Evidence of The Spirit | John 15:26-16:15

The Gospel of John is a unique and powerful account of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Written by John, one of Jesus' closest disciples, this gospel presents a deep and thoughtful perspective on the person and work of Jesus. Unlike the other three gospels, which are known as the Synoptic Gospels and focus on Jesus' actions and teachings, John's gospel emphasizes the spiritual and theological significance of Jesus' life and ministry. For this series I will write some of the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions | Evidence of The Spirit  | John 15:26-16:15

All of us have been in a place in our life where we needed help from someone. In our passage today Jesus continues to explain to the disciples His departure and the sending of the Holy Spirit. The upper room discourse is the final teaching of Jesus that we have before He went to the cross. Much of the teaching is focused on loving others and spreading the Gospel. Jesus teaches the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit and what that means for their lives. We’re going to see how The Spirit is the spirit of truth, that it’s actually good for us for Jesus to return to heaven, and how we can walk in the truth of God.

1) Thinking about the last couple of months, when have you needed help with something in your life? It might help with a project around the house, something at work, or your taxes. Share how you asked for help in this situation. 

2) Read John 15:26-27. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit would guide us in all truth. Share with your group at least one truth that you have learned from following Jesus that you didn’t live in before trusting Jesus. 

3) Neal took some time to teach us about: Relative and Absolute truth. What is the downside of a culture that continues to push relative truth? How can we, as believers, help people to see the Absolute truth of Jesus? 

4)Read John 16:1-5. Jesus has been extremely repetitive in His teaching. Look back in the previous couple of chapters of John and share with your group what you see in this repetition. Why is this repetition important for our Christian walk? 

5) Jesus promised that His departure would bring the presence of the Holy Spirit (read John 16:7). How do you walk daily in the presence of the Holy Spirit? If you struggle with this, share how you’d like to walk more in the presence of the Holy Spirit for life change. 

6) Jesus said the Holy Spirit would: convict us of sin, teach us about righteous living, and be the rational for judgement. Talk about how this progression leads to life change as you follow Jesus. 

7) Read Acts 2:36-41. After Jesus has ascended back into heaven we read this powerful account of the Holy Spirit at work. Where do you want to see the Holy Spirit move in a powerful way in your life and our church family? 

Close your time in prayer. Pray for strength to invite a friend to meet Jesus. 

Judges 6-8 Small Group Questions

Our church is doing a twelve-week sermon series through the book of Judges called: "Flawed Heroes." We are studying the Old Testament book for a couple reasons. One is that Judges is a book of flawed heroes and none of us are perfect. The book reminds us that God is the divine hero of the story. Judges is a period of transition for Israel, a transition from God as their leader to a monarchy. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Gideon ::: Judges 6-8

Israel experienced forty years of peace after Deborah but fell back into their old habits of sinning. For seven years they were oppressed by the Midianites. The Midianites would come and raid the land of Israel; stealing food and livestock was a normal occurrence. God called Gideon to be the next leader. Through a series of God-inspired events, we read that God give Israel the victory over what scholars think to be an army of 120,000+ soldiers. Initially Gideon was a humble servant but the battle went to his head and he became prideful. The end of his life is a disaster; he is worshipping the false gods he torn down and making a golden ephod for worship. 

1) Think about a time in your life when you felt oppressed by external circumstances; it could have been a school project, a demanding supervisor, an unwelcome family addition or more. How did God show up when you needed Him? 

2) Read Judges 6:25-32. Gideon obeys the command of the Lord to tear down the altar to the false gods his tribe has worshipped. What are some false gods that we currently fall into worshipping in our culture? How do we eradicate them? 

3) There are times we can follow Gideon’s lead in being faithless to God (read Judges 6:33-40). Do you think it pleased the Lord for Gideon to put God to the test in this way? Have you ever laid out a fleece for the Lord to answer a prayer?  

4) Thinking about you prayer life, where do you need God to act in a mighty way? Read Luke 18:9-14 and talk about the difference in the two men that Jesus illustrated. What can we learn from this story about prayer and God listening?  

5) Gideon finds out that his army is too big for God to use. Someone once said we have everything we need to accomplish everything God has called us to accomplish. Where have you lacked faith in trusting that you have all you need right now? 

6) Read Judges 7:19-25. It was obvious that God had given the Midianites over to Israel. Why do you think Gideon had the people shout his name when they smashed their jars? Where do you look for praise from others instead of looking to God? 

7) The conclusion of Gideon’s life is a sad event. He returns to idol worship (read Judges 8:25-27). The story has a thread that reminds Israel of Aaron and the golden calf (see Exodus 32). How come we are so quick to turn back to idols?

Close your time in prayer. Talk about who you will invite to Coastline this week 

About two years ago I began working on staff values for Coastline. In a normal situation I wouldn't post them online, it would remain and internal document. But with all the changes happening in the church world right now it seemed like the right time to post them.

Now, I can't take full credit for these. First, I started a list but needed help processing my thoughts. I'm grateful for my friend Rob Hall who shared a similar document with me and I borrowed from him. After talking these through with trusted ministry partners I brought them to our staff. I knew that our team would do an infinitely better job on these together than I could alone. In other words, these wouldn't be what they are without the staff of Coastline Bible Church. Thanks for the help! 

Coastline Staff Values

1) Leadership Matters- As leaders we must first lead ourselves. In doing so we will earn the right to lead others. We work hard at leading ourselves and developing leaders for the future. It might take longer to develop a leader, but in the long run this is what we are called to.

2) We give our best- We will do the best with the resources we have to advance the kingdom. Never settle for mediocrity knowing we serve a great God. We regularly strive to get 1% better every week.

3) We greet each other- We believe that everyone wants to be known and loved. When you walk into a room, greet those in the room. It is important to our mission to acknowledge each other and be known as we seek to advance the Kingdom.

4) Intimacy with God- Our work and mission happen when we pursue God. We are not professional but servants of The Lord. We make our relationship with God a high priority. We focus on a growing walk with Jesus

5) Health Matters- Unity is vital to our mission. A healthy staff culture will not magically happen, knowing that we will work hard to create a healthy staff culture. We will work hard to build a team that trusts, honors, and respects each other. We will engage in healthy conflict as needed and work hard for a health team.

6) Over Communicate- Make sure to listen to others and not just hear them. Don’t enter a conversation and simply wait for a person to stop talking so you can prove your point. Also make sure to say the last 10% when appropriate.

7) Risk is part of the job- Life is a lesson, learn from it. Take appropriate risks for Kingdom expansion. In most cases failure is not detrimental. When we make mistakes it can be our greatest learning lesson. Learn from your mistakes and allow them to teach you & others that you lead.

8) Family First- We will never ask, or expect, you to sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry. Your personal health flows from a healthy you. If you are single we want you to have space for friendships, community & safe places. If you have a family we want your family to love you and where you work. When those closest to us feel loved, valued, and important we will have our greatest moments of ministry.

9) Be a shepherd- We are called to care for people and it’s a high responsibility. People trust us with their most important moments of life. Don’t take the attitude of a hireling and bail at critical moments. Don’t use people to complete projects but pastor people for our common mission & vision. Strive to help them grow in their personal walk with Jesus and empower the saints for the ministry. 

