The Agency

HOW DO I INVEST IN PEOPLE?

If you want to make your life count by making an impact with people along your path (see previous post), it all begins with relationships. But How? Here's a few ideas to get you thinking:

LISTEN. BE THERE.
One of the best ways to impact someone is to just walk through life with them. You don't need a counselling degree and it's not about having your life all figured out. You don't need to have unlimited knowledge or always know the right thing to say. You don't need to be perfect. Listen. Be there.  Be a friend.

BE A FRIEND. HAVE A FRIEND
We all want someone to be there for us. Someone who will stick close through the good times and the bad. A mutual relationship where we can help each other through life. We all want that...so don't sit back. Take the first step. If you want to have a friend, most of the time you need to be the friend first. We provide opportunities to make connections in Networks & Journey Groups, but you still might need to take the first step. Your level of connectivity is really up to you. So whether it's in your neighborhood, workplace, in our community or at church, tke the first step and connect with someone. If you are willing to take the first step, that relationship could be one where you make a big difference in someone elses life and your develop a great friendship that changes your life as well. 

INVEST & INVITE
Investing in people is about a process. We're called to to share God's love and message with people in our lives & along our path. It's about investing in people far from God, being a friend, and looking for opportunities to invite them to church in order to invite them into a relationship with God. We aren't trying to make "converts". We believe God can make all the difference in our lives and we want people to experience a relationship with Him. So don't be weird, just be yourself. Don't be pushy, just share your experience. Respect people and the process. Pray and ask God to help you see opportunities to share his love and message through our words and actions.

Invite someone to join you some Sunday at The Journey. Statistics show it takes at least seven invites for someone to show up. A lot of people want to explore God but they are just waiting for an invite. If they come, follow up. Take them to lunch after church or ask them what they thought later in the week. Share your thoughts too. Look for opportunities to invite them to explore God more and maybe begin a relationship with Him.

SHARE YOUR STORY
How has God changed your life? What does follow Jesus mean for your life? How have you experienced God? Think about it. Write it out. Be prepared to share it.

BRIDGE THE GAP
Here is a great picture to explain what Jesus did on the cross. You can easily draw it on a napkin or whatever and ask people where they see themselves. It's based on Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Memorize it. Share it.

GIVE ME MORE
Each week we provide some follow up questions to each message. Grab a friend or two and make your own group. Invest in each other. Follow & pray for each other during the week. Help each other take steps. 

WHO DO I INVEST IN?

We all have unique opportunities & relationships along our path (see previous post). I know people you don't know. You know people I don't know. If we want to live a life of impact, we need to make initially relational connections. Not sure where to begin? Here's a few thoughts & ideas on how to make connections along your journey: 

JOURNEY NETWORKS & GROUPS
Our groups and networks are all about rubbing shoulders with other people to begin the process. Get plugged in. 

LET'S DO LUNCH
We all eat three meals a day. Why not make a habit of sharing one of those meals with someone who doesn't know God? Go to lunch with a co-worker, not by yourself. Invite the neighbors over for family dinner. If it’s too much work to cook a big dinner, just order pizza and put the focus on conversation. When you go out for a meal or have a cookout, invite someone to join you. Flee the Christian subculture.

BE A REGULAR
Instead of hopping all over the city for gas, groceries, haircuts, eating out, and coffee, go to the same places at the same times. Get to know the staff. Smile. Ask questions.  Build relationships. Support local business. Be a regular.

HOBBY
Hunt? Creative Memories? Watch Football? Get out and do something you enjoy with others. Try city league sports. Share your hobby by teaching lessons, such as sewing, piano, knitting, or tennis lessons. Be prayerful. Be intentional. Have fun. Be yourself.

TALK TO YOUR CO-WORKERS
How hard is that? Take your breaks with intentionality. Go out with your team or task force after work. Be interested in your co-workers. Pick four and pray for them. Form moms’ groups in your neighborhood and don’t make them exclusively Christian. Schedule play dates with the neighbors’ kids. Work on mission.

