Church Planting Day 6: Small Groups

“We were created for community.” –It’s a phrase I say all the time at Awaken, and that’s evident throughout Scripture. After all, according to Genesis 1:26, God created us in His image, and God Himself is a community. So, it would only make sense that the most accurate way that we can reflect His image would be from within community. Today we discussed the why, when, and how of launching, structuring, and growing small groups within a church.

If you know me, I’m passionate about this subject, so it was fun to talk about. We began class by discussing the reason behind small groups, which admittedly, was something I didn’t fully grasp until just a couple years ago. I didn’t grow up going to churches that had small groups or emphasized them, so I didn’t really feel the need to implement them. I knew the church needed them, but I didn’t personally feel the need…until I got involved! Now I love them!

We began our discussion on the why and how with a video from my good friend, Josh Bowers, the Small Groups Pastor at Fresh Life Church in Montana. I learned a lot from their structure and vision for groups as we were launching ours, and theirs have been very successful, so it was great to hear from Josh.

After the video, we discussed the sermon-based small group structure of Awaken Groups, how we train leaders and co-leaders, what a semester of groups looks like, and how we utilize the website and other technology to enhance groups. We also covered some key lessons I’ve learned and challenges we’ve faced along the way…

Start with your vision. Vision defines structure.

This is one principle that applies not only to small groups, but to many other things as well. The what determines the how. Beginning with the vision helps you to define how you’re going to get to the goal. One of the questions that was asked was about any of the negative sides of sermon-based small groups. I’m not aware of any negative aspects of it because they help us to fulfill the vision of the groups: the social aspect and the application aspect.

Cut the competition.

If you looked at an Awaken events calendar, you’d notice a clump of events over winter break and a clump over summer break, but not much during semesters of Awaken Groups. There’s a reason for that. Americans are naturally busy people, and don’t have time to commit to their families, jobs, church, and small group, while also attending other programs and events. Although the extracurricular programs and events can be good, often times the good things can compete against the best things. At Awaken, this realization led to a complete overhaul of our calendar of events, and even led to the end of our Wednesday night service (Shocking, I know. Get over it, and get in a group!).

Satan hates small groups.

Although Awaken Groups is the place where we see the deepest growth, it’s also a place where some of the greatest attack and division can stem from. We cover each semester of Awaken Groups in prayer, and recognize that especially in areas where God is moving deeply in people’s lives, Satan will kick back. My philosophy is this: if Satan hates it and is trying to stop it, I must be doing the right thing! In fact, if he hates it, it must glorify God, and I want to do it even more! I wanted to remind the students that small groups, along with many other aspects of ministry, is a spiritual battle that must be fought with spiritual means.

From Strangers to Family

Last night at Awaken, we did something that we’ve never done before: Winter Break Awaken Groups. We don’t normally meet in groups over the break, but there was so much excitement that had built from the last semester, that it just felt right. Many people who came to the last night of our group were sad that it was ending, so I told them we’d do more.

So, last night we invited everyone from the church to come, and it went awesome. We had a little over 30 adults show up, so we split up into 3 different groups with some of the leaders from last semester. It was a unique dynamic since many of the people who came have only been coming to Awaken for a week or longer. Most people met for the very first time in last night’s groups.

Some may think that would be really awkward, but it wasn’t at all. Every group had some great discussion based on last Sunday’s message. In our group, there was laughter, tears, honesty, and heartfelt prayers for each other.

What struck me as I sat in that circle was that I didn’t have to know people or have much in common with them at all, as long as we have Jesus in common. In fact, for some of us, that was about all that we had in common! We had a school teacher, a couple Army guys, a few single college-age people, some young married couples, etc. And although we grew up in different ways, in different states, we all had Jesus in common…and that’s all we needed!

If you go to Awaken, but you’re not connected, don’t miss our next Winter Break Awaken Group coming up Tuesday, January 15, 2013, and definitely don’t miss our Spring semester of Awaken Groups! We have some exciting things planned for this next semester!

