SEEKING TO FINISH THE MISSION OF JESUS

Bryan Mowrey
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Chapter 1 Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

5 Chapter 2 Attracting First Time Guests

11 Chapter 3 First Impressions

17 Chapter 4 Leading a Meeting

23 Chapter 5 Assimilation

A-1 Appendix
 CHAPTER 1
Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

What is it that Drives Your Ministry Decisions?

Why does your church exist? What do you hope to accomplish in your weekend and
midweek gatherings? If you planted your church, why did you plant it? What was
burning in your heart to cause you to do such a thing?

What I have found to be true for many pastors is that there is a certain kind of church
life that they enjoy which has become the motivating factor behind all that they do.
For example, some may really want authentic community and therefore promote re-
lationships and community life. Others may really enjoy freedom in worship so their
priority is to make sure the church is experiencing freedom in worship. For others,
it may be one-on-one discipleship or Bible study or prayer meetings—the list goes
on and on.

Missiology Before Ecclesiology

While all these elements of church life are essential to being a New Testament
Church, we get it backwards when we place structure ahead of purpose. Our first pri-
ority is to determine who we say Jesus is (Christology), and then we must determine
our mission (missiology). From there we can figure out what our church should look
like (ecclesiology). In my experience, pastors spend way too much time discussing
worship style, length of service, and what kind of small groups to have, while not
spending nearly enough time and energy focusing on how we can carry forth the mis-
sion of Jesus.

1
FOCUS | Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

We Should Seek To Finish the Mission of Jesus

Acts, which records the launching of the New Testament Church, starts this way: “In
the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2
until the day when he was taken up...” Luke was the writer of Acts and the first book
he was referring to was the gospel of Luke, where he recorded the entire life of Jesus.
As Luke stated, he dealt with what Jesus began to do and teach. It’s important to
notice that he didn’t say what he finished to do and teach. That little word began is
very key to understanding the nature of this age and how the church should function.
Luke says here:

“I have told you a story that began with the virgin birth and ended with the
ascension of Jesus into heaven. I have told you many things that Jesus did and
many things that Jesus said. And now I’m telling you that was just the beginning
of the ministry of Jesus and not the end.”

That was the beginning of His teaching ministry. That was the beginning of His doing
ministry. Therefore, the meaning of this book Acts and the purpose of the church is
the fulfillment of what He WILL teach and the rest of what He WILL do.

Now, so that I don’t confuse anyone, I want to take a step back and qualify what I’m
about to stress about Jesus’ work being only the beginning. What Luke is not speak-
ing to or not contradicting is the finality of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and
in the resurrection. We have complete security in the finished work of Jesus. Hebrews
10:12 says, “When Christ had offered FOR ALL TIME a single sacrifice for sins, he
sat down at the right hand of God.” Our sins are covered, and the wrath of God has
been lifted. At Calvary, the throat of Satan was mortally slit. “And now there is no
condemnation for those who are in Christ” (Romans 8:1). So please don’t hear Luke
or me minimize the once-and-for-all nature of the finished work of Jesus on the cross
for your sin and mine. We do not have a high priest who must offer himself daily in
the temple. It is finished. Your sins are covered if you are in Christ by faith.

Nevertheless, we need to hear that the Bible is telling us that the ministry of Jesus
found in the gospels was only the beginning. Everything from His teaching to His
miracles to His death and resurrection… all of it leading up to the ascension was
only the beginning. The Church is the continuation of that story. Today Jesus does
His work through the Church. These weak, fragile clay jars are being used by God to
continue the gospel story of Jesus Christ.

2
FOCUS | Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

Therefore, Acts records the creation of the Church that is meant to continue the
ministry of Jesus. The Church is not a building made up of brick and mortar that
you attend a couple times of month. It’s not an institution. The Church is a spiritual
house made of up people who are assembled and built upon the chief cornerstone
who is Christ. We are the house of God. We are the body of Christ. We are the instru-
ment through whom Jesus continues His ministry.

Jesus Came to Save Sinners

Early in the life and ministry of Jesus, He made it clear that He was going to befriend
and relate to those outside religious circles. In fact, it was among this irreligious
group that He chose some of His twelve disciples (His closest band of friends and
those who would eventually lead the early Church into existence). One of these fol-
lowers was Levi (Matthew) the tax collector. Tax collectors were a group of people
despised by the Jews because they worked for the Romans who occupied Jerusalem
and ruled over the Jews. Moreover, tax collectors made their living by charging extra,
thereby making themselves quite wealthy. So you might imagine the disgust that
Jews had for some of their own who went to work for the enemy. Here’s a small clip
we get from Scripture on how this event occurred:

“After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax
booth. And he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything, he rose and fol-
lowed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large
company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Phari-
sees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and
drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are
well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call
the righteous but sinners to repentance’” (Luke 5:27-32).

In Luke 19, Jesus entered Jericho and crossed paths with a sneaky little man named
Zaacheaus. Zaacheaus was also a despised tax collector among his countrymen. That
is why Jesus found it necessary to make this statement which summed up His mis-
sion and purpose on earth:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

The Church must continually remind herself that her purpose is to befriend and bring
the message of salvation to those who are not yet believers. Consider also:

3
FOCUS | Philosophy of Ministry (the Biblical Case)

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as
a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost (1 Timothy 1:15).

