Easter is Coming!

Easter will be here in 12 days. This time of the year is one of the greatest seasons for growth in the life of the church. It also provides us an opportunity for our own spiritual growth and renewal. I would like to encourage you to do three things to provide you the experience of spiritual growth and renewal. Hopefully, you will start today.

The first thing is to renew. Take this time of the year to examine your own personal life. Is there an area where you need spiritual renewal? Ask God to renew that area in your life. Make a concerted effort to intensify your spiritual growth. Do a spiritual inventory on yourself. Is there anyone against whom you hold a grudge? Is there an area where you have not put God first? Have you failed to seek the lost for Christ? Are you secretly pleased over the misfortunes of others? Have you robbed God by withholding His due of time, talents, money? Are you in anyway careless with your body? Do you have any personal habits that are not pure? Are you dependable and honor your word? Do you listen to unedifying radio or T.V. programs? Are you thankful? Are you taken up with the cares of this life? How is your conversation with others? How is your attendance in church? Do you submit to your leaders? Do you give your best at work?

Get alone with God for an extended period of time – look into His Word as you answer these questions. I read the accounts of Jesus’ last week on earth and it always renews me.

The second thing I want to suggest to you is to invite someone to join you at the Easter services. Sit down and make a list of five to ten of your unchurched friends. Make a commitment to pray for each of them each day before Easter Sunday. Call them, email them, text them, Facebook them, visit them, do whatever it takes but make sure that you take personal responsibility for inviting them. Statistics show that 80% of people who visit a church for the first time come because someone they knew invited them.

Third, connect them to the church. If you invite them and they come it is your responsibility to help them connect to the church. Introduce them to others, sit with them in church, follow up with them the following week. The simple truth is that unless people connect to other members of the church within the first few days after their visit, they are unlikely to come back.

Join me in these three things and let’s see what God will do. (Ephesians 3:20)

Blessings, 

 P.S. Are you burdened? Facing some kind of trouble or tribulation? Do you wish you could experience peace in the unsettling times in which we live? Join me this Sunday in worship at 9:15am and 11:00am and discover how you can experience peace in an unstable world. 

Friends Day, Every Day

Every Sunday truly is a Friends Day. Any given Sunday you should be able to invite a friend and experience engaging music, challenging sermons, and a friendly smile in every aisle. However, First Free has designated a couple Sundays a year when we intentionally encourage people to bring a friend to church.

Our next Friends Day is March 22^nd. I hope you have been investing your life in someone you can invite to come and see how you worship God – what you experience when you are in church.

We use the expression “Getting ready for company” for Friends Day. Whenever you have company in your home you make sure it is an enjoyable visit and experience, things are clean, inviting and warm. So should we and will we on March 22^nd.

There are several practices of churches people are excited to take their unchurched friends to. As you read the list, see how First Free measures up:

1. Churches you are excited to take your unchurched friends to are genuinely glad unchurched people showed up. Everybody, especially greeters, sincerely say “We’re glad you’re here.”

2. Churches you are excited to take your unchurched friends to have people designated to serve them. Greeters are warm – open the door, take people to the room they are wanting to go to. Ushers help them to their seats and are warm, friendly and positive.

3. Churches you are excited to take your unchurched friends to are concerned with children’s safety. Security and safety are big deals to unchurched people. Numbering systems and escorts to nursery are provided. The nursery is clean – that is a must.

4. Churches you are excited to take your unchurched friends to are generous to unchurched people. Tours of the church are provided, gifts like a mug and Starbucks gift card are available.

5. Churches you are excited to take your unchurched friends to meet the needs of unchurched people. Complimentary coffee and muffin, clean bathrooms, easy access directions, signs and personal escorts.

6. Churches you are excited to take your unchurched friends to create services unchurched people love to attend. Everyday language, music they can relate to, relevant message, explanation of why we do what we do.

Is First Free a place you are excited to take your unchurched friends to? I pray so.

Blessings, 

P.S. A new series begins this week. You won’t want to miss Bridge Building: Developing a Heart of an Effective Bridge Builder. Remember our new service times, 9:15am and 11:00am and to set your clocks forward for Daylight Savings time! 

Questions that point you forward

I just read the blog from my ministry coach Bruce Johnson on the kinds of potential you see in yourself. He asks the question when you look into your future, what kind of future do you see?

The question matters because rarely does anyone exceed the level of their ambitions. One of the great life lessons is to dream big because whatever your ambition level is, that will become the glass ceiling of your potential (mentally, physically, spiritually, relationally, financially, emotionally and professionally).

