Merry Christmas!! I hope preparations are going well for you and your family, and that you are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior.  I am looking forward the “story” side of Christmas.  If I don’t get my favorite Christmas movies in, it’s just not the same.  A Christmas Carol (Disney version), A Christmas Story (Ralphy!!!), It’s a Wonderful Life, Scrooged, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Home Alone, plus a few more equal a successful Christmas break.  To varying degrees, all of these stories point toward values and truths that are meaningful.  More importantly, the overriding theme of each story mentioned, even if it is simply about love and forgiveness, is based squarely on the birth, life, and teachings of Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Without Jesus, love, grace, and forgiveness would just be abstract ideas.  With Jesus, we can know what love looks like, what it sounds like, and what it does.  Christmas is really about God showing us His love in the most perfect way.  It is amazing to think about the lavish, unequaled, and perfect gift embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.

Did any of you see Shaun White win the gold this week?  Janet and I watched the entire snowboarding competition on Wednesday night, and were pretty impressed by what we saw.  Each of the snowboarders were exceptional, and they all did things that looked amazing.  Then, last in the lineup, was Shaun White.  We were stunned from the moment of his first jump.  There was clearly a difference between him and the other athletes.  Due to his ability and training, he is continuing to make a huge impact on his sport.

What about us?  Are we making an impact on our world?  God has given us everything we need and challenged us to make an indelible mark on our world for Christ.  As a church, we begin Impact this weekend.  I believe that God is going to do great things in and through us as we take risks, move to the next level, and impact our world for Christ.

Part of the journey that we will take together will be to share the same devotional experience from Monday, February 22 through Easter Sunday, April 4.  On Sunday, we will have The Unexpected Adventure available, which is a 42 day devotional guide that will challenge us to take everyday risks to talk with people about Jesus.  I want to encourage each of you to pick up a copy on Sunday, and encourage everyone in your Life Group to do the same.  You may want to purchase one for yourself, or get a copy to share with your spouse or family.  Either way, this devotional guide will greatly enrich your experience during the course of Impact.  The Unexpected Adventure is $12 per copy, and will be available in the Commons or the Faith Building hallway.

Thanks as always for making an impact where you serve.  You are a blessing to our church.

“Welcome to 2010, and what an exciting year it promises to be!”  Is that a little trite?  How can we know what the future holds?  How can we have any idea about the level of excitement that it will bring?  The fact is that 2010 will be exciting because, as Christians, we know that God has a unique vision and plan for each one of us.  The key to a “successful” year is to make sure that it is a God-honoring and God-directed year.

With that thought in mind, I believe that it is God’s design that we reach people.  Reach means to touch or communicate with.  We reach people for Christ by sharing His message with them, serving and giving our lives to them, and showing them compassion.  Sometimes in Christian circles, we talk about inreach and outreach.  Inreach is concerned primarily with taking care of those who are a part of the faith community.  Acts 2:44-45 paints a beautiful picture of inreach, and the word “fellowship” in Acts 2:42 points toward the relational health and intimacy that believers of the early church had with each other.

There is much to be said and written about inreach, but the question for us is this: “How could we improve inreach at Broadmoor?”  We could ask this question a different way.  Instead of the word “inreach,” we could use words like fellowship, life together, community, care, etc.  The pointed question I want to ask is what about those, who are a part of our fellowship, that we haven’t seen in a while.  What’s going on in their lives?  Do they have needs we can meet?  Are there tangible ways we can pray for them?  Do they need a touch?  Sometimes, there are valid reasons that people miss fellowship or gathering time with the community.  Other times, people may come for a while and, for one reason or another, not feel wanted or needed.  Also, people may also, due to challenges or circumstances, slip away without being noticed.  Whatever the case, it is our responsibility as leaders to be aggressive in relationships, be aware of people within our community of faith that need a touch, and take the initiative in establishing, healing, or restoring a healthy relationship.

So what’s the action item?  Over the next several weeks, we are going to take intentional steps to identify and reach those who are a part of our church family who we have missed.  Be thinking and praying about the people in your Life Group or sphere of influence that may have dropped off of your radar.  I have looked over every membership list from every Life Group, and the reality is that there are people that have, at the very least, expressed interest in our church that we have an opportunity to reach.  These people have come to our church, joined a Life Group, and no longer attend.  They may be in a busy time of life, they may be in crisis, they may need encouragement, and they may have legitimate needs.    Whatever the case, they need to know that we care.  We can pray, give, listen, and serve.  Just as in Acts 2:42-47, the global impact that we are called to have starts with taking care of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  The expression of love that we have for each other is a powerful message that the lost world around us needs to see.