3 Ingredients to Thrive

As a staff, a main topic of our conversation and meetings deals with how to help people thrive in their walks with Christ. We want to be intentional and as personal as possible in that process. Looking at Scripture and at people throughout the church, we’ve narrowed it down to 3 ingredients that cause people to thrive in their walk with the Lord:

GIVING

Being financially invested in the work of the ministry is a huge contributing factor to thriving in your walk with the Lord. It’s one thing to say you believe in the work God is doing and it’s another to put your money where your mouth is. At Awaken, we believe that souls are the best way to invest. We don’t just believe it, we live it, and we encourage people to live it out as well.

And I speak from experience when I say that watching God use the ministries we’ve invested in to save souls always makes the sacrifice worth it!

SERVING

God has given everyone a gift, but it’s not for us – it was given to us to re-gift to others! It’s very easy to transfer our culture’s consumer mindset into Christianity when you’re not actively serving. Serving others gives you a glimpse into their lives and provides ongoing reminders that you’re not the only one with needs, issues, and time constraints. I love seeing people get involved and fall in love with the people they’re serving and serving with! We try to make that as simple as possible at Awaken by hosting quarterly “Get Plugged In” meetings, where people can learn more about ministries at Awaken and sign up to serve.

This month, we’re debuting a new aspect to Get Plugged In that we’re calling “Test Drive.” Just like on a car lot, you don’t want to make a long-term commitment until you’ve taken the car for a spin, we want to help people find a place to serve that they enjoy. Often times, churches (we’ve been guilty of this too) make it pretty challenging to get involved and serve. We want to make sure people find a good place to serve and serve in an area that they’re passionate about. By selecting “Test Drive,” they can show up to serve in that ministry one time, no strings attached!

COMMUNITY

We’ve only run 3 semesters of Awaken Groups so far, but I truly believe it’s one of the most vital and invigorating things we do as a church. Just like the nation of Israel marched into Canaan and conquered the key cities together, we battle alongside each other on a corporate level on Sunday mornings. However, when Canaan was divided up, each of the tribes had more battles to fight, and it’s the same with us. On the other 6 days of the week, we all face our own battles, and it’s vital to have a group of Christians that you can trust to battle alongside you.

Over the summer, while Awaken Groups take  a bit of a break, we’ll be providing some more social events, classes, training courses, and more so that we can keep people connected in community outside of Sunday mornings.

Question: can you think of any other vital areas that God has used in your life? How have you seen God use giving, serving, and community in your own life?

The launch

Tomorrow begins a new season at Awaken: we move from 2 Sunday morning services to 3 (8:30am, 10:15am, 12pm) and we kick off a verse-by-verse study through Revelation! Awaken Groups are now in full-swing as well – each group has met once now and will meet 12 more times over this semester. The Uprising is also right around the corner (and we have a HUGE announcement about that dropping today at 3:14pm at wearetheuprising.com), then Easter comes just 3 weeks after that (which we also have big plans for this year)!

Needless to say, this is a crazy season, so in the midst of it all, I’ve been keeping my eyes on 3 things…

1) Jesus. Of course. He’s the reason we do it all and our strength to keep going.

2) My wife. Not only is she amazingly gorgeous, but she’s a huge support to me, my best friend, and a constant source of encouragement to keep going strong. Our times of prayer together are even more fuel for the fire!

3) My team. I couldn’t do it all without them. That goes for my church staff, as well as everyone serving in a ministry, praying, supporting the church financially, etc. I could never do all that I do without the support of a faithful team.

Thanks to all who play such a big part in the ministry of Awaken. Not only are you reaching MANY people for Jesus, but you’re refreshing me while you’re at it! Double win!

P.S. Tomorrow’s forecast during church shows snow. You better believe Awaken is still in session – all 3 services! Don’t let the forecast scare you. Strap on some snow boots and get to church tomorrow – the coffee will be hot and the worship will be rocking’! You won’t want to miss the launch of Revelation!

 

Oh, and one more thing: wait till you see what we’ve done to the stage! WOW!

Definition and Focus

WARNING: There’s a lot in this blog. If Awaken is your home church, I encourage you to bookmark this page so you can come back and read, watch, and listen to all that is below. It defines who we are as a church and what our focus is.

I almost never blog on Wednesdays because I’m normally studying to teach on Wednesday night. However, tonight is the first Wednesday night since the church began that we don’t have a service. I will be studying today, but I’m not in over my head like normal (yet).

