Multi-Site Church!

Exciting News – As of October 3, 2010 Activate Church will be 1 church meeting in 2 locations. Over the last few years we have talked about the possibility of being a multi-site church. Now it’s becoming reality. What is a multi-site church?

A multi-site church is one church meeting in multiple locations. A multi-site church shares a common vision, budget, leadership and theology. The purpose of becoming a multi-site church is that it enables us to advance the gospel in other regions beyond our own, whilst retaining some of the unique DNA we have as a church.

There are two basic ways to become a multi-site church: 1) Plant a church out of our Maroondah Campus in another location or: 2) Take over an existing church campus and assimilate it to share a common vision, budget, leadership and theology.

Multi-site church is one of the unique moves of God happening throughout the Body of Christ all over the world and 70% of the fastest growing churches around the world use multi-site as a way to help facilitate growth (The Multi-site Church Revolution, 2006).

It’s with these thoughts in mind that we (Executive Elders) want to communicate the following: Several weeks ago we were approached by Hope Generation Church in the City of Casey and asked if we would consider leading their church as a second campus of Activate.

I personally, have had a long-term relationship with Hope Generation Church through my frequent preaching there over several years. Hope Generation Church is a fantastic congregation that is approximately ten years old and is currently led by Ps Jared Grant.

After several weeks of discussion, prayer and seeking wise counsel we (Executive Elders) have decided to accept their request and as of October 3rd, 2010 we will be One Church, meeting in 2 locations: Activate Church, Maroondah and Activate Church, Casey.

Lead the Change!

Building the Future!

I’ve been off line for a couple of weeks but it’s good to be back after preaching in NZ. This Sunday at my church we are launching a campaign called “Building the Future”.

Building the Future is a church-wide campaign aimed at clarifying why we exist, what’s important to us and where we are heading, as well as, preparing financially for the future needs of our growing church.

Building the Future is a 3 year project which includes a 5 week block of teaching series, social media and generous giving in the month of August each year.

Following every Sunday sermon I will be spending the entire week sharing insight on that weeks theme to help anyone who is interested in understanding what the Scriptures teach on that particular subject. These daily insights will be complimented by youtube video clips and I will provide a link for you to access these.

Over the 5 weeks we are going to cover why we exist, what’s important to us and where we are heading. This includes:

1. Biblical Truth – We love TRUTH!
2. Spiritual Formation – We love GOD!
3. Authentic Relationships – We love PEOPLE!
4. Innovative Mission – We love the WORLD!
5. Compelling Vision – We love our CALL!

Hopefully, you find the next 5 weeks insightful and helpful in your own life and ministry. I can’t wait to share with you daily what is beating in our hearts. We will be announcing several exciting developments in the coming weeks so stay tuned for more.

Lead the Change!

i58

Over the past week I have been apart of a wonderful initiative and exciting opportunity to serve and love others called i58. Not that we need a project to do this day in and day out but it’s been great to see the church put Isaiah 58 in action In a focused way.

We have visited the sick, given free clothing to people who needed them, served homeless people food, given counsel to people seeking it, encouraged community services in the area and loved people however and wherever we can.

I was moved to tears last night as I witnessed one of our congregation help a man pray to Jesus and surrender his life to Christ in the middle of the ‘Food @ the Vault’ experience (runs fortnightly at Activate). Loving and serving people is the right thing to do regardless of the outcome but it is wonderful to be apart of seeing broken people transformed by God’s love and power.

It is such an honor to serve alongside great men and women of God who, this week, have given of themselves tirelessly to serve the well-being of others. Kate Johnson (Community Impact Director) needs to be specifically mentioned for her incredible leadership of i58 projects. Thank you Kate. You are a blessing to the church and your Christ-like leadership is a great example to others.

At the end of the day, i58 isn’t just a weeklong project, it’s a way of living. I want to lead a church that thinks, talks, and acts like Christ 24/7. As I read the Bible and travel and speak throughout the Body of Christ, it’s clear that MISSION is what Christ is calling us to. It’s needed everywhere and it’s happening everywhere. Where are you on mission for Christ in your world?

Lead the Change!

Church for the Unchurched!

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”

Too many of our churches are for the churched and not for the unchurched!

4 years on since starting Activate Church, I realise that while my heart and words reflected a passion for engaging with people who don’t know Christ, in the first 2 years of our church, my style, ministry expression and language was more relevant for churched people than unchurched people.

Over the last 4 years God has been taking me on a journey to embrace not only a heart for people but also discovering an expression that engages more unchurched people. This is a challenging process and requires a willingness to kill sacred cows once highly esteemed by believers raised in the church.

Some people think to be a church to the unchurched you have to ‘dumb’ down the theology of your sermons but in fact what we are discovering is people who don’t know Christ not only want theological meat but they want to understand the biblical terminology we use as well. Preaching God’s Word in todays culture requires a rediscovery of apologetics (defense of the gospel) and engagement with the power of the Spirit in a very real and authentic way.

Building with Christ a church for the unchurched is an experiment and an adventure. Sometimes what you try works and sometimes it doesn’t have the impact you were aiming for. I have decided to lead a church that serves Christ first and people second. The church belongs to Jesus and we must be faithful to Christ before we be relevant to people. It’s out of a heart to follow Christ that we catch a passion for connecting with people who don’t know Christ and for whom Christ deeply cares for. When God’s Word is in its rightful place and Jesus Christ is worshipped as the head of the Church, we can then innovate our methods to love and serve people.

I am on a journey and the Church I lead is on a journey to discover what a church for the unchurched looks like. Why is this important? Because many people still need to hear the Gospel message and many people are still living in sin.

