A Message From The Board

Joel Manby and Virginia Ward 

Welcome to the Orange Conference. Founder and CEO no longer on staff at Orange. Everyone in this organization deplores any action that lacks integrity or breaks your trust and will continue to walk with anyone who has been hurt by this. 

The mission has not changed and the commitment to those values has not changed. 

Thank you for the outpouring of love.

Orange has always been about more than one person. Orange is a strategy. Orange is a belief that the next generation is worth everything. 

Our leadership has changed but our mission has not changed. 

Our hope is this week you are inspired, reenergized, and connected. 

Session 1 Notes

Jon Acuff

“Dad, you’re fun size.”

“Here for it!” What does it mean? 

“Here” means present. Consistent. Rooted to the moment. Kids are asking, “Will you still be here…when I push you away…when I’m awkward.”

My youth leader wouldn’t be pushed away. 

You might never have your kid be 48 and on stage saying it. 

“For” means advocacy. Linked arms. Pulling for you. It doesn’t say here to fix it. People aren’t projects, they want you to be here for it. No one is here for the money. You’re not here for the fame. You’re not here for the convenience of the job. 

“It” is messy. It is unpredictable. It is chaotic. We often think, I don’t want it, I want a guarantee. Every teenager gets to watch a highlight of everyone’s life. All of it about of my control. I was a high-functioning atheist. You couldn’t tell who had connection to the creator when you looked at my list of worries and what I was trying to control. If you want to have difficulty in ministry think you have control. God’s got it. The last thing Christ said on the cross was, “It is finished.” Not it’s your turn. Not it’s up to you. It is finished. 

You don’t have to worry. All you have to do is be Here For It. 

—

A star named Arrendale. It knew it existed but we didn’t notice it yet. God created it to shine. Kids were created to shine. When you notice, it unlocks a world of possibilities. 

—

Paula Danielle

Have you ever thought of all the things that need to fall into place to get from there to here? 

Here physically but are you really here emotionally? 

Hebrews 13:7, “Remember your leaders…”

In a world where everyone thinks they are a leader based on their social media count, remember your leaders.  

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life. 

Imitate their faith. It’s impossible to imitate something you’ve never seen. Imitate, remember, imitate, remember. Remember when they saw Jesus in you and imitate this. 

—

Danielle Strickland 

In Hebrews 12 the author is telling the new Christian’s what they are here for. 

Everything that can be shaken, will be shaken, until what can’t be shaken is revealed. 

We are all here for that. No just at Orange, although Orange is being shaken, but the whole church. 

There is a whole lot of shaking going on. It’s important to tell the truth of where we are. We have to know where we are to find where to go and how to get there. We are living in a time where everything we thought we knew is not what we thought it was. Structures and people are being exposed. We are out of control. A proud sense of not being able to change anything. A constant question in faith and a question in where is God? 

The Perichoresis- The Divine Dance

That God is present and working in community creating beautiful things. Genesis 1, explains to us the revelation of God at work. God’s Spirit is here for it, alive and working. And the Spirit speaks, let there be light. John 1:4. 

“The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The destroyed world is the very place where God is working. Exposing sin isn’t darkness winning it’s evidence of God moving. 

Don’t miss the opportunity of what God wants to invite us into. We see darkness as an initiation instead of an invitation. The light is here. Let it come. 

If we can see chaos as where God speaks. 

“As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭35‬-‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A disciple is here for it. A disciple jumps in the boat. 

In one of Jesus most popular points in his ministry He left the crowd. The disciples believe the invitation. They are conflicted but they go. So many of us don’t. In confessions and church abuse, in self harm, in everything. 

4 biggest temptations

To deny and reject. Some normalize or minimize. When you deny it, you are not here for it and you miss it. 

To avoid it. A blindness where you don’t want to see it. Homelessness for example where people avoid you. Margarette Book: Willful Blindness. We continue in bad things because our brain takes a long time to catch up to the truth. The personal makeup of whistleblowers are people so committed to the mission that the distance between what is true and what is happening makes it so they can’t take it. Distraction. Look over there. 

Cover it. Hiding it is not cleaning it. Cover it.

God’s invitation to be HERE FOR IT will not happen if we pretend everything is fine when it isn’t.

Run from it. God’s invitation to be HERE FOR IT will not happen if we don’t know Jesus’s presence and power for ourselves.

We choose to be with Jesus. We want to go where Jesus goes. 

“But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭NLT‬‬

To take the invitation to be here for it is to accept the difficult call. The way is hard. We face things that we know we can’t do. 

Question 1 – Don’t you care? The biggest question isn’t if they will live but does Jesus even care. This question comes up when you get in the boat. That’s part of the dance, it’s part of the invitation. 

You can’t know He’s real, if you’re not here for it. Do you know He’s real? You realize He’s real when you’re willing to go to the place where He invited you to. To be here for it means you will be willing to face your fears. 

“When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”” Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭39‬-‭40‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’m afraid because I’m out of control. I’m afraid because I can’t do it. And you’re right. You aren’t in control and you can’t do it all. Jesus said, “Where is your faith.” Jesus question was genuine. Why are you afraid when Jesus is right here. 

Our faith is in people or an organization or our denominations or our economy. The opportunity is to relocate our faith. To find it again. To put it back where it belongs. 

A fragmentation happening. What they said is different than how they lived. An awareness that this is happening. How can I deal with this? What can I do? God said, “Get some help.” Counseling. Listening prayer exercise. Seeing a raging ocean storm. Why are you so afraid? Afraid it’s too much. Afraid of the exposure. Can you find Jesus here? Can you visualize Jesus in this fear? Oh yeah, He’s here for it. Why are you so afraid? Where’s your faith? 

They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the Naves obey him!” Mark 4:4 NIV

Find your faith and put it in Jesus. The revelation that God is here for it. 

To be HERE FOR IT is to bo honest to find our faith and put it in Jesus. 

To be HERE FOR IT is to encounter Jesus, who is with us and can save us.

Day 2

Leslie Mack

The next generation gets to go places we never knew even existed. 

Will there be a job for me in the future of AI? 

Maybe we don’t need to know all the answer and we are invited to just know them. 

To know them culturally. Microsoft word, if you know how to save the file, you’re not in the same cultural context. If you know the yellow pages…If you needed a college email address to sign up for Facebook, you’re in a different cultural context. 

Every single generation has to kick the tires on their values. 