Canceling our Wednesday night services was just one of quite a few changes, shifts, additions, and subtractions that we have made at Awaken as of late. I took January to define who we are as a church and the direction I feel the Lord is leading. I cast vision, we added and subtracted some things, and most of all, I defined what we were going to channel our time, resources, and energy into.

Here’s a brief look at some definition and focus that I gave in January, as well as the audio and video of each message, in case you missed them or want to watch again…

Awaken Church is a very simple church. Instead of doing a lot of things ok, we do a few things very well: we specialize. At Awaken, we specialize in 3 main things…

1) EVANGELIZING

We have an elite calling (ambassadors for Christ) and an urgent message (the Gospel) to deliver to a dying world.

One of our primary reasons for living is to share that news with those who don’t know Jesus. At Awaken, we do that in a few ways. We have a street evangelism team called Illuminate that meets every other Saturday to hit the streets and share the Gospel. We’ve only gone out once so far and we’ve already gotten to pray with 2 people to receive Christ and 1 to rededicate his life to Christ! We also launched the beginning of a movement called The Uprising. It’s a series of large-scale events focused on aggressively and unapologetically reaching a lost generation with the hope of Jesus. Our first-ever Uprising event is Wednesday, March 14, 2012. It’s going to be massive and YOU can still be involved by attending our Join The Movement Meeting on Thursday, February 9 at 6:30pm at Awaken Church. It doesn’t matter which denomination or church you represent, you’re invited!

Church events aren’t the only way to evangelize, though. I always encourage people to be intentional and invitational with their faith in their schools, work places, classrooms, and neighborhoods.

Watch my message about evangelizing below or click HERE to download the audio.

2) DISCIPLING

We were created for community.

Adam wasn’t good by himself and neither are you! We put a lot of time, planning, and resources into our small groups called Awaken Groups, which started signups last weekend. People get really excited about it. Signup launched at 6pm online at awakengroups.org, and we had 15 signups within the first 44 seconds! The times of corporate worship are vital, but we can’t stop there. Awaken Groups are designed to help you take what you learned on Sunday and walk it out together as a group. The groups are laid-back and discussion-driven, and we have more groups than ever before, with at least 1 meeting every night of the week (except for Wednesdays, which we intentionally left open). Part of our motivation for canceling our Wednesday night services was to drive more people into small groups, where the deeper discipleship takes place.

Discipleship doesn’t only happen by semester in Awaken Groups, though. It also happens as groups of men, women, and students gather throughout the week in homes, coffee shops, and classrooms, and live life together. We were called not to create converts, but disciples. If you’re a Christian you need to be discipled and make disciples! It’s not an option!

Watch my message about discipling below or click HERE to download the audio.

3) WORSHIPING

You were given a gift in order to re-gift it to others. Don’t hoard it; distribute it.

If you have committed your life to Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit inside of you (the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, by the way!!!)! That’s HUGE! God has given each person natural gifts, talents, and abilities, but unfortunately, we misuse those or misappropriate them at times. Some Christians mistakenly think that church is about spectating more than participating, but that’s obviously not the case. The local church is a place to come and receive, but also to give back. Re-gifting your birthday gift may not be encouraged, but we do encourage re-gfiting of your Spiritual gifts at Awaken!

This was a very timely message, because not only had we planned a Get Plugged In meeting for Sunday, February 5 already (where people can come sign up to serve in different ministries), but we also just announced our move to 3 Sunday services beginning February 19! Any time we add a service, that of course increases the need and opportunity for people to serve. The need is greater than it’s ever been.

You have a gift, but you are not the owner. You are the manager and distributor of that gift. Put it to use!

Although “worship” is normally tied to singing, I barely mentioned singing at all – it’s not the only (or even primary) way to worship. However, we did provide an outlet for worship through singing, by closing down our Wednesday night services with an amazing night of worship!

Watch my message about worshiping below or click HERE to download the audio.

 

So there you have it. Awaken Church has a HUGE vision, and a SIMPLE focus. We evangelize, disciple, and worship. Everything we do falls under those categories. We do some things that most churches don’t, and we don’t do some thing that most churches do. We’re not into tradition, or doing things because we’ve always done them. We want to be as effective and far-reaching as possible in God’s plan, so we intentionally trim the fat, prune the excess, and like a laser, focus on the things we’re called to.

