Kent Jacobs

Kent Jacobs- Lead pastor of Epic Church

Destiny Church- Tulsa, Oklahoma- Interned, met wife (carried her bags), Started as a children’s pastor at 20

Staff at 422 church/Victory as youth and worship pastor for 7.5 years

            -Learned, intellectual

            -Developed a heart to reach people

            -Life balance (what’s too much to handle)

           

He just felt like that season was over- it was hard because that church was his family, his world. Committed to one more year.

Friend suggested he started a church- he thought it a terrible idea

Started going off on ideas of things he’d like to see in a church, “It’s gotta be in a movie theatre”

God put a movie theatre right in front of him. Perfect.

Prayed and prepared for that year, read everything he could read,

Epic Church

            - Up and running for four years

            - “Our website is the front door to our church”

            - New churches don’t have the means to duplicate what you’ve seen.

            - Church planting is messy.

            - Mission: “To lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus.”

            - Philosophy of bringing people to Epic- to Jesus:

                        -Being genuine- just a normal, real guy sharing what he knows about Jesus

                        -Teaching one point: application is key- “what is the next step for you?” Connect Card

                        -I loved his style of sharing about David and Saul- David’s decision to listen to the Holy Spirit instead of act on his own desires- very down to earth and easy to relate to.

            - Started with $400, needed $60,000. Got a random phone call from a businessman saying he was donating $60,000.

            - 14 staff (3 full-time)- a different person for every department

            - Uses the S.O.A.P. format as a tool for teaching personal devotional development- using this in small groups

            - Don’t ask people if they want to serve, go to people and tell them that you want them to serve. If you want to be a part of a great church, you’ve got to do your part. 

            - Uses  “Well Done Good Faithful Servant” as a model for ministry.

            - “I want to do ministry with my friends.”

            -Outreach:

                        -Market well (outreach marketing)

                        -What works best for the location and what’s our part in that?

                        -Mother’s Day Makeover

                        -Homeless ministry, Summer Olympics

                        -Easter egg hunt

           

            - Most challenging thing is wondering how they’re going to pay for something and how they’re going to staff it.  “We’re not going to whine about stuff, we’re just going to get it done.”

            -Biggest regret is not taking advantage of an opportunity.

            

Mary Magdalene- Story of a Christ Follower

Those seven demons lived within me for as long as I could remember.  Those seven would have stayed forever if not for Him. I was in the marketplace when he made his way towards me.  This was no small feat, as the crowds moved with him.  He took a step and so did they; but he was determined as he led them to where I was standing.  I suddenly felt chill. The demons inside of me wanted to flee.  They knew who he was.  

            I had heard of this man of Galilee, the one who healed the sick and lame.  I’d heard how he cast out demons.  I’d heard of how he gave hope to the people and put fear in the hearts of the hypocrites. When he approached me he said “Daughter, you are tormented and distressed.  Those within you seek to destroy you.  I can release you.  Are you willing?”  I barely had the courage to nod for I knew the demons within me were indeed trying to destroy me.  That, and there was something true in this man, this teacher, something I had never known before.  So, I nodded, hoping --almost praying that he would and could help me. I was hoping that I could be better than what I had become. He commanded that the demons leave me.  I felt a sweet release as they all fled- all 7 of them.

            I hadn’t felt peace since I was a very young child. It was as if I was suddenly the person that I should have been all along.  Joy flooded my being.  I looked up at the Master.  He smiled. I arose only to fall at his feet.  My torturers had left and I had a savior in their place. I knew I believed in him.  But, it was a very long time before I believed in much else or even before I realized who he was and is.  I knew only that Jesus had rescued me from the demons. I didn’t know or care that he was the Son of God –not yet.  I only knew the void was replaced with peace and joy.

