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Lessons Learned from the Tent Service

Sanctuary had its first ever TENT SERVICE. Amazing! It went great. I loved it.

What I am most grateful for is the wonderful Sanctuary family that makes Sanctuary
happen. We have such great volunteers who put their hands to the plow and never
look back – thank you!

A few things I learned after doing the TENT SERVICE:

1. YOU CANNOT DO IT ALONE. Its all about teamwork. Our team was awesome – no
egos, just humble servants wanting to serve Jesus. It made the whole experience
non-stressful.

I think few things are more beautiful to God than seeing His people serve and work
together in a united team.

2. A DO WHATEVER IT TAKES ATTITUDE. We had to throw together a new plan for
the service on very short notice when we found out we did not have a building…
late Wed. afternoon… so we had to hustle FAST!

We had a team of people working IN THE DARK Saturday night
with flashlights for around 3 hours hauling chairs into the tent.

3. GOD DIRECTS US WHEN WE ARE OPEN TO HIS LEADING. We needed help
in sorting out many decisions about the TENT and how to do a tent service on short notice.

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs
you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17b, NIV

I am very thankful for the Sanctuary family! We do life together as co-laborers.
We are all called into this great work, but none of us can do it alone. God designed
us to need each other.

God has given each of us a gift, a unique calling. He has placed each of us in
His church with a divine purpose. He created us to do church as a team!

Sanctuary Tent Service!

Tomorrow Sunday we are having our FIRST ever OUTSIDE service!!!

Yes… the school has no electrical power in the school due to an electrical breaker blowing up. The school is left without any electricity… so we are MOVING OUTSIDE into the parking lot!

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting TENT CHURCH service!

We were laboring today to get everything ready for tomorrow. Its going to be an awesome day.

REMEMBER…

1. Dress Warmly!

2. Come 5 minutes early to drop off your kids @ the KidsTents

3. Bring a GREAT attitude!

See you Sunday!

Sanctuary Outside Service (SOS)

This Sunday we are experiencing our FIRST EVER outside service!

We actually don’t have too many choices… the electrical breaker blew up this past
week. Its a major project to repair, and the school has no electrical power anywhere… zippo.

So… we had 2 BIG tents put up in the parking lot today (Saturday) for our main service with a
seating capacity of 400+ and a generator… “tent-rooms” for kidschurch… its gonna be great.

Hope it does not rain… dress WARM and have a GOOD ATTITUDE!

Its going to a FUN to gather together and worship Jesus in a tent.

See you Sunday!

Dear Sanctuary Church

Dear Sanctuary Church,

I wish you an great Thanksgiving.

Let me tell you how thankful I am that I get to serve you at Sanctuary. There are no words
to describe the incredible honor of getting to pastor such a great church.

While church attendance is declining in America, God has remarkably blessed Sanctuary with
over 400 adults and children now attending every Sunday.

This past Sunday it got a bit intense while talking about “The Fight of Your Life.”
I was blown away to meet a man after the service who recognized “its time” and committed his life to Jesus.
He went public and declared, “I Believe” during the service. I could tell it was real for him and he had
been touched by the Spirit of God. Awesome!

The Kingdom advances ONE person at a time.

Hey- keep in mind that this Holiday season, there will be more newcomers checking out Sanctuary.
Here is what I want to ask you… PLEASE WELCOME THEM! Its EASY to recognize newcomers!

Newcomers are not hard to identify… they have that “first time” look about them… trying
to find there way around campus, or sorting out where to go… finding a seat.

We can welcome they by…

Greeting them – just be yourself and introducing yourself
Answering questions
Engaging those who are receptive
Offering an expression of hospitality like they were in your home…

That’s it.

Have a God Blessed Thanksgiving!

Talking to Dead Bones

I was reading today in Ezekiel 37:1…

“The hand of the Lord was upon me” (Ezekiel).

Then God took Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones.
And God led him to walk around the bones.

Bones, bones and more bones – EVERYWHERE DRY BONES!

Then God told him to TALK TO THE BONES!

The hand of God on Ezekiel resulted in God asking him to
do some CRAZY things.

God dropped Ezekiel in a valley. And the hand of God upon him
and the leading of His Spirit took him to a DRY PLACE.

When we sense the hand of God upon us, we tend to
think in terms of mountain top experiences, not valleys.

The hand of God upon me may result in God asking me
to do something that absolutely DOES NOT fit my thinking!

Imagine Ezekiel on UTube today… “Religious fanatic loses his mind…
wandering in the desert… talking to bones.”

God used real life drama to speak to Ezekiel.
He used a multi-sensory experience to communicate His thoughts.

