Overseers Retreat 2019

Objectives:

I’m excited that we have set aside this evening as a retreat… and it is difficult to squeeze too much into a night like this and be productive…

So, I have set some objectives… for this evening… And some of it is foundational that we can continue to build upon…

The first thing is we are going to have dinner..

Objectives:

Devotional - Set time for Prayer and Consecration (30 min)

Learning time - Purpose. (30 min)

Setting Goals - - (30 minutes)

Ministry Goals

Facilities

Finances

Open in Prayer…

Devotional… Today is a New Day.

Devotional

This evening going to start with a Text from the book of Joshua… There is a transition in leadership from Moses to Joshua… This chapter deals with the calling of Joshua to lead the nation of Israel… Moses is Dead.... and Joshua his attendant has been called to take over his ministry… There are many lessons on leadership in the book of Joshua…

Text:

Joshua 1:6–10 ESV

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 10 And Joshua commanded the officers of the people,

Joshua 1:6-

A couple of weeks ago, as I was preparing to preach from the book of Joshua and one of the things that I noticed… is that there was something very distinct between the New Generation than that the older generation that died in the wilderness… In noticed..

And it had to do with Readiness and preparedness..

Forty years earlier the Old Generation reached the exact same spot and failed to enter into the promises that God had outlined for Israel… There were some distinguishing differences...

The New Generation were marked with Faith and Obedience...They were Compliant and ready to enter into what God had for them --While the old Generation.. Resisted…The Older Generation were marked by fear and Doubt --- the result is that whole generation died in the wilderness....

We know that it is God’s will that Israel enter into the land… Older Generation had the exact same promise.

Joshua 1:3 ESV

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.

“ just as I promised to Moses.”

Same promise… different outcomes. We know that it is God’s will for every Church to be thriving… healthy and growing...

What is the difference?

The young generation were in a different place Spiritually when it came to receiving God’s promise… They had gone through some things… they had seen miracles of God’s supply in the wilderness… and also crossed over the Red Sea… They had seen the problem of disobedience… learned from the past…

Ultimately…… They were ready to say yes to God…

When Joshua said lets pick up the Ark and get moving there is no murmuring or complaining --- only compliance…

When Joshua announces that they are going to take possession of the land the people… respond… “all that you have commanded us we will do, and where ever you send us we will… go.”

Why would 2 Million People be so willing to follow?. What made the difference?

I believe it is because of Consecration… Preparation… Before they entered into the Jordan… they spent 3 Days getting themselves -- Physically, mentally Spiritually prepared.

Joshua 1:8–9 ESV

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua made the connection between Consecration and Success..

when Israel is about to go against Jericho..… The first thing Joshua does is to have the young men circumcised - Mark them with the sign of covenant… Circumcision is matter of identity… God is their God and they are his people… Get right with God…

When God deals with our hearts he is able to deal with the reproach of yesterday...

Joshua 5:9 ESV

9 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day

And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day

It’s a New Year and it’s a New day for us… and what I would like to do is to lead us through prayer of Examine…

One of the most heart felt prayers in the Bible is … This is the prayer after David is confronted by Nathan the prophet about his affair with Bathsheba… For along time he ignored the issue...

We are going to use this Prayer as Guide… for consecration…

We are going to Read One verse… at a time and I want you to hold onto one word.. or phrase… and praying it confessionally… over us as leaders.. This is great text for us to do this…

Before we do this I want to read verse 13 --

13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 

David realized once he had Consecrated his life...Once God had restored the joy of his salvation --- He would be in the right position to teach transgressors his ways...and bring those who are lost into a restored relationship with the Father...

Lets pray..

Psalm 51:1–13 ESV

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

Psalms 51:

Purpose

When we talk about leadership… normally the word influence comes up…But leadership is not only about influence it’s about managing Change… There is one thing that we can be sure of and that is Change…

But leadership is not only about influence it’s about managing Change… There is one thing that we can be sure of and that is Change…

The other day we doing a spring clean around the house and found this old VHS tape --- and we have memories of the kids on that Video… Mark was wanting to watch it… and we don’t have any device… that can play it.. VHS… were were relevant 2003 but are irrelevant in 2019--- One of roles as leaders is to manage Change… if we don’t do that the danger is that we become irrelevant or extinct...

