When we "give to God", why do we do it through the local church? 

In the first half of the Bible (the Old Testament), God followers were commanded to bring tithes and offerings into the "storehouse". The resources were to be used for the ongoing ministry at the temple (Malachi 3:10).  Storehouse is an archaic word, but was a place to store food, equipment and valuables.  The tithes and offerings were used for the upkeep of the temple, ministry purposes and allowing priests to give full-time attention to God's Kingdom.

Today, we give to God through the local church for similar reasons. Among the many descriptions used for the church in the second half of the Bible (the New Testament), one of the most amazing ones is that the church is God's body (Romans 12:4-5, Ephesians 1:22-23, etc.)  That's right, the local church is God's hands and feet on this planet.  Collectively, the resources we give are to further advance God's Kingdom in our area. 

At Great Lakes Church this includes: mailers (inviting people to hear of God's grace), leasing Tinseltown Theater for a meeting spot, salaries for three people to give full-time attention to ministry purposes, operational expenses, local and world missions, children's ministry, and lots of tech equipment that's needed to continue adding video venue auditoriums (by the fall, we may actually be leasing every auditorium at Tinseltown)! 

When it comes to the church and money, everybody has an opinion.  Our attitude towards God and money has been shaped by the media, our assumptions or by personal experience (good or bad).  Since we just talked about this on Sunday, I want to blog about God and money this week.  To kick it off, this should be the starting spot for our thinking...

- Christ Followers have always been marked by a radical generosity!  (Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32) 

Throughout church history, Christians have approached life with a different economic mindset than most of the world around them.  They are not against having nice stuff, but Christ Followers really believe that our biggest investment needs to be in the world that is to come (Matthew 6:19-20).

The reason Christ Followers feel this way is because they've had an experience of grace.  Nobody becomes generous out of manipulation, guilt, need, etc.  However, when we encounter the grace, love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness of God it absolutely changes our heart.   If you haven't experienced God's grace, it's very possible that the topic of God and money irritates or offends you.  If you have experienced it, then you look forward to giving opportunities.

Have you encountered God's grace?  If so, I'm sure you could start a list of all the ways this has affected you.  So think about this, "How has God's grace affected you in the area of giving and generosity?"

Yesterday was one of my favorite Sundays at Great Lakes Church.  We kicked it off by talking about how to unlearn the ways money and God or money and the church relate.  This was the second week of our "Unlearning Church" series.

In the video venue (2nd service), we lost audio feed for 7 minutes.  Oops!  A freak accident of a small button being touched created the biggest tech glitch we've had since starting GLC.  Here is the audio from the first service (the glitch that happened didn't allow us to record second service).

Download | Duration: 00:45:43

On another note, yesterday evening we baptized 42 people and took time to worship our hero (Jesus Christ) w/ music, communion and more!  We'll have video of some of our Worship Night later in the week.  For now, here is a retro video of my water baptism from my preteen years (gotta love old school camcorders w/ no audio)...

I can't wait for our Great Lakes Church Worship Night this Sunday at 6 pm!!!!  Click here for details (you can sign up to be baptized on this page as well) 

Here are 4 questions I was asked this week regarding water baptism:

1) I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, but don't know if I'm ready for water baptism... what do you suggest?  Water baptism is not a "graduation"!  It doesn't symbolize "arriving" or "finishing".  It's more like the first day of school (just the beginning).  Baptism says, "I've accepted God's grace into my life and I'm now following Him one step at a time!"  (Acts 8:36-38)

2) How quickly after receiving God's grace into my life should I be baptized?  As soon as possible.  In the Bible, this always happened immediately after someone became a Christian. (Acts 2:41)

3) I was baptized as a baby, should I be re-baptized as an adult?  Yes.  When you were baptized as a baby, it was your parents prayer and desire that you would follow God.  Now that you're old enough to believe in and embrace God's love for yourself... this should be something you do.  PLEASE KNOW: THIS IS NOT DISMISSING YOUR INFANT BAPTISM, IT IS AFFIRMING WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!  Everyone in the Bible who was baptized did so as an adult.

4) What does baptism represent?  In baptism, we publicly identify ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ.  Baptism symbolized death (going down into water) and resurrection (coming up from the water).  We're identifying with Christ's death and resurrection by saying, "I'm dead to my old life and I've been risen to new life through Christ!".  (Romans 6:4)

In addition to the water baptism faqs on this blog, you can click here for more answers.

In closing, here is Tony Peterson describing what happens at our worship nights.

On Sunday, we kicked off our new series called "Unlearning Church"!  The premise is that there is a lot of stuff about church that we simply have to unlearn.  Here is what we talked about on week 1...

We have to unlearn the idea that Christianity is a race.  It's not.  Following Jesus is a SLOW process of life change.  It's easy to believe that once we embrace God's grace, everything in our life instantly changes (struggles, temptations, attitudes, etc.).  This is just not true.

The apostle Paul, whom many of us picture as a saint, refers to himself as the "chief of all sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).  In Romans 7, he candidly talks about how he often does the exact opposite of what he knows he should do.  Most of us don't believe Paul struggled.  We think he is being humble, but we are wrong.

Following Jesus is a process.  It is a series of baby steps.  Don't be concerned with where others are at in their spiritual journey, whether they're in front of you or behind you.  Be concerned w/ what your next step is in following Jesus.   Do you need to forgive someone who's hurt you?  Do you need to begin giving of your time and serving on a ministry team?  Do you need to become more generous w/ your resources?  Do you need to go public w/ your faith and be water baptized?  What is the next step for you???

