Hi everyone,
We've been so busy that I haven't posted these notes yet... sorry. Anyway, this was such a fun and exciting weekend as we not only celebrated our first year as a church, BUT it was also the first time that Corrie and I had preached together. What a need experience! TWO THINGS really stood out to us from this weekend. #1) the amazing stories that God has birthed in our campus and (#2) the call to start a Church Planting Movement & it starts with the Luke 10:02 prayer! Enjoy the notes friends.
ADAM’s Section
Value à TRIBE
I love stats in sports – many of us have that
one game that we remember… when MJ scored 60+ on Boston… when your favorite
baseball player hit 2 home runs and you were there… when you or your child made
the honor role, the dean’s list…what else?
· STORY (dubious
record on my JH basketball team)
Corrie and I are going to attempt to tell the
story of our tribe over the past couple of years. We want to do that through
our four key values of our church.
Our stats are a part of our story as a
campus. They are a BIG part of what the Holy Spirit has been doing in our
midst. What are the “stats” of what God has accomplished since Corrie and I first
moved here in May of 2015?
·
Soon to be 3 locations, lol
·
Baptisms – 8 baptism
(planning again April 30th)
·
Small Groups –
o one on Tuesday night
o to now 3 weekly, one
biweekly, and Revolution monthly!
o affecting around 60
people each month
·
Children –
o less than 10 kids
o March 5 (38 kids!)
·
Healings –
o legs growing,
headaches gone, shoulders healed
o we see movement in
small groups and/or Sunday services weekly!
·
Sunday services –
o 50 monthly
o 100 last summer
o 130+ two weeks ago
o over 150 at our last
baptism services
o who knows if we all
showed up on the same weekend! J
·
Team –
o Handful of leaders
o a fully functioning
CLT
o interns
o dozens of
volunteers!
·
About a dozen boxes of food at thanksgiving to over 20 this year… what’s next?
- 500 giveaways - 1,000 giveaways - 2,000 giveaways on ISU's campus
CORRIE’s Section
Value à SUPERNATURAL
Stats may not get us all excited, but “story”
usually will. What are the stories of what Holy Spirit has done through us as a
team? What has HS been speaking and showing our campus?
Prophecy – What has God been
speaking since even before we began?
**show Tyler video here**
Healing
–
Have everyone who’s experienced healing raise
hand/stand in the service.
Maybe have some of them share what God has
healed.
**Ouns –
healing of heart and body**
“We were very hesitant to get involved but… In the end we
got a Holy Spirit nudge and gave it a shot. It was over a few months of
seeing things unfold under yours and Corrie's leadership, meeting with you at
Fusion Brew early on, a whole bunch of people moving right next to us, and the
Holy Spirit doing His stuff that I began to
heal of the hurt, distrust, and disillusionment I had with the past couple
of church experiences…
“For a long while… we were in a wilderness but through
the formation of the new Bloomington Campus it is becoming more like a promise
land. We are regaining a heart for this community… The Bloomington Campus
community is beginning to feel like home.
“We've been through our fair share of hardships… (health,
finances, home problems, etc.) but God and this community has supported
us. We didn't feel alone and that was everything.
“There were other significant things that God has done...Amy's leg being restored, myself
getting a lower stress position at work, Amy and I restarting to serve with our
giftings (worship and kids ministries) after a long hiatus, etc. However
I think it was restoration of faith that we were not abandoned, that our
journey was not done, and we have more to give in Bloomington that was the most
significant. God proved faithful in keeping us and giving us the ability
to trust Him more.
Revelation –
God has shown many of us/you a new way to
live and interact with Him.
**share
Scott’s story**
“I have always believed in God
intellectually and at times in my life that has infiltrated my heart and caused
me to have a relationship with God. What the Vineyard, specifically you
and Nolan and several others have demonstrated is that God doesn’t exist solely
to be known, he exists to be in relationship with His creation. I am his
creation, I am his son, and I want to just abide in Him as he shows me what he
wants me to do and say. My prayer is that God would set me out for divine
appointments throughout my day, that he would be glorified in every aspect of
my life, that I would just let God be my earnest desire not knowing about Him
or studying the person but getting to know him as my Papa.
“A side note after we started
attending in March last year I was silently trying to find a flaw in the
Vineyard theology. I read the book you gave me three years ago. I
also began as John Wimber advised to read the gospels and pay attention to the
things Jesus tells the disciples to do. I was shocked how much “we” have
been commissioned to do with Jesus and more importantly the Holy Spirit.
ADAM’s Section
Value à MISSIONAL
·
Are we on mission to share the gospel with our community?
·
Has the gospel become so our #1 reality that in affects
and infects every conversation we have with the world around us?
Romans
10
“Brothers, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them
witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For,
being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own,
they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone who believes.
“5
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the
person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness
based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”
(that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that
is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your
mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11
For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to
shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord
is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
“14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And
how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they
to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they
are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the
good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who
has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing through the word of Christ.”
Church
Planting movement
For the past couple of years, I’ve been
setting my alarm for 10:02pm to pray what I have called the Luke 10 prayer.
Here’s what it says:
Luke 10:2 (ESV) And he said to
them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore,
pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his
harvest.”