The re-launch of Awaken Groups!

Awaken Groups is back from the dead…well, it wasn’t ever dead, just on R&R.

Last night at Awaken, we began advertising for the upcoming semester of Awaken Groups and awakengroups.org went LIVE.

Awaken Groups exist to help us go from going to church to being the church! The corporate times of worship and Bible study are vital, but so are relationships outside of the church walls.

Awaken Groups are available for everyone: students and adults. They are laid back, discussion-driven small groups that are designed to help you with practical, day-to-day application of the previous Sunday’s message. There will be food, coffee, friends, prayer, fellowship, and application of God’s Word. The early church was founded on much of that (not coffee, unfortunately) and we still need it today.

This semester of Awaken Groups will run for 13 weeks, beginning the week of September 11.

Signup will be a little different this year – we’re going all digital!

Signup will begin on Saturday night, August 27 at 6pm CST at awakengroups.org. Groups will be capped at 12 per group (except the student group – there’s no limit there!), so you’ll want to make sure to signup as soon as possible so that you can get into the group you want. We’ll also have signup available at Awaken beginning the following Sunday, August 28. That will also be online – we’ll have someone at the Awaken Groups table to register you online for the group of your choice.

Make sure to swing by the Awaken Groups website today to figure out which group will work best for your schedule!

Youth Ministry: YES or NO?

Depending on your source, 40-88% of teens leave the church after they graduate. Most never return. Is modern youth ministry to blame? That’s what one article and recently-produced documentary film suggest.

This is a touchy subject for me because I’m the product of a youth group. I grew up in youth groups, attended summer camps, led small groups, was a counselor at a summer camp, and eventually served as a middle school youth pastor for 5 1/2 years before moving to Tennessee to plant a church.

I always assumed the church I planted would have a youth group, but that’s because that is all I knew.

We’re almost 2 years into the church plant and Awaken Church still doesn’t have a youth group… but that doesn’t mean we ignore students. We view students as valuable pieces to the church. I love seeing young people sitting next to their parents, learning and applying similar things together. A good percentage of those who publicly profess their faith in Christ are young people. 4 of the 10 people we baptized last month were under the age of 17! We will soon be relaunching Awaken Students, which is a small group initiative targeted at young people. It’s not your typical youth group.

Awaken Kids exists to train kids up and teach them God’s Word on their level beginning gat 8 weeks old. They remain with Awaken Kids, in a class meant for their age group, until they hit 6th grade. Once they’re in middle school, they join us in the main service for church.

They worship with us.

They take Communion with us.

They pray with us.

I even encourage them to serve in ministries within the church.

Awaken Students is the other key component for them. Just as we encourage all people at Awaken to be involved in an Awaken Group, we encourage the same with the students. It’s a place where they can go, hang out with others their age, and discuss (in a small group setting) some of the key application points from last Sunday’s message…which is the same thing their parents do in their own small group.

I haven’t watched all of the film that I mentioned above, so I can’t vouch for everything that is said. I also know that the article seems to hint at the fact that modern youth ministry is to blame for kids leaving the church. I wouldn’t take it that far. I’ve seen some life-changing things happen through youth groups…in fact, it was my training ground!

Although I disagree with the film’s slant and have seen evidence of God using youth ministry in my life and in my own youth ministry, I thought this was a good conversation starter. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what your stance and/or your church’s stance on youth ministry is…

The Flood: 1 year ago today

One year ago today, May 3, 2010, I woke up thankful that the rain had ended and the storm was over. We had driven by the church the night before, and although the river was very high, all the water was still in the river. I spent some time with the Lord that morning, and as I got ready for work, I saw a picture on Facebook that alarmed me – the water was no longer in the river and it had flooded Riverside.

I checked in at work, then headed down to the church to make sure everything was ok. I was sure there must be at least a little water in our church parking lot. I was right. This was the scene I walked up on…

I couldn’t believe my eyes. My friend, Denver, was there with me, and together we ran down the hill, waded through the parking lot, and into our flooded church building.