I recently was alarmed to hear of a growing trend in the Church across Victoria where we are seeing approximately 170 people per fortnight leaving the church throughout the state. Also 1 church a week is closing down in Victoria and the church growth that’s being measured is take-over growth, where churches are taking over existing and struggling churches.

This trend has to change and to do so we must build the church for the unchurched.

Lead the change!

Video: Connect Groups

Here is a video of the relevant info you need for Connect Groups. Check it out!

Activosophy Video!

Here is a short synopsis of my sermon on Activosophy @ Activate Church May 16, 2010. Activosophy is our philosophy as a church – why we do what we do!

Activosophy!

Philosophy is the theory and principles behind a way of thinking and living. Recently I was asked to speak at Tabor College and share my Philosophy of Ministry. I really enjoyed preparing for this lecture because it forced me, as a practitioner, to mine my heart and mind for the theory behind why I do what I do.

I deliberately resolved not to look in any other textbook but to draw only upon my thoughts, the patterns of my previous experience and ultimately God’s Word. What came out of me was interesting to observe and and exciting to hear feedback upon.

What I did is give expression to a lot of past team conversations and previously held thoughts that crystalized in one concise and hopefully logical summary for others to eavesdrop in on. I shared the bones of the inspired thought with my team recently (great feedback) and this Sunday (May 16) I will be sharing my heart with the church and taking the entire congregation of Activate on a journey into the far reaching places of Activosophy = activate philosophy.

Why is your philosophy of ministry important to share? Because we often don’t reflect enough on the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’. We tend to go from one ministry week to the next, let alone month to month, without really discerning why we go about what we do. I think it’s important to share also because the people around you really need to get on the same page with you and own what God has put in your heart. Often we are leading people into storming the gates of hell without explaining why or how. We cast compelling vision but don’t really explain what is behind the vision. People will buy into you far quicker if they understand why you care about what you are talking about. Understanding is the basis of care and people can’t care about the vision if they don’t understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.

There are several defining marks of my philosophy of ministry and I am not going to go into detail here but suffice to say I touch on the following themes:

• Theology must intersect with everyday life
• Your story has shaped your philosophy
• The Word & Spirit shapes the foundation of my philosophy
• The leaders call is primary in a philosophy of ministry
• How the church is governed impacts our philosophy
• Mission answers the question, “Why do we exist?”
• Culture answers the question, “What’s important to us?”
• Vision answers the question, “What direction are we heading in?”
• Strategy answers the question, “How are we going to get there?”
• John 15:1-11 is the core of my philosophy = Relationship with Christ.

I encourage you to do your own homework and clarify what paradigm of ministry you are operating out of. You will better understand yourself and what God is doing currently in your ministry and the people you lead will feel like the lights have turned on and the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ will become a lot clearer.

Lead the Change!

VIDEO Blog Intro

Hey Peeps check out my new video blog! Contains details of next 3 Sundays @ Activate.

May 16 & 23 @ Activate!

May 16 @ Activate Church will be an important day because I am going to share what our philosophy of ministry is. Every now and then it’s important to talk about why we do what we do and clarify for everyone what is important to us as a church. I feel prompted by the Holy Spirit to speak about how we operate as a church and what is behind all that we do to help everyone be on the same page.

I am also going to be sharing some important changes affecting church life, particularly life groups. Our life groups are an integral part of church life but we feel we can do better at facilitating them in the life of the church. We will also reveal the new name for our life groups.

May 23 @ Activate Church is another important day because we are launching i58. i58 is a vision initiative that will mobilize the entire church around 7 days of distributing food, clothing, visiting the sick in hospital, in prison and throughout the church, as well as opening the Vault 5 days and launching the soup kitchen. i58 will be in operation as of June 14 but we need to start gathering food, clothing & people to serve and love our local community during this project.

Lead the Change!

i58

Isaiah 58:6 “Is not this the fast that I choose…”

“The fast you’ve chosen, you perceived would get you the results you desire but the fast I choose for you will get the results you desire.” GOD

Sometimes in life we find ourselves in contradictory circumstances to what we expected and thus turn toward heaven and ask God questions like, “Why aren’t you answering my prayer? What have I done to deserve this? When is this situation going to be turned around? How is this going to be resolved? Why aren’t you helping me out here?”

The last 12 months have been a wilderness experience for me and I have asked God a lot of questions like the above, including, “What have I done wrong? Why is this happening to me? What is going on?” As I am coming out of this season and gaining clarity on a whole bunch of stuff in my life and ministry I have discovered that God is not obligated to bless my sacrifice and my attempts to get his attention (prayer & fasting). My motivation for why I do what I do plays a big part in whether or not God listens to me. It’s not what you do, it’s what you do out of what God asks you to do. 1 Samuel 15:22-23 confirms this idea when Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”

Isaiah 58:6-7 (read it) reveals the fast that God rewards. There are so many incredible promises in this scripture that follow our commitment to embrace the fast that God chooses for us. I had an encounter with God over this passage recently and at Activate we are going to apply it by embracing a vision initiative called i58.

For 7 days straight starting the week of June 14 we will be mobilizing the entire church around:

1. Distributing food to hungry people
2. Giving clothing away for free to people who need them
3. Opening the VAULT (Community centre) 5 days with church members rostered throughout day
4. Staff meetings cancelled and out of office visiting the sick, in prison and every member of church

God spoke clearly to my heart to “Saturate and overwhelm local community with LOVE.” We are currently working behind the scenes to mobilise the entire church around i58. On Sunday May 23rd we will be launching i58 at Activate. Keep a lookout for i58 and start to gather non-perishable food and clothing to distribute during i58.

Lead the Change!