If we want to be here for them, we have to understand on a deep level how to be here for them on their level. 

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are the largest generation. Whether we acknowledge them or not, they are standing on a new threshold saying here we come. 

—

Kara Powell

You know you’re old when you injure yourself in your sleep. 

The pandemic has changed the way we think about sitting or how/when we sit. How many have a standing desk? Treadmill? It’s a good thing to have more activity. 

“Sitting is the new smoking.” Mayo Clinic. 

Not in all ways and all metric but sitting is worse for us than we thought. Think of your churches. How much would we see people sitting? No successful institution with young people has them sit and listen.”

Jesus very quickly changed their posture from listening to witnesses. Sitting can be killing the faith of our young people. 

“And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits.” Mark‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus sends the disciples. They were presumably around 15-20. Let that sink in. The God of the universe decided to invest in 15-20 year olds. This is who Jesus moved from sitting to sending. 

We want the faith of young people to last. Faith beyond youth group. Young people need to practice faith together. 

Faith beyond youth group is sparked as we move from sitting to sending.

Jesus gives authority and power. See what God is doing and do something bold. One church disbanded the adult prayer leaders and put in the youth. 

Shouldn’t church be the one place that doesn’t place more pressure on kids to achieve? When 11 year olds are getting cell phones and all time anxiety high, we want the church to be safe but not coddled. Jesus sent the disciples out 2 by 2 in relational community. This generation doesn’t want to be consumers, they want to be co-creators. 

What does sending look like with younger children? We need to pair them with a caring adult and their family. With the right adult support they can develop deep roots and branches. Give agency. Anything they can do, we want them to do. As an example, packing their lunches. Let young people pack their spiritual lunches. They have gifts and talents. Let’s let the next generation lead. 

How do we actually do this through? Pay attention to how God is already working and send them forward. God is already at work. 

When we send young people, all generations benefit. This generation is here for it, let’s be here for them. 

—

Crystal Chiang 

Research from the national institute of health say suicide rise in the 6th grade and peak in the 10th grade. There is so much opportunity in the 10th grade. 

The phase gallery is an immersive experience where you walk through every phase of a kids life at the interception of church and home. 

The parent cue app is a resource every parent should have. 

It’s just a phase, so don’t miss it. 

—

Dr Dharius Daniels 

“O Lord, you misled me, and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day; everyone laughs at me.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭20‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jeremiah makes an accusation of God. That God didn’t tell him everything. There are things you didn’t tell me about in chapter 1 that I’m now experiencing in chapter 2. You told me you would use me but you didn’t tell me that I would experience adversity and accusations. There were things you told me in chapter 1 that made me think I’m here for it. The God who knows all things will at times refuse to share all that He knows. There will often be seasons and situation you can not predict or control. How are you able to handle what you didn’t see coming? 

I believe in planning. Jesus wasn’t a surprise. I know God is intentional and we are made in His likeness. Remember things will rarely go as you planned. Life be lifing. 

We need to attempt to ask and answer a key and critical question. What do you do when you are faced with what you didn’t predict and you can’t control. What do you do when you don’t know what to do. 

We can obsessed over what we don’t know or be anchored by who we do know. 

Realize that just because you are surprised doesn’t mean you are unprepared. 

“Life is lived forward but understood backwards.” God uses past experiences. God will take you to school and you don’t even know you are in class. There are situations causing aggregation in your life where God is using it for activation and preparation. 

David with the lion and the bear preparing him for Goliath. 

God will use the aggregation for our past to prepare us. Maybe you were called to the church for such a time as this. 

Remember God’s timing is an expression of God’s kindness. It’s almost like all of this started happening after I made this commitment to Christ. That the crisis came after the commitment to Christ. Maybe? Maybe not? Maybe this crisis was always coming and can you imagine trying to navigate this crisis without Christ? How could you manage this misery without hope if this had come sooner? Would any time be a good time? 

This revelation can lead to the minimization for a desire for an explanation. When you read Job he never gets an answer. There is no time where Job would have felt it was the right time but the way he managed you see God’s timing was an explanation of His kindness. 

Remember that God is a good steward and that good stewards waist nothing. All through scripture we see themes of redemption and repurpose. Jospeh with his brothers, you meant it for evil and God meant it for good. Beautify from ashes. He will take lemons and make lemonade. 

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We all have or will face what Jeremiah faced where we see God didn’t tell us everything. God gives information on a need to know basis. He meets our needs but He doesn’t accommodate our preferences. By His grace He picks those who have been purposed to handle the hardship of a holy calling. May we be encouraged and strengthen by this. 

Breakout 1 – How Do I Get Volunteers to Be Here for Kids? Amber Baker 

Remember a time when you had your best experience as a volunteer?

What three things stood out to you?

Write them down on the back of your paper.

Serving the Orange Conference: 

The genuine appreciation of leadership. 

Being brought into the behind the scenes. 

Team camaraderie. 

What we learn from one another is key. In the seat knowledge is different. Jim Wideman changed my world. I went from being a good kids pastor and then my mindset shifted and helped me be a minister to my volunteers and my ministry expanded. Learned successfully systems. In your ministry journey, I hope you have people who help shape your ministry journey to align with what God’s spirit is calling you to. 

Let’s talk about us as leaders first. 

Where have you been and where are you going? As a leader, you must take an inventory. You can not lead a group of people where you have not been before, physically and spiritually. If you want your small group leaders to pray with the kids but you haven’t modeled it, you have a responsibility to pave the way. If you want leaders to show up prepared, are you modeling this? 

A mindset check in. Are we serving our volunteers or are we using the volunteers? Sometimes we forget they have families and full time jobs. We don’t minister to them and expect them to show up. It’s our job as leaders to serve them. It’s hard, takes extra work, but it’s worth it. 

Make sure everything in the room is ready to go when the volunteers show up. I don’t want my team showing up and cutting out circles right before a craft, I want them with kids. Someone else can cut out circles from home. We want them to walk in and shine. 

Our own levels of leadership. 

John Maxwell book: the five levels of leadership. 

We start in positional leadership, move to permission where people follow you because they want to. Move to the next level by being someone who is modeling the example. Show your leaders you are worth following. 

Move from permission to production because what happens in the organization is awesome and I want to be a part of it. 

Then you start growing your people and you equip them to succeed. Now you move to people development and people want to follow you because of what you have done for them. 

The pinnacle is where people follow you because of who you are and what you represent. 