            I sold my possessions and went wherever Jesus happened to ministering.  As I listened to him teach and as I saw more of his miracles, I began to understand who

he was and what he was doing. I remember the day I realized that Jesus was the Son of God… the Messiah.  I had been sitting under his teaching for some months and he was talking about the Kingdom of Heaven.  When he spoke I could hear nothing else.  He spoke of Heavenly things as if they were everyday things.  He spoke of loving your neighbors and praying for your enemies as if it had always been expected. He had such authority in his voice that I believed. 

Listening to many of his parables and much of his teaching I began to understand the things of the Kingdom.  My gratitude had grown into a reverent love for my Lord, the Messiah.

            Then, he was gone.

            One of the disciples came to tell Jesus’ mother and the other women that the Romans had taken Jesus to go before Pilate.  How could they condemn such a man?  It must be a mistake.  They must be looking for someone else. It couldn’t be him.  But, it was. My tears and shouts to free him went unheard in the crowd that cried out for the innocent blood of the Master.   The twelve had gone into hiding and so we all hid for fear that the Romans would come for us also.  I could do nothing, nothing but cry. The sheer terror of any crucifixion was more than most could bear.  Added to that the humiliation that was poured upon the Savior and it spoke volumes of the love of the Lord for his people.  It broke my heart to see him hanging on a cross, a cross he didn’t deserve. Yet, he took it all with a patient peace which I haven’t seen since nor can I adequately describe it for you.

            Later, some of the other women and I prepared the burial spices.  There had been no time on Friday to prepare.  So, after the Sabbath, we went to the grave, hoping somehow we could get in to finish preparing the body.  We didn’t know how we would live without him or even if they would come after us next.  We didn’t know many things.

            He just… wasn’t there.

            For a moment, we thought someone had stolen him away.  I had heard of such things with other so-called great teachers and we knew the Romans had posted soldiers for such a case.  We ran out of the cave where they had laid him and met, what we believed, to be a gardener.  Thinking about it now, it’s almost laughable that we would mistake the Son of God for a gardener.  But, there he was alive and talking. “Go tell my disciples” was barely out of his mouth before I began my run to where the disciples were hiding. Such joy will never be felt again on the earth.  He was alive, alive and with us.

Ideas borrowed from:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/52228157/Mary-Magdalene-An-Easter-Monologue

http://www.preaching.com/sermons/11567262/page-2/

http://hc.dlampel.com/easter_monologues

Daniel Day

Daniel Day was a guest speaker in our class on 9/11/12.

            Daniel Day graduated from Bible College in Missouri, where he met and married his wife, as well as had his first experiences leading a youth ministry.  From there he secured a youth pastor position at a church in El Paso, Texas. It was at this position that he learned most about working in the ministry and about himself.

            Some of the things that he learned included:

·      You can’t start doing 100 things well, you’ve got to do a few things well until you’re ready for more. If you can’t do it excellently, don’t  do it.

·      Not everyone you’re on staff with is your friend. You’ve got to learn to work with people who don’t like you, even if they don’t have a good reason not to like you.  Think of them as sandpaper refining you.

·      It’s about your call, not about who’s there. 

·      “You leave a place in peace and you will arrive in peace at your next assignment. If you leave in chaos, you’ll arrive in chaos.”

The senior pastor of that church eventually became one of Daniel’s biggest and most influential mentors.

            When Dan felt that it was time to move on, he traveled around to many places.  He and his wife felt called to plant a multicultural church in a city on the East Coast- between Delaware and New York. They visited more places than they has thought they would, but he said, “The type of ministry you’re going to bring won’t fit everywhere. It’s okay to travel around and check out different options.”

When they found Wilmington, Delaware, they learned that it had never had an urban A/G church. He said, “When you delight yourself in the Lord (living a life of prayer and worship), the desires of your heart will be the desires God has placed there.” They found exactly what they wanted.

            They began to go through the steps of planting a church. Because of leaving Texas on good terms, his old church supported him both spiritually and monetarily, which was a huge blessing.

            The church is called Skyepoint Church because they want everything they do to point to the Lord.

            “In the ministry, you work on commission. Your church grows, so does your income.”  Amazingly enough, even when it’s down to the wire, “winning the lost is your motivation.”

