Here to Lead

We get 52 weekends a year to invite people to church services and make a big deal about Jesus, and Labor Day weekend is no different. We were blessed to have our good friend Tony Nolan speaking at all four services (three in Cartersville, one in Canton).

Thirty-five people prayed to receive Christ, came forward, and filled out next step cards! That’s 35 people who are heading to heaven. 35 changed directions. That’s a big, big deal!

Big thanks to all the volunteers who served on this holiday weekend, and to everyone who invited people to church. And a BIG thanks to Tony for allowing God to speak through him and sharing his story. God is up to something at Oak Leaf Church, and it’s an HONOR to be able to join him.

Even though I wasn’t teaching…I didn’t “skip” church…actually, I attended THREE great church services at THREE great churches. Next weekend, we continue the Nehemiah series, and I’ll be back to continue the series. Got some really good stuff coming in the next few weeks.

I once spoke at a week-long camp where the worship leader couldn’t decide if he wanted to play music or be the camp speaker.  I put him on the clock once, and during a five-song set, he talked for a total of 17 minutes.  I told the camp organizers that they could have saved money and had him speak and lead worship.

Most church services already come with a sermon…they don’t need another one.  And when I’m done talking, I don’t need a worship leader to recap my entire message.   I wonder how worship leaders would feel if I picked up a guitar and led a couple more songs after their set.

I am in favor of some explanation during the worship set.  In fact, if you’ve got time for four songs, I would rather worship leaders lead three songs and take a few minutes to share what God is doing in their lives or talk about the meaning of the song.  Some songs are just more powerful and meaningful with explanation, especially if you’re singing a hymn with the word “Ebeneezer” in it.

Worship leaders, if you’re going to intro songs, please bring a little more than “let’s lift our voices,” or “God is good” or “we come together to blah blah blah.”  Don’t talk a lot and say a little.

#1 – Using the bathroom during the sermon.

Please use the bathroom or get a drink of water before the service!  I don’t know why, but more people in our services are getting up in the middle of the message to go to the restroom.  Seriously, I’ve never been in the middle of delivering a sermon and had to walk off the stage to use the restroom.  I need you to be an adult about this and figure it out.   Someone got up in a recent service to go try and get more coffee. That just baffles me.

Not only is that extremely rude to the person preaching the Word of God, it’s distracting to everyone in your vicinity, people who are trying to focus on the message.

I’m directing the ushers to save seats in the back of the room for those who get up.  This includes, kids, teenagers and adults…once the sermon starts…nobody should be moving. If you have a kid in the service that needs to use the restroom and you get up,  you’re going to need to watch the rest of the message on the TV monitors upstairs.

Glad that’s off my chest.

My friend Vince recently launched a church in Las Vegas, one of the most unreached cities in the world, and he’s doing a great job. Verve is flat out reaching people for Jesus and Vince is a great leader.

You have the opportunity to learn from Vince and Verve in an event they are hosting called Vault. It’s a church planting lab where you will learn how to start a church that will actually reach lost people. It’s October 18-20 and it is only $100.  You might even win that back at a Blackjack table.  I am going to this event, not as a speaker, but as an attender.  I think you should go too.

Church planters are generally known more for their passion than for their professionalism, but a dose of class isn’t a bad thing. Here are a few tips on how you can stay classy.

• Don’t preach the same sermon series as a church in your area, unless it’s organized and planned.  Either  you or the other church will look like thieves.
• Don’t put road signs in front of another church or at a place where the church meets. It looks like you’re competing.
• Don’t put your church road signs right next to other church road signs.  Again, it appears to people in the community that you’re competing.
• If you are inspired by a design idea, get permission to use it and then change the colors, fonts or wording.
• Don’t use phrases like “not your grandmas church” or “the way church should be” – that’s mildly insulting to lots of great churches.
• Tuck in your shirt from time to time.  Grown ups and professionals will take you a little more seriously.
• If you’re going to visit a church and want a tour, let someone know you’re coming in advance.  We love meeting church planters and will give you a personal guide.
• Don’t ask for discounts on everything.  Grace is free, but some things cost money.