You can be on different levels with different people on your team. 

The 10 Insights:

1 When you move up a level, you build on the previous level. You don’t leave it behind.

2 Leadership is dynamic. You can work at a different eadership level from one team member to the next.

3 The higher you go, the easier it becomes to lead.

4 There is no shortcut to get to the next level. Each level requires more time and effort to reach than the previous one.

5 Although moving up a level takes a lot of time, moving down one or more levels can happen very quickly.

6 The higher you go, the greater the returns.

7 Moving to the next level always requires growth.

8 Not getting to the next level not only limits you, but it also limits each of your team members.

9 When you change position or organization, you rarely stay at the same level.

10 You cannot climb the levels alone.

When thinking about your own leadership, what one thing you can shift, tweak, or grow in?

Write it down. Share it. – Joy in the Journey 

Know Your Why – Communicate it effectively. The why never changes, it’s foundational. What fuels you. Simon Sinek – Start with Why. When you see a team thriving it’s because their why is solidified. 

I do not babysit. I don’t do childcare on Sunday mornings. We have church where kids come together in community, they open God’s word, they worship, and they process together. 

Slow and Steady wins the race. Volunteer recruitment isn’t a one time event. It’s over and over. You have to keep it on the front of your mind. Who are the 3 people I’m going to ask, “Where are you serving?” Don’t get distracted from the important things. 

Make your vision clear. A vision is a picture of an imagined future. Know it clearly enough to articulate it into every conversation without even thinking about it. Weave it into parent communication. Weave it into the posters on the back of bathroom stalls. If we don’t share our vision then people will make up their own. The reason we play the game is to… The reason we have small group is to… Create a clear vision. 

Make sure volunteers know who they are serving. The phase information changes ministry life. Clear packaging to help your team. Give your leaders phase understanding of who the kids are they are serving. If your leaders aren’t equipped then they can’t ministry as good as they could. What are the demographics of your church? Does your church reflect your community? If a leader is wearing $250 shoes but ministering to broke kids, it matters that they understand the context of those they are serving. They can probably wear the shoes but it matters how they talk about the.

Have an onboarding process for your volunteers. Know their goals. Check their references. Do training and safety checks. Meet and give them a handbook. Give them policies and vision. Talk about expectations and job descriptions. This takes time but so very important. Ask other ministry leaders for resources and help so you don’t recreate the wheel. Pair them with a seasoned leader. In a few weeks, check in with them and make sure it’s a good fit. Give them freedom to choose. 

Cast your vision often and everywhere. 

Language shift from volunteer to leader. Empower the next generation in a clear way. The verbiage can make a culture shift. Cast the vision on social media, announcements, emails, everything and everywhere. 

Have a posture of celebration and gratitude. 

Prepare their supplies. Have goodies for them. Pinterest treats of appreciation. Calendar their birthdays. Hand write notes for them a couple a week. People like mail that’s not bills. Give pins and swag. Party starter award – someone who has high five leadership. Peers nominating them for the award. This helps especially the teenagers. Being noticed matters, even if it’s just celebrating that they showed up today. 

Recruit. Recruit. Recruit. 

Don’t recruit alone. Empower the team. Give applications and ask them to hand them to their friends. Who am I inviting to come serve this week? 

What sticks out to you today? Hand written notes, thank you for just showing up today. That’s enough. 

Abaker@grace-church.com

951-235-7466

@AmberDBaker

Pull out your calendar and write your next step. 

Are you writing in pencil or pen?

Moving the Finish Line: How to Be There for 18 Plus

Lisette Fraser

Vince Parker

Kara Powell

Over one million young people walk away from the faith every year. Somewhere around 50% of students in the church walk away from their faith. 

https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/orange-18

Get the slides and be an insider with up to date information. 

Approximately 40-50% of youth group graduates drift from faith and the faith community. 

The assumed path of emerging adults. High school college job marriage, kids. 

Today: 

18-30 is a time of intense transitions. 

EMERGING ADULTHOOD: A DECADE OF PARTICULAR TRANSITIONS

FRIENDSHIPS 

EDUCATION 

VOCATIONAL 

DECISIONS ON MY OWN

18 SPIRITUAL OUESTS

FAITH COMMUNITY

RELOCATING

FINDING-MAKING HOME

IDENTITY EXPLORATION

SINGLENESS

FAMILY HISTORY

RELATIONAL COMMITMENTS

RECOVERY

DAILY LIFE MANAGEMENT

FAITH AND DOUBT

PARENT RELATIONSHIPS 

PARENTHOOD

MARRIAGE + DIVORCE

YOUNG ADULTS + TRANSITIONS

TRANSITION DEFINITION

STEVE ARGUE FROM THE FULLER YOUTH INSTITUTE

The new, challenging, exciting, and disorienting experiences emerging adults encounter as they navigate life changes and make choices to take responsibility for their lives and relationships.

TRANSITIONS IDENTITY

Emerging adults’ efforts to harmonize their multiple internal and external dentities in order to live into and external identities in order to live into and embrace their authentic and true selves.

Example: Becoming a parent (ages 27 and 30)

TRANSITIONS RELATIONAL

Emerging adults’ efforts to seek out and negotiate their various relationships by being vulnerable with some people and creating boundaries with others.

-Example: Building new friendships 

TRANSITIONS VOCATIONAL

Emerging adults’ efforts to make meaningful contributions to the world and providing for themselves and others. 

Example: Starting college, the military, or a new job

TRANSITIONS SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS

Emerging adults’ efforts to evaluate the religious and spiritual narratives they have inherited from parents/Guadians and/or faith communities while constructing a worldview that is congruent with their emerging identity, belonging, and purpose. 

Example: Doubting inherited beliefs. 

None’s and Um’s – still figuring it out. Drifted away and still figuring it out. 

TRANSITIONS RESPONSIBILITY

Emerging adults’ efforts to cultivate agency for themselves and others, make individual or communal decisions, and adjust to Increases in responsibility tor their lives, relationships, and actions

Example. Attempting to oe financially independent. 

TRANSITIONS WELLNESS

Emerging adults’ efforts to advocate for themselves by making healthy choices that ensure, improve, or recover their physical,

emotional. and/or mental health.

Example. Struggling witn addiction and going to treatment. 

TRANSITIONS GEOGRAPHICAL/INSTITUTIONAL

Emerging adults’ efforts to adjust to newer and/or unfamiliar living ana or workine environments.

