1. The church is most effective when the body ministers to the body, not when the pastor gets worn out and flames out and is always in a bad mood behind the scenes becuase he is trying to be all things to all people. God designed His church to function on the basis of a pleurity of spiritual gifts working through people available to Him.

The task of Sanctuary is to train people to do the work of the ministry. (Eph. 4:11-16) This way tons of people get the incredible honor of advancing God’s kingdom and seeing God build His church. We are looking to raise people up to the work of the ministry instead of having a handful worn out people trying to do it all.

2. The church is most effective when we do not try to please EVERYBODY.
One challenge of a new church is entertaining the expectations of others that want to dictate the direction of the church. People come from everywhere and all kinds of backgrounds and have ideas of what church is supposed to be, look like, and smell like.

Jesus did not allow the expectations of others to dictate and define the direction of His ministry. On a personal level, let us be encouraged to not let the expectation of others crowd out the expectations and calling of God upon your life.

3. The church is most effective when we PRAY! Prayer works! I have seen God answer prayer after prayer after prayer this past year at Sanctuary. He has brought some amazing people and resource.

Prayer is not something we tack on to the end of what we do so we feel better. .. since we prayed. Prayer is central to what we do. Prayer is the breath we breathe. God guides us as we pray. He provides for us as we pray. Prayer is the ONLY way.

We see the early church was rocking because of prayer. In Acts 1, they prayed and 3,000 people come to Christ. No build up for the meeting, no radio adds, cool computer graphics, christian bands, or loud speakers. Just God and prayer. Prayer works.

1. We are starting Nehemiah THIS Sunday. This is one of my all time favorite sections of the bible. Nehemiah will inspire you like no other. My favorite way to descirbe him is a man with:
Bent knees.
Wet eyes.
And a broken heart.
And God used him in astounding ways. Find out why on Sunday!

2. Ms. Zimbabwe of Africa is scheduled to be at Sanctuary this Sunday.
She will bring greetings and maybe teach us a song. She is taking bibles back to Africa.

3. Guest worship with “Shachah” this Sunday these guys rock. Bring a friend!

Worship with “Two or More” on June 1’st. Don’t miss this is you have never heard these guys.

4. Sanctuary Youth… are having a HUGE summer with some great life changing events like “Tacos con Prayer and Praise”.

Parents, you want to get your kids to the Lounge and check it out if you never have seen it.
The place is a great youth hang out for Sunday church and takes coolness to new levels.

5. Angels baseball game Friday night and I get to hang out with some of the guys from Sanctuary. I am looking forward to it!

God has put it in my heart to live a life that counts for something. Therefore…

1. I do not want to look back with measures of regret. This helps shape my decision making process. I ask myself, “Will I look back with regret if I… or if I don’t… how will I feel 20 years from now?”

2. I don’t want to miss out on my 3 sons growing up. I want to be there for them. I run from soccer game to soccer game many a Saturday. I dash from one field to another, often watching 3-4 games on a Saturday. Chapters are being written weekly and I want to drink it all in before its all over.

3. I don’t want to live a life of looking back, but looking forward. Let the past be the past. Release it into the hands of God.

4. I do not want to live a life fearing what other people think. We cannot live trying to please this imaginary audience… of old friends, family members, and ??? I do not try to answer my critics. I keep my eyes on Jesus and let the fruit of His life in me be the answer to my critics.

If you fear what people think, it will enslave you. Recognize that people have their opinions, and you cannot please everybody, so just make it your great aim to please God.

5. I want to live a life where my 3 sons love the church. I want them to gain a fondness for serving. To feel like church is the coolest thing to come down the pike in the last 2,000 years. Cooler than IPhones, IPods and Elvis.

6. I want lead a church that is not a cemetary needing CPR. I do not want to teach the bible in a way that causes people to YAWN and CLOCK WATCH. I do not want to have a church that is so full of ROUTINE that the sacrements lose their meaning. I
do not want a BORING and PREDICTABLE church where sincere people drift into deadness.

I do not want to ever do church in such a way to just get people to fill the seats and keep ‘em filled. I want people at church because they WANT to be there!

7. I want to enjoy the journey! To love much. Deposit much. To give much. To love and serve my wife Kirstin and our boys.

8. I want to have a church that honors God. That lets God define who we are to be, not popular church trends, what the culture says is cool, or anything other than God defining who we are and what we are to be about… His business.

9. I never want to have a church that is just satisfied and SMUG. Having a “we have arrived” type attitude. A play it safe, never be real… just keep the peace and do not rock the boat church.

10. I want a church that passionately loves Jesus. A church that leads people into a dynamic growing relationship with Him. A church that God Himself would want to go to…

Worship was kicken’ today with Attila and the band. They did the great hymn, “It is Well” which was very moving for me.

A Mother’s Day Celebration - Sanctuary invested a ton of energy into the service today in hopes of making it a special day to remember for moms.  Next year we want to do something like buy a car for a single Mom or fix up a home that needs repair. 