VOLUNTEER IN THE COMMUNITY
Find a non-profit in your part of the city and take a Saturday a month to serve your city. Bring your neighbors, your friends, or your small group. Spend time as a church serving our community. Not sure what to do, check out networks. You can do it!

PARTICIPATE IN YOUR AREA
Instead of playing XBox, watching TV, or surfing the net, participate in city events. Go to fundraisers, festivals, cleanups, summer shows, and concerts. Participate missionally. Strike up conversation. Study the culture. Reflect on what you see and hear. Pray for your community. Love the city. Participate with the community.

BE A FRONT PORCH NEIGHBOR 
Help a neighbor by weeding, mowing, shoveling snow. Stop by the neighborhood association or apartment office and ask if there is anything you can do to help improve things. Move the chairs from the back yard to the front porch. Walk around your neighbor - it's good for you & you might meet new friends. Host a cookout or block party. Be a neighbor and make a difference in the lives right around you.

DAILY DECISIONS

We've said this a lot - DAILY DECISIONS DETERMINE OUR DIRECTION. I am praying that you will continue to make the wise choice in 2012. It's all about small daily decisions that over time lead to a big difference.

Did you do the Proverbs Challenge? Don't give up on spending time with God. Keep seeking His wisdom. Maybe take the month of February and read through the Book of Luke and the life of Jesus. Here's some thoughts and ideas that can help you stay connected with God and taking your next step.

I heard a quote this week from Mark Batterson went something like this - if we are going to break a bad habit (a sin habit) we are going to have to replace it with a prayer habit. 

Keep making the wise choice and seeking the All-Wise One! Make it a daily decision that will continue to guide and direction you.

IMPACTING YOUR PATH

Here's some great thoughts from Tim Stevens that I read today:

I’ve been thinking a lot about the principle of proximity.

Here is Tim’s definition:

• I have a greater responsibility to care for those I’m close to than others do who are not as close.
• I have a greater responsibility to care for those I’m close to than I do for those I am not close to.

God so loved the world, but I am to love my neighbor. Jesus healed people in front of Him. There were probably hundreds of thousands of sick and crippled and diseased people who were alive when Jesus walked the earth–and yet the ones He healed were the ones who He actually met.

Sometimes the excessive needs in the world overwhelm us and shut us down. And we do nothing. I’m suggesting you don’t need to focus on the needs of the world. That is God’s job. Just focus on the ones in front of you–the ones that you know about and that He can use you to meet.

As I think about the principle of proximity, I come to these conclusions…

• It is more my responsibility to care for my neighbors than it is for others who do not live as close.
• It is more my responsibility to care for my family than it is for others who are not in my family.
• Like the Good Samaritan, there will be times when I will cross paths with someone I have never met who is in need. At that moment, the principle of proximity compels me to listen to God and see how I can meet a need.
• Because of the principle of proximity, Faith and I set aside a percentage of our money every month to be available to meet needs. It is how we could help Cherise get to Africa, the residents of Monroe Circle study the Bible, kids in our community get to summer camp, and the ministry of Joppa in downtown Des Moines.
• I pay attention to my passion and sometimes ask God to let me cross paths with people or organizations who I can partner with to meet needs in that area.

You might be thinking, “Well, if we all operated that way, no one would ever help the people in India or Sudan, because we would never be in close proximation to those people.” That is why giving to my local church is so important to me. My tithe (10%) to my church allows me to give way beyond myself. It allows a community of people to pool their resources and help meet needs of people they will never know. It is how I’ve helped plant churches and drill wells and train children in southern India. It is how I was able to help with the earthquake in Haiti and the hurricane in New Orleans. The principle of proximity would never have made it possible for me to help in those locations–but my commitment to live in community through a local church enables me to also be a part of meeting needs way beyond my location.

So the principle of proximity does not negate all other principles–but I do think it is worth considering.

One of the teachers of the law came and…asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this…’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

CHRISTMAS INVITES

As we are heading into the Christmas season, this is a great time to create conversations and invite people to church. Start thinking about who and how you are going to invite someone. Pray for opportunities to talk to them about God and look to share your story.