Are you 100% convinced that Jesus came to save sinners? Is your church structured
with this fact in mind?

The Christian Life is about identifying yourself with the person and work of Jesus
Christ. It’s about learning to love what He loved. It’s about learning to walk as He
walked. Jesus said it this way, “Come follow me.” Come live as I live. Leave your old
life (your old way of doing things) and embrace the life that I have for you.

Our churches therefore, must be centered around the mission of Jesus. Our churches
must be harvest-focused.

Next Steps for Pastors

1. Discuss with your elders your theological conviction concerning the purpose
of the church.

2. Discuss with your elders which ministries/practices are aligned with that
conviction and which ones are not.

3. Prayerfully make the necessary adjustments to those ministries so that they

are aligned with your theological conviction concerning the purpose of the
church.

4
 CHAPTER 2
Attracting First Time Guests

Growing the church is like filling a bucket with water that has a hole—you have to
add people faster than you lose them. Most churches lose about 10% per year (job
change, backsliding, unresolved conflict, death, etc). A church of 100 will need to
add ten people a year to maintain their current level, twenty people to attain modest
growth (10%) and thirty people to attain rapid growth (20%+).

So how are you going to add new people? Where are these new people going to come
from? Should you put together a big marketing plan? Should you pass out flyers, put
up billboards, do a radio or TV ad? I think yes… but not yet.

Jubilee Church has benefited greatly from marketing tools such as good exterior
signage, mailers, flyers, bus stop ads and even billboards; however, we have also
found that we can get no more that 30% of our guests from those kinds of sources.
Most of our guests (usually around 70-80%) come from word of mouth—people in
the church inviting their friends, family and co-workers (their sphere of influence).
Therefore, we have decided to concentrate our efforts on giving our members a rea-
son to invite their friends and resourcing them to do so.

Giving Your People a Reason to Invite

Most pastors (unfortunately not all) wish their people would invite other people, but
yet they give them no real reason to do so. The first step in getting people to invite
others is to work hard at giving them a reason to. Rick Warren says that the top two
reasons why people don’t invite their friends is because they are embarrassed about
the quality of the service and they don’t know what to expect week to week. I suggest
you spend a lot of time toward the following:

5
FOCUS | Attracting First-time Guests

1. Improve the Quality of Your Service. We will get into this in greater detail
in later chapters; but if you expect to grow, you must have a high quality
Sunday service where excellence is the norm. Excellence does not mean
perfection; but rather that you, your elders and your volunteers give their
very best. If you’re the primary speaker, seek to prepare the best sermon
you can and be sure to build it around the gospel every week. If you’re the
worship leader, seek to lead your band and the congregation the best you
can by minimizing human distractions while making a lot of room for God
distractions. Greeters should greet with their very best. Ushers should usher
people with their very best. Children’s workers should look after and teach
children with their very best… etc, etc. Before you know it, you will have
a church that is serving one another in an excellent way (Romans 12:11–
outdoing one another in honor); but more importantly, serving the guests
God has called you to reach. In this kind of environment, it becomes highly
motivating for people to want to invite their friends because the pride and
the ownership they feel is through the roof.

2. Maintain Consistency. Evangelistically, there is nothing worse we can do for

our people than to be inconsistent on Sunday. Imagine one of your members
spending months prayerfully building a relationship with a non-Christian,
strategically sharing the gospel here and there, and now finally, they found
the right moment to invite their friend and they actually came! The only
problem is that this was the Sunday the greeters weren’t on their game; you
decided to give Bobby Sue a crack at leading worship; instead of preach-
ing the gospel, you decided to do testimony hour about the most recent
conference; and to top it all off, your service was thirty minutes longer than
usual. Two questions: What’s the chance that guest will return; and, how
motivated do you think your member will be to invite someone again? The
answer to both questions is not a positive one. That service wasn’t for them.
It was for your members. If you want to have services that guests are con-
sistently invited to, you have to maintain a level of consistency that makes
people feel secure in inviting their friends.

To be clear, maintaining consistency does not mean becoming predictable.

There should be a sense of awe (Acts 2:43) in our services. However, there
is a huge difference between being consistent and being predictable. If I
go to a St. Louis Cardinals game, I know what time the game starts, I know
there will be nine innings, and I know that I can get a hot dog and a beer
(for the price of a small country, but they’re available). That’s the consis-

6
FOCUS | Attracting First-time Guests

tency. However, I do not know how many runs will be scored, who will win,
will there be any home runs, or will there be a no-hitter? So while going to
a Cardinals game offers consistency, it is also unpredictable. The Sunday
services should be both consistent and unpredictable, which are great envi-
ronments to invite guests.

3. Be Creative with Your Sermon Series. If your mode of operation is to do stand-

alone messages week in and week out and you do not know what you are
going to speak on until Saturday, you must change this practice immedi-
ately. I am not saying that you should never do stand-alone messages (we do
about 6-8 per year), but you will significantly increase the chances that your
people will invite others if they A) know what the message will generally be
about; and B) it is a message series that is packaged well.