10) Have Fun- We take God serious and not ourselves. Fun is a vital part of the workplace. We work hard, honor others, and have fun while doing so. 

Judges 1 Small Group Questions

Our church is doing a twelve-week sermon series through the book of Judges called: "Flawed Heroes." We are studying the Old Testament book for a couple reasons. One is that Judges is a book of flawed heroes and none of us are perfect. The book reminds us that God is the divine hero of the story. Judges is a period of transition for Israel, a transition from God as their leader to a monarchy. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: Take the Land ::: Judges 1

The book of Judges is thought to have been written by Samuel the prophet. It is an account of the Israelites settling in the Promised Land. They settled in two different ways. First, they began to live in the land flowing with milk and honey that God promised to them. Secondly, the settled by not driving out the inhabitants of the land. We will see that the occupants of the land will prove to be a snare to them and lead them to worshipping false gods. Chapter one serves as an introduction to the entire book. We must look back to see that Joshua led the people after Moses brought to the edge of the Promised land. One theme will arise in the book: God wants Lordship over all areas of our lives, not just some areas

1) Neal started the sermon with the story of the conquistador Hernando Cortés and his fascinating leadership decision to burn their ships. Share about a time when you made a brave move that required 100% commitment. 

2) The book of Judges begins with the life of Joshua. Joshua and Caleb were the only two men born in Egypt that entered the Promised Land. Read Numbers 13 and discuss their faith. Discuss how they viewed things versus the other ten spies. 

3) Read Judges 1:1-3. Israel wanted to hear the voice of the Lord. Read 1 Samuel 3:1-12 and Psalm 46:10. How do you go about learning to hear God’s voice?

4) Read Judges 1:12-18. We read about Aksah and her brave faith. The Bible is filled with stories of brave faith. Read Matthew 14:22-36. We see Peter express his trust in Jesus with action. Where is God asking you to be brave in your faith today?  

5) In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us about asking God for our needs (read Matthew 7:7-12). Share a story about a time when you asked God for something and He came through with meeting your needs. Now share something you are currently asking God for with bold faith. 

6) Look at Judges 1:19-36. Much of the final half of this chapter is an example of Israel having faithless faith. That is not the entirety of the Old Testament. Look at Hebrews 11, as a small group, and talk about the examples of faith we read in Scripture. 

7) The failure of Israel to fully take the land reminds us of the times we experience heart-hearted discipleship. Neal encouraged us to not stop short of what the Lord wants to give you. What one thing can you do this week to grow in your faith? 

Close your time in prayer. Talk about who you will invite to Coastline Online? 

Miss the worship gathering? Check it out here

Jonah 2 Small Group Questions

Our church is doing a four-week sermon series through the book of Jonah called: "Running to God."

We are studying the life of the prophet Jonah and what it looks like to run to God even when we don't want to. The book of Jonah is small in size but deep in theology. We read about the unending, gracious, merciful love of God. We see that God is unwilling to give up on anyone and longs for all people to know Him. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions ::: A God who hears ::: Jonah 2

Jonah was a prophet in Israel who God asked to visit the city of Nineveh. Instead of heading North to Nineveh, Jonah boarded a boat and headed in the opposite direction. Jonah caused a great deal of harm to the sailors around him and was eventually thrown into the sea where he was swallowed by a whale. In Jonah 2 we find Jonah in the third location of the story: the belly of a large fish. While inside the fish, Jonah takes the time to call out to God, repent of his sin, and speak of the greatness of God. For three days Jonah is in the belly of the fish. During this time he ponders his situation and his disobedience to the Lord. Finally the fish spits him out on dry land. At this point in our story we see that the fish has been more obedient than Jonah. 

1) Early in the sermon Ryan asked: “How many of us have needed help?” Share about a time in your life that you needed help and how help came. 

2) Read Jonah 2:1-2. In his distress Jonah called to the Lord. Who do you call to in your distress? Read Psalm 4:1, 18:6, 102:2, and 120:1. What does Scripture teach us about reaching out to God in our distress? 

3) While in the belly of the fish Jonah knew he needed to look to the Temple of God (read Jonah 2:3-7). In Jewish culture, the temple was the place to meet with God. What is your favorite place to spend time with God? 

4) Jonah has been willfully disobedient to God. The three days in the belly of the fish transformed Jonah’s hard heart (read Proverbs 4:23, Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, and Romans 12:1-2). Where is God working in your heart today? 

5) Jonah repents of the idols that he followed after (Jonah 2:8). We often think of idols as metal or wooden images and they can be, but idols can also be personal comforts, luxuries, material possessions. What idols have you clung to that have hindered your walk with Jesus (Exodus 20:4-6, Micah 5:13, and Acts 17:16)? 

6) Ryan encouraged us to focus more on worshipping God and praying. Share with your group what some of your favorite ways to worship the Lord are. Then share where you’re growing in prayer or where you want to grow in your prayer life. 

7) Must of Jonah’s plight could have been resolved with obedience to the Lord. Read  Psalm 119:34, John 14:23-24 & 1 John 2:5. Talk about obedience to God. 

Close your time in prayer. Talk about who you will invite to Coastline on Sunday. 

Ruth 2- Small Group Questions

Our church is currently studying the book of Ruth. For four weeks we're walking through the book and talking about the redemptive story of God. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions…Head down, hands full…Ruth 2

The book of Ruth is a pearl in a dark time in the history of Israel. During the time of the Judges the Nation of Israel had a rollercoaster relationship with following the Lord. Ruth models a great commitment by leaving the gods of Moab to follow Naomi. God has restocked the house of bread and Ruth arrives just before the barely harvest begins. Once in Israel she finds herself on the lowest rung of the social ladder. God’s plan was always for the Kingdom of heaven to be multiethnic. In this chapter we see Boaz model radically generosity to a widow in desperate need of someone to show her kindness. Go through these questions to help you understand this story more fully.

1) Pastor Neal started out the sermon by sharing a story of a time in Africa when he surprised some kids (and scared a few). In Ruth 2 we see how surprised Ruth was by the generosity of Boaz. When has God surprised you in a good way?

2) Read Ruth 2:1 and Judges 6:12. In the Hebrew language the phrase used to describe these men is similar. But when we read about the men they are different. How is Boaz different from other men of that time and men in Israel’s history?

3) When Ruth asked Naomi to let her go to the fields and gather grain for the two of them see was hoping to find favor in the eyes of someone (Ruth 2:2). Discuss what it would have been like to be a foreigner in Israel looking for food and the desperate situation Ruth and Naomi found themselves with no family to care for them.

4) The author makes is seem like chance that Ruth arrived in the field of Boaz, but upon further study we see God’s hand of guiding from Ruth’s desire to find a place where she could provide for their needs. Read Luke 18:1-8 and Matthew 7:7-8. How do these verses connect with Ruth 2:6-7 and God’s provision?

5) Ruth 2:8-9 talk about the generosity of Boaz and the protection he provided for Ruth (a widow) who was in desperate need of help.  The New Testament instructs us to help widows (read James 1:27). Who can you help this week?

