Before we took the call to come to LifePoint, we knew this season would come. We knew that being at John Wood, having a separate office location, setting up, tearing down and everything that goes along with being a mobile church wasn’t going to last forever. What we didn’t know was how long the waiting was going to last. If I’m honest, I wanted this season to come sooner.

It’s very exciting to visualize and anticipate how much effective ministry is going to take place when we get into the new building as a member of the building design team. I can’t wait for easier access to the sanctuary. I can’t wait to have less set up and tear downs. I can’t wait to have offices that are actually onsite and at ground-level. 😩🙌

…but in all my hope and excitement, there are some things that I really appreciate about the present …things I hope we don’t lose when we finally get to move. 

Flexibility

Because a lot of what we use is not “ours” at John Wood, I think we’ve developed a greater habit of sharing and flexibility. If you’ve ever been at the storage closet during tear down on Sundays you’d understand what I’m saying here. Somehow, some way, we have to pack all of our tables, signs, supplies, toys, speakers and music equipment into that closet. All ministries are represented in this packed closet! Now, it might be because we have to, but I’m amazed by how we work together to accomplish this each week. Oftentimes ministries can become very territorial with their space and equipment. I’ve seen this causes a lot of frustration and division within churches. I hope that we continue to excel in a habit of flexibility by our love, grace and humility towards one another.

Innovation

I’ve learned that sometimes obstacles are the best platforms for creativity. It’s easy to focus on what we can’t do because we don’t have… but I‘ve seen true creativity birthed out of making the best out of what we’ve been given (and that’s often more than we realize). I’m sure there will be times, even after we’ve arrived in our new building, that we’ll be tempted to think we can’t do certain things because of what we don’t have, but I hope we continue to find ways to overcome the obstacles, rather than being defeated by them.

Hard Work

Easy is attractive. It’s so nice to do things that don’t take a lot of effort. Don’t get me wrong, I think some things should be easy, but I also think “easy” can become a slippery slope into paralysis. LifePoint is a very motivated church with a mission. I hope we never lose focus and think that a building was our church’s mission. I hope this season continues to deepen our convictions for Christ, break our hearts for the lost and equip us for how we can faithfully lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus.

This is an exciting season. Yes, for the unique opportunity to build a new building, but even more so, to be changed by the work Christ is doing in our hearts to prepare us for this new ministry opportunity. Lean in LifePoint. Don’t miss what God is doing right now!

This season isn’t just about a building – not even close. This is a discipleship moment for each of us. Will we share in the heart and mission of God?

Paul tells the church to “excel” – to go above and beyond – in generosity (2 Cor. 8:7), but not just for a building, or a campaign, or a program. Paul says that we give to become more like Jesus: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8.9). Is your life shaped by that same gospel trajectory? Does your lifestyle reflect Jesus’ call to sacrifice and self-denial?

Let’s be honest, these are scary questions. Most of us want to be more generous, but it can feel so overwhelming: Where do we start? How do we grow? Generosity sounds great, but what does it look like? The Generosity Journey is a discipleship tool to help us wrestle through these sorts of challenging questions.

As you look through this journey, consider two questions:

Where are you on this journey today (not based on ambitions or aspirations, but actual habits and practices)?

Begin asking God, where do you want me to be? How do you want me to grow?

Don’t focus on what you wish you could do… focus on the next step in front of you. What does that next step look like for you? The call of this season is a call to next steps – disciples of Jesus, growing in your generosity, as an outworking of God’s heart in you!

Don’t be deceived: this is primarily about the state of our hearts, which is exactly what makes self-reflection around our generosity so hard. The challenges are often less about the economics and more about issues of the heart: pride, control, hurt, fear, idols. The call of Jesus is to trust Him more than we trust these other voices (the pride, control, hurt, fear, idols).

LifePoint, in this season, may we come before God, opening our heart to Him, laying everything at His feet, and say, “It’s yours… I’m yours.”

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much about mechanics, but I do know when my life is unbalanced, things tend to go haywire.

As we move forward in this campaign, we are going to talk about money, because at the end of the day we do want to build a new building. But, more than anything, we are praying and asking God to shape us as his disciples along the way.

Most of us see discipleship through a certain lens; depending on our upbringing, or church background. However, we can agree that discipleship is about submitting to and being shaped by Jesus in every area of our life. In order to keep our eyes on Jesus throughout this campaign, we want to introduce and use the Gospel Wheel. This tool will help us in keeping the first things first: the Gospel!

The Gospel Wheel is made up of five key areas of our life: Prayer/Bible, Character, Evangelism/Mission, Community and Generosity, and the center being the Gospel.

The center of the wheel is not only the foundation, but it is the lens by which we see and live out every other area.

The spokes on the wheel are the fruit of the Gospel at work in our lives. If one spoke is longer, shorter, or missing, our wheel will be rocky and lead us astray.

 

As you look at your Gospel Wheel, what are your strengths and weaknesses?

Do you see Generosity as an outworking of the Gospel in your life?

 

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” 

2 Corinthians 8:9

Schools are the heartbeat of any community.  As go the schools, so goes the community.  Several years ago, Quincy took a risk: an $89 million investment in our schools, our community, and the future of Quincy.  As we now know, one of the new elementary schools will be located at 42nd and Harrison, directly adjacent to LifePoint’s new property.  This school is projected to enroll 586 students from across the city’s south side in 2019.  Over the next decade, it’s easy to imagine that thousands of families from our community will be impacted by what happens at this single school.

As our community enters a season of expanding development and investment, the question that keeps resonating in my heart is this: will the church be there? For our elders and staff, our proximity to this new school site is no accident.  We want to be there – loving and supporting our neighbors. This is an opportunity to lean into one of our core values:  We are for the city. Our love for God must overflow into a real and meaningful love for our neighbors. Our love for our city is a rugged commitment to serve those in need, to care for the overlooked, to bind up the broken. Our desire is to bless Quincy for His name’s sake. We want to be a part of restoring God’s vision of what it means to be a neighbor, and what it means to see our city flourish in Him.

In short, we want to be good neighbors. We want to serve and give and care – because that’s what we do as followers of Jesus.  By building our future church home next to a school, we are saying, “We’re here. And we’ve got your back.”  This is one way that followers of Jesus live out that central teaching of Jesus, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  This may mean after-school programming, mentoring in the classroom, or packing weekend lunch packs for students. The opportunities are limitless, but the bottom line is clear: we want to care, serve, and love the students and families of this school that way the Jesus would.  And I know that Jesus’ love is radically committed, deeply personal, and self-giving to the core.  LifePoint, may we love like that!