Example: Moving to a new city for a new job

TRANSITIONS INTERCONNECTION

All transitions are interrelated/ interconnected.

Example: Moving to a different state for a new job. 

SELF QUESTION. TAKE A MINUTE

• Of these 7 transitions, which one/s do you see young adults working through the most in your

context?

What do we do? 

How to come up with a plan for 18+

1 Know the win. People showing up is not the win. There’s more than attendance. 

2 Educate the people. Tell everyone. Don’t keep it to yourselves. Tell people the goal. Pre-Educate people about what we are doing. 

3 Model the example. Here is how to do it. The example starts with me. 

Empowering young people to make the space for themselves. 

4 Create a replicable system. Do you have sustainability? What can you do that can be done over and over again? People in transition need something constant in their lives. 

5 Normalize the results. Summer attendance is low. When we don’t normalize things it takes a lot of energy to convince people to keep going. Don’t make things so weird that they don’t identify. 

6 Evaluate the Progress. Don’t just say that you are doing this work in the name of Jesus. Did you actually help them transition well or did you just put on a really good event? 

In church we start a bunch of things that just feel really good. Is the enemy just trying to make you busy and distracted? 

Help prepare college students in middle school. Start now. Similar empty nesters struggle so how about start now with education and opportunities to work now. 

Start early. What do we offer parents and students? Intentional parenting events. Speak through the transitions. Physically walking people through all these transitions and seasons. Helping parents be in small groups with other parents so they have community and bonds. This impacts the students as well. If kids don’t see their parents in community then kids believe community is something you eventually outgrow. 

How to do laundry and how to go visit another church. Take 12th graders on a church visit and walk them through the process. Debrief afterwards. Help them know what they are looking for. Help drivers license students with involvement in serving. 

Help adult life groups to adopted a junior or senior into their group. Give them experience. 6-7th graders could be adopted into their group once a month also so they see pouring into others. Normalize things that feel weird. The world pulls you forward but the church pushes you out. You’re too old for junior high ministry, move up. The rest of the world says, you’re good at basketball, join the varsity team. 

Small groups: The point of gathering is to give you Biblical intentional community that helps you grow. 

We are asking 3 major questions: Identity, Belonging, and Purpose. 

A healthy church reflects its community. Look at your zip code census data. How do you listen to the demographic you are not attracting? 

Be intentional and don’t take a shot in the dark. Ask questions and make sure you can keep doing it consistently. 

Relationship, relationship, relationship.

Here for Technology: AI, ChatGTP, and Whatever Comes Next with Dave Adamson

The hardest thing to talk about today is AI because of the speed of how quickly it advances or changes. New technology is available daily. AI is constantly adapting and advancing. 

ChatGPT came out about 18 months ago and now everything is integrating AI. We have so many things pressing in our churches, it’s hard to keep up. 

The mosquito in a nudest colony. I know exactly what to do but don’t know where to start. I’m not going to give you a list of tech companies and tools. I’m going to help you advance and move the ball forward practically. Goal: Walk away today and know more of how to integrate AI tools into ministry. 

The good news is you understand the potential of the new technology. Maybe you agree with the CEO of google that A.I. is the nest profound technology humanity is working on. 

YouVersion Bible app “As technologies emerge and create new possibilities, it’s important to us that the Bible be at the forefront of innovation.” 

The landscape has changed, we no longer want to broadcast and reach the world, we want to reach our community within driving distance. 

According to Barna, 88% of US pastors are comfortable using AI in areas like graphic design. 89% of US pastors believe AI will have some impact on relational quality. And just last year 54% were concerned about using AI in their churches. 

The A.I. Church leaders should prioritize is…Authentic Interactions. Prioritize this over anything else.

*Explore Waze advertisement for your church. 

How do you reach more people with the Gospel? The tech needs to serve our mission not vice versa. Run it through the filter, does it help us reach our mission? 

Flying into ATL, Dave saw that Meta released llama 3. 

Limitations of A.I. Billions is being invested but A.I. can’t do everything. We are afraid of what A.I. can do, and not just those who watch the terminator. Teenagers and parents are worried about A.I. being a job killer. A.I. can be a job opportunity maker but there are limitations. 

Kenny Jahng “You really need to think of A.I. as a seminary student intern.” 

An Assitant Intern. You wouldn’t just deploy the work without checking it. See it as an assistant intern. Give A.I. tools the same responsibility and oversight you would give an assistant or intern. Be more human by putting the right inputs in. The outcomes are determined by the inputs. 

What we need to learn most, is how to give a good input. 

According to Bloomberg, Forbes, and Wallstreet journal is a prompt engendered. 

Prompt Engineering: The art of using keywords to get AI tools to generate better images and more accurate and relevant written responses. This is a new career. Become the prompt engineer of your church right now, for free. 

P.R.O.M.P.T. 

P = Professional Experience. 

Set the parameters that define the roles. Let it know what profession I want it to have. Start the project by saying, “You are a social media professional with 10 years experience creating highly engaging social media campaigns for non-profits.” 

You are a professor of Biblical Hebrew with 10 years of experience in the church…

You are a child education expert with 30 years of experience in a rural setting…

R = Review Understanding 

Make sure to ask the AI model do you understand. “Do you understand.” Chat will say, “Absolutely…” Weed out the rest of the internet and pull in the 10 years of experience you are looking for specifically. This hasn’t started the search yet and it’s already creating clarity. Google just came out last week saying the best way to use this is to use prompts that are 25 words or less. 

O = Objective

Outline the objective of your request. What do you need done? Do you need a bible story written? Do you need a short video script? Weed out the rest of the internet and hone it in. 

“You are a social…” 

“Do you understand?”

“I need a cross-platform social media campaign comprising 12 posts to promote a night of worship to be held on Friday April 28th. Do you understand?” 

M = Mimic or Model

A style guide. If i was wanting AI to write a devotional for elements aged kids, I want a style. “I need a toddler-friendly bible verse written about Deuteronomy 5:6-9 in the style of Kellen Moore.” I want a sermon outline “I need an outline for a 30-minute sermon about _ written in the style of Time Keller, Rich Villegas, Danielle Strickland, and Craig Groeschel. 

“I need the post in the campaign to mimic churches like Elevation, Church of the Highland’s, and Life Church. Do you understand? 

P = Primary Audience 

Weed out what you don’t need to get to what you do need. 

