I read this verse this morning:

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin… (Zechariah 4:10)

I am so inspired by this Scripture.  I’ve seen so many people downplay their small beginnings.  “Yeah, but I’m not…” or “Well, we don’t have…” and so on.

Here, we learn that God is PUMPED about our small beginnings!  He CELEBRATES our START!  This verse reminds me that God is all about our potential.  He sees our upside.

So, be encouraged!

BE ENCOURAGED…

If you are starting a new job, beginning at the bottom of the ORG chart…

BE ENCOURAGED…

If you are a first-time parent and you feel like you HAVE NO IDEA

BE ENCOURAGED…

If you are planting a brand-new church, and the growth is SLOW & STEADY…

BE ENCOURAGED…

EVERY great endeavor had a beginning!  Your FUTURE is being written on the pages of your PRESENT!

Now, get after it!

The CREATOR of the universe sees your future!  He celebrates your barbaric spirit.  God LOVES your new beginning… Now, run into your future!  Time spent whining and comparing is WASTED TIME.

GO FOR IT… GOD IS FOR YOU!

There are 4 seasons that RAMP UP the stress for church staffs across America:

• Fall/Back to School
• Spring/Back to School
• Easter
• Christmas

Consequently, these are the SEASONS OF HARVEST.

MORE STRESS… MORE SUCCESS.

When you find yourself in a SEASON of STRESS, remember, it is likely an opportunity for a SEASON of SUCCESS.

Nothing is EASY.

Nothing GREAT is handed to you.

Don’t WISH for the easiest path.

God may intentionally walk you into a path of STRESS in order to answer your prayer for SUCCESS.

Don’t DUCK IT.

Don’t RUN from it.

Dive deeper into the person of Christ and allow him to create in you the heart, character, and appetites he desires.

A pastor I admire a great deal has coined the phrase “next level-ology.”  Today I want to borrow it to make a point for our Keystoners.

Last night at our ‘CG CONNECT’ event I was able to talk to SO MANY people who are new to Keystone.  The conversations varied and I truly enjoyed it.  Hearing the stories and journeys inspired me greatly.

One talk was LIFE CHANGING.  I had the incredible opportunity to lead a first time guest into a relationship with Jesus!  Together, with one of our Keystone staff, we prayed through Romans 10:9,10 and she BEGAN her eternal life with Jesus.

As I recounted the event with Susan later, I remembered a pivotal moment in the conversation.

I ASKED THE EXTRA QUESTION.

Here are my questions and how the convo basically unfolded:

• Is church new to you or have you done this before?
• Are there any questions about God that you bring with you here to Keystone?
• Today, did you feel God speaking to you specifically?  Did you feel anything?
• What would keep you from crossing the line of faith tonight?

At that point, my guest began bringing some roadblocks to her faith… questions that she hasn’t resolved.  I was sure we were off-road into the jungle of apologetics and ALMOST said this:

Keep coming.  Keep asking.  Keep seeking.  God will show himself to you and I will pray for you… Could we pray now?

Instead, our discussion went this way:

You can have a life of faith WITH questions or you can have a life WITHOUT faith WITHOUT questions… I urge you to begin your walk with Jesus TONIGHT.

Followed by:

What would hold you back from beginning a relationship with Jesus TONIGHT?

At that point, she explained that NO ONE HAD EVER TOLD HER HOW!!!!  That’s what she wanted all along!

Here is my point: Fearlessly ask the extra question.  One more impulse.  Go the extra mile.

YOU NEVER KNOW THE IMPACT THAT AWAITS!!!

Thank you Jesus for getting me out of the way.  I almost delayed or diverted her searching heart from finding you.  Help all of us engage others spiritually to unlock life change!

I’m not sure exactly when I picked up this nugget of truth, but it has made a major difference in my life: Do the HARDEST task FIRST.

Your DESIRES can become the greatest enemy to your success.  If you only do those tasks that fulfill you emotionally, you are DOOMED.  Life is filled with actions that we would rather put off.

There is an easy explanation for this BEAT DOWN: It is our BROKEN WORLD!  Check it out:

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread…

Genesis 3:17-19, ESV

Work is HARD… You can’t escape it!  Stop pursuing those things that ONLY bring you pleasure… The purpose-filled life is paved with DISCIPLINE! One could define discipline as DOING THE HARD THING FIRST!