6) Read Ruth 2:10-14. Now talk about how Exodus 22:22, Proverbs 19:17, and Deuteronomy 23:16 are all related. What one thing will you commit to doing, this week, to help out someone in need?

7) As the chapter ends (read Ruth 2:19-22) we see Naomi bless Boaz. Who can you bless this week? Write a letter, send a text, or call this person and bless them.

Close your time in prayer

Rejoice in suffering

Have you ever been around someone who seemed to be in tough, desperate, or even hard times… but they had the joy of the Lord exuding from their life?

About eight years ago I was in a situation that caught me off guard. I was preparing to bring a team to Mexico to help build a church. I wanted to take a pre-trip to see the site, learn the land, and meet the pastor we'd be serving. I don't fully remember his story but recall that this pastor had faithfully prayed for a piece of land for years.

We went to see this piece of land and it wasn't what I thought.
The site had been empty and the neighborhood turned it into a local garbage dump.
I was shocked to see the condition of the land but this pastor was thrilled at what GOD was doing in his community.

The pastor talked about the site with our team.
He shared his vision to reach the community.
He shared about the spiritual climate of the area.
He told us how thrilled he was that the dump site would one day be a church that praised our Lord.

I hoped in the truck and headed back to Vegas. We were told that over the next month the land would be cleared and a foundation laid.

Our leadership team returned home and got a team of twenty-five people ready to come and help. Now I have to be honest, I was leery that the site would be ready for us, but when we arrived what was once a dump was ready for a GOD to build a church. Our first morning in Mexico we held a worship gathering on the land. I love that the pastor had the foresight to begin the time with praise. I might have just started working.


That week we erected walls, painted, and roofed the new location.






We invited the community and had a huge party.


What once was a dump was now a house of worship.

Sometimes things aren’t always the way we see them.

The pastor in Mexico taught me about seeing things the way God sees them and not the way I see them. He rejoiced when I thought it was time to suffer.

Now let me share one last thought. All of this wasn't possible with one person. This took a group of people, vision, determination, smarts, knowledge and more. It would be a miss to not share the team pic from Las Vegas that played a role in working alongside the team in Mexico to help make this a possibility. I'm so thankful that each of these people allowed me to serve alongside them a decade ago!

Coastline Grand Reopening

You’re invited to our GRAND REOPENING worship gatherings on Sunday March 3, 2019 at 9:00 AM and 10:45 AM. Both gatherings will feature dynamic worship, engaging teaching, and a fun kids’ ministry from birth to fifth grade. We’ll also have bounce houses for kids, food for everyone, and corn hole on the quad between the services.

Coastline opened its doors in 1922, and for nearly 100 years has faithfully communicated and demonstrated the love of Christ both locally and globally. The past several months we’ve seen God do a new thing and move in fresh ways in our faith community. People are finding hope in Jesus, experiencing belonging through community and receiving guidance for life situations. We want you to experience this too!

Join us at our Grand Reopening! We’re putting on a big celebration to let our city know that there is a place they can come to find community, ask tough questions, and discover hope through the truth in the Bible.

Everyone is welcome! We can’t wait to see you on Sunday, March 3!

426 S. Mills Road
Ventura CA 93003

Daniel Chapter 9- Small Group Questions

Our church is currently studying the book of Daniel. For ten-weeks we're walking through the book and talking about living a courageous life. For this series I volunteered to write the small group questions that go along with each sermon. It seemed like a waste to leave them in a file on my computer and not share them with everyone.

Small Group Questions
Answered Prayer
Daniel 9

As we continue our study in Daniel we see that the prophecy in chapter 2 is fulfilled; King Cyrus now reigns on the throne and Babylon the great has been disposed. Daniel is reading Scripture and learns about the seventy years of exile. This drives Daniel to prayer and Gabriel comes to visit him with a prophetic revelation. Scholars agree that verses 24-27 are the most difficult verses to interpret and figure out (don’t worry if your group can’t completely understand them as they are a small portion of the entire text and Biblical scholars regularly discuss them).

1) Share about a time in your life where God answered your prayer. It might be something that just happened or a memorable time from the past.

2) Read Daniel 9:2. When times were difficult, Daniel turned to Scripture. What are some passages you regularly turn to when feeling down? What are some things, besides the Bible, you turn to when times are difficult?

3) Read Daniel 9:3-4. We read that Daniel had a vibrant prayer life and dedication to reading God’s word. What does your prayer life look like and how would you like to alter it based on Daniel 9?

4) Pastor Neal mentioned four other men who stepped in to intercede for God’s people. Moses (read Exodus 32:31-32). Elijah (Read 1 Kings 18:41-45). Jehoshaphat (read 2 Chronicles 20:3). Hezekiah (read 2 Kings 19:14-19). Who are others who interceded for God’s people?

5) Daniel prepared himself for prayer. What kind of ways do you prepare yourself for making your prayers effective, not only in getting answers, but also in changing your life and focus?

6) Read Daniel 9:21. God’s word said that Gabriel came in swift flight. it says nothing about him having wings. Bullets fly, arrows fly, and frisbees fly. What do you think angel travel looks like? Where else in Scripture does the Bible talk about angel travel?

7) Read Daniel 9:24-27. Pastor Neal explained the different ‘sevens’ that Gabriel spoke about. What do you think about these time periods?  

Close your time in prayer

The Path to Maturity

It was July of 1961 and the 38 members of the Green Bay Packers football team were gathered together for the first day of training camp. The previous season had ended with a heartbreaking defeat, late in the 4th quarter, to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Green Bay players had been thinking about this brutal loss for the entire off-season. Now training camp had arrived and it was time to get to work.

The players were eager to advance their game to the next level and start working on the details that would help them win a championship. Their coach, Vince Lombardi, had a different idea. He began a tradition of starting from scratch, assuming that the players were blank slates who carried over no knowledge from the year before… He began with the most elemental statement of all. “Gentlemen,” he said, holding a pigskin in his right hand, “this is a football.”

Lombardi was coaching a group of three dozen professional athletes who, just months prior, had come within minutes of winning the biggest prize their sport could offer. And yet, he started from the very beginning. Lombardi's methodical coverage of the fundamentals continued throughout training camp. Each player reviewed how to block and tackle. They opened up the playbook and started from page one. His team would become the best in the league at the tasks everyone else took for granted. Six months later, the Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants 37-0 to win the NFL Championship

There were players in that locker room who probably thought their coach was crazy. These players were some of the best in the world. Think about what Vince Lombardi did for the Packers. How would you respond if that was done for you spiritually?

In my opinion the church can loose it’s focus. For the last year, our church has been working hard at getting laser focused.

Very few people have experienced a clear pathway to spiritual maturity. In fact, the path to God is not always a straight line. Believers experience twists and turns, confusion and frustration, joy and fulfillment.

When people go to the gym they hire a trainer to help them accomplish their goals. People seek the advice of a financial planner to help them get to their desired location. The roadmap for Coastline is intended to do the same for each of us. It involves four steps that we will look at: gather, grow, serve, and send.