What would you add to this list?  How can we do a better job of being classy?

I borrowed an idea from my friend Tadd Grandstaff and put a new display in our lobby this weekend.  We have three main volunteer areas in our church (family ministry, guest services, and production) and we created small cards for five different volunteer areas in each ministry.  The card has a short description of the opportunity and contact information.  If someone is interested, they can just grab a card, and a bunch of people did that over the weekend.  Here’s a picture of the simple wall display (metal to match the look of our building; simple clips to hold the cards), and a closer look at three of the fifteen cards.

We all have dreams, but every now and then, God plants a vision form something in our hearts.  After four months of waiting on the Lord, fasting, and praying for an opportunity, Nehemiah asks permission of the King to travel more than 750 miles from Susa to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city, walls that had been broken down for more than 140 years.

When he arrives, he inspects the damage. Jim Collins says that leaders have to confront the brutal facts.  If you want your marriage to get better, then you need to be honest about how bad things really are.  If you want your kids to be better, then be honest and don’t make excuses for their behavior.  Many people swimming in debt don’t even know how much they really owe.  If we don’t understand the depths of our own sin, then we will not fully appreciate the grace of God.

Next, he inspires the people. “Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem,” he says to people who had been living amid the rubble for the last several years.  He tells the people that he hand of God was upon Him, and they respond.  This wasn’t just a good idea, it was a God idea.

Finally, He organizes the work. Chapter 3 is a long list of names, a fairly boring list of people and where they worked on the wall.  Might even make you really wonder if all the Bible is the inspired Word of God.  I’m reminded of several things.

• GOD USES PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE. The creator of the universe could have easily spoken these walls into existence.  But instead, God chose to raise up a leader named Nehemiah and a bunch of people to do the work.I don’t have to serve…I get to serve.  God has granted us an incredible OPPORTUNITY to be a part of His work.  Stop acting like you’re doing God a favor and start being grateful that He is willing to used a jacked up person like you.
• GOD WANTS YOU TO USE YOUR GIFTS. Goldsmiths, blacksmiths, woodworkers are put to work in areas that match their gifts.   The same things that make someone successful in teaching, business, etc. can make a difference in advancing the Kingdom of God. I Corinthians 12 says that the Holy Sprit gives every Christian a gift “for the common good.”  Ephesians 4:12 says that people have gifts “for the building up of the body of Christ.”
• PEOPLE WORKED ON THE PART OF THE WALL CLOSEST TO THEIR HOUSE. What do you care about?  Or what frustrates you?  Parents of teenagers ought to get involved with student ministry.  Parents of preschoolers should contribute to family ministry programming.  If you care about something deeply, then don’t just complain…get involved.
• LEADING MEANS SERVING. D.L. Moody said, “There are many who are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.”  If you want to play in the band, try serving on the production.  If you want to teach on a big stage, try leading a small group.  If you want to be on an important team, set up chairs on the weekend.
• THERE IS NO MENIAL WORK WHEN YOU ARE WORKING FOR THE LORD. Doors, gates, rocks doesn’t sound like ministry, it sounds like construction.  I know you’re tempted to think that some work is spiritual and other work isn’t, but that’s not what the Bible teaches. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…” When we do things “unto the Lord,” then it’s sacred work.  Don’t ever say you’re “just” a volunteer, and don’t give into the notion that your “secular” job isn’t ministry.

I updated the resource tab above with several new resources that may interest you.  And in case you’re wondering, all the proceeds from these resources are going to church planting.  So not only will you get field-tested, practical stuff used in a real church, you’ll help start churches at the same time.  Here you go…

Theology 101 is a four part class that you can fully customize and teach to people in your church.  Topics include The Word of God, God the Father, God the Son and Salvation.  The $29 instant download includes the leaders guide, student guide, as well as original Word, InDesign and layered Photoshop files so you can fully customize it for your setting.

Start Here is another class, an 8-part class for new Christians or those interested in Jesus.  It’s our next step for new believers.  The $29 download includes Word and PDF versions of the Leader’s Guides, PDF and InDesign versions of the Leader’s Guide, as well as all the layered graphics.

