I was on WAJR radio this past Thursday talking about our Feed The Meter Saturday event (it was unreal by the way) and towards the end of the interview I was asked this question..

“So I read on your website that you want to make Jesus famous? Isn’t he already?”

I responded by saying, yes, but which Jesus? The Jesus that tells people to picket Iraq war veteran’s funerals? The Jesus that inspires people to murder muslims? The Jesus that says everyone should be rich?

No, I think it is the Jesus who is about love and acceptance and the Jesus who wants to use us to change the world in a good way by following him and living what he taught.

The truth is the more this church is happening, the more I notice that I feel like a CEO. I approve what colors and slogans go on our marketing, I tell people what our mission and vision is all day long, I hire and fire people (hope to never have to do the second part) and I am the figurehead of this revolution that is taking off in Morgantown.

But I am not a CEO. I am a minister (or Pastor if you like that better). I am here to both lead and SERVE.

Look at how Jesus thought about his ministry

Matthew 20:26-28

²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

You catch that? Jesus, the KING of KINGS, not just any old king, but the creme of the crop, said that he didn’t come here to be served, he came here to SERVE.

He wouldn’t be just organizing service projects in Morgantown, he would be feeding the meters with his people, he would be passing out prom dresses to girls who can’t afford one, he would be the servant, not the one constantly being served.

The truth is, if I want to lead Catalyst Church, I have to live much more like a Janitor and less like the CEO.

Here are some ways.

The CEO shows success by how nice his possessions are, Jesus was homeless (Luke 9:58)

The CEO tells you how much better “life” will be if you invest in his venture, Jesus told us if you follow him, you must 1st die (Luke 9:23)

The CEO is always trying to make money for him, Jesus told a guy to give it all to the poor (Luke 12:33)

The CEO wants to be on the cover for Forbes Magazine, Jesus often hid his identity (Mark 1:40-45)

You can go on and on.

If you will excuse me, I think there is a mop and a bucket somewhere that needs my attention.

How do you react when you hear about another church plant hitting the mega-church 2,000 in attendance mark? What about a record breaking number of baptisms at the church down the road? Do you rejoice or does a piece of your heart feel a twinge of jealousy?

Aaron Saufley is a minister and church planter who struggles with our current definition of a “successful” church. In his article, Hey Jealousy, he wraps up by concluding:

“Nickels and noses aren’t everything.  What truly counts is whether or not people are allowing Jesus to live His life through them.  What really matters is whether the Holy Spirit is leading people through the tough changes that come with repentance and holiness.  Place more emphasis on whether people are loving God, loving people, and living on mission with Jesus rather than how many people show up for your Sunday extravaganza.

“Remember, this is Jesus’ kingdom and not ours.  When we see the greatness of his power throughout the kingdom in churches big and small, our jealousy will melt away and be replaced by simple gratitude for letting us play a part.  May we play our parts well for the glory of Jesus.”

To read the entire article, click here!

This past Sunday, Varsity Church was birthed. All I can say is WOW! For close to a year we have lived in the area to get to this day. It has been so neat to watch God work in our lives and work here.

Launch Day Recap
Of course, everyone wants an update on our day. Simple, it was a great day! I tell everyone that if we can replicate this past Sunday every week, I would be VERY happy. Our set up is simple and easy, our coffee was great, our Junior Varsity program rocks (Kara has done an AMAZING job with the material and the look), the music was incredible and I felt good about the message. As Ice-T likes to say, “Today was a good day.”

I would like to say our launch team is amazing! Really. Our main team may be small but everyone of them is VERY talented and is working in their strengths. Plus, we have been blessed with some in our group who have planted churches or been a part of church plants. A HUGE win!

I would also like to thank my home church, Jefferson, who sent us 13 people this week to help. They have been SO supportive! They are also sending a team of 17 this week AND helping us once a month.

Our attendance for the day was not what we had hoped (our guess 175-200). We had 105 in attendance. Disappointing? Yes. But as I have told many people, now we go to work…

Stories
It’s hard to give incredible stories your first weekend, but a couple of good conversations…

One family met me afterwards and told me how they had not been to church in a long time and how this was what they needed (I talked about being a church for people who hadn’t connected in a long time). Good to hear.

The best story was from facebook. I connected with a couple who came on Sunday morning via facebook. Later that evening the wife sends me an email telling us how they enjoyed the day. Then she asked if I knew someone named Carrie Ann and was Carrie Ann my sister-in-law. Come to find out the lady who visited had been an RA for my youngest brother’s wife back in college! They had not connected in 15 years! The couple from Varsity told Carrie Ann I was her pastor. Again, they had not been to church in a long time.

