New Testament the word translated as church always refers to a group of people never to an activity or a place.  The church is the community of followers of Jesus.  That means being part of a church has to do with who I am not an activity I attend. 

Christmas time offers the community of believers a special opportunity to impact the lives of people who are far from God.  Few of us need more activity in our lives but many of us need true community.  People were created to be in right relationship with God and one another.  Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, where God came to earth as a living and breathing person.  The birth of Jesus represents the beginning of our opportunity to be joined with God and other people in real community.

For followers of Jesus that means, Christmas is time to invest in other people by being the church.  What are some ways you can be the church this Christmas?