4. Do Big Sundays. There is nothing that can jump start attracting first time
guests while at the same time raising the evangelistic temperature of the
church like a Big Sunday. A Big Sunday is basically a Sunday or group of
Sundays that you put extra effort into in order to gather as many people
as possible. Big Sundays work well because they give your people an extra
reason to invite. Here are a few guidelines about Big Sundays:

a. Plan at least four per year (we do them in February, Easter, September
and Christmas). There is no easier time of the year to invite than Christ-
mas and Easter, especially Easter. February and September are also
good times of the year to do Big Sundays because most people stay in
town those months.

b. Use the Big Sunday to begin a series. If you start a series with a Big
Sunday, there is a greater chance they’ll come back the following week
because you have given them a reason to do so—to hear the rest of the
series (provided it’s interesting).

c. Budget for them.

To learn more about Big Sundays, read Nelson Searcy’s book Ignite as well
as Steve Tibbert’s paper (he calls them High Sundays) on his blog site at
stevetibbertleadership.blogspot.com.

7
FOCUS | Attracting First-time Guests

Resource Your People to Help Them Invite

There are several tools that you can give your people to help them invite to your Sun-
day service. The most effective tool we have is what we call a Wish List (see Appen-
dix, figure 1a and 1b). Our Wish List is simply a bookmark that has six blank spaces
where members can write the names of the people God has put on their hearts to be
in prayerful contact with. Members stick this bookmark in their Bible and use it as a
reminder to pray for these people and invite them to Jubilee services.

Another tool that is helpful is a postcard or business card invite to your Sunday ser-
vice (see Appendix, figure 2). This card would have your basic church information,
including website and service times. For Big Sundays, we will create a special post-
card for that specific day or series (see Appendix, figure 3a and 3b).

Other inviting tools would be e-vites, websites and promo videos.

Advertising

Now that you have worked hard at giving your people a reason to invite to your Sun-
day service and giving them the tools to do so, you can increase the number of first
time guests through advertising efforts. It can also work well with the efforts your
people are making through personal invitations. How effective is it if a friend of yours
sees a billboard of a message series that you invited him to? Here are some things
that we have found helpful:

1. Good signage on your building—if you are fortunate enough to own your own
building, use it as a way to advertise your services or a special event.

2. Banners on your building—this is really powerful because the advertising

becomes tied to your location.

3. Website—for many, they will visit your website before they will visit your
church. Your website needs to project both a good feel and have content
relevant to potential guests.

4. Billboards

8
FOCUS | Attracting First-time Guests

5. Bus stops

5. Mailers

6. Door hangers and flyers

Next Steps for Pastors

1. Ask a sampling of people in your church if they feel comfortable inviting a

friend to church? Ask them, “Why or why not?”

2. Make evaluating Sunday morning a regular part of your weekly elders meet-
ing to make consistent steps to eliminate the “cringe factor” (anything that
made a second feel like a minute, a minute like an hour). Be bold in inviting
outside input on this one.

3. Plan your sermon calendar for the next twelve months and make it series-
based. You may not be at a point you can create graphics for them, but at
least communicate what the series is on your bulletin and website.

4. Plan 4 Big Sundays in the next twelve months.

9
 CHAPTER 3
First Impressions
written by Rick Hein

It’s not secret that America is a consumer-driven society. And before we adopt an “us/
them” mentality about it, all we have to do is look in the mirror to see that we are
caught up in this capitalistic river of desire as well. If you were to examine spending
receipts from the past few months you would more than likely see a pattern of some
kind. Why is it you frequent the stores and services you do? Is it because of customer
service? Maybe you appreciate the value? Or maybe it’s the convenience that makes
you come back. Whatever the reason(s) behind it, the fact remains that we’re all
consumers and our consumption is driven by our reasoning.

Like it or not, people within our community treat the Sunday morning service in the
same way they shop for clothes or electronics. If first-time guests do not experience a
warm and inviting atmosphere up front, chances are they will not come back. Impres-
sions made within the first five to seven minutes will often times define the entire
Sunday morning experience.

At Jubilee Church we understand this mindset and have taken some very real steps
to help our first-time guests transition into a Sunday morning atmosphere that makes
it easier for them to connect with Jesus. Here is how we make it happen.

Identify With Our Guests

Every church has people who have been “in church” for as long as they can remem-
ber. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it can lead to a sense of isolation that
hinders them from identifying with others who do not share their same experience.

11
FOCUS | First Impressions

It’s important that we help our members recognize just how significant (and at times
difficult) it is for someone with no church background to walk into a building they’ve
never entered before, be surrounded by people they’ve never met before, and subject
themselves to an order of service that they have no control over. The whole thing can
be frightening!

When our members attend on Sunday mornings, they come with questions and
thoughts such as, “I wonder who will be leading worship this Sunday?” and “I won-
der what the sermon will be about this morning?” and “I hope I can sit by Jennifer
this morning as I’ve been wanting to talk with her all week.”

When a first-time guest attends on Sunday mornings, they come with questions and
thoughts such as, “If they make guests stand and introduce themselves I’m going
to die” and “Are they going to make me sing? I hope not because I don’t know the
songs” and “Do I have to give money?” and “Are they going to make me sign some-
thing? The last thing I want is to be put on some endless mailing list.”