The message really hit me hard about painting a picture for our children that will point them to God. A sobering thought for me to process… What kind of picture are we painting?  One that points them to Jesus?

I absolutely love seeing so many new guests at church today. To think that only 15 months ago Three Rings Ranch School sat empty on Sunday mornings, and now is a fantastic meeting place for our church family. Yea God!

“You Rock Mom” - Our three sons Jordan, Garrett and Forrest each presented their mother with a Mother’s day card after church today. One card was autographed “You Rock Mom” with some killer graphics by 9 year old Jordan. It won the the “Steal Mom’s Heart Award”.  Additionally, Kirstin discovered gift certificates from Starbucks, P.F. Changs, and Barnes and Noble…

Not to be outdone by my sons, I followed their lead with a Nordstroms gift card. Its kind of hard to blow it when you go this route…

Sunday afternoon I spent with my family in Temecula. It was great to hang out and visit with my parents at my sister’s home.  My dad and I had a great talk.  He asked about how Sanctuary is doing.  He is also a superb chef and brought dinner… I am blessed!

Time to go to bed!

If you are in the dating stage, here are a few thoughts to steer you free from relational ditches and landmines.

(1) TRUTH TELLING - Be straight up. Don’t try to be cool. Tell the truth. Fear God and not popluar opinion or someone’s reaction. I had a girl on a prom once ask me if I drank.

(2) Honor the parents - If you love this woman and want to marry her, show absolute respect to her parents. Love her mother. Talk to his father. Build relationship with them. Buy them dinner. Don’t just lasar focus on the prize and forget who brought them into the world! Include the parents in the relationship if possible. Have fun and get to know them. Win over the heart of the mother / father. Be willing in invest and work at the relationship with the parents.

SANCTUARY IS…

1. A BIBLICAL COMMUNITY GROWING IN SPIRITUAL MATURITY, not just numbers.

Our great desire is to be growing in maturity in Jesus. We are a church that is serious about the study of God’s word, learning to pray, and being a genuine and healthy Christ following community.

We also are passionate about reaching out to spiritually lost people and seeing them come into a saving relationship with Jesus.

2. A CHURCH WHERE JESUS IS THE HEAD! He is in charge of everything.

Jesus is our Chief Shepherd (I Peter 5:4)

He is the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20)

He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords (I Tim. 6:15)

He is Our Great High Priest (Heb. 3:1)

3. A CHURCH THAT EQUIPS PEOPLE TO MINISTER TO PEOPLE

Pastors are qualified according to I Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1 to equip people for the work of the ministry. I see a church full of people serving Jesus.

4. A CHURCH THAT SUBMITS TO THE BIBLE

The scripture is our guide for all decision making, structure, philosophy, doctrine, and methods. We seek to communicate the timeless truths of the bible every time we gather.

I get some emails that fire me up. I have gotten a few this week that were very encouraging.

Here is one of my top favorites:

“I really appreciated how you spoke so frankly, honestly and directly to teenagers… I wish I had had that kind of advise when I was a teenager. I think it would have changed the course of my life”.

“Our lives have been so blessed since we’ve started coming to Sanctuary. The worship is real, the messages are God-inspired, relevant, and Biblically truthful and the people beyond wonderful. I have not felt so at home in a church in a long time… there is no other church I would rather call home”.

Yea! God is so good. Keep at it church! People are being blessed and encouraged and strengthened in the Lord. I love this place.

Message preparation is a never ending task. For me it is a lifestyle. I do not look at it just as work, but as central to my life. Here are some of the principles that guide my in my preparation.

#1 HAVE A GENERAL PLAN IN PLACE We look to do both new and old testaments. We also balance this with some series on topics vital to the health of a church. Jesus took a topical approach to preaching.

At Sanctuary we take an expository approach to the scriptures where we unpack the bible verse by verse.

We just finished a series on, “What Are You Watching?” to highlight what our culture is observing and then see what God has to say. We did this to follow up on our Easter services so the non-churched person at zero point spiritually could grab onto the series titles.

It is much easier for me to prepare to speak from books of the bible than it is to do series, because the topic is chosen for me and I simply have to explain the verses or chapter. When doing a series, you are faced with narrowing the choices down and that can be tough sometimes.

#2 GAIN INFORMATION AND INSPIRATIONThe message is not simply to DISPENSE a boatload of bible facts and call it a day. I am not just giving a bible lecture.

I tend to keep working at the message until it moves me somehow. I have tossed messages that I put a fair amount of work into if in the end they do not move me. I need my heart to be touched. I need to be inspired. I need to feel like the content is helpful and worthy of people’s time.

When I am preparing the message, I am looking to explain the passage in a way that is engaging and creative if I can some up with something creative! This does not always happen! I try to gain as much information about a passage or subject as possible. I will take hand written notes on blank white pieces of paper. I also will prepare a word document.