Daniel’s focus is reaching the lost in their neighborhood, so he and his wife have neighbors over for dinner all the time. “Never underestimate the power of food. Everyone who ever come to the church has come over to our house for dinner.” I think that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but the point was made- building relationships is what draws people.

            Skyepoint also does a lot of outreaches in the community, like sports weekends, free food days, and seasonal things like Easter egg hunts. 

Daniel made a point to share that if you’re going to be in ministry, you’d better know you’re called; delighting in the Lord, even though it’s hard. 

Making Vision Stick- Andy Stanley

             Tonight we watched a video of Andy Stanley on his approach to “Making Visions Stick” in the church. 

            His whole message was intoxicating. I loved his teaching style and the way he communicated with his audience, both live and through a screen. It was as though we were good friends talking over the dinner table, the way he shared stories and jokes, encouragements and suggestions.

            Those who were in his live audience were given an outline of his message with blanks that they could fill in to help them stay focused. I liked this because, whether he did this purposefully or not, it tied in with his message, as well as making it an interactive experience.

            It tied in because he was sharing about vision casting in churches, and how many times, the vision doesn’t stick very well. In these cases, the leadership tends to blame their congregants for forgetting the vision or for letting things slide, but in reality, it’s the leadership’s responsibility. In this case, Stanley equipped his audience to remember his words and to be active in that process.

            In reference to one’s church, Andy Stanley asked the question, “Would you even go here if you didn’t work here?” and stated that if there was a hesitation before you answered, somewhere along the way, the vision was lost. He said that there are three reasons that vision doesn’t stick: Success, Failure, and Everything In Between. Success, because you have options and everything becomes more complex; Failure, because when a plan or strategy fails, it’s hard to stick to the vision; and Everything In Between, because vision is about what could be and should be, but life is about the here and now, and people get distracted. “Getting people to embrace the vision when the needs of today are so demanding is one of the hardest things [about vision casting].”

            He liked the three-step idea, because he also shared Three Things You Need To Do To Make Vision Stick:

            First, Cast It Strategically; Define the vision. When you spell everything out and repeat it over and over, it makes it easier for your congregation to understand and retain. He said that we don’t cast vision enough because we’ve said it so many times already. 

            Second, Celebrate It Systematically; Provide inspiration. When people see you celebrating, it makes it real, “it puts skin on the vision.” He says that there are two parts to this section, (A)When You Cast Vision, and (B) How You Cast Vision. 

            For (A), When You Cast Vision, you should schedule in times to cast vision and to celebrate the success of your vision. Something I really liked is that he asks his staff at their weekly meetings, “did anything happen this week that made you feel like there’s progress being made?” and they tell stories of what God is doing in the church and they celebrate them. I’d like to implement that in my youth leadership team, probably at the upcoming meeting!

            For (B), How You Cast Vision, you need to talk about the vision in a way that it is unmistakably clear and challenging.  To do this, there are another three steps:

1) Define the Problem- Ask the questions, “What problem is my organization designed to solve?” and “If we don’t do what we do, ________ won’t get done”

2) Offer a Solution- “How is your vision a solution to a problem?”

3) Give them a Reason- “Why must we do it and why must we do it now?”

Stanley said, “If you don’t know what the problem is, if you can’t state what the solution is and if you can’t say why you need to do it now, then you need vision.” “When you can answer those three questions, something will come alive in you and you will be able to more efficiently cast that vision. “

            Finally, to make vision stick we must Live It Continuously; Provides credibility. The difference between a talented leader and a leader worth following is that the leader worth following lives out the vision authentically.

            Unfortunately, we had to cut the video short, so I hope to hear the ending sometime soon!

I think this is something that is very necessary in many churches today. In thinking about it, I’m not sure that I’ve really ever heard a “vision casting” message before. I only gave one in my beginning weeks as a youth minister and haven’t really touched it again, so I know that I will be in the near future. Thank you, Mr. Stanley!