Fear often times is enhanced due to a lack of information. Therefore, in everything

we do on Sunday mornings we seek to give as much information as possible. This is
why you will find information titled What to Expect on the inside page of our Sunday
bulletin. It is why, after the first song, we welcome our guests and give them a quick
verbal road map of the service that day. It’s also why we explain various elements of
the service that our guests may not be familiar with, such as prophetic words and
spontaneous worship. Finally, it’s why we explain to our guests that we have no ex-
pectation for them to contribute to the offering, as it is an expression of worship for
those who are members or regular attendees.

Believe it or not, these are things we do every Sunday. Though our members and
regular attendees have heard and seen these things literally hundreds of times, it’s
good news when a guest hears and sees it for the first time. It also serves as a great
reminder to our members and regular attendees to be consistently mindful of guests
amongst us.

Attention to Facilities

Familiarity breeds contempt is more than an expression, it’s a reality. Whenever you
visit someone’s home for the first time, you tend to take it all in (at least the women

12
FOCUS | First Impressions

do). You notice the color of the walls, the way the living room is arranged and the kind
of furniture that’s there, just to name a few things.

At the same time, you tend to forget these same details when it comes to your own
home because it’s your home and you are so used to being there that eventually the
details of your surroundings get lost in the maze of familiarity.
This is also true when it comes to church facilities. After attending your church’s
Sunday morning services in the same building Sunday after Sunday, you stop seeing
things like the dingy and dark walls, the trash in the bushes, the fact that there are
no directional signs directing people where to go, no easy access into the auditorium,
no information table, and no provisions for security in place.

It’s important that we look not only at our facility, but our entire Sunday service with
guest eyes. Most of the time this requires a purposeful effort. You may even consider
inviting in some people who are not a part of the church to do a walk through and
give you their honest feedback. Whatever it takes, put forth the effort to make sure
your facilities give off a favorable first impression that won’t be a roadblock to your
first-time guests.

Courteous and Trained Children’s Volunteers

Andy Stanley says that the “sermon begins in the parking lot.” While this is true,
the most lasting first impressions for first-time guests usually take place when they
take their children to their nursery/class. A bad impression at this point can almost
be irretrievable. If a first-time guest has a “bad feeling” upon leaving their child in
the nursery/class, the chances of them connecting with Jesus in the worship service
decreases exponentially. Their mind won’t be on the music, the songs, or the sermon.
What they’re thinking is, “I hope Junior is okay” or “Will they remember to change
his diapers?” or “Will they give him the attention he needs?” or “What happens if he
cries?” or “How will they contact me if he needs me?”

Here are some things Jubilee does to address this issue:

1. We train volunteers in regard to what their specific responsibilities are as a

J-Kids’s Ministry Volunteer.

2. We encourage our volunteers to be courteous and go the extra mile with

first-time guests in order to ease their obvious fears.

13
FOCUS | First Impressions

3. We have a smooth and yet simple registration process that allows for easy
check-in and safe check-out. This system gives first-time guests a sense of
security to know that their children are safe.

4. We have a definable system in place for how to contact a parent if they are
needed in the nursery to help with their baby.

5. We make sure our Children’s Ministry Volunteers understand that the role
they play as volunteers is a vital part of Jubilee’s mission, which is to Con-
nect People to Jesus Resulting in God-honoring Life Change.

Friendly, Welcoming and Trained First Contact Team

The First Contact Team at Jubilee consists of greeters and ushers. This is one area
of service that took a long time in developing. We have run the gambit of trial and
error when it comes to greeting and ushering. Through the help of some dedicated
volunteer leaders however, we have one of the best systems in place that I have seen.

When putting together a volunteer First Contact Team the following things need to
be in place:

1. Be picky about who serves as a greeter. Our greeters are some of the most
friendly and courteous people in the entire church, and that’s not by ac-
cident. While people do volunteer to serve as greeters, many of our best
greeters have been specifically recruited. If a person is not friendly and
warm they should not be a greeter. This doesn’t mean they are a bad person,
it just means they won’t make a good greeter.

2. Train greeters thoroughly. Don’t leave anything up to chance. Make sure

each and every greeter understands what they are supposed to do and why.
This means knowing what to say to guests (“Welcome to Jubilee Church,
it’s great to have you with us this morning. My name is Rick”), as well as
members/regular attendees when they enter the facility. They also need to
know where each and every children’s class is so they can help direct first-
time guests with children to these classes. At our City Location each greeter
has a specific place to stand with specific responsibilities to maintain. The
entire system makes for a very inviting and warm atmosphere that helps our
first-time guests feel relaxed and comfortable.

14
FOCUS | First Impressions

3. Make sure you staff enough ushers. Few things are as embarrassing as get-
ting ready to receive the offering and George, the head usher, is tapping
people on the shoulder saying, “Hey will you help me with the offering?”

4. Make sure ushers are thoroughly trained in regard to issues such as com-
munion, unruly people, needing more chairs, thermostat settings, light
switches and other things such as this. Once again, don’t leave anything
up to chance. Make sure every scenario is covered. This is easily done by
adequately planning ahead.

Clear Communication

If you’ve ever attended an event in an unfamiliar facility, one of the first things you
do upon entering is to look for a sign that tells you where to go. Having the right kind
of signage in place goes a long was to making guests feel comfortable and welcomed.
Make sure your signs are high enough to be seen in a room full of people and simple
enough not to confuse someone who is not familiar with your facility.