Why have I prayed this? Well, I’ve been
praying it recently due to the need for leaders, volunteers, workers, and
laborers specifically for the campus we are planting in the Bloomington-Normal
community. But, as I’ve dug deeper into the “church numbers” in our county
(McLean) here, I have come to the realization that this is so much bigger of a
needed prayer than I had previously thought. Now, I am shifting to not only
praying this prayer at both 10:02am & 10:02pm (now twice a day), but I’m
asking for the Lord to speed his sending of “laborers” so that we can create a
church planting movement... and here’s why:
McLean County: 175,000 people
The Churches
·
110 in Bloomington/Normal
·
38 in the other towns of Chenoa, El Paso, Heyworth, Lexington and LeRoy.
·
45 in the smaller villages of Anchor, Arrowsmith, Bellflower, Carlock,
Colfax, Cookeville, Danvers, Downs, Ellsworth, Gridley, Hudson, McLean,
Saybrook, Stanford and Towanda.
·
TOTAL of 193 churches… sounds
like a lot, but wait…
The WOW!
·
Only a small % of those churches are what
known as Mega-Churches. These churches might comprise around 9,000 church goers on a weekend… or 5% of the population.
·
Based on average attendance, the other 180+
churches will have around 19,000
church goers on a weekend… or 11% of
the population.
·
That means that based on real numbers there
is really, only 16% of our entire county going to
church, let alone being followers of Jesus on a weekend (28,000 people).
·
Other more general studies say that 40% of
Illinois residents attend church on a weekend (around 70k would be that total
in McLean County).
The Need
·
Any way you look at the numbers, you can
begin to see that the need is great!
·
If every church in McLean county doubled in
size, we’d still have less than 50% of our county worshipping on a weekend.
·
Even if the 40% is more accurate (though that seems unlikely since it’s a
poll and not based on church attendance records), that means that 60% of
our county is in unchurched.
·
The big numbers: somewhere between 104,000 and 147,000 people are not attending church each
weekend.
Will you join me…
·
In praying once or twice a day at 10:02 for
more workers for the field?
·
In praying that our Vineyard can become a
multiplying church that begins to affect 100’s if not 1,000’s of people?
·
In praying for our team as we seek to affect
great change in our community?
There is great need in McLean county.
Let’s go “on mission” together.
CORRIE’s Section
Value à EXCELLENCE
With the “need” being so great, we need to do
everything to the best of our abilities…
·
Love with everything we have
·
Show grace and compassion to the best of our abilities.
·
Share our faith as often as possible.
·
Continue Jesus’ ministry & mission so that our world
changes!
What can you do?
What are our current “Team Needs”?
·
Kingdom Kids
·
Tech
·
Facilities
·
Ministry team
·
More?
How are you dreaming? How can you say yes?
**Share
De’s story**
“In spending time
with God, he told me I was moving. He
told me that in an instant I would know where I was being sent. I entertained thoughts of many places around
the country. Never anxious, but always
curious where he was sending me.
At some
point, I would have to face Pastor Adam and tell him that I was going to leave
Urbana. I made the decision to wait
until God revealed to me where I was going.
I convinced myself Adam would take it better if I had a plan.
Pastor
Adam asked me to step into his office.
He said to me, "Not sure how you're going to take this, Corrie and
I are moving to Bloomington to start a campus." My heart quickened and I
knew with no hesitation, that is where God was sending me. "I'm going
too." The surprise expression on
his face I will cherish for many a day.
Once
settled into Bloomington, God's mighty hand moved in my life. I suffered my entire life from sadness,
depression, grief and even a broken heart.
No matter what I tried or did I could not shake off the binds of
brokenness that enslaved me. I even
began to believe that God created me that way as an excuse to no longer seek
freedom. I would even tell my small
group "I'm broke and can't be fixed."
God did
some pretty incredible things in my life in a very short time. He gave me a business to run. He gave me a small group that I would learn
to call family. He gave me incredible
friends. He gave me the ability to trust
people. He gave me finances. He gave me prosperity. He gave me community to thrive in. He gave me people to minister to. He gave me a place to go fishing. And that is just for starting out!
The most
incredible gift of all is, I'm happy for the first time in my entire life.
Really happy and not that fake stuff we learn to cover our grief. I came to him broken, he took away all the
pain, hurt, sadness and brokenness, then gave me unspeakable joy.
I wish I
had moved to Bloomington a long time ago...”
You can see how saying yes can change everything!
ADAM’s
Section
Where
do we go from here?
God is speaking mightily through this season:
·
40 YEAR PROPHECY – whole church – **Hap/Di’s Video**
·
Small cloud and thunder
·
Lighthouse prophecies that we’ve received from multiple
sources.
How are we praying? 2017 Prophetic Heart for
BN
Prophesy to the Land (Ezekiel 36)
· 36:1“And you, son of
man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear
the word of the Lord.
· 36: 8 “But you, O
mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my
people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 For behold, I am for you, and I
will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. 10 And I will multiply
people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be
inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11 And I will multiply on you man and
beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be
inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever
before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
· 300-400k …businesses
…schools …favor
Prophesy to the People (Ezekiel 37)
· 37:1 The hand of the
Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me
down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around
among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and
behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones
live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy
over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5
Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter
you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh
to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall
live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
· 7 So I prophesied as
I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a
rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and
behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had
covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy
to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord
God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they
may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into
them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
· Church growth …Rapid
leader and group expansion …Water hole/resource center
· Church planting
movement
Prophesy a Monthly Crop (Ezekiel 47)
· 47:12 And on the
banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food.
Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh
fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the
sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.
·
Salvations …Baptisms …Resurrection …Healing