Gather

We gather because that is what the early church did

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46, 47

The early church once met in the synagogue because following Jesus was a fulfillment of their Jewish heritage. They found the hope in the coming Messiah just like many of us have found. Men and women found the truth in God’s word and it gave them direction in following God. We gather just like the early church did. We gather in a different location than a synagogue but we still gather.

This gathering is an easy first step for many people who are curious about Jesus. This gathering is a safe place for broken people of all ages and stages of life to find Jesus. This gathering has an invisible sign outside that says, “everyone is welcome.” This gathering has an invisible sign outside that says, “come as you are.” This gathering has a warmth and comfort to it that people are longing to find. When we gather here we do so to learn from God’s word, to praise Him, to turn our attention to heavenly things and understand His goodness.

We long to be a church that unchurched people love to attend. Did you know it’s Biblical for people who meet Jesus to bring their friends to meet Jesus also?

 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. John 1:40-42

The first thing Andrew did was find his brother Simon and bring him to Jesus. Who can you bring to meet Jesus? It’s Biblical to help people find Jesus. We’re not looking to be the biggest church, we’re just trying to help more people find the hope, love, compassion, and salvation we’ve found in Jesus. There are people who are looking for the coming Messiah just like these men were.

We’re going to use the same message the early church used. The method might be different, but the message hasn’t changed.

Grow

After you’ve been to a gathering make a commitment to grow spiritually. One of the primary ways we see people growing in their faith is moving into a small group. This is a big spiritual growth step. Flip back to the book of Acts to see what a small group looks like

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

The focal point of growing is doing life with other people. There is a devotion to the teaching of God’s word. There is a commitment to spending time with other believers and growing in prayer. These are some basic components of growing in Jesus.

We live in a time of increasing Biblical illiteracy and being involved in a small group is a way to combat this. Groups help you open your Bible on a regular basis. Groups give you a safe place to share prayer requests with trusted individuals. I believe, with my whole heart, that if you will commit to being in a group for ten weeks it will change your life forever. Your marriage will be stronger, you faith will be stronger, your passion for Jesus will grow, and your confidence in Scripture will increase because you are going to know God more!

People gain confidence in God and His truth by studying His word with others.

I’ve been following Jesus for over eighteen years now. The first group I was in was a men’s group who really shaped my faith as a young man. Those men taught me about prayer and Scripture memorization; they shaped my future for Jesus. When I got married, Charity and I attended a small group focused on marriage. It was refreshing learning from couples who had been married for ten, twenty and thirty years. I can still hear those couples saying, “You guys could be our kids.” And we needed to learn from them.

Serve (John 13)

After you gather to worship and start growing in your faith there is a natural progression to serving others. Quite often people think of serving in the negative sense. It can sound like something that is below a person. Let me remind you about Jesus

"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

Jesus spoke of His eternal Kingdom when a mother asked that her two sons sit on the right and left. It seems this happens frequently, we have half the information but what all the benefits. God had already determined who would sit at the right and left of Jesus, it wasn’t a debate. Jesus needed to remind His own disciples that He is a servant.

For you and I, serving is the next logical step in growing in our faith. When I was a young man and had been attending church for a few years I began serving. I began serving in a classroom full of four year olds. It was a joy! I had so much fun serving those kids. They gravitated to me and I learned about the love of God. Their kindness and acceptance began to transform a former drug dealer. Serving taught me more about the love of God than I think I taught anyone.

You might wonder why we want to see people serve. First, we think it’s Biblical. Second we are a non-profit. Third, we think you will find fulfillment in life when you serve others. Fourth, we think God created you to serve others.

Send (Acts 1:8)

The next part is not the final part. There is no end to our spiritual growth here on earth. The next part is an obedience to the words of Jesus

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Jesus gave the disciples a clear direction on what to do. After saying these words, Jesus ascended to heaven. Let’s talk about a realistic plan of action for those of you who are ready to be sent. I’m aware that not everyone will grow to this point in their spiritual growth, in fact, I recently heard that 90% of Christians will never share their faith. Ninety percent of people won’t share the hope that changed their life.

Let’s look more at what Jesus instructed. Jerusalem was the center for many of these men. Jesus was essentially saying, “Start right here. Start right where you are at.” I give you the same encouragement today. Start sharing the love of Jesus with those closest to you. Start in your neighborhood, your home, your work place or your school. You don’t have to be a trained evangelist to share your faith. But the hope is that since you’ve been gathering, God is working in you. Your small group has helped you grow in your faith. Through serving you’re looking more like Jesus. Now you can confidently be sent to tell others about Jesus.

Once you’ve shared the love of Jesus with those closest to you we want to see people start serving in our community.

From there we long to see people invest more into helping people find and follow Jesus. We have a handful of mission partners who are in the state of California.

After this, we’d love to see people go global. We’d love to see every person get on a plane once every five years to serve the world. This follows the progression Jesus gave us in Acts 1:8.

Finally, when we think about being sent, God might do something a little more. We want to be a church that plants churches. We are praying that in three to five years God will let us plant a church somewhere in Ventura County. We don’t have all the details. We don’t have a plan. But we have a vision and a passion.

We long to find more people with the Coastline DNA who can be sent to start healthy churches. We long to see Ventura County have more healthy churches who are focused on teaching God’s word.

Conclusion

When we think about a pathway to spiritual maturity, this is a life long commitment. Following Jesus will be the best commitment a person can make. Think back to the locker room talk Vince Lombardi had. He took professional players though the basics and they won. Let’s focus on the basics so we can grow in our faith. The path to growth is not like McDonalds.

The path to growth is a lifelong process. This is why I want you to commit to a life of spiritual growth. Commit to a life of looking and smelling more like Jesus. This might take a while. It might be slower or faster than you thought. It might be harder or easier at times. You might hit road blocks. But don’t quit.

“If Christians around the world were to suddenly renounce their personal agendas, their life goals and their aspirations, and begin responding in radical obedience to everything God showed them, the world would be turned upside down. How do we know? Because that's what first century Christians did, and the world is still talking about it." -Henry Blackaby

Transformed

My life was transformed just over eighteen years ago. It wasn't by my doing but by my surrender. I had made a ton of unwise choices but God transformed me. The Bible talks about being transformed. The Bible speaks to the life change God offers.

In the Gospel of Matthew we have an account where Jesus was transformed. Matthew starts with some basic details of time and location

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. Matthew 17:1

Jesus was currently in the northern region of Israel. He has taken the disciples on a quick getaway but the group has narrowed down. Jesus was intentionally investing in these three men: James, John and Peter. It’s been six days since Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah and they are in a new location.

Jesus led the boys up on a high mountain. Jesus only choose a few of them to go to this high mountain. Some scholars think the mountain was Mount Hermon. It was close to the region they were in and it would have made sense for them to go there.

Jesus wants these men to think more about eternity than this life

There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Matthew 17:2-4

Imagine if you went on a hike with a few of your closest friends, and then one of them started shining like the sun and His clothes changed to the brightest white you’ve ever seen. To make the situation even better, two historic pillars of the Jewish faith show up and start talking to Jesus. Then one of your friends, who always speaks before he thinks, starts talking about setting up some tents and camping there for the night. How would you ever be able to explain what happened?

