Loving The City by Pastor Casey Cleveland

Casey Cleveland, Lead Pastor at Avenue Church, Delray Beach, FL, talks about what it means to love your city, and how they do that at Avenue Church. (But first, he shares the story of how he and Pastor Daniel met and the impact that had on him and his church. God is at work!) One of the tools Avenue Church has used in loving their city has to do with math, where “a hundred is greater than a million.” Jesus operated His ministry this way, pouring Himself into the 12 disciples. Delray Beach, like every city, has its own unique diversity, and Avenue Church has been trying to love people where they are and to create a family within that group. Using Paul Tripp’s 4-Circle paradigm of Love, Know, Speak, Do, Casey explains the approach they have used in connecting with their community. ‘Keep giving them Jesus.” This is 18 minutes of godly wisdom and it’s pure gold.

QUOTES: 

“This has been our guiding principle…as Jesus was sent, so He now sends us.” -Casey Cleveland

“How did Jesus love the world? The first thing He did was enter the world…We try to leave our own world and enter the world of the city.” -Casey Cleveland

“Our first move here in the city has to be an outward move.” -Casey Cleveland

“We want to lovingly apply the gospel to their area of need as we speak the truth to them.” -Casey Cleveland

“We commit to the process of change which is often slow and super messy.” -Casey Cleveland

The Priority Of The Gospel by Pastor Kevin Saxton

Kevin Saxton, Middle School Pastor, Family Church Downtown, West Palm Beach, FL talks about how we can know what is the most important thing in life. A bivocational pastor, Kevin is also a firefighter. And he and his wife Tracy have seven children. There are many important things needing his attention. What does the Bible have to say about what is the most important thing? Where should we put our energy and focus? In 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, Paul describes what is of “first importance”—the gospel. “Our lives have to be rooted and founded on the gospel as a matter of first importance.” It is why we do everything we do.

QUOTES:

“I went back to the scripture to try and figure it out—what are the most important things I am supposed to be doing?” -Kevin Saxton

“The most important thing is the gospel.” -Kevin Saxton

“The gospel is something very particular, the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and God raised Him from the dead.” -Kevin Saxton

“The gospel changes everything. Nothing stays the same.” -Kevin Saxton

A Strike Team by Pastor Peyton Jones

Leadership Lesson | Pastor Peyton Jones

Peyton Jones, Longbeach, California, is an author, church planter, leadership trainer, podcaster, and writer. In this week’s episode, Peyton talks about the strike team approach to ministry, based on the model of Paul, what a strike team looks like and what it’s made up of.   We know from his epistles that Paul did not go alone and that he moved very quickly in teams. Ephesians 4 describes the roles of team members as they have been gifted by God: He gave gifts to men…And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.(Ephesians 4:8, 11-12). Jesus is the only one who embodied all five of these Himself, but He has given these gifts individually to those He has called to equip the saints. How are these gifts different from each other? What is their purpose in ministry? “If you had all these guys working together, imagine the powerful combination that would be. That’s what Paul imagined. In fact it’s more than what Paul imagined—it’s what he saw. And it’s what he did.” Read more about Peyton Jones and his ministry at peytonjones.ninja

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Quotes: 

“Although Jesus died on the cross, and we know that His work was finished on the cross, for our justification, Christ’s work of kingdom expansion was not finished and He left that to us. He passed on the ministry of spreading the word of what He did on the cross…His ministry continues through us.” -Peyton Jones

“Not all leaders are going to be alike. The body of Christ needs to grow and grow until it fills out that Jesus-shaped hole that was left. And it will only happen as these gifts are working.”  -Peyton Jones

“Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers…That strike team packs a powerful punch. It’s a team impacting the community around it. It’s what I call the A-Team. They are frontline.”  -Peyton Jones

‘Paul knew he only had a limited amount of time. So he would identify their gifts. He would strategically get them raised up. And then he would deploy them outward. And not just outward from their church, but into their community.”  -Peyton Jones

“If the church will go back to this, we will begin to pack a punch. We will have people who not only know good theology, but they know how to do practically what they’ve been reading about or teaching about.”  -Peyton Jones

The Hard Work of Ministry by Pastor Pilgrim Benham

Leadership Lesson | Pastor Pilgrim Benham

Pastor Pilgrim Benham, Bradenton, Florida, shares about persevering in the hard work of ministry, challenging us to reset our minds and have a different perspective about work, remembering what it is we are called to do. The great story of Ernest Shackleton’s exploration of the Antarctic and how those who went on that expedition knew what they signed up for is worth hearing. The Apostle Paul writes about what he suffered in the hard work of ministry in 2 Corinthians 11, that he was imprisoned, beaten repeatedly, near death, shipwrecked, tortured, stoned, constantly in danger and suffering from a chronic physical ailment. What kept him going? Jesus did. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (Hebrews 12:9) What is overwhelming you in ministry? Call out to Jesus. Paul also wrote about running this race with endurance—which is very hard work. Endurance is “patience where you sit down and accept the thing that is in front of you. And not just sit down, but master it.” Are you not bearing fruit like you thought you would? Don’t look back. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 Ministry is hard work. But stay focused on Jesus and finish well. He is worth it. 
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“The idea is that when I come to serve Jesus in ministry, I’m not here to get anything back. I’m here to give.” -Pilgrim Benham