“The posts need to target 18-30 year olds living in Gwinnett County, Georgia.” Do you understand?” Not just who but where. Give the demographic information. 

T = Task Parameters

What do you need the boundaries to be? 12 posts? 300 word blog? 12 minute script? What are the parameters? “

“I need the 12 posts to work across multiple platform character lengths, to include at least one emoji in each, and to have a call to action or question at the end of every post to attract engagement. Do not use any hashtags, or formal or insider language.”

Last, type: “Give me the information.”

All the information needs to be checked. Verify spelling, dates, information, etc. This is a tool that makes life more efficient but it still needs to be verified. 

Your church, right now, needs an A.I. Policy. Volunteers and staff are using A.I. for content that is going out to the community. It can be simple and easy, but it also needs to be clear. There are people currently using ChatGPT while taking credit. People are putting out information without being double checked. Everything generated by A.I. needs an * and a review. 

There are 3 clear categories or buckets where A.I. can be helpful right now:

1 Communication. Social media posts, emails, bulletins, small group questions. This can be done quicker so you can focus on the authentic interactions in your church. 

2 Researching. Summarizing content, sermon research, message illustrations. Ask it to search for messages illustrations. Here is what my message is about can you give me 3 historical illustrations that can enhance the theme. Double check everything. Check the theology. Look for biases. 

*Notebook LM – google is live testing this A.I. language model. This will move most pastors over the line with A.I. “Do a dissertation on ___.” The information is put in by you. All the message scripts you have used for decades. Then it pulls from your own information. Put all your notes and highlights from kindle and it will pull from your books. Transcriptions from YouTube videos! 

3 Data Strategy. Data analysis, reorganizing data, pattern identification. For example, it can determine since January you have had more 18-25 year olds drop out of small group. Then you know to check in with those people. 

AIforChurchLeaders.com

AI for Church Leaders Facebook – a video generated from a photo.

ChurchTechToday.com

MetaChurch book by Dave Adamson

Q&A: 

Purchasing plugin’s that work with your church management software. But know that anything you put into the A.I. models is accessible to everyone on the internet. Another reason you need a policy. 

Adobe Photoshop is image based while ChatGPT is language based. 

“I need an Easter graphic done in the style of __, and it needs to include these 3 words.” With adobe photoshop you can just ask it to do what you want it to do. You can ask it to manipulate the photo in pretty much any way you can imagine. 

If just getting started, go to the AIforChurchLeaders.com and read all the beginner information. 

ChatGPT free vs version 4. The prompt model is a great way to get something great out of it without having to pay. 

A.I. and translation opportunities? Fantastic. Google translate is A.I. we just didn’t call it that before. Double check everything. Get help making a prompt that makes it even helpful moving forward with future prompts. It will even learn from you. 

Have you seen it’s bias? ChatGPT has already passed the bar and medical school. Check the strategy, philosophy, and theology. You are the product of the 5 closest people to you and ChatGPT is the same. It receives everyone’s bias so make sure you check everything.

Using it to minister to kids and students who grow up as digital natives. Students today are growing up in a world where they talk about IRL and for most of us in the room, in real life is face to face. For them it’s in the DM’s and likes. For us that is scary and kind of sad. As a digital pastor, it’s like starting a church next to a porn store and there is no where else the church ought to be. The light shines brightest in the darkness. Shine the light in the dark places the next generation is growing up in. Parents need to follow and be followed by their kids. Opportunities to create conversations. Listen. Ask students who they are following. 

Teachers have ChatGPT filter checks. 

Data Privacy Steps? No private information, especially other people. Very limited information about me. If using tools like image generation, then incognito mode. Somewhere on the church website you can include this data information protection. 

A.I. tools church people are using that would be useful for us to know? ChatGPT is most common. Siri, Alexa, etc are all A.I. We use A.I. everyday even if we don’t know it. 

The Quiet Exit: What People Leaving Your Church Wish you Knew by Stuart Hall 

If you’re not careful the next generation will follow Jesus out of the church. The body of Christ is the hope of the world. There is no plan b. It’s very difficult to leave something that you are. We are the church. 

If an alien walked into your church what would they experience? Erase every preconceived idea about church and think what conclusions they would draw. 

Over 40 million people have stopped attending church in the last 25 years…

More than 1 in 7 adults who used to attend church no longer do.” The Great DeChurching. 

Go to church…

I’m late to church…

We left the church…

If you have an attractional ecclesiology you will primarily make consumers and spectators. 

If you have a Movement exclusionary you will primarily create contributors and disciples. 

Decentralization of Information – fact checking the pastor. Middle school kids are googling to fact check you. 25 years ago you had to attend a church to hear the message. Today everyone everywhere. 

Institutional Distrust – Covid, racial unrest, violence and war, mass shootings (600 every year), humanitarian crisis. So why should I trust the mass institutions? Often most rapid in the church. 

Political Division – January the 6th. Let’s be Jesus with each other and talk about political division together. 

Deconstruction – much of what is happening is the churches responsibility and we have to own that. all the evidence suggests it starts with a grounded identity (think Disney movie). The triggering experience makes the teen take a critical assessment. Some go back to their grounded identity (in the person of Jesus) while others move to a critical assessment of constructions. There is a difference between a teenager leaving the faith and a teenager leaving the church. 

Identity Crisis – the next generation is driven by belonging. You used to look for where you identified belonged and then identified. Not only do you need to offer unconditional belonging before they belief but now more than ever you need to offer unconditional belonging even if they don’t believe. 

Causal vs Casualties – There is a difference between a causal church attended and casualties because of the church. Some just fade away while others were hurt and left. 

“The House of God stretches from one corner of the universe to the other. Sea monsters live and ostriches live in it, along with people who pray in languages I do not speak, whose names I will never know. I am not in charge of this House, and never will be. I have no say about who is in and who is out. I do not get to make the rules. Like Job, I was nowhere when God laid the foundations of the earth…I am a guest here, charged with serving other guests— even those who present themselves as my enemies.” —BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR, AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD

“You cannot connect all the dots until you collect all the dots.”

Experience over Content – Do people need more content when there is YouTube? Experiences over content. The next generation is using YouTube religiously. Are you creating experts or explorers? 

Engagement over Attendance – How connected do people have to be in your church to grow in how they follow Jesus? If the growth of a teenager revolves around attendance we fail. In middle school there is a vacuumed in discipleship but you reach a ton of kids but in high school it flips. Change the turf. You go to them. Simplify what you do so people don’t have to be in the program to grow. Train and send. 