The bottom line is that you may be able to make 2010 exciting for someone else.  You may be able to help them take the next step in a growing relationship with Christ and other believers.  You may be able to help them realize that they are a part of something bigger than themselves and stand shoulder to shoulder with them and impact the world for Christ.

I really hope that 2010 will bring excitement, enthusiasm, and fulfillment for you and your family.  Thanks for serving and thanks for being a blessing.

Merry Christmas!  Thanks for a great month of ministry here at Broadmoor!  The last few weeks have been exciting, meaningful, and special in every way, and I appreciate the way you have been flexible, worked hard, and remained sensitive to God’s leading in your life and ministry.  It really shows.  The more we hold up Christ as being special, the more special Christmas will be.  I want to encourage you to continue to place Christ at the center of your Christmas celebration and to share the message of Christ with someone who needs to hear it.

We all know the other thing that we look forward to this time of year: blocking and tackling.  All of my teams are, for the most part, out of the football playoff picture.  Why?  Because somewhere along the way they didn’t block or tackle as well as they should have.  I think about Alabama in this regard.  They’re not super flashy.  They have won because they grind their opponents down over the course of the entire game.  Play after play, they block, tackle, and keep coming at you.

How does that apply to what we’re doing at church?  What does it look like when we block and tackle well?  One way to know is by looking at the way that we take care of each other.  When we haven’t seen or heard from someone in a while, do we take the initiative to pick up the phone and let them know that we’re thinking about them?  Do we offer to come alongside and walk with them through difficult times?  Do we pray for them?  Do we take steps to meet their needs?  The core question here is this:  Do we love each other, not only with our hearts and minds, but in practical and tangible ways?

In the coming weeks and months we are going to celebrate solid foundations and new beginnings as a church family.  I am absolutely looking forward to it.  We are also going to be doing a lot of blocking and tackling, and one of the places we’re going to start is with people who are a part of our church family that may not be celebrating with us.  After the first of the year we are going to make an intentional effort to connect with people who may need to hear words of affirmation, experience a caring touch, or see us reach out to them in tangible ways.  One thing to be thinking about now is planning your next Life Group fellowship opportunity.  Without giving away too much detail, I want to challenge you to plan a fellowship or social opportunity for your group between February 7 and March 13.  This is going to be a key window of time as we move toward real, biblical fellowship here at Broadmoor and begin a year that is focused on reaching people for the Kingdom and for God’s glory.

Do you want to stand out?  Then step down.  Be a servant.  If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you.  But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

Matthew 23:11-12 (The Message)

I’ve really been meditating on these verses over the last few weeks.  I think that in this particular case The Message brings freshness to the passage.  If you want to stand out, step down.  Isn’t this what Jesus did?  Isn’t this what we should be?  Not do, but be?  We can be secure in stepping down because we know who God is.  We should also know that the only way that we can be truly satisfied is to step down, let God be God, and consider others better than ourselves.

Here’s what I mean.  Worship is the act of attributing worth to God – showing Him what He’s worth, telling Him what He’s worth.  Saying that He is worthy of our worship is a wordplay that is completely appropriate.  Another thing that we know to be true about God is that He loves us.  Being secure in His love also helps us to “step down.”  Stepping down is what Christians should do and what Christians should be known for.  Not pride, not hypocrisy, not success (whatever that means), but stepping down.

The other thing that this passage goes on to say is that stepping down is linked to being ourselves, and that by being ourselves, our lives will count for plenty.  By being secure enough to be ourselves and humbly put ourselves in right position relative to God and others, we can truly be the parts of the Body that God intended us to be.  We can use our spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities for the greater good and we can make the community of faith the colorful, vibrant entity that it’s supposed to be.  It’s funny sometimes how we strive to be something or someone that we’re not.  This causes personal frustration and tends to lead to a monochrome, black and white church that lacks life.

Here’s my last thought:  If we can’t step down relative to the people around us, it’s going to be a challenge to worship as we should.  “For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:20-21)  The degree to which we step down reveals our hearts and the degree to which we are ready to worship.  My challenge to you this week is to love God and love people in the spirit of Philippians 2:1-11, and, as Jesus himself says in Matthew 23, make a habit of “stepping down.”  If we do this together, we will take another step toward making worship what it should be.

My first stop when writing an article that begins with a question is always Webster’s.  There are several definitions of “leader” that piqued my interest:

1. A person that leads

2. Guide

3. A person who has authority or influence

4. A horse placed in advance of the other horses in a team

Which of these things is not like the others? Numbers 1,2, and 4 imply something that #3 doesn’t: a sense of destination, or an understanding of moving toward an objective.  Number 3 is more about control or power.  Authority and influence aren’t bad in and of themselves, but they can become negative, even dangerous if they are properly balanced and directed toward a higher goal.  In other words, a leader is only as effective as his or her sense of direction, both in the short and long terms.  If a leader has no sense of tactical or strategic direction, the results are either subpar or destructive.

