Thursday Night General Session Highlights

Tonight Reggie came out on stage and gave away some pretty fun things and curriculum.  Then he shared about luo and the opportunity we have to help out with this great work.  You can check out more information on luo by going to www.luo-setfree.org.

Reggie then gave away the Orange award.  This award is given to someone who has inspired all of us by implementing one of the Orange Principles.  This award was given to Tim and Maryland Paul for helping out with College Ministry.

Then Reggie brought up Gordon MacDonald.  They talked about ministry to this next generation group.  They talked about his book “Building below the Waterline”.  In it he says that if the christian leaders would be faithful to ministry, God would guarentee the growth and development of their childcare.  Gordon went on to say that “Your family is the Lord’s work”.  Don’t burn out doing your “professional” ministry and miss opportunities with your home ministry.

Notes from Jud Wilhite:

• We all have a place or a space in your life where you made a life changing decision or where you decided to follow Christ…a time when it all came together where you surrendered your life to Christ.  Go back and think about how that impacted you and what that means for you.
• Mark 2
• Sometimes we walking on in life and it gets messy.  It may not be your mess, but you are involved in it.
• We don’t need people to say, “you got yourself into this mess”.  They need someone to walk along side of them and help them through the mess.
• The Church and believers need to be extending our hand and helping them through the mess.
• The sooner we embrace that, the better off we’ll be.  Ministry is messy because sin is messy.  Get over it and get a mop and start cleaning it up.
• If we are going to reach people in our culture, it is going to get messy.  Our lives were a mess before Christ.
• When is the last time when things got messy in your area of ministry?
• Everyone is at different places in their spiritual journey.  We need to show the grace of God to others.
• We have to get comfortable with the fact that ministry is messy.  Embrace it
• Are you seeing obstacles or opportunities?
• Just because you are a small church doesn’t mean you don’t have opportunities.  Don’t see the obstacles, look for the opportunities.
• If you think small, you will be small.  If you think big, you will have a bigger impact.
• Believe the impossible for outsiders and our non-believing friends.  The friends in Mark 2 believed the impossible.  Believe in possible.
• Let how God changed your life motivate you to make an impact in others.