Matt & Crystal Stennett

Every weekend, at Great Lakes Church, there are a couple hundred kids packing into movie theater auditoriums and learning about the love of God.  Nothing excites me more!

Up until now, Natalie Winnett has been leading a team of 60+ volunteers and helping us welcome 225+ kids every Sunday.  As a stay-at-home mom, we knew this couldn't continue forever.  Although Natalie will continue overseeing our preschool programs, Matt & Crystal Stennett will now be overseeing our elementary programs!  Here is what this means:

1) We now have the ability to add more auditoriums for kids and have even better age/grade breakdowns!!!
2) Our emphasis on kid's ministry is only going to improve in the coming weeks and months!
3) We're now ready to welcome and train over 100 more weekly volunteers in our kid's ministry.
4) We're prepared to double the size of our kid's ministry.  That's right... we'll be ready for over 400 kids a weekend!

I'm totally stoked!

Dave

PS - If you're a children's pastor, here are the latest toys we've added to our toy collection.  Kid's love them!

Jumbo Blocks (K-2nd grade)
Roller Coaster (3-5 year olds)
Roller Coaster (K-2nd Grade... I wish!!!)
Bounce House (3-5 year olds)
Mini Golf (3-5 year olds)

So maybe you don't even care, but I'm not a big fan of conferences.  Mainly 'cause I like to ask questions and you can't do this at conferences.  Instead, I prefer to participate in something called a "pastors coaching network".  These networks are pretty small (10-15 people) and provide many opportunities for dialogue and interaction.  
 
Currently, I'm in a coaching network w/ a guy named Perry Noble (pastor of New Spring Church in Anderson, SC).  You've probably never heard of him, but here are some things he asked us this week.  DON'T TRY TO ANSWER FOR ME

*Question #1: What is your church willing to do that no one else is doing, so that you can reach people no one else is reaching?

*Question #2: Are you genuinely excited about everything on your church calendar?  If not, cancel it immediately.

*Question #3: What is something that you're currently doing, but everyone else wishes you weren't doing 'cause you're not the best person for it?

*Question #4: If someone were to donate X amount of dollars to your church, do you have a vision for how you would invest it in God's Kingdom or would you have to dream something up?  Be proactive and not reactive!

*Question #5: What is your system for recruiting volunteers and developing leaders?  If you don't have one or you have a lame one... your church is limited in how many people you can help find and follow Jesus Christ.

Here are some great quotes from Rob Bell's book, "Velvet Elvis".  This book is a staring point for me as I get ready for our new series (starting 2/28) called, "Unlearning Church: Getting Rid of Religious Garbage".
 
"Every generation has to ask the difficult questions of what it means to be a Christian here and now, in this place, at this time."

"What is fascinating to me is that at the center of the Christian faith is the assumption that this life isn’t all there is. That there is more to life than the material. That existence is not limited to what we can see, touch, measure, taste, hear, and observe. One of the central assertions of the Christian world-view is that there is “more”.  Those who oppose this insist that this is all there is, that only what we can measure and observe and see with our eyes is real. There is nothing else. Which perspective is more “closed-minded”? Which perspective is more “open”?"

"As a Christian, I am simply trying to orient myself around living a particular kind of way, the kind of way that Jesus taught is possible. And I think that the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live. This isn’t irrational or primitive or blind faith. It is merely being honest that we all are living a “way”. I’m convinced being generous is a better way to live. I’m convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live. I’m convinced having compassion is a better way to live. I’m convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live. I’m convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live. I’m convinced being honest with people is a better way to live. This way of thinking isn’t weird or strange; it is simply acknowledging that everybody follows somebody, and I’m trying to follow Jesus."

"The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God. We are dealing with somebody we made up. And if we made him up, then we are in control. And so in passage after passage, we find God reminding people that he is beyond and bigger and more."

Since GLC turns one year old this Sunday, I've decided to blog more than usual this week and write about the challenges we've had in creating a church for people who don't go to church.   Nope, this stuff isn't meant to be negative.

Challenge #3: Resources

18 months ago, when my family and I pulled into Kenosha, Great Lakes Church owned nothing.   No building.  No money.  No sound equipment.  Nothing.  

What we did have was a group of people and churches in Seattle, San Diego, Oak Brook, Urbana, Winthrop Harbor, Kenosha and a few other cities who believed in our dream enough to help us launch.  The gave generously to something that they will never personally benefit from.  It was this group of people who paid for all of our a/v equipment, trailer, children's ministry resources, etc.

After we launched, the people of GLC began to contribute financially.  The challenge we've faced is that every time we've reached the point of "self-supporting", it's been necessary to add more auditoriums and expenses to continue welcoming people through our doors.  Recently we've added another full-time staff member (since we only have two) and another auditorium.  A few friends have continued supporting us weekly or monthly so that we can keep moving forward w/o having to take out any loans.

My biggest learning in the past year has been that God is capable of providing.  He has never been stressed, scared, or intimidated by the budget of a church.  Not Great Lakes Church.  Not any church.

Today I want to thank those of you who have sacrificed financially so that Great Lakes Church can be focused on the mission and not on fundraising.  For those of you who continue to give sacrificially, but do not even live in our area, I will never be able to adequately express how grateful I am for you.  So far this year (2010), over 40 people have embraced the love and forgiveness offered by God and have become followers of Jesus Christ.  You are a part of this!