Thankfully, Matthew explains what took place on the mountain that day. Jesus is transfigured before His friends on the mountain. The change that happens to Jesus is two-fold; there is an inner change and an outer change. The inner change was visible in the fact that the face of Jesus now shone like the sun.

The outer change was seen because His clothes became as white as the light. Jesus was finally showing a glimpse of who He really was. This is one instance with two visible changes that Matthew is able to share. Matthew uses this word transfigured to describe the change that happened to Jesus. Jesus was definitely changed and it showed in His appearance— His face shone like the sun! We don’t see any inner change, just these changes in how the disciples saw Jesus.

Something also happened to the clothing of Jesus. Matthew writes that Jesus’ clothes became as white as light. White is associated with holiness; angels are always depicted as wearing white, and women wear white dresses on their wedding day to represent purity. This should make us think about the holiness and purity of Jesus.

These changes makes what happens next so spectacular. Right as Jesus’ appearance changed two men appeared; Moses and Elijah. Moses lived about 1400 years before Jesus was born (Deuteronomy 34:7). Moses is most known for leading God’s people out of captivity and through the Red Sea. He led them into the desert for forty years and brought them to the edge of the Promised Land. If you’ve been around church for any length of time, you’ve most likely read about Moses and how much He did for God’s people. If your church experience is new, I highly encourage you to read about Moses’ life in the Old Testament.

There is another man in our story and his name is Elijah. Elijah was a prophet for the nation of Israel. He did some amazing things like: he told the sky when to rain, he healed a little boy who was dead, and he also met with God on a mountain. The Bible tells us that Elijah never tasted death. He was walking in the desert one day and was taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2:11-12). There one minute and gone in the best Uber you’ve ever ridden in. This is how I want to die!

So here we have these two men who were historic men of Israel; two men who loved God and followed God. Two men who represent the Law and the Prophets, standing with Jesus on the mountain. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. Jesus is hanging out with the two major representatives of the Jewish faith, and then Peter blurts out something about setting up camp.

You have to think James and John looked at him and were like, “What are you saying? How are you going to make this happen?” It’s probably at this point that Peter looks around and realizes what he’s said.

God wants to transform us! Not exactly like Jesus’ transformation, but a transformation from God. When a person places their faith and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, an immediate change happens. Think about the change that happened in Jesus. You might curious about Jesus because you’ve seen a friend’s life transformed. Your friend once partied and swore like a sailor, but they started goiter to church, met Jesus, and the Holy Spirit has transformed their life. You’re reading this because you want to know about this power! You want to know about this man Jesus who transforms lives.

Some of you are reading and you are the transformed people. You surrendered your life to Jesus and stopped living for yourself. Your life was heading in one direction, but the Lord intersected your course and convicted you of your lifestyle. You have experienced this inward and outward change we just studied. You once thought one way but Jesus has transformed you to His way. There is an external change that has occurred too! Your countenance has changed and you’re joyful because of Jesus. Keep living as a transformed person.

This is Us- Sermon Series

This is Us is one of my favorite shows on TV right now (ok, it's my favorite). The story is fresh, compelling and raw. The characters are normal. They have struggles. They are dealing with the daily problems of life.

Our church just finished a seven week teaching series on our core values. Instead of calling it our core values we called it: "This is Us". The sermon series was a huge hit!Understanding the show is what lead to us doing a sermon series by the same title. About a year ago God led us to Ventura to revitalize a church that was in trouble. I didn't realize how bad things were until we got here. I was in a conversation with a guy who told me, "I thought the church was going to close the doors." Those things happen at churches, but God loves this place too much!

Our leadership dug in, gave more and invested more to seeing Coastline move into the future as a healthy church. We casted new vision, restated our core values and simplified our mission to be laser focused.

The core values were crafted in team unity. We looked at our core values that had great intentions but were outdated. They used language that wasn't really how people talk. During the process someone said, "Our old core values were written in the King James Version of the Bible and the new ones are written in the New International Version." Those are the kind of values you want! Core values that anyone can read and understand.

Here are the Core Values in no particular order except we always think "We Put God First" needs to be on top. Understand this, these core values are the best version of ourselves as a church community. We are not perfect but strive for this!

We put God first.

Our church is committed to the God of the Bible. He is our ultimate authority. He is the object of our worship. We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and live our lives in obedience to its truth.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 22:34-39, 2 Timothy 3:16

We build people up.

We are a fun, welcoming, loving and encouraging church community. We want to help everyone take the next spiritual step to grow in their faith journey. We invest ourselves in the lives of others because we think that developing servant leaders matters.
Deuteronomy 34:9, John 13:34-45, Ephesians 4:11-12, 2 Timothy 2:2

We do life together.

We believe that God did not create anyone to be alone so we do life together. We think life change happens best in circles rather than in rows. Jesus established the church so that we may help, encourage and love each other as we follow Him.
Genesis 2:18, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:46, Hebrews 10:24-25

We are outreach focused.

Our church does not expect people to seek us, therefore we intentionally pursue people who are far from God. We are committed to doing anything, short of sin, to help people find Jesus.
Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 5, Luke 15, Acts 2:47

We pray bold prayers.

We know that God is awesome and capable, so we make “the big ask” of God in our prayer life. We come to God with a bold list of prayers and take time to actively listen to Him on a regular basis.
1 Samuel 3, Mark 1:35, Acts 12:5, James 5:16

We are multigenerational.

The church is meant to be multigenerational. We think the best way to keep the love of God fresh in our hearts is to place a high value on kids, students and families. We intentionally invest in the next generation.
Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 22:6, Mark 10:13-16, 1 Timothy 4:12

Grace happens here.

We understand that we do not deserve the grace of God but God’s grace is experienced and extended to one another here. This is a safe place to meet with God and learn about the great things He has done for each of us.
John 8:1-11, Romans 3:24, Ephesians 2:8, 2 Timothy 1:9

Pilot Version

On Easter Sunday our church launched a seven week pilot version of two worship services. The church has a history of having multiple services to reach more people in the community but prior to my arrival the church had been on a slow decline.

The launch of a second service took place on Easter but it was birthed in dream well before that. Staring in October I had been praying bold prayers for God to help us to reach more people. Our staff had been praying for God to give us a God sized goal to help more people find and follow Jesus.

On January 21, 2018 we called a special church meeting. Our staff took different parts of the vision and talked about the great opportunity we have to reach more people in Ventura County. Then on Easter Sunday we launched the pilot version.

The idea of a pilot version came from my new friend Mike Hickerson. Mike leads a fantastic church in Ventura. I told him I wanted to go to two services and he suggested doing it from Easter to Mother’s Day to give it a try (Thanks Mike for pushing me to live by faith). We gave it a shot and here are seven lessons we learned:

1. We have an invite culture

When you read the Gospel of Matthew and John, you will see early on that the one of the first thing the disciples did was find someone and tell that person about Jesus. Our church was a pillar in the community and had an invite culture. For a number of years this wasn’t the case, but God is refereeing that in us! Great job Coastline! Keep up the invite culture.