An Information Table is a great way to direct the attention of your guests to the things
that you want them to notice. For example, Jubilee makes a point to place a prom-
ising, self-standing sign of the current preaching series on the information table.
Therefore, guests immediately know what the message that day is about. We also use
the Information Table to make literature available that answers their most prominent
questions such as, “What kind of church is Jubilee?” and “Are you a denominational
church?” and “Do you have small groups?” It’s important that the literature you place
on your Information Table is not only of high quality, but also purposeful. At Jubilee
we make sure we have a First Contact Team volunteer around the Information Table
at all times, in order to be available to answer questions that guests usually have.

The final aspect of Clear Communication has to do with nametags. Next to our Infor-
mation Table we have a small bar-type table that we place self-adhesive nametags
on. We encourage everyone who enters (including members and regular attendees) to
fill out a nametag—make sure you have Sharpies on the table as well. The value of
nametags is almost unimaginable. Because everyone has one, it offers a simple way
to recognize a guest’s name without making them feel singled out. It also provides
a way for the guests to recognize the names of all the new people they meet on a
Sunday. As the church grows more and more, people are added into the ranks, mak-

15
FOCUS | First Impressions

ing it impractical for members and regular attendees to know everyone. Nametags
are a helpful means to aid in the relational connection process amongst members
and regular attendees.

Next Steps for Pastors

1. Go with your elders to another church (preferable one not like yours) and
take note of what they did or did not do to make you feel at home? How were
you greeted? Was it clear how to get involved? What did they do to set you
at ease? What did they do that make you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome?

2. Plan and facilitate regular training of your volunteers. Jubilee does training
events semi-annually, but hosts monthly meetings with volunteer teams as
well as weekly pep talks (15 minutes).

3. Indentify two or three areas where communication is unclear and do your

best to make it clear.

16
 CHAPTER 4
Leading a Meeting

Never Be Dull

Dull should never describe any church. When the early church gathered, “...awe
came upon every soul...” (Acts 2:43). There was an edge to this group that poked
and prodded everyone that came into their midst. There are many reasons for this,
but one for sure was there was a razor sharp prophetic edge that was released and
pastored among them. I fully believe that for a church to be harvest focused and ef-
fective among the lost, the church must not settle for dull prophetic gifts, but rather
ensure they are sharpened and deployed in powerful ways.

Leading a Meeting

I think leading/anchoring a meeting is one of the more difficult jobs on Sunday

mornings. It requires Holy Spirit sensitivity/awareness, sound doctrine, split second
decision-making, and confidence to lead. It’s what we (Jubilee elders) spend more
time discussing than any other aspect of our meeting.

Let us take a look at Peter at Pentecost as a model of leading the church into dynam-
ic Holy Spirit activity that is guest aware. The principles we’ll see in this event are: 1)
readiness, 2) recognition, and 3) response. I think they work together like a pyramid.

Story of Acts 1 & 2

In the beginning of Acts 1, Jesus gives His Great Commission speech (go be the
church) and then ascends into heaven, leaving the disciples gazing into the sky. A

17
FOCUS | Leading a Meeting

couple of angels appear and say to the disciples, “now come on, let’s get on with
it!” So the disciples get on with it by devoting themselves to prayer (see chapter 9).
In the midst of their prayer gathering, the first great move of the Holy Spirit comes
crashing down on them, characterized by things like “sounds from heaven like a
mighty rushing wind,” “tongues of fire,” “all being filled with the Holy Spirit,” and
some “spoke in different languages.” So you can understand why this drew the at-
tention of people walking by from every nation under heaven—they were bewildered
because they were hearing praise to God in their own tongue. Luke goes on to re-
cord that some “were amazed and had questions,” and some were, “these guys are
drunk;” and in my imagination, started walking away. However, something stirs Peter
and ignites him to stand up and give a response that connected the current Holy
Spirit activity with the Old Testament prophet Joel—something his crowd would have
been aware of. Luke then writes that they “were cut to the heart and repented.” The
result of this gathering was that 3,000 were added.

What can we learn from this about running our meetings as it relates to Holy Spirit
activity and the prophetic?

Readiness

READINESS THROUGH PRAYER

Acts 1:14 & Acts 2:42 says that they devoted themselves to prayer.

Jesus is the Model

Peter, most certainly, would have noticed the pattern of prayer in the life of Jesus
because He was always praying. At Jesus’ baptism, He is praying. The night before
He selects the twelve disciples, He goes up on a mountain and for the entire night He
prays. He prays early in the morning and late into the evening. At the transfiguration
He is praying. Before the cross He is praying; and then, on the cross He is praying.
Jesus did not just simply teach on prayer, He lived prayer. In fact, it’s probably safe
to say that prayer is not so much a thing Jesus commands us to do as much as it is
the way of Jesus (what it means to be a Christian) because He was always praying.
He always seemed to be connected, inseparably connected, to God the Father. I
think Peter, who was a part of Jesus’ inner circle, remembered this and said to get
it done we need to be continually in prayer—ministry we’ll happen in the middle of
those times.

18
FOCUS | Leading a Meeting

Peter Continued this Model

We know that Peter guarded this time because in Acts 6, ministry got a little over-
whelming, and one of his primary concerns was that prayer not get pushed to the
side. So he got someone else to look after the day-to-day ministry so that he and the
other apostles could focus on prayer and ministry of the word.

