Monday, October 28, 2013

I think you're insane


For the past two weeks at Hub City we've been talking about how we can position ourselves for growth. The first week we talked about how growth always requires risk and faith. Yesterday we said that our capacity for growth determines our growth potential. But there's something else that I've been thinking about that's an essential ingredient for growth: Change.

Most everyone has heard the definition of insanity: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again hoping to get different results.


I think if many of us were honest we'd have to admit we must be insane because we do just that: We keep doing the same things over and over again yet we still hope we'll get different results.

But growth never happens apart from change. And while change is hard and uncomfortable and risky it opens the door for growth to be a possibility.

God created you to never stop growing. Change is an essential ingredient for that to happen. 

So, what needs to change in your life in order for you to grow? I'd hate for any of us to continue in our insanity.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Can I have more

Yesterday Hub City transitioned from one to two worship gatherings. I think things went very well. My biggest surprise of the day was how everyone who came to the early gathering was on time. Actually, they were early. That was cool.

In light of this new step in the life of Hub City I want to share an article that I read last week from Rick Warren. It's relevant and shares what it is that I think we need most of all right now.


Why You MUST Develop More Leaders

  
The Bible says in the early chapters of Acts that God was “adding” to the church daily. Shortly into the life of the Jerusalem church, there arose a conflict between Hellenistic Jews and Hebraic Jews over the care of orphans and widows. The apostles asked for leaders from the church to be pointed out and then they released seven men to oversee a new area of ministry. Suddenly, the terminology changes from God “adding” to the church to the church “multiplying.”
Out of Acts, chapter 6, we can take away at least seven lessons for churches that want to grow by empowering and releasing more leaders.
1. A growing church is a Biblical idea.
It says, “In those days the number of disciples were increasing.” If a church is not growing, it is often because something is unhealthy. Healthy things grow. Unless the community is already saturated and everyone reachable has been reached, a church must diagnose what is breaking down in the leadership development process. We’ve said that if there is one person who doesn’t know Christ, we’re going to keep growing. A growing church is biblical.
2. Church growth causes problems.
Acts 6 says that there were “rumblings of discontent.” That’s true in any church. Sometimes people come to me and say, “Pastor Rick, we’ve really got a problem in this church.” I want to say, “Which one? I’m aware of about a couple hundred. Which one are you talking about?” They say, “You may not recognize this but there’s this need.” Of course we recognize it. We live with it day and night. But leadership development takes time, so there are always holes to be filled in any growing ministry.
3. Problems are always unmet needs.
It says “The Greek speaking Jews claimed their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.” We would like to think that everyone in our church’s membership is together in the priority of seeing more people come to Jesus, but even Christians get distracted when there are unmet needs in their lives – real or imagined. When you experience a leadership problem in your church, it almost always flows out of someone’s unmet need.
4. Pastors cannot do it all.
Their response to this need was, “It wouldn’t be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.” It’s a legitimate need but it’s not one that God called us to meet. Spiritual leaders cannot remain spiritual leaders long if they aren’t spending adequate time at the feet of Jesus seeking wisdom, direction, and vision.
5. Spirit-filled believers assist the pastoral staff.
They said, “choose seven men, full of the Holy Spirit and we’ll turn the responsibility over to them.” It’s interesting that if you read these names in Acts 6 – Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus – you find that they are all Greek names. And these men cared deeply about the needs of the Greek believers in the early church.
6. The pastors are to focus on praying and teaching.
He said, “We will give our attention to prayer and teaching of the word.” I once had to make a covenant with Saddleback Church. If the people would take on the work of the ministry, I would make sure they were well fed. That’s been my goal since that time. The ministry of Saddleback outgrew me a long time ago. Obviously I can’t do all the ministry. I can’t even do a fraction of the ministry. But I can make sure that you’re well fed.
7. The result of lay ministry was more growth.
It says, “This proposal pleased the whole group so the word of God increased rapidly (multiplied).” There was mobilization. In many churches, all you’re expected to do is attend and give. But those are really two minor issues related to what God really wants to do in your life. We have allowed our spectator-oriented culture to influence the church.
But God teaches us to mobilize every person for ministry – pastors and staff are to equip all believers for the work of the ministry. We have to mobilize every member for ministry. This is leadership development. And this is essential to fulfilling the Great Commission.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Good Idols

If you are a part of Hub City you need to be in a Hub Group. If you're not you are missing out. I love what happens in Hub Group. This past week we were looking at the really strange story out of Genesis 22 where God tests Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

We talked about how Isaac had become an idol to Abraham and how God is serious about us having no other God’s before him, and that God has no problem whatsoever asking us to sacrifice those things that get in between us and him, even if those things are important in our lives.
And then Liz said something that is worth sharing. She said that not all idols are bad things. Sometimes an idol can be a good thing, but it’s a good think that’s taken God’s place in our life.
Isaac was a good thing. He was the fulfillment of a promise. He was Abraham's one and only son. But Isaac had become Abraham’s idol.
We left Hub Group committed to asking: What idols do we have in our life? I think it would be good for you to ask the same question as well. Let's not allow the good to get in the way of our great God.