You can’t prepare for something like that. I was immediately overwhelmed with emotion and broke down in tears while I stood in disbelief shin-deep in muddy water in our church sanctuary. We had moved from the desert and lost everything in a flood. This was not in our plans!

It WAS in God’s plans though. He may not have caused the flooding, but He allowed it and would use it powerfully in our lives and our church. Not only was the church flooded by water, but we were also flooded by God’s provision and faithfulness through it all.

 A 7-month old church plant with 10-15 people in regular attendance should not have survived something like this. After we had removed as much as we could from the building, the church owned less than when we had originally opened our doors 7 months prior. Everything we owned fit neatly into the bed of my truck. 2 days later, we met in the same living room that our Bible study had begun in 9 months prior. We were starting over.

Thankfully, God had plans to use this flood in ways we never dreamed of. The following Saturday, after the water had drained, many of us from the church met at the building and began stripping it down to the studs. There was even another local church that brought a group of college students to help us out! I can’t think of anything that could have brought the people of Awaken Church together more than the flood. We met that night (and for the following 2 months) on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the second story of a bank, where another church was meeting on Sundays. It wasn’t “home,” but it was a place to meet!

On July 11, 2010, we made the switch from Saturday nights to Sunday mornings and reopened our renovated church building on Riverside Dr. Clarksville’s local newspaper, The Leaf Chronicle, did a featured news story on our Grand Re-Opening and Channel 4 news from Nashville sent a news crew to cover the story. We made state-wide headlines! That Sunday, we immediately tripled in size.

We celebrated our 1-year birthday on Sunday, September 19 with a huge birthday bash in our parking lot. Jimmy Needham came and led worship and put on a concert in our parking lot. It was an amazing day of celebrating God’s faithfulness and provision!

It took only 3 months for us to outgrow our renovated building. Kids Ministry was bursting at the seams and the sanctuary was filling up. Not only had God used the flood to bring our church together and provide for the church, but He also used it to clear out some space for us to move into right across the parking lot from us! We began renovation on 585 S. Riverside Dr. on Saturday, October 23 and we opened the doors for our very first church service in the new building on Christmas Eve 2010. On our very first service, we completely filled the sanctuary that was 2 1/2 X the size of our old one! We were blown away! That was just the beginning.

God is still evidently at work at Awaken and we’re still experiencing lots of growth. Since we reopened, we’ve seen exponential growth, many lives and families changed, people getting involved in ministry, launched Awaken Groups, and made national headlines with our Good Friday Funeral. Easter Sunday was also a huge success with 250 people in attendance, 7 salvations that weekend, and 2,000 Easter eggs for the kids!

I would have never guessed some of things that the Lord has taken us through over the last year, but I’d never change any of them. They’ve all worked together for our good (Romans 8:28) and we’ve been changed and stretched through it all! I have no idea what lies ahead, except for that if God is for, who can be against us? It may sound crazy, but I now tell people that the flood of 2010 was the best thing that ever happened to Awaken Church!

Isaiah 43:2 – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you….

Rock the boat!

I’m a creature of habit. There are a few restaurants where I don’t even have to use a menu – I know what I want before I walk in the door. When the waitress asks what I want to drink, I go ahead and place my food order as well.

Although that might come in handy at a restaurant, it can be destructive in our relationship with Christ. It’s called a rut – they’re easy to fall into and get stuck in.

Paul wrote some important words to the Corinthian church…

“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” – 1 Corinthians 16:9

Barrier or Launch Pad?

Paul was about to step foot into something new, but there were obstacles to overcome. For many, that would have prevented any further venture in that direction. Not Paul. Obstacles weren’t barriers to him – they were launch pads. He used them to launch further into ministry and do even greater things for the Kingdom of God.

Don’t just maintain.

I’ve recently encountered some obstacles of my own. Months ago, we began to feel the need for small groups at Awaken. The church began as a small group, but it’s grown beyond that now. There was a need to connect outside the church walls. However, things were working great at the church. It was growing, new families were coming each week.The tendency, although we began to feel the need, was to just stick with what was working – maintain.

The last thing we should do as Christians and as ministry leaders/pastors is maintain. We need to constantly be pressing forward, thankful for what we have, but always longing to reach more people with the Gospel. We need a divine discontent.

