February 2011

Welcome Campaign

This past Sunday we launched our "Welcome Campaign" here at the Blvd Campus.  It is a remodel project that will benefit our foyer and south entrance of the church. 
The plans look great and will tremedously enhance our facility. If you haven't heard what the plans entail let me briefly share it with you.  A new canopy will be installed that will allow a vehicle to partially pull under it.  New concrete will connect walkways on the south entrance and provide a gradual slope to the front door eliminating the current step.  New doors and windows will be installed. 
The foyer will gain an additional 400 square feet by removing office walls, this will allow for a smoother traffic flow, and provide a gathering place for people to connect with one another.  The restrooms will be enlarged as well.  The cost of the project is $150,000.  As of Sunday we have over $52,000 pledged.  We are 1/3 of the way there!  I encourage you to prayerfully consider what the Lord would have you do to be a part of the "Welcome Campaign."  Together we can accomplish this project together! 

Live Long = Life Groups!

I hope if you were at church the past two week you took the opportunity to find a Life Group to join.  There are over 30 groups to choose from.  I am really excited for the group we are a part of to get up and going next week.  It seems like forever since we have gotten together, and we have new folks to add to our group this time around too.  If you are hosting a group I want to encourage you to continue to invite people to your group.  Just the other day I was in conversation with someone new to our church that is interested in Life Groups and they were so grateful for receiving a personal invite from someone that is leading a group!  Not sure if you want to get involved in a Life Group yet?  Here is a great reason:
“Harvard researcher Robert Putnam notes that if you do not belong to any group but decide to join one, “you cut your risk of dying over the next year in half” (John Ortberg 2003).”
 
So there you go another reason to get connected to a Life Group, it isn't to late.  Go to the www.topekafirst.com and click on the Do Life Together tab to look at all the different groups.
 

Investing

I arrived early this morning at the church.  The purpose was twofold.  The first mission was to send one of my boys on a Royal Rangers outing to Wichita.  The other reason was simply to get some things done.  But, it is that first reason that is sticking out to me this morning.  I'm not sure how many boys went, but I do know they were excited!  It is going to be a day of games, racing pinewood derby cars, and stopping at the Golden Arches (the requirement of every road trip)!  I wish I could have gone, but it didn't work out.  The men that did go are hero's in my book.  Being willing to give a day to invest in the lives of their son, and the other boys that went is priceless.  I'm wrapping up Tony Dungy's latest book on the Mentor Leader.  There are some great thoughts in the book, and I would encourage you to read it because it is all about investing in people.  Jesus boiled life down to two things - loving God, and loving people.  Dungy gives 7 E's to enhancing peoples lives.  I'm going to do my best to make them a part of my life, and I invite you to join me!  Here they are:

  • Engage - It's impossible to mentor from a distance. Without engagement, you cannot lead effectively.
  • Educate - Workers who are new to a task cannot be empowered and elevated until they've been educated in what to to.
  • Equip - Mentor leaders create an environment in which others can be productive and excel.
  • Encourage - "Correction does much, but encouragement does more." -Goethe
  • Energize -  "Without inspiration, the best powers of the mind are dormant. There is a tinder in us which needs to be quickened with sparks." -Johann Gottfried Von Herder
  • Empower - As a mentor leader, you have a responsibility to engage, educate, equip, and encourage them first -- and at every appropriate point thereafter, as well. You can't just walk in and empower them. If they're not ready, you're only setting them up to fail.
  • Elevate -  Raising up leaders is the truly self-less goal of every mentor leader, the culmination of focusing on others. To elevate your followers means to help them reach their God-given potential, even it means preparing them to replace you.

Let's invest in people - young and old, because God has invested in us!