“Sometimes giving means struggle, it means suffering.” -Pilgrim Benham

“I want to encourage you to run the race that’s marked out for you—with perseverance, with endurance.” -Pilgrim Benham

“That’s what I long for—to know that the ministry that He’s doing in my life is going to result in fruit, which is souls.” -Pilgrim Benham

The Baptism of The Holy Spirit by Pastor Jim Gallagher

Leadership Lesson | Pastor Jim Gallagher

Pastor Daniel introduces this episode about being filled with the Holy Spirit as we serve Jesus.. We can rely on Him, on His Spirit for our strength. This Leadership Lesson is given by Pastor Jim Gallagher, the lead pastor at Calvary Chapel Vero Beach and also one of the regional directors of Calvary Chapel in South Florida. The phrase “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is used six times in the New Testament, including all four of the gospels. In Matthew 3:11, referring to Jesus, John the Baptist said, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. “Everything that happens through the believers in the book of Acts is a byproduct of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” This baptism is something that is promised to all those who believe in Christ. Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit being with us, in us, and coming upon us. “Jesus referred to the Spirit in us as being born again. Paul referred to it as the washing of regeneration. The New Testament writers saw the need for the church and the Christian to be continually filled with the Spirit. A few passages with that concept: Romans 15, 2 Corinthians 13; Galatians 3; Ephesians 5; 1 Thessalonians 5. “The work of the Spirit is to lead a person to faith in Christ, to convert that person when they believe on Jesus, to transform a person into the image of Jesus, and to supply continual gifting and empowering as we step out to serve the Lord.” In Luke 11:13 Jesus says that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks Him. He is available to all believers. We are not left on our own. What should a person expect when they are filled with the Spirit? 6 things:1)Sanctification; 2)The presence of God more in daily life, teaching and guiding us; 3)Desire to reach the lost; 4)Fruit of the Spirit; 5)Increased effectiveness in prayer 6)Power of the Spirit (Acts 1:8) We in ministry are completely dependent upon the power of the Spirit to do the work of the heart. “Continually seek God for a fresh work of the Spirit.”

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“The work of the Holy Spirit is to baptize believers. The idea is of a person being submerged or filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.” -Jim Gallagher

“The real mark that a person belongs to Jesus is not something external, it is something internal, and it’s when the Spirit of God enters us.” -Jim Gallagher

“The work of the Spirit is to regenerate us to salvation and then to continually fill and equip us as we seek to follow Christ.” -Jim Gallagher

“A fresh work of the Spirit will show itself in the desire to become more like Jesus.” -Jim Gallagher

“The chief work of the Spirit coming upon someone is a power.” -Jim Gallagher

Meetings by Pastor Steve Wright

Leadership Lesson | Pastor Steve Wright

This week’s Leadership Lesson on meetings comes from Executive Pastor Steve Wright from Family Church, a multi-campus church and movement in South Florida. “We actually have a philosophy of meetings here at our church that is very robust and strong because we believe that that’s how you move vision forward. Meetings for us are the traction of how vision is set.” All of our meetings have five basic elements to them. 1)Start with prayer. It’s not about us or our skill set, it’s all about the Lord and what He is able to do through us. 2)Tell stories. We want to allow people on our teams to share with grateful hearts the things that God is doing so we can all celebrate those successes. 3)Review action items from the previous week, so there is accountability for our teams. Who is trustworthy to do what they’ve said they would do? 5)Look at our calendar for things coming up, this Sunday, next week, next month. We talk things out. “I want to make sure as a leader that I’m setting an environment of collaboration. I want to value the contribution of those that are on my team. I invite all of the people in the meetings to contribute.” 5)Specific people being assigned specific times to get projects done. It’s not nebulous anymore; there’s a very specific action item. That’s the way we run meetings. We are not legalistically bound to these things, but they at least give us a framework, a guide. It’s been helpful for us at Family Church.

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“I want to hold lightly the things of God. Obviously I am a steward, not an owner and because these things are not mine to own, they are God’s, I want to hold them lightly.” -Steve Wright

“We want to make Jesus’ name great. The message I want to send to all of my teams is that we are solely, 100% dependent upon the Lord. I want to establish that in all of my meetings. I want to model that as a leader that this is where we want to start.” -Steve Wright

“One of the things that we want to model for our staff as we are in our meeting times is these stories, that we can with grateful hearts assign thanks to the Lord.” -Steve Wright

“We like to say we have 52 big events every year. They happen every Sunday.”