READINESS THROUGH KNOWING THE GOSPEL

1 Peter 3:15 says, “…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks
you for a reason for the hope that is in you…” On Sunday morning (as well as on
Tuesday at the coffee shop), there are people amongst us who want to know why we
sing songs the way we sing songs, why we give money the way we give money, why
we serve the way we serve, etc. We need to be prepared to stand up in the middle of
that and give a defense, a reason.

I suggest that you learn to share the gospel in 15-20 seconds (brevity is key) from
multiple different angles. If you need to borrow one in the meantime, try this gospel
nugget from Tim Keller: “Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death
we should have died.”

READINESS THROUGH DISCUSSION AND DIALOGUE

EVERY week the elders discuss Sunday morning, and the part of the meeting that
always lasts the longest is the part where we discuss the contributions use of spiritual
gifts given; and more importantly, how we handled those contributions. Did we lead
too strongly? Did we lead strongly enough? Did the contributions help? How could we
have better guided people? I believe “getting it right” is a moving target and requires
you to live in the tension of too loose and too tight. Your church is probably either/or
and discussing it often keeps you from favoring one side over the other.

READINESS THROUGH TEACHING

In the Bible, nothing good happens because of a lack of knowledge (Isaiah 5:13; Ho-
sea 4:6). It is important to continue to give good teaching to your people on spiritual
gifts and how to rightly administer them. At Jubilee, we include an entire section on
Charismatic Worship to help people understand both why and how when it comes
to spiritual gifts. We want people to understand what prophecy is and why spiritual
gifts are Biblical. We also pepper in teaching right in the middle of worship. We will
often quote 1 Corinthians 14:26 and add, “If you are new, it’s possible that you have
never experienced worship like this. Let me assure you that this is completely Bibli-
cal. ‘When you come together, each one has a hymn…’” These little moments offer
assurance to people; and I have found, releases them to share.

19
FOCUS | Leading a Meeting

Recognition

While praying in the upper room, the disciples were “readying” themselves for a
move of God. However, their readiness might not have meant as much if Peter hadn’t
recognized what the Holy Spirit was doing and recognized the people around him.
This is where it’s important to get both right: recognizing both the Holy Spirit and
people (because you can sense spiritually activity), but also being disconnected with
people, in the sense that leading implies others are following. On the other hand, you
can also connect with people and not sense spiritual activity. We need to recognize
both.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?

Recognizing God activity only happens if you have made yourself ready by being
prayed up, being full of the Spirit and having discussed with your team what you
hope happens. If you know what you’re looking for, you can spot it when it occurs.
For Peter it was Joel 2:28, the teachings of Jesus, and an understanding of where
his “brothers” were. Do you know what you are looking for when you gather? Do you
know what Holy Spirit activity looks like? Do you know where your people are at (what
their week may have been like)? Are you in touch with culture? Do you understand
the spiritual climate in your city?

Response

LEAD PEOPLE
Paul encouraged leaders to respond to prophetic words. He suggested that it should
be done after two or three words/contributions. We don’t want to be legalistic about
this, but it is helpful to summarize what we believe God is saying in a meeting after
a few prophetic words have been given, otherwise we can lose track and their effect
can be lost. I see our job to anchor a meeting as not just being there to test, but to
give weight to the word that has come. Sometimes that means asking the congrega-
tion to respond and to be bold in doing so. We see this with Peter in Acts 2. He stood
up in the middle of Holy Spirit activity, preached an average message, but boldly
asked people to respond. The result: 3,000 added.

RIDE THE WAVE

I like to think that leading a meeting is like riding a wave. There are two extremes
to avoid: one is where people try to work up everything in their own strength not

20
FOCUS | Leading a Meeting

realizing the power of the Holy Spirit’s wave, and the other is where people don’t
paddle when the wave comes and therefore miss the momentum the wave can give
your church. May it never be that the only thing you got out of Sunday morning was,
“Wow, that was a great wave!” or “Wow that was a great meeting!”

WHAT IS THE GUEST THINKING?

Like Peter, do not let people walk out of your meetings saying, “They are out of their
mind.” To help prevent this, our anchors are always asking the question, “Would a
new person understand what’s happening.” So we are always thinking, “How can I
connect what is happening to the truth with Scripture? How can I connect this to
another experience that would be common to them?” Sometimes it’s just a language
barrier. Tim Keller says, “If you want the neighborhood to show up at your meetings,
speak as though they are already there.”

THE ART OF BRIDGING

The art of bridging is the ability to link up potentially disjointed segments of the
service so that the actual experience is a smooth one. This helps people follow along
and is conducive to the flow of the Holy Spirit. Meetings that start and stop and go off
on tangents are seldom great meetings. God is a God of order and is not the author
of confusion.

LAST SONG BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENTS

We need to let people down gently from the heights of heaven to the more mundane
matters of notices. This requires that the leader recap through a statement (i.e. “Isn’t
God’s presence wonderful? We are going to continue to enjoy God’s presence through
the teaching of Scripture.”) or a prayer. Don’t rush this part; be gentle with people.