Here's a few ideas to create conversation or build relationships with your neighborhood, family or for you co-workers:

- Bake cookies to pass out or have a cookie exchange.
- Go caroling and sing as bad as possible
- Throw a block party featuring snow forts, sledding, food, or whatever else you can think of
-  Put an ice rink in your yard
- Help your neighbors put up their lights.
- When people ask you what you're doing for Christmas, include Christmas at The Journey in the conversation. Invite them to join you.
- Plan a party or gathering after or before one of the Gatherings. Invite people to join you for that part and make it part of your event.
- Don't be a scrooge. Be holly jolly this Christmas.
- If you're talking about gifts or whatever, bring up the HOPE project.  

Make sure you utilize the invites, information and resources on our website. 

MISSION 101 & BEGINNINGS GROUP

Do you feel like you have something more to give? Do you have a desire to make a bigger impact? Here's a couple opportunities for you to consider:

MISSION 101 - We have an intensive short term group that will prepare you to focus your potential and lead you into opportunities for God to do big things in and through you. We will be offering this session early in 2012. If you are interested, talk to a staff person or email Shanna, our office admin director at admin@thejourneycc.com.

BEGINNINGS GROUP - We have groups designed for people to explore God and ask questions. It's on the front lines of life change. If you would like to be an apprentice in a group, contact Mark at mark@thejourneycc.com. New groups are in the works for early 2012.

If you want to take next steps, we would love to help you reach your God-given potential to change the world.

LESS IS MORE

Almost every month, we kick off a new series at The Journey. We'll spend a month on one main concept and we'll break it down into four key points over the month. Why? This approach is based in how people apply concepts to their lives, how they digest content & how life change happens.

When we share about God & His ways, we want to do it in relevant, creative & memorable ways. We don't want to be arrogant, but we want to present things with respect to God and to people at different places spiritually. We could talk over peoples heads to make us look smart or to pretend we are deep, but we are more focused on relationships, not religion. Our goal isn't to just share knowledge for people to fill up a notebook. Our goal is for people to apply God's words to their lives to experience a real relationship with Him. IT'S ALL ABOUT LIFE CHANGE. We want to give people a BIG concept each month and break it down into real steps they can take to experience God in their lives. When you think about it, that's pretty deep. Most people can't remember what they heard at church the week before, so we try to hammer home a key concept over a month.  Hopefully, there's some memorable & relevant next steps to walk away with and to apply to your life. We review some key concepts each year that are big issues in everyones lives. Basically, it's a journey, a process. Some people might say we aren't deep enough because they want to experience a "wow" with some random piece of knowledge they've never heard. We're more concerned with applying God's word. With all the smartphones, facebook status updates and info on the internet, our lives are filled with random information. So we see this strategy as less is more - give people more steps and thoughts on less topics to help them experience God & His ways. We're in it for the long haul. This is why we also talk about next steps, give ideas and opportunities to apply God's ways in our lives. God is the one who changes lives so we always point people to Him. 

So what about you? This is a key concept for all volunteers especially those teaching kids, teens or leading a group. This is a great idea for your family & raising your kids as well. Are you communicating with the goal in mind? Are you just sharing knowledge or is it about next steps?

For more thoughts on this topic, check out Teaching Less For More on practicalspeaking.org. A lot of these thoughts are developed from the leadership of Andy Stanley and his team. If you want a copy of 7 Practices of Ministry, ask one of staff to hook you up and take your next step as a leader.

JOIN ME

One of the best ways to let God work in you is to be open for Him to work through you. If you look beyond yourself, you will begin to find yourself. Whether it's investing & inviting with people far from God, volunteering at The Journey, serving in the community in a network, helping out in your neighborhood, or even just living out Gods ways - as you take your steps, ask someone to join you. Think about it? As you serve or volunteer, doesn't that make you feel good? When you make a difference, doesn't that bring purpose & meaning to your life? As you feel God working in & through you, don't hog that feeling & experience, share it. Ask someone to join you in whatever area you serve or volunteer. 