I’m an airplane guy.  I’m fascinated by anything that flies.  One of the news events that I remember when I was in high school was the crash of the Thunderbird “Diamond Formation.”  On January 18, 1982 the worst training crash in Thunderbird history occurred when Major Norman L. Lowry, Captain Willie Mays, Captain Joseph N. Peterson, and Captain Mark Melancon were killed while practicing a line abreast loop during training.  The lead pilot, Major Lowry, became disoriented and flew into the ground.  The other three pilots followed him into the ground because they were trained, as Thunderbird pilots are trained today, to constantly keep their eyes on their leader and follow him wherever he goes.

So what does this story have to do with us?  As leaders, we must know what our objective is, and we need to know how to attain it.  We must constantly keep our eyes on Christ and the mission He has given us.  This is particularly critical for us as Christian leaders.  Here’s how Bill Hybels says it in his book Courageous Leadership:  “The local church is the hope of the world and its future rests primarily in the hands of its leaders.”  I think he’s exactly right.

For some random reason today I have been thinking about what it means to “have victory.”  I have heard religious people talk about “having victory” for several years, and I haven’t really been able to wrap my arms around the phrase.  I do this little mental exercise with myself where I ask questions in order to remove assumptions.  It goes something like this:

Person X:  “As Christians, we are supposed to have victory!”

Me:  “Victory in what?”

Person X:  “Victory in life.”

Me:  “What does that mean?”

Person X:  “It means that you’re supposed to be successful, and happy, and joyful.”  (or                                     whatever)

Me:  “Where does the Bible say that?”

This is not to say that I live my life asking these kinds of questions about everything, or that I look for biblical reasons for every tiny, little thing that we do.  It’s also not about setting myself up to be “Mr. Bible.”  The thing is, unless we regularly ask ourselves these kinds of questions in an effort to drill down to core biblical concepts, we could base our faith on foundations that are less than solid.

So what about this “have victory” thing?  The concept of victory in Scripture concerns victory over enemies in battle (mostly Old Testament), victory over death (1 Corinthians 15:54-58), and victory over the world (1 John 5:3-5).  “Having victory” and “conquering” are closely related concepts.

The 1 Corinthians passage helps us to have confidence as we live out our faith in increasingly difficult, if not hostile circumstances.  Our world and our nation are changing, and Christianity is becoming increasingly scrutinized and attacked.  However, we know how the story ends, and knowing that we live now with the sure promise of resurrection in the future allows us to have immeasurable hope.  This hope allows us to “…be steadfast, immoveable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  This is the kind of hope that inspires us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and to engage in great things for God and His fame.

The 1 John passage begins with this formula:

Loving God = Keeping God’s commands = Conquering the World

In other words, believers who have trusted God to the point of allowing Him to change their lives in the vein of Galatians 2:20 or 2 Corinthians 5:15 are the very people who will conquer the world.

So the answer to my little question is this:  Having victory in Jesus has less to do with our cultural view of success or well-being than it does our sense of mission as Christians.  For us, all is right with the world when we are doing God’s will in the world.  This is when we experience true fellowship with God and other believers, feel fulfilled, and find that profound sense of joy and exhilaration that we can only find when we are intimately involved with Him in impacting the world for His glory.  I would encourage you, and ask you to encourage me, as we take steps together to “have victory.”

Biblical authority.  What does that mean?  Does it mean that the Bible is always true?  Does it mean that the Bible is always right?  Maybe it means that the Bible’s word should be the last word.  In the world that I live in, to some degree, the question of biblical authority has been a very technical, academic one.  The irony is that the question of biblical authority is ultimately and primarily practical.  Are we influenced and changed daily by the message of Scripture?  Does the Word of God inform our decision making?  Are our morals and ethics based more on the Bible, or the dictates of our culture?  Do our lives reflect the life of Christ as evidenced by the Fruit of the Spirit?

The key to making sure that our lives are based on the authority of Scripture is to read the Word of God daily.  In order to study, teach, and lead people through the Bible, we must spend time reading it regularly, consistently, and with some type of plan.  I know you have heard it before, but there is no substitute for this.  Here is how The Message says it in 2 Timothy 3:15-17:

There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another – showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.  Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

In order for God’s Word to be authoritative in our lives, we have to know it.  In order to know, we must read it.  That simple.