More stories began to be written last weekend. And more will come.

Signs around town direct first time visitors where to go.Volunteers set up and prepare for the first service to begin.Chad gets one more sound check in before the service starts.Visitors begin to arrive!

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina there is a movement growing.

Chapel Hill is one of the wealthiest cities in North Carolina, and perhaps most well known as being home to a major university, the University of North Carolina. However, only about 8% of the population attends church on a Sunday morning, and Chad Simpkins is determined to do something about that.

There are many obstacles, no doubt about it. But that’s not stopping Chad from doing everything he can to share the Gospel with his new community. He moved with his wife and three young children to Chapel Hill this past year and has been focused on developing relationships with his neighbors and in his surrounding community ever since.

On October 10, 2010 (10/10/10) at 10am, Varsity Christian Church held its first preview service at the Timberlyne 6 Theatre in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This was the first of several preview services in the coming months.

Preview services are designed to let the community see what the church is going to look like once it is fully launched this coming January 2011. This way, the lead pastor can spend the majority of his time developing relationships instead of on planning upcoming services. This “soft launch” is more community focused and especially in unchurched areas helps insure that the full launch will be a success.

Varsity Christian Church’s next preview service will be November 7th, 2010 at 10am (Get Directions). If you are in the area, please support the VEF’s newest church plant by attending.

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina there is a movement growing. And we want to be a part of it.

http://www.vinceantonucci.com/2010/08/psyched-1-vault.html

I recently got to visit Common Ground Christian Church, one of our church plants in Fredericksburg, VA led by Gregg Jennings. CGCC made a big move a couple of months ago from the High School in the suburbs where they’ve been meeting for the past couple of years to the auditorium of the historic First Christian Church near downtown. First Christian was founded before the Civil War!

This move will allow them to be much closer to the action for all the community related service they do and to more aggressively reach out to the students at Mary Washington University right across the street. Common Ground’s worship and atmosphere has always been appealing to college students, now they’ll be able to actually walk to church!
Because of the traditional worship service of the host church in the morning, CGCC’s worship service is now at 4pm every Sunday afternoon, followed by “First Supper”, a fellowship meal in the basement each week. Their practice picks up on a recent trend in some circles toward reclaiming the Eucharist as an actual meal to be shared by the Body of Christ, not just the simple elements of communion. I think it’s a great idea. We all know that anytime you can combine worship with homemade noodle salad that has to be a good thing!

We enjoyed the modern worship, the no-nonsense teaching from the Book of 1st Peter, the fellowship meal, but most of all the huge proportion of young children that spilled out of their classrooms to join us as we ate together as a “family.”

Check out www.commongroundva.com for more info.

On June 6th, 2010, Common Ground Christian Church joined forces with First Christian Church of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Common Ground will meet from now on at 4pm on Sunday evenings in First Christian’s facilities, and follow every service with a community dinner, pot luck style.

Gregg Jennings, lead pastor, says that he is most excited about the change because it is full of theological significance. He points back to the earliest days of the church in Acts 2, where it says, “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Jennings says, “First Supper is an expression of the hospitality and provision that has been shown to us.  We feed because we have been fed.  We give our water because our thirst has been quenched by God.” He goes on to explain that the community of the early church was more than just getting together to sing and listen to a sermon – they shared their lives together, including common meals.

Julia Owens, who is in charge of Worship and Connections, also points out that the location is much closer to the downtown area and University of Mary Washington, so she hopes that the move it will attract more college students and young professionals – especially since they can sleep in on Sunday morning and still come to church!

Up until recently, Common Ground rented the auditorium and cafeteria from a local middle school. Now, by using First Christian’s facilities, it decreases their rent and adds storage space where they can keep their sound equipment and children’s ministry materials from week to week.

All in all, it looks like things are on the up and up for Common Ground Christian Church. If you happen to live near Fredericksburg, or are just passing through, you should stop by and see for yourself!

I’m really excited for this coming Wednesday for many reasons.

Once a quarter, several church planters from around Virginia get together to learn, pray, and share stories and resources with one another. This coming Wednesday is the next of these Virginia Vision meetings, and I have a lot of stuff to share with our church planters. Not only do I get to talk about the exciting progress on the Kingdom Equation program, but I also get to announce the newest VEF initiative: The ReVAMP Project.

I can’t give out all the details yet, but Virginia Vision church planters are going to get a first look at the new program before we announce it to all VEF supporting churches. We believe this program will be further evidence of the VEF’s commitment to supporting churches in all the areas where they have need.

Check back soon for more details!