God explained what he was doing AFTER Ezekiel obeyed him.
We want to know what God is doing BEFORE we obey him.

We want God to fit out thinking. We feel its our right to know
WHY He is doing what He is doing.

Ezekiel was clueless. He just followed His leading.

Finally, the dead bones came back to life.
DEAD BONES = GOD’S PEOPLE. Spiritually dry and hopeless.

“I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.” (Ezekiel 37:14a)

God brought the dynamic of His Spirit and His people came back
to life! May He do the same today.

Leader = ???

To grow we have to always be learning and stretching.

Here are some of my favorite leadership thoughts from the book, “Next Generation Leader” by Andy Stanley.
This book was given to the leadership team at Sanctuary. I tweaked some of the leadership thoughts for this blog.

Here we go…

Devoting a little of yourself to everything means devoting a great deal of yourself to nothing.

The leader is the one who has the courage to act on what he sees.

Your spiritual gift is your SWEET SPOT. It makes the biggest difference.

A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everyone else is whispering privately.

Leadership requires the courage to challenge what IS for the sake of what COULD BE.

Opportunity does not equal obligation.

The goal of leadership is not to eradicate uncertainty, but rather navigate it.

Pretending erodes respect much quicker than an admission of uncertainty.
Uncertainty exposes a lack of knowledge. Pretending exposes a lack of character.

A good leader will evaluate your performance against your POTENTIAL, not against others!

The Message Begins in the Parking Lot

Our mission is to introduce people to Jesus. We challenge people to give their lives to God.

I think church world is way to caught up in trying to look and be cool. Jesus is coming back. Hell is hot.
Jesus is our #1 priority. We are are too into fads and trendy stuff and everything but Jesus.

On Sunday I said that “Sanctuary is old fashioned.” I knew that might shock a few folks, but I meant it.
We are 2,000 years old fashioned. So many are looking for a formula.

Our standard is Jesus. Our goal is to look and act just like Him, not just try to do be better than
our neighbor.

The church that I see in Sanctuary is one that is incredibly relational and thrives on being a community
of Christ followers doing life together. We are not just a bunch of people showing up at a sit and sing event
and then calling ourselves a church. That is just a bunch of people in a building, but not a church!

Let us not neglect the responsibility of living a godly lifestyle and staying focused on Jesus.

I cannot get out of my mind the past few months…

I would LOVE to see more people JUMP IN and serve at Sanctuary. I would like to see people dive in and
beef up our greeter teams.

Greeters are ESSENTIAL! I would like to see some PARKING LOT GREETERS, because “The message begins in the parking lot.”
I would like to see us roaming the parking lot and saying “Hi” to folks as they enter and then exit their cars.

By the time people hit the auditorium, I want them thinking, “Dang! This is one friendly place!” We need some people
to be Jesus in the parking lot.

Want to plug into serving at Sanctuary? Why not come 30 minutes early and wave and welcome people? That would be AWESOME!

What a Difference a Hug Makes

Today after the service I bumped into a first time guest and her friend.

We chatted for a few moments. The woman told me she had been married for 56
years and her husband had passed on years ago.

When we finished talking, I said, “Give me a hug.”

I was hardly expecting the reaction the followed. She started CRYING!
YIKES!!! What did I do to this poor widow!

Then she told me these words… “My husband NEVER hugged me.”

We hugged… and hugged… and hugged. She almost lost her balance.
I had to kind of support her for a moment.

I prayed. She cried. We embraced. Right there in the parking lot.

The highlight of my day was hugging this widow.

Its been a great day. That’s it!

G’nite!

Sanctuary Bible Institute: 7 Reasons to Attend

Why are we starting the Sanctuary Bible Institute? Why should someone consider going to SBI?

1. SBI seeks to provide high quality spiritual resources to equip people in their pursuit of God.

2. SBI aims to inspire, engage, and educate us about the One who created us to be and do far more
than you could ever imagine.

3. SBI offers a quality college level biblical education for a fraction of the cost, and you get
do it in close knit community with people pursuing the same purpose.

4. SBI is a one year (42 weeks) biblical program that will lay a foundation for long term spiritual growth
and leadership through lectures, discussion, and practical ministry experience.

5. All courses (Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine and Theology, Church History, Christian World View,
Apologetics, Family Life and Ministry) are taught by seminary level professors.

6. SBI can be taken for personal growth and enrichment or for certificate upon graduation. Students have
the option to check out any course offering before actually enrolling.

7. Our charter class is going to be limited to the first 50 who sign up and we already have 35 people
on the interest list. So sign up asap or call the church office if you wish to be included in the charter
class starting Jan. 12’th, 2011.