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To the Ends of the Earth!

This weekend at Trinity we will be celebrating the mission history of our church as we look at all the places God has sent us around the world for the sake of the Gospel. We will have special African music, lobby displays, people to interact with - and I'll even be preaching in the suit given to me by Charles Sakpani in Togo. Kind of like preaching in my pajamas. (There's an image you may have trouble getting out of your mind - grin!)

It's really fun to see the part that God has used us to play at his command to be his witnesses "to the ends of the earth!"  (Acts 1:8)

Snow Again

It's my fault. I washed my car yesterday. I'm sorry.

Congregational Life Cycles

I was watching a video from the LCMS on church multiplication this week, and they included some data on the "life cycle" of a congregation:

  

The data shows that congregations reach the most people for Jesus in their first 25 years. After that they tend to plateau, and if nothing intervenes begin a time of slow (or rapid!) decline after 60 years. That's Trinity's future unless we listen to God's direction and multiply our church!!!

The thing that gets me so excited about our "Twice as Many" journey is the idea that we can begin TWO new places for worship - one at a new site and another "reinvented" right where we are at Kimberly Way right now. Having the opportunity to concentrate on each of our styles of worship at their own site really creates two new places to love people to Christ and sets two places on a new life cycle and growth path. I can't wait to see what God does! (It seems like I've been saying, thinking, and writing that phrase a lot lately!)

Maybe Later?

This week we began a huge step in the life of our congregation - a step that will help us double our capacity to reach those who are far from God. To help people sense the urgency we all feel about this mission God has put before us, we did our own version of a video that was done by the creative folks over at Rightnow.org that takes a tongue-in-cheek look at how we all sometimes feel about things...

Maybe Later from Dan Franzen on Vimeo.

Devotion and Prayer Guide

This week we will give out information packets to all those who call Trinity their church home. In the packet will be a great DVD that helps people understand what "Twice as Many" is all about, and a devotional/prayer guide for people to use over the next three weeks as we start this journey together. It's hard to say what I am more excited about - the video or the guide. 

The video is well done and every time I see it I get a little teary eyed. God really is using us to love people to Him and make a difference in people's lives! I can't imagine anyone seeing this video and not being excited about what God is doing among us. 

But I am also excited about the devotional guide. Getting people deeper in the Word is ALWAYS a good thing, and members of our staff did a great job writing and preparing these brief devotions designed to get people into the Word and prayer. I am so blessed to work with so many creative people!  I know God will use this guide powerfully in the lives of those who take some time to use it in their personal Bible and prayer time.

I can't wait to see what God does among us these next six weeks!!!

"Trailer" for our Twice as Many series at Trinity

Here is the video we used to promote our new capital stewardship journey series that starts next weekend. Our goal is to double our capacity to reach those far from God!!!

"The God Who Sees Me"

He sees you when you're sleeping,

He knows when you're awake,

He knows if you've been bad or good,

So be good for goodness sake...

We never did the "Santa Claus Thing" with our son (because of a memory of mine - long story for another post some time). The downside was we missed having a parent's number one weapon for December good behavior: the threat that Santa was watching and "making his list."  Somehow, with all the Christmas excitement, having one more way to keep your kid in line sounds like a REALLY good idea. "You better be quiet in the restaurant - Santa is watching..." 

In my daily reading I came across the story of Hagar (Sarah's servant who has a child with Abraham). There's lots to think about in this story - primarily what happens when we try to make God's promises come true on our time frame and in our own way - but the thing that struck me was the name Hagar gives God after her encounter with him - "The God who sees me." 

Interestingly, this God who sees her is not like Santa - hovering around watching to see if she is naughty or nice. Rather, he is a God who knows who she is, where she is, and how she is hurting and struggling. Even though his command to her is not easy ("go back to your mistress and submit to her") and his foretelling for her son is tough ("he will live in open hostility"), she takes great comfort in the fact that God sees her - that he cares and pays attention to her life. 

No matter what you are going through now - God sees! He knows. Not to judge, but to love and to bless. Much better than the man in the red suit...

"Fear" of the Lord

So I'm using the NLT One-Year Bible this year (see post below) and am really looking forward to the Proverbs each day. In the past when I have gone through the One-Year Bible I've kind of zipped through those - the last thing you read after the OT, NT, and Psalm. This year I plan to be sure the Proverbs get some thought. 

Yesterdays reading from Proverbs included, "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge." What, exactly, does that mean? Because God is loving and gracious I do not need to be afraid of Him, so we often say "fear" means awe or deep respect. But even if that is right, then how does "awe" become the foundation of true knowledge?

Maybe I have to give up the idea that I can figure things out myself and recognize that God is so much smarter than me that it isn't even funny - and only then can I gain true knowledge? Hmmmm....