Do you want to know the hardest work you’ll ever do? Check this out:

Paul said to Timothy:

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Tim. 4:5 ESV

The HARD WORK of bringing others to Jesus is something that many of us would rather do LAST… NOT FIRST.

Do we really believe that Jesus is the hope for all creation?  Do we really taste the joy of our salvation?  If we did, wouldn’t we want others to experience it as well?

Evangelism is HARD WORK.  At Keystone, we do this work FIRST.  It is followed with a strengthening of the believer (hard work as well… but most people love learning and applying the scriptures to themselves).

Too many churches are content to grow primarily through EXCHANGE GROWTH (transferring other believers from other churches) or GENERATIONAL GROWTH (having babies and almost conversions happen in the kids ministries).

Join us as we passionately follow Jesus in his MAJOR RENOVATION PROJECT to ‘Make ALL THINGS new (Rev. 21:5)!’

This weekend we are launching a new series, KICKS. I am convinced that if you really invest in these messages, OTHERS will thank you!

You see, we are ADDICTED to LIFE-CHANGE at Keystone Church! We just can’t get enough of it.

It is SO SATISFYING to hear the stories of lives impacted by Jesus, marriages healed, and families united. Yet, in order to experience so much transformation… it requires massive investment! It’s HARD WORK to change the world!

Here are some tangible ways we give LIFE-CHANGE a priority place at Keystone:

1. We pray about it. Prayer reveals your passion. God will honor your prayers, if they align with his passions!
2. We talk about it. Each staff meeting we remind ourselves of the people and their stories.
3. We beg God for it. If we are running out of new life-change stories, WE BEG GOD to trust us with his broken people… We will pray as a staff for more opportunities to help others.
4. We plan for it. Each service includes a FILTER for the unchurched or de-churched. We don’t assume biblical knowledge of basic characters, for example. We lay out bridges (songs, jokes, videos, illustrations, etc.) to bring the good news of Christ to interested ears. We also have strategic ‘harvest weekends’ that mobilize the church for evangelism.
5. We anticipate it. We believe that many will be spontaneously baptized, so we have everything ready for them. We are not SHOCKED when God moves… we are BLOWN AWAY!
6. We fund it. Mailers, Community-wide events, Street Teams, and many more strategies are funded for life-change. We put our money where our mouths are!
7. We empower it. This one is HUGE. We have many things at Keystone designed only for believers (community groups, men’s/women’s groups, communion gatherings, etc.). By doing this, we are empowering evangelism through TRAINING, ENCOURAGEMENT, PRAYER, SCRIPTURE, etc.
8. We evaluate it. We hold ourselves accountable at a staff level to a 1/10 ratio. In other words, for every 10 people you see in the lobby on a weekend… at least 1 of them has been baptized this past year. This is not a biblical mandate, but we believe it honors the biblical mandate of Matthew 28.

How can you EMPOWER life-change on a personal level?

I recently talked with one of our Keystone staff about being MAXED OUT.  What do you do when you feel MAXED OUT?

1. Thank God for your job. Seriously.  It’s better to be overworked than underemployed.  That’s the sentiment I hear from many who are still searching for their place in this difficult economy.
2. Push back from the table. Take any kind of time to catch your breath.  It may be 30 minutes, a morning, or a well-deserved vacation but you MUST have space to evaluate your work flow.
3. Clarify your CONTEXT. Often busyness is the result of thriving in an upward environment.  I can’t find an ‘explosive growth church’ whose staff is not stressed!  It doesn’t exist.  It’s important to acknowledge the reality of your pace rather than WISH it away.
4. Schedule breathing sessions. Schedule a morning in a different context.  If it’s possible, get clearance to work at a bookstore or coffee shop for a morning.  It could JOG creativity and provide some rest for the soul.
5. Invite others into your work flow. You have to be selective here, but try to identify someone who could help you become more efficient in your work.  WE ALL have room to grow… let someone else help you.
6. Call on Jesus! This one TRUMPS all others.  I tell my staff this ALL THE TIME.  This is not just a well-meaning sentiment.  Right here is where the RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD.  Allow God to re-wallpaper the walls of your mind.  Experience deep renewal that only comes from time spent in the presence of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
7. Take notes. As you spend time in the presence of God, reading the bible and praying… TAKE NOTES!  God will INSPIRE your socks off.

At the end of the day… IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!  You CAN’T do it all.  You aren’t SHARP ENOUGH, SMART ENOUGH, or DILIGENT ENOUGH.  We ALL need Christ.

MAXED OUT? Go to the MASTER!