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Dave Stone Visits Mars
By Paul | April 2, 2008
Dave Stone and Todd Billow took a road trip to the west side of our fine state to glean from a conference. Here are some takeaways that just might bless you or give you food for thought:
I recently attended the Resurgence Conference (http://theresurgence.com) hosted at Mars Hill Church (http://www.marshillchurch.org) in Seattle. This year’s theme was “Text and Context” – “Text” referring to the Scriptures and “Context” referring to our culture. It was primarily aimed at preaching pastors but it offered plenty of application for me.
All the speakers were inspirational, though each had his own distinct flavor. C.J. Mahaney spoke from 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Mahaney noted Paul’s excitement for the Corinthians’ faith and how he (Paul) referred to the Corinthians as guiltless (1 Corinthians 1:8, ESV). He contrasted that introductory, glowing description of the Corinthians with Paul’s later admonition in chapter 5 when he addresses Corinthian behavior worse than that of the pagans! How is it that Paul can say they are guiltless while they are worse than the pagans? The answer is in chapter 1, verse 9—God is faithful. Paul is basing his glowing remarks about the Corinthians on the faithfulness of God. Likewise, as small group leaders, we should be looking for the evidences of God’s grace in the lives of the people we shepherd. It is often easier to notice what is wrong in someone’s life. Mahaney exhorted us to actively look for God’s grace in people and then to communicate it to them.
What am I going to do as a result of this conference? I felt encouraged as a small group leader. Reflecting on my group and the evidences of God’s grace in their lives, I realized that just about all of them are serving the body of Christ actively. Josh & Debbie Canfield, Kerrin Molton, Rachel Halley, Jason & Renae Stout, Todd & Julie Billow, and Chris Beck have all opened their homes to our group. They are serving the body through hospitality. Irene Yung and Stacey McCord are using their organizational skills to benefit Resonate small groups. Todd Billow and Robyn Evens lead us in music. Kerrin Molton and Melissa Otto serve in the youth ministry. Melissa also serves Bethel by hosting Financial Peace University. Erin Clark uses her technical abilities on Sunday morning production team. And Joe Parham is starting a new small group. God’s grace is alive and well! What am I going to do? I’m going to send an email to the group expressing my thanks to God for all of them a la Paul’s encouragement in 1 Corinthians 1.
Big idea from this conference: Love people. Love people through proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Love people by pointing out to them evidences of God’s grace in their lives. Love people by standing firm on the truths of God.
You can view the entire conference online: http://theresurgence.com/vodcast - If you only watch one session, watch Jim Gilmore (evangelical Christian, author of The Experience Economy aimed at businesses) as he discusses what he thinks churches should do with his experiential economy research. His research was done with for-profit businesses in mind. Yet, he’s found that many non-profit organizations (including churches) are adapting his material. I can’t help but give you a teaser…He thinks churches should not pursue offering a “new” experience and you’ll find out why when you learn how he derived his 4-E model for creating great experiences in our economy.
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