“The most notable trait of great leaders, certainly of great change leaders, however, is their quest for learning. They show an exceptional willingness to push themselves out of their own comfort zones, even after they have achieved a great deal.”

—John Kotter, Leading Change

In other words if we are going to be impactful in the future we need to be willing to become a Learning Community… Willing to understand the culture within our Church and the culture without the church...

One of the challenges that we face in leadership is Clarifying Goals and objectives…

There are three words that come up in Organizational leadership..They are VALUES .... PURPOSE… MISSION… VISION… These are all closely related and connected to each other… And often get confused… So, need to define meanings...

VALUES - Answer the Who Question?

It’s an identity question… Our values represent who we are....

Values are those things that are imbedded in our DNA…Values are the guard rails…

that determine what we do or don’t do… Over the past few years we have done some work on our values...

RelationshipsDiscipleshipMissionsBiblical Preaching

What do we Value is something that we have to wrestle with… But our Values don’t necessary Change… Our methods might change but our values… For example --- A few years ago we adopted Sticky Church as our method of Discipleship… started off as Core Groups… now they are morphing into Community Groups… Our value is still DISCIPLESHIP…

Purpose -- Answers the Why Questions

- Why we exist? If the church were to shut down would anyone miss us… Do we serve a purpose in the community and in the world...

Mission - Answers the What Questions - What do we do?

Now regardless whether it is stated mission or not… Our mission comes from the Great Commission..

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

According to this passage, the mission of the church is to reach out to nonbelievers and develop them, along with existing believers, into committed followers of Christ. This is the mission the purposes of the church are intending to accomplish.

Church growth consultant Win Arn has observed something even more disturbing. Arn conducted a survey in which he interviewed the members of nearly one thousand churches in regard to what they perceived to be the mission of the church. 89 percent said the church exists “to take care of my family’s and my needs.” Only 11 percent said it existed to win the world to Christ.

This points to a disturbing reality: Many churches fail to have any sense of mission at all, and those that do may fall far short of having a mission that is biblical in its scope.

Mission needs to be in line with the Great Commission… Mission is what we Do… That is to MAKE disciples...

It is easy for a Church to be off mission… Or experience mission Drift… An example -- to use the metaphor of a Car assembly line… if all the activities that we do were an assembly line… Small Groups, ministry, worship, mens groups, youth --- The purpose of the mission --- out come would be to develop fully devoted followers.. the Key word is MAKE disciples..

Now the problem with Churches mission statements… is that instead of MAKING cars we can be MAINTENANCE PROGRAM for existing cars..windshields are washed, fluids are checked, and tire pressure is monitored. The goal is to keep cars that have already been built well tuned and polished for the showroom.

Vision - Answers the Ought questions?

Speaks of a preferred future… Vision speaks what we Aspire to Become…

George Barna - The power of Vision.

“Vision for ministry is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His chosen servants and is based upon an accurate understanding of God, self, and circumstances.”

Key Words in that is PREFERABLE FUTURE IMPARTED BY GOD.

Beginning of Last year we talked about Crisis in our church that we are an aging congregation.. we need to be growing younger… We Aspire to be congregation that multigenerational..

We Going to spend Sometime working on Purpose Statement tonight… Justin Irving Professor of Organizational Leadership…

Purpose as an Element of Culture

Defining our Reality: Outside Community

LD202 Communication and Organizational Leadership The Leader’s Responsibility

Are there realities in our environment that we need to pay attention to as a community?

What things within our community that might

Are there realities in our environment that we need to pay attention to as a community?

Reality within our Community:

Why does Richvale Church exist?

Why is the story of our Church significant?

How does the story of Richvale fit into the story of life?

How does the story of this Richvale Church fit into a broader metanarrative, drawing back to things like the Christian story?

Levels of Purpose

How does the story of this Richvale Church fit into a broader metanarrative, drawing back to things like the Christian story?

Theological Ends...

How do we as Church honor and Glorify God?

Anthropological Ends.

How is our Church filling basic human needs?

What is our subordinate Purpose?

Developing a Purpose Statement

What would our world lose if our church seized to Exist?

Why don’t we shut the door?

Why do we expend our energy on this?

What language should our Purpose statement include?

What Purpose provides

Spend some time working on some elements of Purpose Statement

Setting Goals - -

Ministry Goals 2019

1. Community Groups

Facilities

2. What needs to be done around the building?

Finances