CAPITALIZING ON HOLY MOMENTS

While sometimes singing a good song is a sufficient blessing, it can also be the
launching pad for something more explosive for prophecy, prayer or ministry. For
example, we were singing the song, “Savior, He can move the mountains…” and
I popped up and said, “Everyone in this room has a savior. We are all looking to
someone or something to save us. Can your savior move mountains? Jesus can move
mountains. Let’s continue to sing this song with the understanding that no matter the
situation, Jesus has the power to move mountains in our life.”

21
FOCUS | Leading a Meeting

Next Steps for Pastors

1. Discuss with your elders what an “ideal” service looks like in relation to
spiritual contributions.

2. Discuss with your elders whether you are too “loose” or too “tight” in your
facilitation of spiritual gifts?

3. Discuss with your elders ways to lead/explain different kinds of spiritual

contributions to someone who would be new to this type of a service.

22
 CHAPTER 5
Assimilation

What is the Assimilation Process?

Webster’s Dictionary: to include into the larger whole; to involve; to make one.

The assimilation process at Jubilee Church is the process by which someone who
has never attended our church, becomes a fully devoted member. To discover what
your assimilation process is, you must first ask the question what is the mission of
my church? At Jubilee, we are looking to connect people to Jesus resulting in God-
honoring life change. We want to find people who were once not a part, and now have
been made a part by the life-changing presence of Jesus.

Once you have established where someone will end up as a result of your ministry/
church, you then need to ask, “What are the typical steps people take along the way
starting from the beginning?” For us at Jubilee, it looks like this:

!" First-time guest

!" Second-time guest
!" Third-time guest
!" Attend: Get to Know Jubilee
!" Be a part of one of our serving teams
!" Attend: Action Track
!" Attend: Membership Course (Connect Series)
!" *Become a Member

23
FOCUS | Assimilation

Now, it does not always work out quite like this. Sometimes people will attend just
once and then attend Get to Know Jubilee or will even sign up for an Action Track
right away. However, this is the typical process someone goes through in becoming
a fully devoted member.

(*If they are not a Christian, our hope is somewhere along the way that they commit
their life to Jesus. Becoming a member is the only step where we require that people
be a Christian, as well as be baptized.)

Why Do You Need an Assimilation Process?

Colossians 4:5 says, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most
of every opportunity.” The truth be told, everyone has an assimilation process, it just
might not be a very good one. At Jubilee, we want to be wise in the way we respond
to those who do not yet belong, making the most of those opportunities. And there
are some great opportunities! Every week, God directs the steps of the un-churched
to attend one of our services. We don’t want to take that lightly, but do everything we
can to steward those opportunities.

Getting Started

CREATE AND USE A COMMUNICATION CARD

The Communication Card is a very key piece to our assimilation process. Some may
call this a communication card or response card, but what it may NEVER be called is
a “guest card.” Why? Because you want more than just guests to fill this out. Hope-
fully this fact will become clear the more you learn about what is required to have a
successful assimilation process.

I have included a copy of our Communication Card in the Appendix section of this
booklet (figure 4a and 4b). Why don’t you save your place here and take a quick
look at that so I can better describe to you how we use this card. Here are some key
principles to follow to get the most out of this card:

You MUST encourage everyone to fill this out. Guests want to be as anonymous
as possible and are more likely to fill out a card if they see everyone else filling
out a card.
This card MUST be placed in every seat.

24
FOCUS | Assimilation

You MUST provide a pen or a pencil. Do not give anyone an excuse not to fill
this out.

You MUST pass a basket at the end of the service in concert with your offering
to collect these cards. This might change your order of service, but I have not
found any way around this. Having a basket or box that people can simply drop
the card in on their way out will result in a very low return on the cards you
receive. You should work toward receiving cards from 50-60% of the adults in
your auditorium.

Change the information on the card on a weekly basis. There is some informa-
tion that is static (i.e. name, address, email, etc), but a key to getting the most
amount of people filling out the card every week is new information. This will
typically happen in the Next Step section.

Be really good at following up with people who fill out cards. In the back of ev-
eryone’s mind when they are filling this card out is, “I wonder if anyone actually
reads these?” When there is no, or slow follow up, their concern gets validated.
Therefore, if someone uses your Communication Card to sign up to serve on your
maintenance team, make sure they get 24-48 hour follow up. This will reinforce
the behavior to fill out this card every week. It will also make the Communication
Card more personal. If they don’t get this kind of follow up, the next time you
get up to ask them to fill out that card, they will think, “Why should I? No one
reads these anyway.”

GET KEY PLAYERS ON BOARD

Lead Pastor/Location Pastor: The lead pastor is the key person who makes the as-
similation process happen. First of all, nothing takes on much prominence if the
Lead Pastor is not fully convinced of it and actively promoting it. The assimilation
process is no different. So the Lead Pastor must make sure the Communication Card
gets mentioned at least twice on Sunday and is incorporating it into his message.
Secondly, you need to set up the system that you want or find someone more capable
than you to do this. You can NOT however, be absent from the process, especially
in the beginning. Currently, we are cresting over 400 and there is not a ministry of
the church I pay more attention to than how we are assimilating people. I find that
it helps to understand where people are at and how they are connecting. Finally,
the Lead Pastor needs to be working as hard as he can to make a connection with
as many guests as he can every week. This is especially important if you are under
200. Currently, Jubilee is at a point that I do not get a chance to meet every guest,

25
FOCUS | Assimilation

but I make it a priority to connect with at least five per week and get lunch or coffee
with at least one or two. I, of course, only meet up with males and prioritize potential
leaders. If you are able to, I would set your schedule to invite one guest to lunch with
you every Sunday.