Introduction to the Old Testament is the third class, a 4-week overview to the Old Testament.  You’ll cover the Torah, History books, Poetry and Prophets and give people a general overview of the Old Testament.  The $29 download includes Word and PDF versions of the Leaders guide, the PDF and InDesign layout of the student book, as well as all the Photoshop files so you can customize the class for your own church.

Group Leader Training is a three-week training module used at Oak Leaf Church to train children, student AND adult small group leaders.  The first two sessions are for all group leaders, and the final session is “breakout” style.  The $49 instant download includes editable versions of the student and leaders guide, original InDesign and Photoshop files, Keynote presentations of the general sessions, and video of Michael teaching the first two sessions.

Long Live the Sermon is a 50-page PDF that will guide you through the key ingredients of a Bible-based, Gospel-focused, Life-changing sermon.  You’ll learn how to write such a message in this $9 instant download.

Docs and Forms 2.0 contains our budget, bylaws, employee handbook, evaluation forms, systems, charts and strategies. You get the original Word files (and other original file formats) so you can change and customize them easily and quickly for your setting.  It’s church organization in a box for $79.

Start Strong is a 79-page curriculum for core groups and launch teams.It’s got Bible studies and practical talks that you can lead with for your group. It’s a $29 instant download.

These resources aren’t just for church planters, either.  We’re seeing a ton of great, established churches benefit from this stuff.

Last year, we announced that we were starting our first campus in the nearby town of Canton.  For the past several months, our team has been meeting and planning and praying, and the grand opening of the Canton Campus was last Sunday.  And after three practice services and a grand opening, I’m happy to announce that….we’re moving!

We signed a three-year lease on part of The Old Ford Building in Downtown Canton.  We will have this space 24-7, and it’s even more cost effective than renting the theater for a few hours on Sunday.  The real win is that this will provide us some space to serve the community and build a presence in Canton.  The team already has some great ideas.  We’re refocusing on serving the community, not just setting up the stuff to pull off a service.  In fact, being a presence in the community and inviting people to church is a major focus of the Canton team this fall.

Will Goodwin, who has been our Creative Arts pastor for the last couple of years is moving to Canton to be the Worship Pastor.  In fact, he and Jamie are literally moving to Canton – they are that committed to this campus.  This is a huge deal, and Will and Tim (our Campus Pastor) are both doing a great job getting involved in the community.

I’d also like to say a huge thanks to two churches in Canton who really rolled out the welcome mat for us.  Revolution Church and Jason Gerdes have been huge friends to us.  WatermarkeChurch  and Gavin Adams have also been a big help.  Andy Jones, who is on staff at Watermarke even joined our team one Saturday to help put out doorhangers!  I’m so encouraged by these kingdom minded churches, and it’s nice to know that we’re not alone.

I’d love your help in spreading the work.  Oak Leaf Canton meets every Sunday at 10am at 151 East Marietta Street in downtown Canton.

This year, we are focusing on growing our church, and part of that focus is being much more intentional welcoming guests.  Every week is someone’s first time at Oak Leaf Church, and we don’t want to take that for granted.  That’s one of the reasons we looked to improve our gift for first time guests.  After a lot of discussion, we settled on this.

This is a simple 4″ mailing tube (we purchased from Uline), wrapped in a full-size label sheet (11×17, cut down to size).  We ordered the tubes and printed the labels ourselves, and a team of volunteers stuck them all on the tube. You can experiment with different tube and label sizes.

Inside the tube is a rolled up t-shirt, a bunch of invite cards, a card for a free drink at our coffee shop, a kids invite card complete with a custom Oak Leaf silly band, and some candy.  Of course, we can change things up and add different things whenever we want.  If we had the money, we’d love to include a USB drive with some audio and video content.  The entire gift costs us about $7, but we think this is a great investment and a cool way to appreciate first time guests.

During our welcome video, we thank all our first time guests for attending and let them know that we have a special gift for them in the lobby.  We’re introducing this weekend, and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.