My preferred plan is to read one chapter of the New Testament and two chapters of the Old Testament every day.  I hold Psalms and Proverbs in reserve for those days when I am pressed for time or need something a little extra.  This, for me, is the ideal in terms of daily quantity.  However, Bible reading is primarily a qualitative discipline.  What I mean is that I am really somewhat unconcerned with how much I read every day.  I am much more concerned with what God is saying, what He is teaching me, and how I should change in response.  If you are reading and clicking off chapter after chapter because the material is absolutely compelling – great.  If you get stuck on one verse or one phrase because it grabs you, it’s best to linger and let God do his work through his Word.  The key is to be consistent over weeks, months, and years.

Many Christians around the world and throughout history have commemorated Holy Week, which begins on Sunday.  Intentionally setting this week aside helps us to sharpen our focus on the sacrifice of Christ, the grace of our Father, and our response as believers and followers.  When we “take up our cross” in the sense of Luke 9:23, we sign on for a lifetime of believing and becoming.  In this regard, I sometimes think about “believing better.”  Not necessarily believing more, as in more stuff or knowledge, but believing more substantively and fully those things that I already know to be right and true.

What does this have to do with Holy Week?  Well, generally, we all know the story.  Most of us can even recite and describe elements of the story with exacting detail.  The question here is this: Do we know the story so well that we allow it to impact us and change us?  Can we feel it and put ourselves in the experience of it?  Does the telling or hearing of it stir up any emotion within us?  Does it make me want to more fully engage with the cause of Christ?  Can I honestly resist the change that the Passion of Christ calls me to?  I would challenge you to read the story of Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion, and glorious resurrection this week.  Read it several times in several translations.  Allow it to sink in deep and change you.  It will because He will.  To see and hear the heart of our Savior as He expresses his love for you, me, and the nations is the pinnacle of selfless love and commitment.  To put ourselves in the shoes of those who experienced the events of that week brings us to a point of humility, thankfulness, and finally, joy and celebration.

What is a Life Group?  What makes a Life Group different?  How is a Life Group supposed to look?  You may have seen the catch phrase “Where the Life of the Church Happens” on the outside of the door where your Life Group meets.  Why is a Life Group where the life of the church happens?  Because in Life Groups we accomplish four very specific and crucial things that are, as a whole, unique to Life Groups.  Here they are:

1.  In Life Groups we EQUIP people with the truths and principles of God’s Word.  This is more than learning new things or increasing our biblical knowledge.  Being equipped has more to do with discipleship or becoming a Christ-follower with our whole lives.  The Bible, when taught effectively, teaches us how to live, how to hope, and opens our eyes to our purposes and passions in God’s economy.

2.  In Life Groups we ENCOURAGE people to develop healthy, loving relationships with each other.  One of the things that we need to ensure is that there is “always room for one more.”  This does not necessarily apply only to chairs and square feet; it also applies to relational capacity.  Within the context of Life Groups we should be prepared to welcome people who want to be a part of the community, and we should be willing to deepen the relationships and friendships that already exist.

3.  Through Life Groups we EMPOWER people to do ministry.  The definition of ministry is “the action by which God works through His people.”  In the context of Life Groups, ministry takes the form of people caring for and ministering to each other.  This means that we are praying for each other, caring for each other through crises and difficult times, and developing an awareness of each other’s needs.

4.  Finally, Life Groups provide us with what we need to ENGAGE our community and world through evangelism and missions.  Every person in a Life Group should experience the joy of sacrificial service.  Whether it’s giving back in your neighborhood, intentionally serving in the church, or traveling on an international mission trip with everyone in your Life Group, we most reflect Christ and are most fulfilled when we serve.

So, here’s the take-away question for you as a leader: Are these four values intentionally reflected in your Life Group?  Is there at least one person in charge of each of these four areas?  We haven’t discussed Life Group staffing on a church-wide scale, but begin thinking about who in your Life Group is currently or could in the future serve in these areas.  For instance, when I receive information regarding a new couple who may want to join a Life Group, who in your Life Group should I call?  Ideally, it should be someone who is organized and has a passion for people who serves as the ENCOURAGE person on the team.  This person may also keep an awareness of the people in the group so the EMPOWER people on the team can pray or care for those who have a need.

With these values and concepts in mind, be on the lookout for additional ideas, resources, and information that will help you to be successful in what God has called you to do.  We are currently developing a Life Group Guide that outlines many of these concepts in detail, and we are also moving forward with plans to meet together as church leaders in order to encourage each other and increase our effectiveness.  In the meantime, please pray and think about how to incorporate each of the four values into your Life Group, and let me know how it is going for you.