We want to create an environment and expectation for people to join in. Some people are just waiting to be asked. Most people won't just sign up. Think back...how did you get plugged in? Hopefully you are having a great & meaningful experience. You're probably thankful they asked. Do that for someone else. As we continue to grow and take steps as a church, we are going to need more people to join in. In fact, that is one reason why we're doing more sites & networks - to give more opportunities to serve, volunteer, connect and experience God. 

We aren't going to stand up and plead for volunteers. We might let people know and highlight volunteers, but we aren't going to beg. That doesn't work. An upfront appeal for help can seem like "hey jump on this sinking ship". But this ship ain't sinking, we need more people because we are growing. We are never going to have a bunch of people just sign up. So YOU are the best wayto help people take next steps...ask someone to join you.

1) Ask someone you know to just try it some time.
2) Tell them why you like to volunteer/serve.
3) Tell them  how it helps you and others.  Share your story. Share the vision.
4) If they have questions, you don't have to have all the answers.
5) You are even qualified to train them because it's about just sharing what you know.
6) Staff & Ministry Coaches are always available to help your friends if they want to help out.

This is a team effort. Help others JOIN IN as you keep taking your next steps. For more thoughts on this topic, check out Replace Yourself on practicalspeaking.org. A lot of these thoughts are developed from the leadership of Andy Stanley and his team. If you want a copy of 7 Practices of Ministry, ask one of staff to hook you up and take your next step as a leader. 

CHURCH FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE CHURCH

When we started The Journey, we saw a need for something different. There are a lot of churches doing some good things in our area but they did the same things and looked like the other churches. We realized that if we were going to reach people who weren't getting reached, we would have to do things that other churches don't do. We began to think, ask people and research why people don't go to church. What has kept them away? Why did they stop going? With that in mind, we began to think about how we could break down walls and unfold arms for people to be able to connect with God. We wanted to create an environment and some steps for people at all different spiritual places on their journey. We want people to experience relationships, not religion. There are a lot of things that play into this process like style of music, music playing before church, coffee bar, language we use on stage or publications, what's on the slides, being relevant, how the message is presented, the look & feel of the building, dim lights, volume of the music...the list goes on and on. This doesn't mean we water down the message, avoid hard topics, or don't call people to follow God. It means we don't make assumptions, we respect people & the process and we present everything for people to take first steps or next steps.

We never want to lose sight of this. Every week we have guests. Every week might be someone's one of only shot at church; the one time that they give God a chance. We want to make sure that in everything we do from Sundays, to Networks, to Kids/Teens, to Group, to our own relationships - we live with that pressure. We never want to overlook people just because we're focused on ourselves. So what about you? In your areas of serving at The Journey & in the relationships in your life, are you sensitive to those far from God?

For more thoughts on this topic, check out Listening to Outsiders on  practicalspeaking.org. A lot of these thoughts are developed from the leadership of Andy Stanley and his team. If you want a copy of 7 Practices of Ministry, ask one of staff to hook you up and take your next step as a leader.

BIG QUESTIONS INVITE

This month, we're tackling some big questions about God & life for our Sunday Series. This is a great opportunity for you to invite someone to The Journey.

As an agent who lives out the mission, will you except this challenge?

1) Pray for a specific person(s) to invite to this series. Pray for boldness to invite them. Pray for their hearts to be open. Pray all this week.
2) Send them e-invite, give them a postcard, send them a facebook event invite, or just ask them.
3) If they say yes or maybe, follow up with them so they don't forget. Maybe do breakfast before church or lunch after with them.  Maybe offer to pick them up so they don't have to walk in alone.
4) If they say no, don't give up. Don't be pushy. Try again later...maybe with Christmas.
5) If they come, follow up. Ask them what they thought. Maybe share something that was meaningful to you. Don't be weird. Don't force it. Just be yourself and share from your heart.

Take advantage of this next series and let's be the light and live the mission.

Here's some more ideas on how to invite people on Next Steps Page.