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ARTICLE
"When God Turns a Celebration into a
Invitation"
We
had been dreaming about the 25th Anniversary of 12Stone® Church for a long
time. We didn't engage in detailed planning until less than a year ago, but we
imagined what might both honor Christ, and inspire the congregation. The early
ideas centered on a huge "Thanksgiving to God" event in the form of a really big
and fun celebration. Hey, that sounds good, right?! Absolutely! By Dan Reiland But as God began to crystalize the idea for this event in Kevin Myers heart and mind, (senior pastor) it became evident that the celebration was about to change in its expression. Now let me be clear on this, it was still a blast! Tim Hawkins did about 25 minutes before the official start and he is easily one the most hilarious comedians I've ever listened to! But God had something bigger in mind. Thanking God is always appropriate. The worship was incredible and pointing to the past and celebrating changed lives was awesome. There was a breathtaking moment when the arena lights were shut down. The people were instructed quietly by huge video screens to turn on the little light they had been given at the door, if they had been saved since attending 12Stone. The room lighted up as if thousands of stars were illuminating the sky. The Gwinnett Arena blazed glory to God by celebrating salvation in its fullness! I will never forget those moments. But there is one thing that can trump even that – pointing to the future and casting new and fresh vision for more lives to be changed! We did indeed celebrate but there was also an invitation to embrace that evening not as a finish line, but as a starting line for what God wants to do through 12Stone in the future. In part, this article is simply sharing an encouraging story with you. I think every once in awhile it's good to stop and just tell a story of God's amazing kindness. But it also may inspire you to pray, ask God, and take advantage of something special you have coming up that He may choose to change. This causes you to alter the direction of your leadership in that moment. This doesn't happen often, but when it does, you don't want to miss God's voice. PK (Pastor Kevin) shared the vision he received so many years ago, of God pointing ahead to this time in his ministry. Though he didn't fully understand it then, his faithful followership of God's plan allowed us all to see the mighty hand of the Lord in a powerful way. It made God seem even bigger; if that's possible at least within the scope of our finite human understanding. God has such big plans and He knows them so far in advance. He connects so many things and so many people over so many years. We are so small and God is so big. Of the many things we are doing today, and things you are doing today, we have no idea how God may use them in years to come. And on occasion, like this one on May 17, 2013 when we as a congregation got so see how God's hand has orchestrated something so deeply within His purpose and that He has plans for even more, it truly touches everyone at a heart level and inspires us to trust God even further. The invitation came in three parts as the vision for the future was shared. Each person was challenged to embrace the roles of Mighty Warrior, Good Samaritan, and Transformational Leader. There is a direct connect with our focus for years to the Lost, Least and Leaders. Allow me to share briefly about each one. 1. Mighty Warrior The focus here is to reach the lost. Using the Gideon story of the spiritual warrior within each of us, we are to rise up ready for battle, reaching those who are far from God. Prayer is central to this effort. Much of our battle is in the spiritual realm, and in some ways, all of the battle is in prayer. But at some point the battle takes on human form and we are called to make it personal. For 12Stone that involves launching more campuses, not to become a bigger church, but to reach more people for Jesus! Candidly it's not difficult to get fired-up about that! 2. Good Samaritan The emphasis on this second point is to meet the needs of the least. One of the really cool endeavors we celebrated was the privilege of digging 100 fresh water wells with mechanical pumps in Mozambique. That was truly life changing for thousands of people. Not only did it provide fresh water to combat disease, but instead of walking for hours every day to get dirty water, the people in the villages now have time for basic agriculture and education. There are dozens of endeavors that we could share, and you could share some of the cool things you are doing as well. The important point of the vision is that we are all called to become like the Good Samaritan. We are not just to walk by, but to take action. 3. Transformational leader. The focus on this last point is developing leaders. No church can realize all that God has in mind without raising up more leaders. The mission is too big, and next to the favor and power of God, everything rises and falls on leadership. It begins, of course, with developing our volunteer leaders. Without a strong home base, we have little to offer others beyond the walls of 12Stone. We are fired-up about our next gen emphasis, especially our Residency. The 12Stone Residency is a two-year, post college, ministry and leadership training process for sharp next gen leaders. So cool! We also get to coach pastors, do international leadership training and offer biblical training in conjunction with Wesley Seminary and Indiana Wesleyan University! We are grateful for all that God has called us to do. Thank you for reading a little about what God is up to at 12Stone Church. My prayer is that you are encouraged and maybe even inspired for all that God can do in and through your church!
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