I was talking with a key volunteer today and he told me how he filled out a prayer request last weekend during the service. By the time he got home from church and checked his email that day, there was ALREADY A NOTE FROM THE PRAYER TEAM that his request had been prayed for!
He was blown away.
Talk about EXCELLENCE!
Wow - what a testimony to our data input team and our prayer team!
Question: Is there anything you and I might do better or differently this weekend to help people experience this kind of care in your ministry?
The Saddleback Irvine people responded to the call to bring food to be given out in the community. Guess how many bags were returned in one week. (Go ahead and try to count from the photo of the bags in our back kitchen storage. Answer below.)
Keep scrolling to get to the answer....
108 and counting! Way to be generous Saddleback Irvine!
Hello fellow servants at Irvine. I recorded a short video (under 7 minutes... that's short when compared to the 2-hr meeting) trying to quickly recap two deliverables I requested from Ministry Leaders at the breakout session. And I also reflected upon a personal experience from a visit to Lake Forest through the lens of our serving values: K.P.M.T.H.E.N. asking the people which value was not observed.
If you need a refresher on those values, look over to the right side of the blog under "Serving Values." =)
For reference when watching video (you'll need sound by the way), "IUSD" refers to Irvine Unified School District and in my case this elementary school that we are renting. Also, I may have mentioned that the next Irvine Campus Life Meeting is March 15. PLEASE NOTE: the corrected date is March 22 and all volunteers are invited (not just volunteer leaders). We'll be recognizing the one-year anniversary of Saddleback Irvine.
Great meeting today with 50 of our Saddleback staffleaders and Rick. Aside from the myriad of one liner leadership nuggets I got from listening to him, I was really encouraged.
Rick is revisiting with us the 10x10 goals and it looks like we are going to be recalibrating those goals to make them more accessible, more clear, more personal, more pronounced and celebrate our progress more often!
Why do we have goals? He reminded us, "because they are statements of faith!" That God is going to do something in this time through us.
We set goals because Jesus commands us in Matthew 28.19-20 to go and make disciples! This requires goals to move forward in this... fires me up.
More to come on this one.
He also threw out some ideas of how to leverage PD CONNECTION and the PD website because he sees the need for us to provide tools for people to connect with God and one another daily. He challenged us to think through some ways to use it in a creative way to help more and more people get connected - stay tuned.
Hey Saddleback Irvine Leaders! I am sure you were wiped with all of the wonderful chaos Sunday. But you still showed up to our Campus Life Leadership meeting - thank you for, as Joe so articulately says in CR, "sitting your bums down". Ha! So much of ministry is just showing up and seeing what God will do. It was a joy to be with you Sunday. The staff is reading Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders (a good basic leadership book you may consider going through with your team) and I just read Chapter 11 for this week. A nugget I wanted to pass along (it's on prayer and leadership):
"When I go to prayer," confessed an eminent Christian, "I find my heart so loath to go to God, and when it is with Him, so loath to stay." I can relate to this. No, not the eminent part... the prayer part.
I relearn this all of the time. I know what I need deep down but I double check elsewhere first. I wander from one distraction to another, "God, I'll get to you later", "let me do this first" or I think to myself, all I need is that Del Taco #12 meal to satiate my restless heart... that will do it. Ugh, did I just eat that?
And yet, as I do what Fields' says in his new book REFUEL, I STOP, am QUIET... and CONNECT... I LOVE IT!
Do you guys experience this? What do you do to help your overcome your barriers to pray?
Our apologies to subscribers. There is some technical issues regarding delivery. After a post, it immediately sends it to all our subscribers (which is great) but sends an ADDITIONAL email at 1:36am every night with no post included (which isn't so great).
I am trying to eliminate this double email per day.
Phil. 2:3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
1 Peter 5:6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
The Bible says that we are to humble ourselves. Here are some practical ways to practice humility.
Prayer- Prayer draws us closer to God and it shows our need and dependance on HIM. It communicates to God that we don’t have it all figured out and that we need him to supernatually intervene. This is an act of humility.
Simple Acts of Service- The things we do when no one is watching. It can be as simple as picking up an extra piece of trash, paying for a persons meal behind you in the drive thru or saving the best parking spot for someone else.
Being Slow to Speak- Biting our tongue even when we know someone is clearly in the wrong.
Considering Others Better than Ourselves- Understanding that we may not always have the answer. When we consider others better than ourselves, we truly listen to what people have to say.
"Chris Brown arrested Sunday after allegedly getting into a physical confrontation with a woman who has been identified as girlfriend Rihanna"
I’ve heard kids playing baseball asked their parents if they are ever going to be like Alex Rodriguez. Boys and girls swimming only wishing to be like Michael Phelps and girls looking up to Chris Brown saying “He’s the perfect guy.” I have used 2 out the 3 guys named up here as an illustration to my message.
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been hearing and watching all of our modern day “Heroes” go down. But more than anything it bothers me that all of these guys are people who our teenagers are looking up to. I’m not judging or looking down on them or anything. We all make mistakes, I think that we should pray for them and ask God to help them in whatever they are going through.
Here is my question for you... Who can our teenagers look up to? I am not saying only in sports and entertainment, but in life. Are they going to use the same excuse that Alex Rodriguez used “I felt a tremendous pressure to play, and play really well?” We all know that they are feeling a tremendous amount of pressure from parents, teachers, coaches, friends, girlfriends, boyfriends and more. So what are we going to do? I just want us to take a moment today and pray for the future of this world - not only today but everyday.
I am trying to read through the bible this year (as I try every year with mixed results!).
I came across Exodus 18...am I a Jethro or a Moses?
When [Jethro] saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”
Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”
[Jethro] replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone."
So Jethro gives Moses a suggestion on identifying and training leaders:
1: Teach them what you know and how you live Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.
2: Look for People of Capacity and Character But select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain...
3: Empower them with Responsibility and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
Maybe it's time:
1: To write out clearly what you do and how you do it to teach others 2: To get to know your team better - know their story, their strengths 3: To cast vision of what they can contribute, coach them to succeed
This coffee maker was covered in ants the previous Sunday. Thankfully, I have such a 'team' spirit, I didn't care who got the credit for the clean up:).
Testing the blog. Well, this is the beginning of an attempt to be a leadership blog for those who call Saddleback Irvine their church. We hope to have helpful resources to develop your ability and your humility to lead and lead well.
Rom. 12:6-8 [NLT] God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. 7 If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
This is a blog for the Saddleback Irvine Campus leadership and volunteers who are dedicated to loving God and loving others through service.
Its a place for encouragement, equipping resources and help in expanding our teams to serve.
Its a place for conversation, community and collaboration.
Its a place for you.
Serving Values
Kingdom First People Over Program Multiply Yourself Team Humility Excellence Next Steps
A Good Word
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.” Matt 11.28 -30
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