Administrative Assistant/Information Manager: You need someone who is good at

collecting data and entering into excel, google docs, and/or some church manage-
ment software. Information collection is key. See the Appendix for examples of the
information Jubilee collects.

Director of Assimilation: For most churches, the Lead Pastor and a good Administra-
tive Assistant will do, but as you grow, you will need someone who is both adminis-
trative and good with people to run this ministry while you keep an attentive eye on
the process.

Assimilation Team: As your church grows, it will take more and more people who are
willing to make this process happen. My advice is to keep the team small and only
grow the team if you have to. The reason for keeping the team small is that com-
munication becomes increasingly difficult with a large team. Good communication
is a key part of the assimilation process (not letting people fall through the cracks).

Serving Coordinators & Small Group Leaders: If the truth be told, your whole church
is hopefully a part of the assimilation process. Hopefully, everyone is looking to do
their part to see new people connect with your church. Your serving coordinators and
small group leaders however, are key people because they need to know how to wisely
receive in new people as fast as possible. The faster people can get into serving op-
portunities and relational networks in your church, the better.

THE PROCESS IN DETAIL

Step One: First-Time Guests

First-time guests receive a 36-hour email/phone response (see Appendix) from an

Assimilation Team member.

First-time guests receive a 72-hour handwritten letter response (see Appendix) from
the Lead Pastor/Location Pastor, which includes a book and any information they
might have requested (note: these letters are written on Monday morning). Some-
times, we will include an additional gift such as a $5 gift card to Starbucks. This

26
FOCUS | Assimilation

typically happens after a Big Sunday.

Our hope with first-time guests is to simply say that, “we noticed you” and that “we
care you were there.” We typically don’t try to plug them in anywhere unless they ask.

Step Two: Second-Time Guests

Second-time guests receive a 36-hour email/phone response from an Assimilation

Team member.

Second-time guests receive a 72-hour handwritten letter response from the Lead /
Location Pastor that includes both an encouragement on the information on how to
get more involved.

Second-time guests came back because they liked your service, generally agree with
your teaching, but may or may not be sold. A good second experience is vital as well
as strong follow up; and this time, we want to throw a hook out there on how to know
more. Typically, this means an invite to Get to Know Jubilee (which we do monthly).
About 50% of first-time guests become second-time guests.

Step Three: Third-Time Guests+

Assimilation Team continues to make phone/email follow up, encouraging them and
showing them how they can get more involved. Sometimes they will try to person-
ally connect with them over coffee or introduce them to someone they would enjoy
spending time with (always males with males and females with females).

Guests who return for a third time have communicated clearly they like your church.
In their mind, they have had two good experiences and the only thing that will cause
them to drop off is if they confront a theology they just don’t agree with or they never
get relationally connected. This is where the Assimilation Team is so important. May
it NEVER be that anyone leaves your church because they never felt a part. If you are
a small church, the Lead Pastor/Location Pastor should have definitely had a meal or
coffee with this person/couple by now.

About 40% of first-time guests become third-time guests (80% of second-time

guests).

27
FOCUS | Assimilation

Step Four: Get to Know Jubilee

What is Get to Know Jubilee?

• It is the Reader’s Digest version on what Jubilee is all about (15-20 min).
• Top 3 Values
• How to Connect
• Who are the Leaders
• It’s an opportunity to connect with the Lead Pastor/Location Pastor.
• It is an opportunity to ask questions.

When is Get to Know Jubilee?

• Happens monthly
• Happens in between our 9 am and 11 am service. Prior to going to two
services, we facilitated this event thirty minutes prior to our service start
time. We found that doing this event prior to service worked better for us.

Information We Provide
• Newfrontiers publications
• Get to Know Jubilee brochure
• CD of a message where Bryan explained what kind of community Jubilee
hopes to be
• Flyer on current series
• Flyer about Action Tracks
• Wish List bookmark

Steps 5-9

The Assimilation Team and the Leadership Team work together to move people along
in steps 5 through 9 by providing easy and accessible information about each step.
Each Assimilation Team member is assigned a person whom they walk through each
step until Membership.

28
 APPENDIX

figure 1a: Jubilee Church Wish List, front

figure 1b: Jubilee Church Wish List, back

A-1
FOCUS | Appendix

4228 South Kingshighway Blvd.

Saint Louis, MO 63109

314.832.9033
office@jubileestl.org
www.jubileestl.org

figure 2a: Jubilee Church Sunday Service Invitation, front

join us on sundays @ ten a.m.

figure 2b: Jubilee Church Sunday Service Invitation, back

A-2
FOCUS | Appendix

figure 3a: Jubilee Church Big Sunday Invitation; e.g. XXXPosed Church, front

figure 3b: Jubilee Church Big Sunday Invitation; e.g. XXXPosed Church, back

A-3
FOCUS | Appendix

figure 4a: Jubilee Church Communication Card; front

A-4
FOCUS | Appendix

figure 4b: Jubilee Church Communication Card; back

A-5
www.jubileestl.org