Tell me if you recognize this scenario:

Rush to get the house picked up. Close the shower curtain in guest bathroom to hide all the kid’s bath toys. Hide toys and laundry in closets and the dirty dishes in the laundry room. Throw anything else messy into your room and LOCK the door, in case anyone might mistake that room for the bathroom. Make sure snacks and beverages are lined up. Panic to get something on paper to show you’re not completely unprepared for discussion time. Look all over for your “church” Bible. You know the one that isn’t 4 inches fat that makes you look like you think you’re more spiritual than everyone else, the one that is slim and neat looking. You finally find it in the car where it’s been since Sunday because you only use that Bible for church and small group. Yell at the kids to stop doing, well, whatever they’re doing and threaten them with something bad if they have a meltdown like they did at the last group. When the first guests arrive, look calm and act like it’s totally natural to have 3 kids under 5 and a perfectly spotless house at 6pm. Is that transparent? Authentic? Is it just me or does anyone else feel like this on small group night?

Truth is, the commitment to serve in the capacity of a small group leader is huge!

So why do you do it? Tell me why you make the decision to open your home or drive to the local cafe to initiate biblical functioning community. Do you know why? What is your motive?

If you had told me three or four weeks ago that Cross Point Church would have 48 Community Group offerings today,  I would have told you that there’s no way!  Before the holidays, I really had questions about whether we could get to or even eclipse 30 for our community group fair.  That’s why I believe prayer works and prayer changes things!  I believe it’s the primary reason that God’s economy of multiplication was there today.

I can’t explain why a phone conversation with a Belmont Senior, home for the holidays in Michigan, turned into an idea for a  community group near his campus and then today, winding up with an outrageous response!  I can’t wait to see how that campus is impacted by an intentional guy ready and willing to be used.

This morning, in the quiet, before I headed out the door into a whirlwind kind-of-a day, I flipped through the booklet that had the 48 groups in it and I prayed specifically for each of our leaders whether single or married, young or old, new or experienced.  I may not always have the right words to say or the right answers to deliver at a moments notice, but I do know that when His people pray, God delivers.  One way or another, He delivers.  And for this awesome group of leaders, the best I can do, is to Pray for you.

What’s happened to you lately that you just can’t explain?

First weeks on the job are always kind of crazy.  After one full time week on the job at Cross Point Church, here’s an inside look at a Highlight and a Lesson I’m taking away.

First, The Highlight.  It’s really neat to dial up someone you’ve never met and pose the following question.  “Hey, you were recommended by Matt and I just wanted to ask you on a scale of 1 to 10 what your level of interest is in leading a community group?”  On the other end of the line I hear the following response.  “You know, my wife and I have been talking about that the past few weeks and it’s funny you should call.  I’d say our interest is at about a 7 or 8.”  This young couple will be among our first time leaders this Spring!

Second, The Lesson.  Addition and Multiplication. Finding openings for people in already existing community groups is Addition. Adding new community group leaders to the fold however is Multiplication.  When new leaders emerge and strike out on their own, new geographic and demographic groups are reached therefore expanding  opportunities for men and women to experience true community and a relationship with Christ.  Multiplication is God’s economy.

My first week on the job has been really exciting.  I can’t wait for Monday to be quite honest!!

Are you a leader?  What’s keeping you from leading a community group?

Okay, so it’s the first day of the new year and the best time to chart the course for a bright new beginning!  Let’s get to it.  My kids and I were recently listening to our Seeds CD when Jeremiah 33:3 was sung to music and I knew right then, I had a verse for the year:

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

No kidding, over the last several weeks I’ve asked myself a hundred times if I’ve asked it once, “What will Spiritual Formation look like this time next year at Cross Point Church?”  Well there’s one way to find out.  Call to Him.  And when we’ve called Him a thousand times, we’re gonna keep calling.

We can’t start out charting a course for life change in the context of community without first asking Him how to do it.  And then, listening.  Our minds are too finite, too small, too “inside the box”, to try to do it on our own.  Common sense is too, well common these days.  I got a Christmas card last week that reads, “God uses simple ordinary places and people to do His greatest work.”

Let’s call to Him, listen, obey, and then watch as He continues to do His Greatest Work!

How do you start your projects?  Do you use a “Verse for the Year”?

Life is a collection of seasons.  I find myself entering, leaving, and living in seasons that shape how I live my life.  In terms of my career, from Winter to Spring, I’m entering a new season.  I’m excited to begin!

I’ve been a computer programmer at HCA for nine years.  I’ve been there, done that.  My heart has always been pulled toward investing in people and finding opportunities to encourage them along their journey.  Now, the opportunity of a lifetime!  Developing people, systems, and environments that will draw men, women, and children into into their own new seasons.  Seasons of life transformation through the power of Jesus Christ.

I’ve climbed out of the boat at HCA into the crashing waves.  A career in ministry at www.crosspoint.tv.  This is where I’ll chronicle the journey.  Please join me.