2. Our people love to serve

During our meeting in January we asked our church to serve and they blew our mind! We had over 70 people fill out a card to serve. Now that sounds cool, but guess what? They served! We connected those people into service opportunities. One of the best ways to feel alive is to serve others.

3. We have some kinks to work out to make this last 

My deep hope was to keep two services going. The truth is, we have some kinks to work out. We need to figure out how to make this more sustainable and that is what our summer break is for. Sometimes we need to slow down to speed back up again.

4. We have gaps in our system

We realized that our volunteers systems are far from perfect. They are good, but good is the enemy of great. These gaps means that things get dropped or that crevices are created and are hard to cross. We are detailing out these gaps and working on improving them to help more people find and follow Jesus.

5. Guests love Coastline 

We meet so many great guests here at Coastline. We don’t call people a visitor because a visitor isn’t really welcomed at your home (think about the person who was trying to sell something and stopped by right as you sat down for dinner). We have guests, invited guests!

6. We need to engage more people outside of the weekend service 

Sunday morning is cool, but it’s not 1960. People don’t just come to church. We want to engage people in our community so that they will long to be in a Biblical community.

7. This was a success 

One of the things we have to know (I’m talking to our church) is that this was a success. It was a huge success! God moved in great ways in these seven-weeks and He will continue to move in our church. Part of it being a success means we are going back to two services in the fall.

Going to two services was always an experiment. In my heart, I longed for us to stay at two services. In my head, it makes sense to move to our summer worship service time to prepare our church for two services in the fall.

The next time you want to try something new at your church just call it a pilot version. This pilot version was always an experiment. We tried something new and learned at least seven things. In reality we learned a lot more, we just didn’t think you wanted to read the list of 23 things.

Here are some final thoughts: 
We went in with the expectation to learn
We are willing to make small and large changes to reach people for Jesus
In our second service we came close to hitting the 80% rule (this means we are close to needing two services)

Starting August 26 we are going to two identical worship services and we hope that you will be our guest!

Mom Talk 2018

This was my first Mother's Day as a lead pastor. As I was planning out the preaching schedule (something us pastor's do) I got to Mother's Day and wasn't sure what to do. I began praying and thinking about the whole morning. One of my first thoughts was, "I'm not the best person to share on Mother's Day."

The more I prayed about the morning I began to get an idea. I shared this idea with our elders and asked for prayer. The idea seemed to stick and we moved forward. The initial idea was to have a panel of three mother's, in different stages of life, share with us. I would interview them and ask them each a few questions.

I shared the idea with our staff team and everyone seemed to like it. During the discussion someone suggested we call it: "Mom Talk" and the idea stuck.



As we continued to plan we thought it would be best to have this more like a round table discussion.

I began writing out questions that I thought people would want to hear about. I started with a list of about ten questions and sent it to the three moms who accepted the invitation to speak. From the list of questions each mom choose two and helped me improve their questions some. Here are the six questions I asked:

1. What has been the most challenging stage of motherhood?
2. What advice would you give to someone who has a child who has walked away from the Lord? 
3. How did you encourage your kids to love Jesus at an early age?
4. What advice would you give to a first time mother? 
5. What are some ways the Bible helps us honor women and their great contribution to society? 
6. What part of being a mom has made you feel the most vulnerable or weak?

You can hear the entirety of the message right here. 

A God-sized goal

At the end of last year I began asking God for a vision for our church. I wanted a God-sized goal, something that if God didn't show up it would never happen.

I began writing notes in my journal. I stayed up late in bed asking God to speak. I didn't want to just say some goal and it not be from God.

At the beginning of the year I began to get a sense of what the goal would be. I started talking with some of our staff and Elders about reaching more people at Easter. See, we've been working on relaunching Coastline Bible Church. We haven't done an "official" relaunch date but are working on restoring the church to what God wants it to be.

I'll shorten the details of the entire process but share the God-sized goal we came up with:
To be a church of 400 people worshipping Jesus in two identical services on Easter Sunday 2018

In early January we called a special meeting to share the God-sized goal with our church. It would take all of us pitching in. It wasn't something I could accomplish on my own. See when I got to Coastline we were a church of about 160 people on an average Sunday. Within a handful of months we broke 200 for the first time. Then on Christmas Eve we hit 280; God was working in the hearts of His people as we cast a new mission and direction for the church.

The afternoon we cast the goal someone in our church asked if we would have a class to help people share their faith. Her question was great! A previous elder said he would teach the class. After two classes on Sunday morning and being invited to three small groups we had trained almost 80 people on how to share their faith (that is almost half of our regular attendance!)

Now what you're waiting to read. Easter Sunday came. We had trained dozens of leaders for the increase. We doubled our volunteer base so we could launch a second service. We slotted a huge breakfast to keep people around and talking. God showed up on Easter. We had a number of people accept Christ as their Savior. When the count came in, we reached 383 people on Easter Sunday.

Our church swung for the fences and we hit the wall! It was a huge win. People were and still are rejoicing in all God is doing at Coastline. I'm sharing this not to brag on me, but to brag on God and all the amazing people here at Coastline. Keep seeking Jesus.

Our mission is to help people find and follow Jesus. Our prayer is similar to that in Acts 9:31

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Acts 9:31)

Pray for the 100,000 people in our city that aren't in a relationship with God.
Pray for the over 700,000 people in our county that need to hear the truth of Jesus.

We are going to keep swinging for the fences to help more people find and follow Jesus.

4 indispensable leadership qualities of a leader

While serving in the Bay Area I had the privilege of working with a great man named Silvio. Silvio was a leader in our Usher ministry and honestly could have been my boss for all the wisdom that man has. On a regular basis we would get lunch to stay connected. I usually left the meals feeling like I was poured into more than he was. He was leading a company, spoke multiple languages, loved the Lord with all his heart, had a great marriage and two wonderful kids. I wanted to be more like him.

One time, while having a meal together, Silvio told me that I was a great leader. He said something like, "You're a clear communicator, have organizational ability and are very relational. Neal, you are the kind of the leader the church needs." I as thrilled to hear these words but wanted to talk more about the topic of great leadership with him.

We continued on this topic for much of our lunch. We talked about guys who are very administrative but are tough to relate to. There are guys who are so relational that they forget to organize the details of their day. Then you have guys who are the best communicators but seem like they can't relate to others, they walk off stage and it's tough to connect with them.

The more we talked about this, the more I got to thinking. I wrote this out on my white board in the office. I started it as a list, something like this:
1) Communicator
2) Administrative
3) Relational

Then it hit me, the way it needed to look was like this:

I called Silvio and told him about the vendiagram. What the church world needed to add to this was humility. I talked to my good friend Nick and asked him if he would draw this up for me real quick. He is a wiz and it took him no time at all. The circles overlap. When you get a guy who lines them up just right you get humility to fall in the center.

Over the next week or two I want to write more about each of these topics as they relate to leadership.

The pain of gossip and rumors

Think about the last time someone asked you a question that totally caught you off guard. The biggest time this happened in my life was during my first year of Bible College. One, while on break a classmate came up to me and asked me if I was selling heroine. As you can image, I was in shock! His question stumped me. In my past I had sold drugs, but I’d never touched heroine.