Footprints over Blueprints – Does a person have to sit in your building to be influenced by your church? It’s not about the blueprint of your building but the footprint of your influence. How is your church connecting with the local schools? The already existing and invented modes. Would your neighborhood miss you if your church went away? The future church will look like 6 different things. 

Asking Questions over All the Answers – How are you positioned to embrace and encourage information and curiosity? A post Christian society has questions. Create a space where the questions can be asked. Embrace and encourage curiosity. Don’t pretend to know all the answers. 

Partnering over Competing – How can you see someone changing churches as a win? We all grow and change. We have to be okay with this. School teachers and coaches can love Jesus and we need to partner with them. 

Tables over Rows – How do you change the orbit of community for people in your community? We need to have meals with people. Signing the bottom of the table. How do we change the orbit of community? 

Alone <——————> Community 

Abstinence <——————> Total engagement. 

It’s okay to unplug. The best thing for your soul may be to stop right now and unplug. 

Filter the lives of our teenagers by how they are doing this. Some teenagers need a week or two to rest their soul away from the church. 

For I believe the crisis in the U.S. church has almost nothing to do with being liberal or conservative; it has everything to do with giving up on the faith and discipline of our Christian baptism and settling for a common, generic U.S. identity that is part patriotism, part consumerism, part violence, and part affluence.” Walter Brueggemann, A Way other than Our Own. 

Day 3

Matt Manno

One thing I love about this room is how different we are. As beautiful as this is it also means there is a lot we can disagree on. On the surface it seems as there are more reasons to be divided but this is the body of Christ. It was never our job to keep everything together. 

What if we stopped obsessing over what we don’t agree on and instead focus on Who we agree on?

You are in this room because you care about the faith of the next generation. Do the hard work to stay connected, even when you don’t see eye to eye. 

—

Dr. Chinwé Williams – Licensed Professional Counselor

How is it possible for me to have clarity of purpose? When interacting with someone you don’t see eye to eye on get clear about your mission. Reflect on goals and purpose. Reflect on what is mission critical. Here lately, the Church can easily major on the minors. 

Young people are watching and they feel disillusioned. How can we model being the hands and feet of Christ? 

Book Resource: Beyond the Spiral. 

When a car is swerving into your lane this is a real danger and the nervous system reacts. Even when the threat is perceived, your body sets off the same alarm. 

Anxiety buried is still alive.  It shows up as the need to control…

When you are noticing any level of discomfort, consider it a messenger. Notice your thoughts, not content but quality. Do you have clarity and focus? Notice your emotions, what’s rising to the top. Are you nervous or confused. Noticed your breath. Are you holding your breath and telling your brain there is something to fear. Notice if you can catch your breath. Put your hand to your heart and begin to breathe deeply. This calms the nervous system. 

You can’t control the world around you but you can control your thoughts and behaviors. 

—

Rich Villodas – Pastor at New Life Fellowship Church

To reach and retain this generation it requires us to have lives of unity. 

“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I was walking across a bridge one day, and i saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off.

So I ran over and said “stop! don’t do it!”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he said.

I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!”

He said, “Like what?”

I said, “Well…are you religious or atheist?”

He said, “Religious.”

I said, “Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?”

He said, “Christian.”

I said, “Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?”

He said, “Protestant.”

I said, “Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?”

He said, “Baptist!”

I said, “Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?”

He said, “Baptist church of god!”

I said, “Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?”

He said, “Reformed baptist church of god!”

I said, “Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?”

He said, “Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!”

I said, “Die, heretic scum”, and pushed him off.

-Emo Phillips

The great need before us is unity. Unity established through humility is Gospel credibility. 

““I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” ‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How do we honor our differences without disconnecting from one another. 

Paul says six times in four verses for the church to be united. Being united doesn’t mean we see things the same way. Ie, hawaiian pizza. Unity doesn’t mean uniformity. We are to be united by having the mindset of Christ. 

“That was Brad with the democratic weather now to Tammy with the republican weather…”

To practice humility is to seek the interest of others. The reason we do this is because this is what Jesus Christ modeled for us. The Gospel has a message and a word for us right here and right now. The primary fruit of the Gospel is a new community and family in Jesus Christ. 

Humility isn’t the opposite of divinity, humility is the expression of divinity. 

“for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus is before all things and all things hold together. 

What are you most hopeful about the church? Jesus Christ is building the church and He is holding it together. 

Leslie Mack and Dan Scott

Align and synergies your community. 

Here! 

“God made us. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good things. Long ago God prepared them for us to do.” Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NIRV‬‬

— 

Shane Sanchez 

So you ever feel alone in it? 

when life is difficult, where is God? We are often tempted to rush past the pain to find purpose. We try to get to the promise instead of being in the present. 

A faith that’s absent of pain is parody not authenticity. 

What it when life hurts the most we discover God is close? 

The Word became flesh…John 1:14a

God is here, God with us. Then He looked at us and told us to go be there for others. 

—

John Onwuchekwa – Atlanta-based Pastor, Entrepreneur

Most people tend to avoid processing their grief for the same reason they avoid drinking their coffee black, they know it’s bitter. 

Like black coffee the subtle sweetness and flavor is reserved for those who lean into the bitterness. 

Coffee is bitter. Grief is bitter. But it’s not only bitter. Both can be bittersweet. 

Grief happened in an instant but the valley of the shadow of death lingered. The only thing I remembered was trying to excuse myself out of the rooms my tears invited themselves into. 

Grief doesn’t have an expiration date. 

God can redeem it but it can still linger. Grief is the starting point or entrance into the ongoing conversation that everything in this world you love you will lose. This is not to make you sad but to make you sober. Moments are fragile and precious. Journeys start and end but grief doesn’t end here on earth. Think of grief as a language. Languages start they don’t end. The goal of a language is not to finish but to become fluent and to connect with people. Grief is humanities official language with multiple dialects. 

Tangible grief death where everyone knows. 

Ambiguous grief is the death of a dream, relationship, the image of a hero. These griefs are harder because it’s a death without a funeral. No support. Learn a language by imitating someone who is fluent. 

Peace isn’t found in the absence of pain, it’s found in the presence of Jesus. 

Shoulders catch tears better than your soliloquy. 

Look at the eyes of people who come in and the floors. A place where tears flow freely but tears stay dry because everyone has a shoulder to cry on. People literally feel the support of Lord Jesus. 

