The Strong Challenge - Day 1

Play Challenge #1 - Sleep In

The challenge that I accomplished today was to sleep in. The challenge was simple: pick a night to sleep in as long as we possibly could. Why? Matthew 11:28, reminds us that in Jesus we find our rest. Sleep is a reminder to lean into God's love, and to remember that He's more interested in our trust than our to-do lists.

So, last night, I turned the alarm clock/my cell phone off and made sure I had no plans all day. It was difficult task as I knew that I should get up at a certain time to get the boys ready for the day, accomplish my tasks, etc. To be honest, I didn't even think I would make it past 8am as we have a 4 month old and a 2 year old that have no concept of sleeping in.

8am came and went...9am did too. It was 10am before anyone of us really started stirring. Although it was difficult to do, it was one of the most restful nights I've had in a really long time. I'm beginning to really like this play challenge.

The Strong Challenge - Week 1 PLAY

This week we are encountering the discipline of "Play."

We discovered through the main teaching on Sunday that Play Pleases God...
because play pleases God...

• I am Helped to Live Better
• I am Reminded of God's Purpose (Genesis 2:9)
• I am Purged of Unhealthiness (Nehemiah 8:10)
• I am Put in my Place (Ecclesiastes 9:7; Genesis 2:2)

I am reminded of a couple of quotes that stood out to me this Sunday:

• "You won't be so desperate for acceptance if you're made strong by a full life outside of that one vocational arena. But if you think you don't matter outside your vocation, if you've neglected your relationship with your spouse and kids, if you have no pleasurable pursuits outside your work,then you can't bear to rock the boat at work because work is all you have. (You're) addicted to pleasing people because you've let your life become too small." - Gary Thomas Pure Pleasure
• "If we don't enjoy life properly, than we are setting ourselves up to indulge in life improperly." - Charlie Fehrman, Lead Pastor The Pointe Community Church

Stay tuned for our "play" challenges this week.

The Strong Challenge

Currently our sending church, as well as our small group is participating in a church wide campaign (along with other Hoosiers & Buckeyes, over 50,000+ people are participating in this) called the Strong Challenge. What this is, is a daily challenge that encourages each participant to make space for God. The challenges are focused on building relationship, and the more our relationship with God grows and the stronger we become.

One of the things I've decided to do during this process is to journal, through my blog, my experiences, my thoughts, and my challenges. Openly, honestly, and real. My desire is to grow stronger in my pursuit of a deeper relationship with God and those around me.

Here we go...

A Few Things I'm Learning

Let me start out by saying I love my life! Seriously, I've never enjoyed what I am doing and who I get to do it with more than I am right now! However, I am learning some major things in our church planting endeavor.

• No matter how much you prepare for the Spiritual Warfare you are going to endure, there is not enough preparation.
• Vision is key. If you cannot communicate who God has called you to be, you are setting yourself up for failure.
• Every person you encounter is an opportunity to grow God's church.
• Take lots of notes.

I'm also finding that there are some really good organizations and companies out there that will help you do things that need to be done...like our website. I have friends that have paid literally thousands of dollars getting their web site designed, hosted, and operational. I think when it is all said and done we will be paying less than $500 for ours (which includes hosting & domain for 5 yrs). I will post later the way we did it.

I'm also finding that people are seeking a church like ours in our area. Yesterday, we had 14 people doing community surveys in the afternoon (not the prime time to do surveys, but the only time they could) and we had right around 50 surveys completed. Out of those 50 about 35 are interested in knowing more about Generation Church. We are back out in several other neighborhoods tomorrow and Friday. The hope is that we get about 200-300 surveys completed.

I cannot believe how much fun we are having planting Generation Church, even in the midst of some stress and some warfare going on. Thank you for blessing us Jesus!!

Community Survey

This week we are blessed to have two churches helping us in Noblesville. These churches are from KY and OK and are helping us with community surveys. I've had several individuals ask me about what are we asking. We try to keep things as simple as possible and so here is the survey questions that we use.

1. Do you attend a church? (If yes, what church and how often?)

2. What do you think is the greatest need in our community?

3. Why do you think most people do not attend church?

4. If you were looking for a church in the area what things would you look for?

5. What advice would you give to a Pastor of a brand new church? (For example, what could he do for you?)

6. Are you interested in getting more information about a new church coming to Noblesville?

(If YES, fully record the name, address, email, and phone number below)

Name _______________________________________________

Address _______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

Email _______________________________________________

Phone _______________________________________________

I do have a printable version that I'd be willing to send anyone that wants to use it in their communities, just contact me and I will get it to you.