The problem is his question was less of a question and more a declaration that I’d been selling. In his tone if felt like I was already guilty and needed to be proved innocent.

I tried as calmly as I could to ask him where he heard this. The question of me selling was more than frustrating but his response was infuriating. He told me that another class member had told him and she was scared to confront me. To be completely honest I shut down and was so angry. It was one of those times in my life that I couldn't think straight I was so upset.

My life had completely changed with Jesus and the last thing I wanted to do was touch drugs again. I was working a job, waking up early, going to school in the morning, work in the afternoon and back to school at night. If I was selling heroine I wouldn’t be holding that schedule or working the low paying job I had been working. I wouldn't have been living in a small apartment and driving an old truck. It wasn't just a financial insult, it was the thought of my past trying to steal the future God had for me. The main insult felt like an attack on my character, and that hurt the most.

I excused myself from class that morning to talk with one of the leaders of the school. See before I met Jesus I would go and handle conversations like this in person but no one was telling me the source of the rumor. My initial intention was to go to the person's home and have a conversation with them. An in all honest, my words would have been few. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but this is me being vulnerable.

Finally the leader was able to figure some things out and it came to be that a guy I had never met heard a rumor about me and told this girl in our class during a Bible study. He confused me with another person and blew the whole thing out of proportion. You know how it came out? He shared during the prayer request time of Bible study.

This instance in my life reminds all of us have badly misinformation can hurt a person.

Think of the pain that rumors cause people. Reputations are ruined by rumors. Marriages are destroyed by miscommunication, relationships are severed with poor information and churches are destroyed by the small spark of a lie. When you think about your life, how have rumors hurt you? Maybe you’ve been the victim of a painful rumor just like me. We’ve all seen the personal impact of how rumors impactor lives, our family, a love one or the local church in some cases.

On Sunday I taught on Acts 21:17-22:29 about the pain of rumors. Paul was a misunderstood man who almost lost his life due to a misunderstanding. You can read the passage in Scripture and find out that a small amount of legalism had snuck in the church, it went unchecked and then started a mini-riot at the temple.

When we read about Paul's expeditions and experience we see that he lived boldly in Christ. This week I encourage you to live boldly in Christ. Be a truth teller and not a lie creator. Don't spread words that you know aren't true. Talk to a person and not about a person. Be a person of your word and work towards unity. We need more unity now!

At our church we make sure rumors don’t have a leg to stand on. We’ve all seen the pain that rumors can cause in our personal lives and in the life of the church. Rumors cause drama and drama tends to cause pain in the lives of those involved.

Listen to this Proverbs from God’s word: “Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.” (Proverbs 26:20). The way to stop rumors is to commit to being a truth teller. Most of us have probably thrown a log or two on a fire at one time, I know I have. I invite you to change that. I want to invite you to be a truth teller instead of a rumor spreader.

As a pastor, I have the opportunity to talk with hundreds of people. And sometimes people come up and tell me things about other people. Instead of falling into the trap of siding with the person speaking, I try to say something like, “That doesn’t sound like so and so.” Or, “My experience with that person has been very different.”

If you’re tempted to fall into gossip and rumors, think about the repercussions on the other person and how you’d like to be treated. Remember the words of Christ, “ Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31). Make a commitment to be a truth teller.

Coastline Core Values

Yesterday at our vision meeting we shared the core values of Coastline. Coastline has a rich history of being a light in Ventura. A few months ago our elders decided that we would gather with our staff and restate our core values. These core values are the best version of our church.

After months of prayer, drafts and a great team meeting here is what we feel God has given us:

We put God first
Our church is committed to the God of the Bible. He is our ultimate authority. He is the object of our worship. We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and live our lives in obedience to its truth.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 22:34-39, 2 Timothy 3:16

We build people up
We are a fun, welcoming, loving and encouraging church community. We want to help everyone take the next spiritual step to grow in their faith journey. We invest ourselves in the lives of others because we think that developing servant leaders matters.
Deuteronomy 34:9, John 13:34-45, Ephesians 4:11-12, and 2 Timothy 2:2

We do life together
We believe that God did not create anyone to be alone so we do life together. We think life change happens best in circles rather than in rows. Jesus established the church so that we may help, encourage and love each other as we follow Him.
Genesis 2:18, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:46, Hebrews 10:24-25

We are outreach focused
Our church does not expect people to seek us, therefore we intentionally pursue people who are far from God. We are committed to doing anything, short of sin, to help people find Jesus.
Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 5, Luke 15, Acts 2:47

We pray bold prayers
We know that God is awesome and capable, so we make “the big ask” of God in our prayer life. We come to God with a bold list of prayers and take time to actively listen to Him on a regular basis.
1 Samuel 3, Mark 1:35, Acts 12:5, James 5:16

We are multigenerational
The church is meant to be multigenerational. We think the best way to keep the love of God fresh in our hearts is to place a high value on kids, students and families. We intentionally invest in the next generation.
Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 22:6, Mark 10:13-16, 1 Timothy 4:12

Grace happens here
We understand that we do not deserve the grace of God but God’s grace is experienced and extended to one another here. This is a safe place to meet with God and learn about the great things He has done for each of us.
John 8:1-11, Romans 3:24, Ephesians 2:8, 2 Timothy 1:9

We will not use lip service and say we value these values; we will truly value them. We will put the best of our efforts into these areas and do them with excellence. (Please note that this list is not in order or importance, we just had to start somewhere).

Leadership Transition

During my time in ministry I've seen some great leadership transitions and some train wrecks. The first transition I saw is one I will never forget. I was serving at a church and we were looking to hire a new Junior High Pastor. We interviewed a great candidate and it seemed like things were heading in the right direction. I was told we hired the guy and then quickly informed that we hired him as the Student Ministry Pastor and not the Junior High Pastor. I was a bit confused and learned that my beloved boss was being demoted and would eventually leave the church. Shortly after an opportunity came my way and I also transitioned away from the church.

I've also seen some great transitions. When I was called to serve at SHCC in Henderson, NV I served with a dynamic team of leaders. About nine months into my tenure there my good friend Rob Hall asked me to step up and lead our entire Student Ministry. I was thrilled for the expanded role. Rob and I had a long handoff where we co-led the ministry for a few months, shared preaching, did summer camp together and casted vision to our leaders. I led that ministry for six more years and saw God do great things!

These are just two examples from my life.

I've talked with friends who have been on both sides of the coin in leadership transition. I've talked to guys who came to a church and the last guy did them no favors in the transitions. I've also talked with friends who had great handoffs with Godly leaders. I've consoled friends who have lost dear friends when leadership made quick moves and talked with other friends who were frustrated at how slowly their church responded to a needed change.

A few months ago Willow Creek Community Church announced a leadership transition. Twitter was full of positive and negative comments. Friends in ministry talked about the announcement. Influential writers shared their opinion about the transition. Friends texted me to asked my thoughts about what Bill had announced.

For a while I've held my thoughts to myself and the few people I've spoken with. I thought they weren't entirely important but continued to dwell on them. Have you experienced something like this before? I topic came up and you need some time to figure it out? You wanted to process, internally, what you were thinking?