So, what do you see for you and your life? You can change your ambition and therefore change the potential for your life. The biggest limitations on your life’s potential never exist outside of you, they exist within you – between your two ears. Change your ambition, change your life.

Johnson gives four very practical ideas on how you can dream bigger. Read voraciously. Study successful people. Ask God to give you a bigger dream. But the most intriguing to me was to ask, “Why not me?”

In other words, when you see someone who is great at something, ask, “Why not me?” or “Why can’t I be that?” or “Why can’t that be true for me as well?”

Try a few of these on for size. If you see someone who’s succeeding well at school, ask “Why not me?” If you see someone who is healthy and in shape, ask “Why not me?” If you see someone who has a successful, fun filled and romantic marriage, ask “Why not me?” If you see someone who can read 1,000 words per minute, ask “Why not me?” If you see someone who is really smart, ask “Why not me?”

So start asking the “Why not me?” question and get a bigger dream for yourself.

Blessings, 

P.S. Ever been in a conflict? Had a disagreement with someone? Feel like you’re having to live up to everyone else’s expectations? Do people and relationships complicate your life or simplify it? This Sunday we will probe into these questions and discover Biblical truth to govern our relationships. Join in Sunday morning at 9:00am or 10:30am. 

Change, Transitions, and Response

It doesn’t take being a rocket scientist to realize life is full of transitions. In fact, life is a steady road of transitions and we are all on loan to one another. It think the enemy of our souls has tricked us all into wanting the permanence of heaven to be the norm for the constant change on earth. But the Bible reminds us that we are not to worry about tomorrow, in other words, give it no thought. (cf. Matthew 6:34)

Not only that, we are to press on toward the goal of the upward call in Christ each day. (cf. Philippians 3:14) This means we can find ourselves focusing on serving and being served in the present stages of our own lives.
 
We know this since we’ve gone through transitions. The transition of diapers to toilet training, childhood to adolescence to adulthood, being single to being married, having children, having children launch and move on in their own lives, etc… We are also in the transition, as is everyone, moving from this life to the next. We are all here on loan to one another to be a part of this process.

The church is no different. There are and will always be transitions. New people coming, new staff serving and old staff transitioning. There were people before me as senior pastor and there will be new pastors after me. There were people before you at First Free and there will be people after you. Methods we used in the past will be transitioned into new methods in the future. (Did you ever think we would read the Bible digitally on phones?) Soon, we will add service time changes.

The question always remains for us concerning “Do we respond to transition now?” We should honor the past and help the future – but we do it all from right now!

It’s not uncommon for people to simply be disappointed and miss the opportunity to serve and be served. Instead, I want it to be common at First Free to respond with a heart which is ready to pitch in for the moment and for the need. (cf. Titus 3:14)

Life on earth is about change (growth) and you simply can’t demand change to go away. It would be the same as asking existence to quit existing or time to quit ticking. So we might as well catch on and pitch in. We have a world to reach for Christ beginning in our own neighborhood. We have a community – a city that needs us to be as salt and as light. We have a church that needs your God-given talents and resources. Let’s keep learning, growing, reaching, discipling, equipping. It’s our mission.

Blessings, 

 P.S. Life is about choices. How do I know what choices are best? How do my choices affect time? How can I redeem the time? Come Sunday at 9:00am or 10:30am to discover how to reduce your options in a option-filled world. 

On Mission

We live in a mission field. What that means is we need a mission force. That mission force is you and me. Remember what Jesus said “Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers (you and me) into His field.” (Matthew 9:38) The world – your sphere of influence, where you live, work and play is the harvest field. (cf. Matthew 13:38)

Christian influence is on the wane but the unchurched and those far from God are interested and open to hearing about spiritual things. Lifeway research tells us the following data concerning 20-30 year olds: 89% are willing to listen to someone tell them what they believe about Christianity. 61% are willing to study the Bible with a friend. 46% are willing to join a life group to learn more about the Bible and Jesus.

It is a mistake to say that young adults now are as connected to church as previous generations – they aren’t. But, it is a bigger mistake to think they are not open to spiritual things – because they are.

Unfortunately, most of us as Christ followers aren’t sharing the gospel. 61% of Christians haven’t shared the gospel in the last six months but 79% of them know it’s their responsibility.

So where does that leave us? We must invest in the lives of those who are far from God. We must see that it is every Christ follower’s responsibility to populate heaven. We must invite those far from God into our lives, homes, activities. As we build relationships with them it is an opportunity for God to open a door to speak about Him. 70% of them would come to church to see how you worship, why God is so important to you and be willing to be exposed to God’s truth if they were invited.

