Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Adding a Third Service

When I arrived at CPC last summer it became clear to me that our church was growing... but we really didn't have any place to sustain this growth.  We had just launched our third campus and our hope was that this would help us reach people more South and free up some seats for us to continue our mission:
"to make and mature more followers of Christ"
Our vision 2020 is to have three 5000 Christ followers worshipping in three permanent locations on the Peninsula.  That means we are trusting God to double our church in the next eight years.

Over the last couple months we have been talking about how to make room for more people to hear about the saving truth of Jesus Christ.  We have shared lots of ideas but the idea that was most realistic was to add a third service here at our Foster City Campus.

Starting Sunday April 7th we are moving to three new service times: 8:00 am, 9:30 am and 11:15 am

Check out this video we created to promote our new times! 

Monday, March 25, 2013

LoveWorks Weekend

I don't know of many churches that are purposefully locking their doors on Sunday morning... to be honest it seems pretty crazy to do something like that right?  I mean for most churches Sunday is the BIG day of the week; its the only day that pastors work so why would someone close a church?

This weekend our church closed the doors and locked them.  We locked the doors of all three of our campus'.

Now before you think we are totally crazy let me tell you why.  For the last number of months a core team of people have been planning an weekend of service called LoveWorks.  I'm pretty sure that we sent over 1500 people into our community to just be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Let me clarify real quick.  We didn't do this to go and recruit more people to our church.  We didn't do it to proselytize the sinners.  We did it because we want to show people that the church is good.  We did it because there are needs in our community.  We did it because we have some rad people who care more about others than their personal time.

Moving to a more personal note I lead a project where we took gift baskets to local Police and Fire Stations.  It was so rad going to Trader Joe's to shop with my kids for the Firemen; they loved picking out items for the gift baskets.

On Saturday afternoon we started baking some yummy treats to put in the baskets for our First Responders


Then on Sunday morning, instead of going to church, 30+ people came to our house to assemble to the baskets for these heroes!



Finally we broke into 4 teams and headed off to one Police Station and seven Fire Stations to deliver the goods!



I wish I could describe what a blessing it was to serve with my family this weekend... but I can't or I may start crying.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Winning Customers Back

Two weeks ago I flew to Chicago.  I have to admit that when I first found out I was flying on United Airlines I was pretty bummed.  In reality it made the most sense to fly United but in the past I haven't had the best experience with United.


Let me share with you.  When I would fly from Vegas to Redding for seminary I can't think of a time that my connecting flight in San Francisco wasn't delayed.  The last time I flew United my flight was supposed to leave at 8:45pm but because it was so delayed it didn't leave until 12:45am.  That meant I didn't get to Redding until 2am, my hotel room at 2:30am and had class at 8am (thats a rough night in my book).

Now that you know my experience with United let me share how they slowly are earning me back.  The flight to Chicago was average; I wasn't changed.  But when I arrived in Chicago to fly back home I noticed there were two flights ahead of mine heading home.  I went directly to the gate of the plane leaving in 45 minutes to see if I could get on the flight.  I was placed on standby and with 20 minutes to spare I was added to the flight!  That meant I was going to see my family 2 hours ahead of my previous flight!  That wins my loyalty back. 

Then on the flight the staff was: funny, helpful and caring.  Now I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and say that I will be seeking out United flights in the future, I just want to share some of what United did and how that made me feel better as a customer.  

It also got me thinking:
What are some things that the Church needs to be doing to win people back?
What have I done that I need to change in my life to win people back?
What can I learn, as a leader, about taking care of people?

Monday, March 04, 2013

CPC Men's Retreat 2013

It seems like it just happened that I went to Mount Hermon with over 200+ guys from our church for our 2013 Men's Retreat.  I have been to many camps and retreats during my Christian walk but for some reason this one really impacted me.  Let me share a few high points from my weekend.



Worship Service
This was my first Men's Retreat with CPC and I was asked to host the weekend with Shawn Peterson, our South Campus Pastor.  I was so pumped to be able to work closely with Shawn as we hosted.  It was fun for us to work on something together like this.

Friday Night, Saturday AM, Saturday Night and Sunday AM we had worship services there.  Our worship leaders came down and lead worship.  There is something rad about being in the room with 200+ men who are worshipping God!  We also brought down Dr. John Koessler to preach at these meetings.  John preached the word in a new way; he brought narrative stories that made me look at the Gospel in a new way.

Elders Q&A
We do something that I have never seen before; NEVER.  For the first 24 hours of the retreat we leave out a box where men can write down any question they want to ask the Elders.  On Saturday night from 9pm till about 10:30pm our Elders sat down and answered all those questions in front of any man who wanted to come listen.  I have to admit that I was pleasantly shocked at how many men came out to listen to those questions.

Here's what I love about that time.  Men were able to ask real questions that were on their heart about: personal things, church leadership, theology and sex.  They were able to get real answers from the leadership of our church.  I am so impressed with that!

On a personal note this time really spoke to me.  One of our Elders was speaking in the context of marriage and brought up this verse from 1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect...
This verse, and what the Elder said, really spoke to my heart on how I treat my wife.  I went home with a renewed sense of passion to make sure I am being respectful to my wife in all I do.  I want to make sure that my wife's needs are met and that I am being the man she needs.

Community Groups
During the retreat we broke down the large group in smaller groups.  I led a group of 8 guys in two sessions of community groups.  It was a time to get to know other men (that I wouldn't of had an opportunity to know otherwise) and talk about what God is doing in our lives.  It was cool to watch men opening up about what is going on in their lives and where God is working.  It was cool to see guys process what they are learning out loud, in a safe environment, with other men.  I don't think that I am the best group leader out there but I sure did have a great time with these men.

Ultimate Frisbee 
Let's be honest; I had to add something unspiritual to this list!  Saturday after lunch we got together and played a game of Ultimate; to be honest we played four games (and I only sat down for about 5 min during the whole time).  Afterward I was exhausted, thrilled and stoked to meet some more guys my age.

Thanks Men's Retreat for being a great weekend!