When I think of my experience with transitions in leadership here are my thoughts:

1) Internal leadership transitions seem to be better than external

For how big of a platform that Willow Creek has, I think their decision for an internal transition was a great call. I highly respect Bill Hybles and his leadership. He talks about hiring people with Godly character, who are competent in their role, and find chemistry with those you work with. After talking about this for years he added something new. He talked about putting people in the right climate. By them choosing an internal transition they knew their team already loved the area!

When serving in the Bay Area I worked at an amazing church. We had some internal transitions from young people who were interns coming onto full-time staff. By having an internal pipeline of leadership we knew what we were getting. This was a big take-a-way from my time in the Bay Area. I really enjoyed working with our team and seeing us promote people from within.

2) In the future I think we are going to see more churches led by a plurality of Godly leaders

As I think about church transitions, and now I want to talk primarily about the lead role, I think we are going to see more churches moving to a plurality of leaders.

Think about North Coast church in Carlsbad. North Coast has led the way in a plurality of leadership. From what I know, they have four lead pastors. I don't know any of these men personally but have learned from two of them. From what I gather, two are the primary communicators but I'm not sure what the other two men do (I'm sure it's great work like executive pastoring).

When I think about my generation there is a shift. We enjoy working in teams. This morning I was walking my daughters to school when my oldest said: "Dad we're doing a project on the Native Americans but I don't like it. At my last school we worked more in teams, here I have to do it on my own." She gets it! Working in a team is more fun, more collaboration and more ideas.

Read this information from the Barna Group on the average age of a Senior Pastor:

When George Barna published his 1992 findings in Today’s Pastors, the median age of Protestant clergy was 44 years old. One in three pastors was under the age of 40, and one in four was over 55. Just 6 percent were 65 or older. Twenty-five years later, the average age is 54. Only one in seven pastors is under 40, and half are over 55. The percentage of church leaders 65 and older has nearly tripled, meaning there are now more pastors in the oldest age bracket than there are leaders younger than 40.

I'm not opposed to leaders in their fifties leading churches, please don't hear that. I do think that we are going to see a shift and I pray it involves people of all stages of life. The church is longing for fresh vision and fresh leadership.

3) A long hand off helps prepare the people

When I think back to one of the most successful transitions I was a part of, I think the length of the handoff helped. Now I could see a handoff taking too long. If you are curious to know more about this, I encourage you to read Transition Plan by Bob Russell. I call this book a "plane ride read." You can read it quickly and talk with others about it. In the book, Bob talks about his transition with Dave Stone. I appreciate the time they worked together, the commitment they have to the local church and the openness in the handoff.

When the leadership of a church are open about the plan it allows the people to think more about the plan. When their is more time to discuss, there is more time to prepare, process and pray. I like to think about raising up young leaders today to lead churches tomorrow. One of my life goals is to invest into young leaders and raise you strong followers of Christ.

When you think about transition in a church, what would you add to the conversation.

6 questions with Bret Johnson

Bret Johnson is a Christ follower, husband, father, entrepreneur and pastor. Bret grew up in sunny Southern California and currently lives in Henderson, NV. Bret is marries to Sallie Johnson and they have three wonderful adult children. Bret leads The Hastening, preaches, teaches and encourages young leaders. Bret has a deep desire to see people who are far from God draw near to the Lord.

Bret and I met late in 2004 when I was applying for a role at South Hills Church Community in Henderson, NV. Bret took a risk on hiring me and invested in my life for about five years while we were on staff together (my mom still talks about what a great communicator Bret is). Bret has the gift of hospitality and loves to welcome people into his home. When I first moved to Vegas, Bret invited my mom and fiancé over for Christmas dinner. Bret also has a passion for missions; he and I went to Mexico to scout out a location where we could introduce students to their first missions experience.

1.  You’ve just started a new ministry called “The Hastening.” Tell us about this ministry.

 The term “hastening” comes from Peter’s second letter in the New Testament. Here’s what he said:

“ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.   Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:10-12

I formed The Hastening as a ministry this year to do several important things:   encourage renewal, revival and prayer in the body of Christ; equip the church (especially in Las Vegas) to understand and have a passion for Jesus' fame among all nations (which is the ultimate goal of all of history); network with Pastors and ministries in the Las Vegas Valley and encourage unity among churches and ministries.   John PIper has said, "You're either a zealous goer or a zealous sender (in relation to Christian missions) or you're nothing."  The Hastening is really meant to help Christ-followers understand their important role in finishing the great commission.

2. Doing ministry in Las Vegas is radically different from pretty much everywhere. What do you find most exciting about this call?

Las Vegas IS the mission field.  It's in the United States but it is a mission station for sure.  5% of the 2.1 million people who live in Las Vegas are evangelical Christians.  There are as many Mormons in Las Vegas as evangelicals. Many metro areas in the US have up to 40% of the population who are evangelicals-- places like Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis, etc.  There's a ton of opportunities to reach people.  People are not "cultural Christians" here.  They are lost or found....plain and simple.  People have come here from EVERYWHERE also.  A person reached for Christ here can have an impact in many parts of the world.

3. You’re an entrepreneur and a church planter. What do you think is the toughest part about church planting?

Far and away the toughest part of church planting is having it supported well.  The typical church plant contains a passionate Pastor and his wife and a lot of promises of support by people and churches- and honestly, just promises.    We were fortunate in coming to Las Vegas.  The Christian & MIssionary Alliance got behind us and committed $250,000 to us.  In addition, our home church paid the salary of our #2 guy for two whole years.  Another church in our sending city took a quarterly congregational offering for two years!  Each offering averaged $10,000!  That wasn't our home church!  What did they get for that financial commitment?  A church that grew to over 1,000 people in eight years.  And the most dynamic student ministry in the city in just a few years.

4. You’re a dad to three amazing adult children, what are some things you and Sallie did early in their lives to help your kids become the people they are today?

One of the things that attracted me to Sallie was that she was from a Christian family.  Not just her folks but her grandparents on both sides, aunts & uncles, truly committed people.  That was in sharp contrast to my family who I love dearly but it's just the truth.  I had a sense that when we had kids her influence and her family would really be a blessing to our kids and they would benefit from that legacy.  In addition, I think we created a healthy home-- not a perfect home-- just a healthy home.  Sallie and I worked hard both in church and at our jobs but one of us was almost always with the kids OR the grandparents watched them.  So our kids got lots of attention and care.  Kids will generally thrive if you give them a healthy environment.

5. There are many men who don’t have a life outside their work and family. What is one hobby you enjoy doing and that fills you up?

Sallie and I love to travel.  We take several short trips a year and try to see and do some different things.  We are not rich but we are smart travelers.  We were also blessed by some friends who gave us a timeshare to use so that gets us to some different places.  Our kids now live in three different states and we have family in Portland.  So, just keeping up with family means traveling some.

6. If you could give your 20 year old self one piece of advice what would it be?

That's easy.  Find a good counselor!  Deal with your junk, your family history and your sinfulness.  Find someone you trust and can be honest with.  My generation did not do soul work very well.  Millennials today are more open to this than we were (thank God!).  I have come to the conclusion that almost all of us would benefit from going to a counselor as often as we go to a medical doctor!