Danielle Strickland – Author, Global Social Justice Advocate

“So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.” Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.” Then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place. There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. “Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged. “Let us enter them.” So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.” Mark‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What’s the worse that could happen?

Why did Jesus want to go to the other side? What was going on? 

Truth layers that go deeper and deeper. 

No one can help this demon possessed man. He was running around deserted and wilderness places crying out. Jesus is in the midst of His ministry and He hears the cry. 

When God introduced Himself to Moses He said, I am Yahweh and I heard the cry. 

Is it possible that Jesus is willing to stop and suspend the masses and big majority for one man who is suffering? Someone so talented over by the darkness that he can’t even speak and only cries. 

Jesus will leave a busy and thriving ministry, cross over a boat, endure a storm to respond to the CRY of one person on the other side of the lake.

Where there is a cry, where there is suffering, God is here. When we dehumanize people who suffer God is not with us. God is with those who cry. 

Evidence of God being with us. God confronts, names and exposes oppressive power. 

If people could see the power of God for themselves it would be revival. Yet in this passage people beg Jesus to leave the region. Jesus exposed and confronted a demonic power that is both personal and bigger than them. When Jesus asked the name it said Legion. A group of Roman soldiers who occupy a region is named Legion. Both oppressive forces driven by fear and lies. Jesus exposed those powers. The symbol of this power was a pig. 

Oppression works with two major strategies. Fear and lies. Boring and keeps repeating itself. When fear and lies motivate you life it leads you to oppression. Sometimes based in economics or scarcity. A fear based strategy of survival. 

The lie is the person to fear is the oppressor. Remember the Exodus story. There are two women who began the exodus. Two midwives who refused to fear pharaoh because they feared God. The lie was an illusion of the ultimate power. 

Jesus with Pilot and He refused to talk. Jesus shatters fear and exposes lies. 

John the Baptist eats locus because locus destroy the harvest. 

Jesus gave permission to the demonic forces. He’s in charge. He is Most High God. 

What are you so afraid of? 

Jesus doesn’t destroy the pigs. The only thing Jesus destroys is the works of the devil. Jesus is here to set free. The pigs are driven to the sea by demons because the Riveness is demonic. The devil drives people to death. It doesn’t matter if it looks good or not.

God heals, restores, and sets people free. 

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:8 NIV

To unravel the devil’s work. To unravel oppression. To loosen. 

To kill, steal, and destroy is the devils work. Jesus is life to the full. 

We need the sovereign power of God. It’s not just grater it’s different. 

Worldly power possesses – God’s power liberates

Worldly power takes – God’s power gives

Worldly power controls – God’s power creates

Is your ministry lead by drivenness? Where does drivenness lead? 

The healed man wanted to follow. Jesus sent him home. This wasn’t rejection. This man was so conditioned to oppression that he wanted to trade one master for another and Jesus said no. That’s not the kind of leader I am. I didn’t come to deliver you for what you could do for me. I came to deliver you because I love you. Jesus sent him home to be healed and it’s the best thing for the man. That’s God here now. God with us. 

One chapter later Jesus returned to the area and it’s a revival. Thousands just wanted to touch Jesus cloak. Pray for this revival. What we don’t picture when we pray for revival is the confrontation of power and the exposing of demonic forces that comes before the revival. Jesus is better than I thought. 

Dan Scott

We are here to stay. 

Jesus said, “I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” Jesus wasn’t talking about a building, He was talking about a community of human beings. 

There have been times when the church has felt anything but loving. Humans are loving but often super messy. Jesus said the church would be a presence in the church moving forward as the world moves on and changes. 

The world is changing. Digital citizens, the change in families, the shifts in how we see each other and process the world around us. Because the world keeps changing, so must the church. The church is sometimes loving, and sometimes messy but I believe it is full of hope. Is your church still a meaningful presence in the world? 

Yes the church is here to stay but I have to ask, are you? Am I? Are we here for whatever it will take for the church of today to become the church of tomorrow? Are we ready to innovate? Are we ready to cancel some stuff and start some stuff for the sake of the next generation? 

Let’s build communities where people find life and discover Jesus. That’s why I still show up. Remember today, we are the church. And we are here to stay. 

—

Eugene Kim – Pastor, Founder of New Wine Collective

Can we define innovation for the sake of the conversation? Innovation is a buzzword but sometimes they can be helpful because they indicate something happening in the culture and church. Innovation is simply about problem solving. When you care, you innovate. Innovation is identifying and understanding a problem and then creating a solution to this problem, for the sake of love. 

Almost every innovation process starts with empathy. Sensing the problem with your whole self. 

If you want to do something different in the church or in the world, don’t be surprised when God wants to do something different in you first. 

If you want to change something, often the first thing to change is yourself. Noticing a lot of problems causes a wrestle with the reality that a lot of those problems start here. Confronting your fear and your ego. Go fast and break things is not always helpful. We want to be healers and servants. Pray asking God, how am I positioned to address this problem? 

No one size fits all solution. We all have to remember and acknowledge that none of us are alone. We are connected in a web of relationships. Maybe the whole system can’t change, it’s a big ship that can’t turn on a dime. 

How do we create speed boats, R&D labs? To practice at a small scale what we want to see at a large scale. The church needs people who will courageously venture into the unknown and attempt new things. 

Where do you start? Start with love to be in the right place of motivation. Humility, start with I don’t know. Gather people together and create a space where every voice can be heard. Invite people in because I only see a little part of the picture. Gather your people together and look at the problem together. 

—

Leslie Mack – Vice President of Lifestage Strategies at Orange

The church used to be one of the most innovative groups of people. Commissioning artist. Innovating in the space of music. Medicine and the medical field. Hospitals today were traced back to Jesus sermon of the Good Samaritan. The Gothenburg press started with printing a bible. 

Where can I find innovators? The answer used to be the church. Today, we don’t really hear people saying the church. What changed? Jesus reminds us the church is here to stay and it’s going to last. If it’s going to last, why innovate? The Church will be here, that doesn’t guarantee YOUR church will be here. 

There are really only two responses to this promise. Be compelled by His promises and do something with it or be complacent about our purpose. The parable of the talents. 

Maybe a better question was what hangs in the balance if we don’t innovate?

If we don’t innovate, we become complicit in the siding of the perceived gap between faith and future.  We accidentally tell a generation…”Pick one: Faith or future.”

