If My Dad Could See Us Now
My youngest brother got married this past weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. My wife and I had an amazing time (without kids, making it even more awesome) with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. As I sit down and think about my weekend I realize my brother’s wedding signifies the closing of an important chapter for our family, and I find myself emotional. When I was in second grade my dad was diagnosed with Leukemia and near the end of my third grade year he died. In a lot of ways I feel like I’ve spent my life hoping to make my ...
Video: Classic Jesus Video Parody
What was Jesus like? I've heard it said the biggest job of discipleship is to bring people to Jesus. Then Jesus can do His work in their life. The problem is many people have big misunderstandings about what Jesus was really like. These 4 classic Jesus parody videos play off those misunderstandings. They're meant to poke fun at misperceptions of what Jesus was like and not make fun of him in anyway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQeFG6Q87uA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAb8qoXraGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCTAgxsLE3Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hUaMahxXi8 What was Jesus really like? How would you describe Him based on the Bible?
Where to Find Small Group Study Material
If you're trying to figure out what your small group can study for the upcoming semester or year, check out the links/ideas below. Here are some specific links to try: Northpoint Community Church Small Group Studies Saddleback Church Small Group Studies Small Group Studies from Lifeway Smallgroups.com- seems to be some more options here Try these specific studies: The Daniel Plan A group in our church went through the Daniel Plan and liked it. It's a group based on exercise and eating right, so if people don't understand what they're getting into and aren't committed, they'll drop like flies. But, those who ...
6 Different Group Discussion Styles
After a church decides the purpose of their small groups, the next big task will be to decide what sort of lessons their groups will use. Our church has used different types of lessons over the past few years and I thought I'd share 6 different group discussion styles a church could decide to use. Mirroring the Sermon Storying the Bible Inductive Bible Study Using Study Material Teaching Responsive Discipleship 1. Mirroring the Sunday Sermon: This is where all small groups lessons reflect the main point of the Sunday morning sermon. The idea is to take the point further and discuss how ...
Discipleship is _________________?
If you had to answer the question, “What does discipleship look like at your church,” what would you say? What kind of disciple is your church trying to create? Every book/article I’ve read on discipleship recently keeps coming back to this main question. Since our church (Velocity) began 5 years ago I've always thought we answered that question pretty clearly through our mission statement. “Velocity exists to Ignite the Faith that Fuels Your Life to Impact the World.” For the last 5 years we've explained our statement in the following way. We want to help people Ignite their faith for ...
Jesus is Not Your Boyfriend
Jesus does not want to be your boyfriend. But, if you spend too much time around many churches today, you might think differently. In fact, I think this idea has become so ingrained in our churches, most of us don’t even recognize it’s there (or a problem). But, it’s a huge problem, and can be especially confusing to a man attending church for the first time. So, I’d like to share 3 ways the church unintentionally encourages this idea and how we can change it. 3 Ways the Church Makes Jesus Your Boyfriend 1. What Jesus looks like. Whenever you ...
Jack Bauer of the Bible- Part 2
24 has been one of my favorite t.v. shows over the last few years and if there's one dude in the Bible who resembles Jack Bauer- it's Elijah. His life plays out just like a summer blockbuster movie. If you think God did some cool stuff in the life of this one man in the first two weeks of this series- wait until you hear the final two weeks. Listen to the final two parts of our 4 week sermon series below to find out what happens next. This is a dude's dude! Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week ...
Jack Bauer of the Bible- Part 1
24 has been one of my favorite t.v. shows over the last few years and if there's one dude in the Bible who resembles Jack Bauer- it's Elijah. His life plays out just like a summer blockbuster movie. I've loved learning about the God of Elijah and I hope you will also. Listen to the first two parts of our 4 week sermon series below to find out more. This is a dude's dude! Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week 1 (Is God trustworthy?) Epic (The Story of Elijah)- Week 2 (How far will God go for His kids?) If you ...
3 Things Jesus Calls Us To
Thanks to Mike Carlisle for collaborating on this post. http://radicaltreeoflife.blogspot.com God asks His followers to commit completely to following Him and there's only one other type of relationship on earth that can be compared to that level of commitment: marriage. There are 3 things that Jesus calls us to that are similar to the commitment of marriage. (1 and 2 won't make sense until you understand 3.) 1. An Exclusive Relationship: You can't say you love your spouse and have a boyfriend/girlfriend on the side. In your commitment to marriage, your committing to love and pour all your affection into ...
15 Greatest Movie Mentors (and 3 Things that made them Great)
In any movie, if you're working towards winning a goal, there's always a great coach right next to you, pushing you along. Below are 15 of the greatest coaches from movies. I came up with 3 things that made these guys great and listed them at the bottom. Maybe you can come up with more. 15. Coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) The Mighty Ducks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVF1glhAfk 14. Coach Irv (John Candy): Cool Runnings http://youtu.be/aaov7DNICPg 13. Pai Mei: Kill Bill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETTsJggQl3I 12. Coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell): Miracle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpTj_Z9v-c 11. Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood): Million Dollar Baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-69fLBlLQY 10. Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman): Hoosiers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDJS9rFGCHE 9. Coach ...