#3 DETAILS OF THE MESSAGE and think through the wording and how to best communicate an idea. Sometimes I get stuck… for days! Sometimes I panic on Saturday night!!! Most messages are 20 pages or more in length. I think in terms of laboring to get it in so I am not laboring to get it out.
I want to have clarity of thought so I do not confuse people when speaking a message.

I try to work through all of my ideas in detail

I traffic in words and word pictures and see myself as a wordsmith. I also love stories and common and colorful examples that communicate well.

#4 IS GOD IN THE MESSAGE?

As I prepare the message, I stay mindful of the still small voice of the Holy Spirit and His leading. I want to be spirit led. I seek to prepare with diligence, but remain wholly dependent on the Holy Spirit.

#5 EDIT - EDIT - EDIT! After the message is prepared, I read and pray through it. I slash out stuff that does not fit the whole, does not communicate well, and sometimes its just a subjective feeling that somethings needs to be cut. I do my final tweaking about an hour before the service.

#6 PRAY - PRAY - PRAY!I pray through the message and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me and guide me. Ideally the message is soaked in prayer if I am not too rushed in preparation.

#7 ASK FOR HELP!

In between the first and second sevices, whoever is speaking gets some feedback about the message. For example, last Sunday Ridge told me to not apoligize about the length of the message and make the point about singles and morality more clear. I then tweaked the message for the second service.

#8 BE OPEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Once the message is being given, I seek to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and edit and add points and stories and scriptures on the spot. I will mix it up for the two services. I want to speak what He wants spoken, not what Rod thinks is cool or funny. I look to speak in the fear of God, and not the frown of men. The goal is not to be popular.

There are often times when I feel prompted to elaborate points far beyond my text and edit other points. Sometimes I sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit bringing something to my mind.

#9 SHARE YOUR FAILURES I seek to be real and open and share my failures. We are called to die to ourselves, to die to our pride and projecting an image. Preachers can hide behind their exposition and Spurgeon quotes and internet preacher stories. I think that people relate to failures more than they do to success. People have tasted of failure and need to know that the speaker also faces the same struggles and offers hope.

Its hard to fake transparency and usually people are street smart enough to sniff out fakers. Be genuine.

#10 KEEP IT SIMPLE BABY

I do not care about being sophisicated, I care abut being understood. The common man could understand the Son of God, and should be able to understand me. I try to come up with message titles and outlines that make sense. I try to have content that is memorable and potentially life transforming. I like to give people some thing TO DO WITH THE MESSAGE! Something about being “doers of the word, and not hearers only”. (James 2)

On Tuesday nights I usually buzz out to fantastic Fontana as my middle son Garrett has club soccer practice. Last week while he was at practice, I dashed off for a hospital visitation, and then dashed back to the field to get my son. I hope to do this again next week.

Garrett is SICK so I got the night off! YEA! It was nice to have Tuesday evening to spend with the family. I recognize that this is a small window and will be gone soon. I do not want to miss ANYTHING in seeing my three sons grow up.

My 9 year old son Jordan asked me yesterday morning, “Dad, are you going to watch the 7HB’s perform in Chapel May 26′th?” I wondered what the group 7HB’s was all about and inquired to Jordan. He told me that the name stands for: “The seven Harmonica Bros”. Jordan is pretty fired up to perform on his harmonica. He has never seen an audience he did not like… so I am going to be there to see the 7HB’s. Tickets are available at Ticket Master and other ticket outlets no doubt.

We are people of an EMPTY TOMB! Resident Aliens. Not of this world.

May the church be the light and force that it was meant to be in the world. Our God has limitless power. There is no end to His resources. He is more than able! Trust Him!

I got this email today from Pastor Chris of Merthyr-Thdfil, (try to pronounce that!) Wales.
He saw our website today and emailed the following comment:

“We have scoured your web-site, and it is astonishing what has been achieved in such a short time since you began”.

It is astonishing what God has done in such a short time at Sanctuary. I am amazed by His enduring goodness and still amazing grace.

Here is an email I read today from the guest worship team this past Sunday:

“We were overwhelmed with such a gracious group of people in your congregration... We were very impressed with the amount of volunteers you had helping… All the presentation of the church experience was top notch”.

This is why I always say that our volunteers are the best of the best. You bless me.

Here is a response to the Sunday morning message: “We have been working through exactly what you talked about this Sunday, and that is what happens when you are always working, but rarely, “moving the ball up the field”.

Always good to hear that the message is making sense to someone.

I visited with a man this morning who was wondering if I was the pastor of Sanctuary. He told me that his daughter and son-in-law “loved it”. I am encouraged to hear stories like this all the time.

A man came up to me this afternoon at my son’s (Forrest) soccer game. He could not wait to tell me that, “I hear that the church is going great! It is blessed”.

What am Amazing God we serve who is doing a mighty work among us.