Why Am I Here? Series

5 Questions to Make Christ-centered Date Nights

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Man Up - Kevin Bouren

We were given a great tool for making Christ-honoring date nights, this week.

Our church family was blessed on Saturday night of this Veterans Day Weekend by the message of Army Major (and LCCC small group leader, coach, and exemplary discipler) Kevin Bouren’s: “Man Up: Going ALL IN for Jesus.”

In the sermon, Kevin exhorted Christian men (and empowered Christian women) to honor Christ as His soldiers in five biblically fundamental realms of  your life: In Your Marriage; In Your Home; In Your Mission; In Your Friendships; In Your Vocation.

Listen to the entire excellent message here.

Following the service, I observed Kevin being asked several times for his list of questions for men to ask their wives on date nights. So, I decided to post them on this blog.

They are:

  1. “When is the last time I led you in such a way that you felt as adorned, pure, and radiantly beautiful as you did on our wedding day?”
  2. “Are you growing in holiness, purity, and maturity under my current leadership?”
  3. “What makes you feel that I value you?”
  4. “Sweetheart, I want to minister to you today, so can you tell me if anything is burdening your heart?”
  5. “What is God teaching you in your study of His Word?”

Kevin, intent on making his and Adra’s date nights more Christ-centered than “amusement” centered, keeps these five questions on a card in his wallet.

Date Night Questions

Print your own card, with this jpeg.

“Amusement,” Kevin observes, is a compound word, comprised of: a meaning “not/without”; and muse meaning “thinking.”  How many of our date nights are characterized by “not thinking?!”

Implementing these questions will undoubtedly make our date nights more Christ-honoring than many of our “amusing” options.

Brothers, we are called as soldiers of a Holy Army, commanded by the King of Kings to present our wives to God “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27).

Let’s man up!

May your next date night be filled with good, Christ-honoring, life-giving conversation,

Pastor Reg

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5 Reasons You Should be at the Ministry Summit this Saturday

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Ministry Summit Schedule, 2013

Click on the picture above to see the finalized schedule for this year’s Ministry Summit.

How do you know if you should come to the Ministry Summit this Saturday? Since you cannot foresee how significant this half day of training will be to you, let me do my best to foretell it to you. Here are five reasons you should be at the Ministry Summit this Saturday:

1. The vast majority of 90 year old churches are plateaued or declining (or long dead and gone). By God’s grace, Lake City is none of those, and this year’s summit represents why (Hint: We are committed to the mission!)

2. The LCCC Family is growing in every spiritual way, and you are a part of the family.

3. The summit title even has the word “Everybody” in it, so, therefore, you KNOW it is for you. (“Everybody Has a Mission and a Ministry.”)

4. The speakers are THAT good, and they love God and you, a LOT.

5. Besides great equipping, inspiring, unifying, fellowship  and food, you will get to hear all about the Why Am I Here? series, and be the first to purchase your study guides.

Hope to see you there,

Pastor Reg

How We Prepared for the “Why Am I Here?” Series

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why am i here 4

“Why Am I Here?” It’s not only the most famous and important question of mankind’s history, but also the title of LCCC’s fall all-church series. Below is an email I just sent to our small group leaders, recapping our first big preparation meeting. I want to give the whole church family a peak at the preparations their leaders are making right now. After all, why just keep it to the small group leaders when it involves everyone??

Hi Small Group Leaders and Friends, 

We had a great turnout, and I think a great time, on Sunday – 44 veteran and new leaders and curious people. 

Our morning included eight parts to get us ready for the fall:

  1. A short devo on “communion” – in which I mentioned that our little Gabby has trusted Jesus and took communion for her first time Saturday night!!  I also urged everyone, again, to lead their groups in communion at least once a semester, for which I’ve given guidelines here – Communion in Small Groups: More than a Good Idea.  
  2. First Round of Prayer – PRAYER FOR US
  3. A look at the Fall Calendar (attached-Calendar – Fall Sermon Series 2013 – for small group leaders)
  4. A big picture reminder and way to process our commitment to THE MISSION of making disciples, and how LCCC is growing in that area.
  5. A walk through our in-house “Why Am I Here?” Study Guide for the fall, which was about 80% finished. I invited all who were present to give feedback on the draft’s content, and have since received some. Thanks, and keep it coming!  Our deadline for the final copy is the evening of September 5. The guides will be available for purchase, for $5 each, starting at the MINISTRY SUMMIT (9/14).
  6. Noted the exciting way we’re doing the “application” steps each week this fall. First, the sermon notes will fit into your series guides each week, for your group’s discussion and application of each sermon’s “Next Steps.” Second, the Faith In Action team is organizing several terrific opportunities for small groups and all LCCC family to reach into the community and/or meet needs within our church. I’m very excited how easy this will make it for our groups to put their faith in action, and even join others as they do.
  7. A look at some new, useful sections in the updated 2013/14 TOOLKIT; and then a look at a draft of the MINISTRY SUMMIT schedule, which you don’t want to miss, on Saturday September 14! (also attached-ROUGH SCHEDULE – MINISTRY SUMMIT 2013 – 4).
  8. And finally, the Second Round of Prayer – PRAYER FOR OUR PEOPLE.

I believe God is going to use us all greatly for His purposes and glory this fall. Glad to be in it with you,

Pastor Reg

P.S. Small Group Sign-ups begin this weekend!  The catalogs (list of our groups) will be distributed to everyone, so please take a look to see if we have all the accurate info for you.  If you are not pictured, and expect to lead or co-lead a group; plan to come to the MINISTRY SUMMIT, and let’s talk! 

Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lakecitycommunitychurch & www.facebook.com/lakecitysmallgroups 

What Does It Take To Lead a Small Group (in 2013-2014)?

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I posted this “small group leader job description” last year, but have updated for 2013!

Are you considering using your God-given gifts to lead in the LCCC Family? If so, praise God!  Now that raises the questions…What does it take to be a Lake City Small Groups Leader? What does small group leadership include?

Here is the official position description for this significant role:

Lake City Small Group Leader Description

Small Group Leader’s Qualifications:

  1. Be a member of the church, or be in membership process.
  2. Attend the leader trainings, in fall and January.
    • Small Group Leader Fall Series Material Meeting is Sunday, Sept. 1, 10:50AM (during 2nd service) in the Gym. It is primarily for small group leaders, but open to everyone.
    • Ministry Summit is Saturday, Sept. 15, 9am-1pm. It is for ALL leaders of LCCC, including small group leaders.
  3. Be approved and blessed by small groups pastor and an elder.

Small Group Leader’s Job Description:

(Trying to do less than this will fail almost every time.  Co-leaders or “Inner Circles” will share this load.)

Time Commitment:  Prayer and preparation before the group; the group meeting time; relationship-building and discipleship time outside the group.

Length of Commitment: Semester and/or entire 9 month ministry year. 

Primary Roles:

  1. Be a model of someone who desires to become like Jesus.
  2. Delegate leading and caring responsibilities to group members so they can use their gifts for the benefit of the group.
  3. Regularly contact group members between meetings (through phone calls, emails, cards, coffee, invite for dinner, notes on Facebook, etc.)  Follow up with absent members to let them know they were missed.
  4. Disciple and raise up new generations of leaders, as you are able.
  5. Complete the simple evaluation reports requested by small groups pastor from time to time.

Tools Provided for Leaders

1.  As the small groups pastor, I sit down personally with everyone who expresses interest in leading or co-leading our small groups. I always come prepared with our Lake City Small Groups Toolkit (a collection of our best training materials over the past sevenyears), and an enthusiasm to answer the frequently asked questions and the intriguing questions that are new to me.

2.  Because of the importance of this role, all leaders are designated a pastor (that’s me), an elder who prays for and is available to them, and a coach (if desired), for assistance, encouragement and accountability of their own growth as a follower of Jesus.

3.  This blog is also an ever-increasingly more comprehensive quick-reference for many areas of small group leadership.

4.  And, stay in touch with everyone throughout the year by “liking” the Lake City Small Groups page on Facebook!

How to Become a Leader

As you can see, these are attainable qualifications and expectations. We are happy with our bar for leadership – not too high and not too low.
You can sign up to become one of our great team of leaders this year, by:
  1. Contacting me at reg.overstreet@lc3.com or 253-582-8040
  2. Marking your interest on a Communication Card in the weekend services
  3. Attending the Sept. 1 “Why Am I Here?” Materials Meeting
  4. Attending the Sept. 14 Lake City Ministry Summit
Blessings on our stewardship of leading God’s people,
Pastor Reg