We know it is our responsibility to invest and share the gospel with our family and friends; might we have the courage to begin doing so? We have been called, we have been sent, now it is time to obey and go.

March 22^nd is Friend’s day. Invite someone you are investing in to church and see what God might do through that experience.

Blessings, 

P.S. How do your choices affect your time, priorities and life? How can I simplify my life and make it more manageable through the choices I make? If I only had a few days to live would that change my choices? Curious about what the Bible says about these questions? Check out Sunday services at 9:00 and 10:30am and don’t forget service times change to 9:15am and 11:00am on March 8^th (Which is also daylight savings time). 

I am asking for your help to think outside the box as we typically think in church relating to our culture. Most of what we program, talk about, emphasize with great value is married adults with families. We should continue to minister to this important demographic, however, we should also acknowledge with great value and importance of that “invisible” enormous multitude of unmarried adults. Over a third of the population of Lincoln (our mission field) fits into this category. But do we intentionally value them? I am asking you to make greater effort in this important segment of our city.

Recently, I read an article written by Brandon Cox giving churches some helpful tips for loving and ministering to single adults who are members or guests at church. As I list the tips, ask yourself “How and I doing in reaching adults who are unmarried?” Let’s strive to see them. Pray for them. Love them wholeheartedly as God does.

Here are the tips:

1. See each single adult as a valued individual, ready to meet God and serve Him with or without a boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé, spouse or children.

2. Greeters and Ushers be sensitive to what you say. “Are you alone?” or “It’s just you?” may indicate that he or she is incomplete.

3. Acknowledge single adults as full-fledged participants, not just as sideline people. Let’s plug them into leadership and ministry roles to fit their gifts.

4. Invite them into your life groups even if it is made up of couples. Offer choices to them to choose a group they would enjoy.

5. Encourage them to make the most of their singleness. Recognize the extra gift they may bring to the church such as more freedom to serve, travel and give.

6. Don’t be a “matchmaker.” Avoid communicating “It’s God’s will that you find a mate.” Paul taught singleness as a gift. (1 Corinthians 7) They are here to worship, to serve, to support.

7. Include them in worship, service and church events as you would anybody.

8. Provide them quality and unique single events to their specific life circumstances.

9. Be a friend with singles. Invest in them. Invite them to dinner. Encourage them.

10. Be constantly aware of single adults all around you at work, in the grocery line, at the ball game and in your neighborhood. Invite them to First Free.

Blessings, 

P.S. Feel overwhelmed, overworked, overscheduled? Feel that your pace of life is out of control? Need answers to the stress? Come this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 and discover what the Bible has to say about Simplify: Making Life More Manageable. 

People Pleaser

I have always been a people pleaser. Can you identify? I’ve memorized Galatians 1:10, obviously I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. But I am still struggling with wanting people’s approval. I have talked to other pastors through the years and have found that many of them struggle with it as well.

We want people to like our sermons, our jokes, our counsel, our leadership decisions, our family, our personality. You probably know how it works. You try to make everybody around you happy so they will like you only to discover you bottle up feelings of frustration and disagreements.

I just came across an article describing a book that I have ordered entitled: People-Pleasing Pastors: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Approval Motivated Leadership. While the book is written by Charles Stone, a pastor to pastors, the applications are fitting for anyone who struggles with people-pleasing.

He tells pastors, leaders, and anyone there are certain people you have permission not to please anymore. One group is your critics. Every person has them. Not every person has the permission or right to speak into your life. Listen to your critics but fully embrace your true identity in Christ. As His child, you can learn to deflect untrue and unloving criticism. Live to please God alone.

Peers. No person can keep all their friends and peers happy, let alone gain all their approval. Be who God has made you to be while respecting who God has called your peers to be.

A non-believing world. God does not want you to water down or alter His truth so we can be understood by a world far from Him. Speak to the culture in a way it can understand, be sensitive, loving, grace-filled and wise but don’t avoid the truth to be liked by the world.

Your family. What? Living to please your spouse and kids can kill you, your marriage, your relationship with your children and relationship with close friends. Why? To keep them happy you often become dishonest about your faults, failures, internal struggles and say things not true just to keep your family happy.

We all have only one person to please – God. Serve others. Encourage others. Work alongside others well. But live to please an audience of one – Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Thanks for letting me share one of my personal struggles with you. Pray for me as I learn to live to please my Creator.