Starting Awaken Groups was no easy task. It took months of planning, reading, meeting, researching, and praying to figure out when and how to implement small groups. All along the way, the temptation to stay with what’s comfortable was nagging. That would be so much easier.

In any stage of ministry, there will be obstacles and adversaries. Expect them, then push them out of the way and charge ahead.

ROCK THE BOAT! Don’t be scared to try new things. It’s part of the process. If you fail, you learn from your mistakes and you move on.

What’s that thing you know you should do, but you’re scared to do it? Today is the day to embrace it. Step out in faith.

Another exciting addition to Awaken: AWAKEN STUDENTS

You don’t have to be old to love Jesus.

That’s the basic thought behind our newest addition to Awaken Church, Awaken Students (an extension of Awaken Groups).

Youth ministry is nothing new to me. I’ve been going to summer camps since I was old enough to go. When I was about 15, God grabbed me at a summer camp and never let go. We got back home, and since our church was small and didn’t have a youth pastor, we decided to start up our own youth group (which, by the way, is still going today – I’m designing t-shirts for them soon!). That’s where it all began for me. From there, I went on to run the Bible Club at my high school, go to School of Ministry after high school, then go on to be the Middle School Youth Pastor at Calvary Albuquerque. Needless to say, youth ministry played a big role in who I am today.

Awaken Students isn’t a youth group.

I’ve been asked if that’s what this would eventually grow into. Probably not. I see a deeper value in taking a different approach than what might be considered “the norm” for reaching teenagers for Christ.

One unique thing about Awaken is that we have such a broad mix of ages. We have grandparents all the way down to 6th graders worshiping together. In fact, on Sunday, 2 of the 4 people who gave their lives to Christ or recommitted their lives to Him were students (14 and 17 years old)! Here’s the idea behind Awaken Students…

We want students, from the time they graduate out of Awaken Kids and hit 6th grade, to begin worshiping, studying, and applying God’s Word with the rest of us. By providing that opportunity, as well as outlets for them to serve and get together in small groups, we’re training them how to involve themselves in the body of Christ. By the time they graduate high school, hopefully it is ingrained in their brains that part of being in the body of Christ is worshiping through singing, studying the Word, serving, giving, and being part of a small group.

Pies, Ketchup, and Truth or Dare

Youth groups have the unfortunate reputation for being a place where students can go for “Christian entertainment.” Whether you’re 16 or 60, you are BOMBARDED with entertainment throughout the week! What students (as well as the rest of the body of Christ) really need are real, genuine, Christ-centered relationships outside of the church walls. Entertainment is everywhere; genuine relationships are not.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a pie in the face or some ketchup-smothered eating challenges every once in a while, but that’s not what Awaken Students is centered on.

That said, Awaken Students isn’t sans-fun. In fact, we have an exciting announcement coming tomorrow night at Awaken about an event we have coming up just for the students of Awaken! Rest assured, Awaken Students will be everything but boring.

Walking out Christianity

We want student to develop real, genuine, Christ-centered relationships. We want to see students grow deep in their walks with Christ from a very young age. That doesn’t mean boring, stale group therapy sessions. That means being real with each other – talking openly and honestly about what’s going on. We all need that at every age and every stage along the way.

How it works

Awaken Students works a little differently from the rest of Awaken Groups. They will be discussing the Sunday message, like many of the other groups, but the students group will be an OPEN group. That simply means that we won’t be putting a limit of how many students can come to it – it will remain open for them to invite friends. Awaken Students will be meeting at the church on Sunday evenings at 6:30pm to discuss the content of the Sunday message. They’ll be split up into gender- and age-appropriate groups with leaders for the discussion and prayer. Like the other groups, they will also have 8 weeks of discussion, 1 week of community outreach, and 1 week of fun/hangout each trimester.

Awaken Students meets Sun, March 6-May 8. Students can sign up for the group beginning TOMORROW – Wed, Feb 23 at 6pm!

Keep up with Awaken Students on Twitter, Facebook, and at AwakenGroups.org.

If your student attends Awaken, or is simply looking for a great place to connect with other students, this is the place!