My faith is relevant to culture. Culture is not the bad guy, it’s a mirror to show us where we can innovate. 

Any time an organization, an institute, or a brand’s actions today don’t match their hopes for tomorrow, they risk creating a gap that they are in danger of falling into.

Case Study on Blockbuster. 
9000 stores across America. Collected 800M annually in late fees. Blockbuster could have purchased Netflix for 50M but they laughed in their face. Today there is one blockbuster left. Blockbuster created this huge gap. What would you want to let the church know? What would you tell us? I believe they would say, “Decentralized doesn’t mean disengaged.” You have to disrupt yourself or someone else will. Decentralized faith may be a healthier faith because it gives faith a chance to be applied. Kids and teenagers should get an opportunity to experience their faith with you and without you. If they can only experience faith with you, is it really their own faith? If a teenager has a co-dependent relationship with you or your building and they have late fee feelings if they miss it, perhaps they create that gap. 

Case Study on BlackBerry. 
The cell phone industry became to innovate. Touch screen shows up and they thought people wanted the satisfaction of pushing a button and doubled down on the keyboard. They kept the keyboard even after they made a touch screen. BlackBerry valued the wrong thing. They thought we wanted productivity in sending more emails. We value status and didn’t want to be the green bubble in the chat. Blackberry would tell the church today and warn us, just because it worked once doesn’t mean it’s going to work forever. What are you unwilling to even have the conversation about? The message has to be more important than the method of delivery. 

Case Study on Apple Newton Plus. 
Showed up way ahead of it’s time 1992. Touchscreen messaging pad. Long form reading for books. Language task assistant. On the market for 5 years. So many articles call it an expense piece of useless technology and it was discontinued. The same teach using the same ideas from the Apple Newton Plus created the iPad and the iPhone. Built a bridge. Just because it didn’t work once, doesn’t mean it won’t work one day. Maybe it’s still a good idea that needs revisited. Maybe you are ahead of your time. Learn from the ideas that someone else says are a flop. If you never experience t you never innovate. Everything that exists today was an innovation on something that existed in the past. 

Innovation doesn’t have to be a big scary idea. It says someone imagined a better future. Innovation is a message of hope. Every innovation is temporary. Remove the fear of being perfect before trying something. When we dare to innovate is saying I have a hope for the future. I have part to play it in. Innovation is a practice in resilience. Do whatever it takes for the faith of the next generation. Innovation is the evidence of hope. 

Ashley Bohinc 

That thing that happens when a kid accomplishes something. 

Doing something is in our DNA. It matters more when the knowing is connected to the doing.

Every week you can I get to speak potential and life into every kid. We get to help them see the potential that’s within them. A kid may never know they matter. 

As we are preparing, don’t forget to spend time preparing to teach kids what to do with the information we are talking about. Because doing good matters. What do we do with all the information we just learned? 

—

Geoff Banks – High School Pastor, Port City Community Church

Googling how to surf but never doing it. Telling people you knew how to surf when you’ve never surfed before. All of the information went out the window. Ministry is a similar experience. 

Taking notes at a conference but then head back home and something would happen. When sitting across the table from a student, all the information in my head went out the window. In real life you can’t check the book. Eventually you have a lot of notes, siting on a shelf. The adult version of summer camp. Life hits. 

Some of us drink out of the firehose and we get overwhelmed. Can I really do it all? Can I change it call? We stop ourselves before we even get started. 

Or we plan on crushing it but then the burden in your heart starts to die down. 

What if we thought differently about what we do when we get home. Take the burning in your heart and channel it into what’s going on at home. 

Matthew 13 –  A Little Leaven

1. Leave encouraged. Don’t worry about measuring up to others. No competition and going against one another. When it’s a family of God, I love to see you win. I leave encourage because I know the family of God is beautiful. 

2. Start somewhere. It’s easy to want to pick everything. Thinking of doing it all is overwhelming. Just pick something. Start small. Distill the information and share it with someone. Don’t keep it to yourself. Starter sourdough dies unless applied. 

3. Build momentum into the future. Change can be energizing. When you take your first step, it’s easier to see the next step. Momentum in ministry doesn’t look like your plan. When we build momentum it looks like God. 

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV

—

Joseph Sojourner

A good man once said, don’t tell anyone, but the real leaders stay to the end.

When gathering with families we often begin sharing the highlights of your life. 

I know you think you know how he is, but you aren’t here…

Have you ever tried to get all your family to go somewhere? Good luck. “You’re the one who said you wanted to go and do this.” 

As you’re getting ready to go home, you know it’s not going to go according to plan. Going never goes according to plan. 

Ross trying to move the couch. The first thing Ross does is shows his friends the plan. Pivot. Pivot. And eventually they drop the couch. It was all right there on paper yet it didn’t go according to plan. The same happens in our ministries. 

Their lives don’t go according to plan. I’m placed in their life to continue to push them and maybe they will be willing to go for it. 

Go makes you think No, especially the older you get. You begin to ask more questions. What time are we going to get back? Who’s driving? 

Staying is comfortable, going is disruptive. Staying is familiar, going is foreign. Staying is safe, going is scary. 

Some of you will be called to go further than others. We are all called to go, to go make disciples.  

“One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The disciples were working third shift. They were washing their nets and they were done. Yet they get in the boat and push off.

3 Obstacles In Progress.

Failure. The disciples already did that and failed. It didn’t go according to plan. Failure can begin to erode our confidence. One day we look up and are always talking about our failures. We are so focused on what has happened we are no longer looking forward. Will you keep going when facing past failures? 

Frustration. The disciples were fishing all night and didn’t catch anything. It’s easy to work hard when everything is working out. Frustration builds and leads to agitation. Agitation leads us to abandon our assignments. How many of us will say, “I didn’t sign up for this.” 

Fatigue. We’ve been up all night fishing and caught nothing. We get tired. People see it on us. Jesus still offers instruction in our fatigue. It might be the obedience to the assignment that might provide the energy. I pray that God will begin to replenish my cup. Going from a 1/3 of a cup to a cup overflowing. Your job is to obey, the energy may just come next. With God all things are possible. So many fish came in and they had to call in another boat. 

I don’t know who God is going to put in front of you but because of your obedience someone will reep the harvest. 

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV

Remember God has given each and every one of us a light. 

Live Notes, so more coming over the next couple of hours. Check back as the conference continues.