Monday, October 14, 2013

746

In the five years that Hub City Church has been in existence we've have 746 people attend one of our worship gatherings at least once. 746!

Actually, that's not completely accurate because that only reflects adults that filled out connection cards. So the number is a tad bit greater.

When I saw that I was pretty amazed. God has graced us with the chance to speak into the lives of 746+ people. Tat's a lot of people.

But I think there are more people that God wants us to disciple. There are more people that God wants us to impact.

That's one reason we're moving from one to two worship gatherings this coming Sunday. As the graphic says, the new times are 9 and 10:30. 

I'm pumped about this next step in the life of Hub City and I want all of you to be a part, so be there and bring a friend or two.

Friday, October 11, 2013

What do you think?

What do you think God thinks about when God thinks about you?

That's the question we're going to answer this Sunday as we conclude our Contagious series.

If there's anything that's unmistakably clear as you read through the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament, it's that Jesus was a contagious person. Everyone wanted to be around him. People who were nothing like him liked him and he liked people who were nothing like him. 

Which means, if you were to meet Jesus, he would like you. And you would like him. 

Which is why, even if you don't like church, you need to be at Hub City this Sunday at 10 AM so that you can discover what God thinks about when God thinks about you.

See you there.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Obedience - The "why" behind the "what"


If you want to know the main reason we’re moving from one to two worship gatherings it is because this is something that God wants us to do.

What’s funny is that this isn’t necessarily what I personally wanted to do. Just like planting Hub City five years ago wasn’t something I wanted to do. I wanted to do anything other than plant another church. But if I’ve learned one thing in following Jesus for the past 34 years it’s that obedience should trump desire and feelings 100% of the time.

Moving from one worship gathering to two worship gatherings is an issue of obedience.

We say all the time that we want you to hear from God and do what he says. That’s the exact reason we’re moving from one worship gathering to two worship gatherings. 

See, Hub City Church is Jesus' church. It's not my church. It's not your church. It's not our church. It's Jesus' church. He calls the shots. And while we don't always get the execution right, we're always trying to make sure we're in step with what God is telling us to do. 

That should be the goal of your life as well. Obedience always opens the door for blessing. Honor God and he will honor you.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Space - The "why" behind the "what"


I don’t know if you realize this or not, but there’s just something about Americans and space. Not outer-space, but personal-space. We like our personal space. Which means we don’t like to sit close to people.

That’s why sociologists and people who study crowds have come up with the 70% rule. The 70% rule says that when a room is 70% full it is perceived to be 100% full, even though there are empty seats.

Here's how the rule impacts us: The theater we meet in for worship is a unique environment in that not all of the seats are usable seats. So, of our usable seats, we’ve been bumping up against the 70% rule for the past six months.

All of this means that we need to create more space. We can’t bring more seats into the theater, but we can start a second worship gathering. And that’s what we’re doing on October 20th. We’re moving from one to two because two are better than one.

I have to say one more thing because this space issue is something that we’ll bump up again in the future and you can do a few things to help us make the most of the space with have. If you’re a part of the Hub City family you can help us maximize our usable rows by doing these three things. First, scoot to the center of the theater. Second, fill in the empty seats. Third, sit in the HD section, down front. Doing these things will open up seats for guests.

I believe that as we create space we give God the opportunity to fill that space. And this is another “why” behind the “what.”

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

The "why" behind the "what" - Options


The Big News is that Hub City is moving from one worship gathering to two worship gatherings. This week I'm giving you a glimpse of the "why" behind the "what."

One of the reasons we are making this change is to give people options. Everybody loves options. Some people like to get things done early in the morning so they can have the rest of the day to play. Others would rather sleep in and prefer a later time. 

I know a few people who would love to be a part of the Hub City worship gathering, but because of their work schedule they’ve been unable to participate. That all changes with a 9 AM worship time. They can come to the earlier gathering and still make it to work on time.

Options are good. And now we have two options that people can choose from to be a part of a Hub City worship gathering. 

Come back tomorrow and I'll talk about the space dilemma. 

Monday, October 07, 2013

The "why" behind the "what"

Yesterday I made an big announcement at Hub City's worship gathering. Starting October 20th, we're moving from one worship gathering to two worship gatherings. 

We are excited about this next step in the life of Hub City.

This week I'll be posting some reasons that will help explain the "why" behind the "what." 

We think that two are better than one. Check back all week to find out why.