He came across as a really humble and friendly guy, and shared bits of his story and the story of his church.
He imparted a vision to see change in the Church, to bring change to the community, to bring change to the town, to bring change to the region, to bring change to the nation, to bring change to the world! This big ambition has seen him develop a large outward focussed Church.
Leadership, vision, courage and determination seemed the hallmarks of his story.
His passions are: The Lord, his wife, his children and the Church.
The purpose of the Church is connecting people with the Lord. He is part of a generation he described as being "driven away from the Church", so his mission is to engage and draw in. Reaching the UNchurched and the DEchurched.
Jesus bears little resembalnce to what we see in Churches. He was engaging, full of wisdom, full of power and very friendly.
Churches need to decide who theyw ant to keep happy: people or God? We love God and we love others but we need to have a fear of God alone.
They are displaying a remarkable level of flexibility the Church has developed into a multi-site, multi-location, multi-layered, multi-ministried and multi-congregational model. This is not "one size fits all" but rather "by all means win some".
Four things to live by:
- There is no status quo
- make a difference
- be a change maker
- leave a legacy
Staffing choices are not to "do a job" but to "equip the saints"
The big question he would ask of any Church: how big is your fringe? How big is your social circle? How big is your reach? They host a lot of parties and socials to get to know people.
Pithy Quotes
In relation to personal evangelism
"Personality opens the door. Character keeps it open."
In relation to the work of the Holy Spirit
"We dont want to be "purpose driven", we want to be "presence shaped." His presence drives our purpose, and so that reflects our preaching, worship, prayer times, small groups and who our leaders are."
In relation to Church growth
"The more we feed/clothe/house the poor the more people join our Church. It feels like God blesses us when we bless people He loves."
In relation to leadership
"The strengths of the leader will be the strenghts of the church and vice versa."
In relation to relevance
"The most irreverent thing we can do is be irrelevant"
In relation to maturity
"Serving is the missing step to maturity. The Church in the UK is equipped well beyond its obedience."
In relation to Evangelism
"Do you not think God is more interested in people being saved than we are?"
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