My Epic Journey

At EPIC we finished our Directions series with a look at finding and developing our spiritual gifts.  We handed each of our students a simple test.  You can take a look at the test here: Spiritual Gift Test

We looked at the importance of our gifts and why we should use them using 1 Corinthians 12 as our base.

We ended our High School time by brainstorming practical ways we can implement and use our spiritual gifts.

My prayer is that we not only know what our gifts are but we also know how to use them to bring glory to God!!

This whole series stemmed from a "town hall meeting" we had with our high school students.  You can read about it here: Next Three Steps of EPIC

We had a phenomenal leader’s meeting last weekend with our AMAZING EPIC leaders.  I through out a quick question to them all.  What would you like to see EPIC accomplish this year (school year) and how can we do that? 

Here are their responses to the first part of that question:

• Connect the Unconnected.  We have a lot of students that are a part of Grace Point but not connected to the student ministry.  We want to simply make sure that they know we are here and if need anything we are desirous to help.
• Build Bridges.  Since our ministry hits 6th graders through 12th graders we feel we need to keep them separate for most of the time.  We have found though that they enjoy getting together occasionally.  We feel it is important to keep them separate for most of the time but also see the value of partnering up with activities.

• Think & Live "Outside the Box".  To use a Erwin McManus phrase, "we (as a church) have a choice, to either be a movement or a monument."  Often we choose the latter, and yet God setup the Church to be a movement.  We must not only THINK "outside the box" (our church walls) but also LIVE there as well.  We are desperately trying to figure out what that looks like and how we accomplish that.
• Become a True Spiritual Family.  Another thing we often forget is that God has created the Church to be a FAMILY–a living, breathing FAMILY.  We accomplish this by learning how to 1) love, 2) care and 3) value one another.  If we don’t work together and love one another then we will never be effective in reaching others.

We are still working toward figuring out the second part to our question, "how can we do that?"  But I am very confident that I have the most amazing team of leaders in the world and that together, this will be one of the most impacting years of EPIC.

There are a few posts I don’t dare miss a daily visit to.  Tonymorganlive.com is one of them. 

If you are a leader this is a site you need to bookmark.  Here is a recent post about parenting his first teen child that I thought would be great for all parents:

"Emily has been reading several books on parenting teenagers. She’s not doing that because we’re having trouble parenting our teenager. She’s reading these books because we’re parenting our first of four teenagers and we’d like to get it right the first time. It’s led to some great conversations between Emily and me and with our teenage daughter.

Part of the coaching that has been consistent in each of these books is the recommendation to “seek advice from a friend, counselor or a pastor.” Being a pastor, let me just say that’s about the stupidest advice a book could provide. Good counsel doesn’t come with position. Good counsel comes with experience. And, frankly, I know very few pastors that have successfully raised teenagers.

If you need advice, first ask the question who has walked through this same situation and come out the other side in a healthy position? Personally, I try to find coaching/counsel that’s coming out of a person’s success rather than a title behind their name.

Also, this should be an encouragement to folks that are struggling with specific issues in their lives. I have friends who are dealing with parenting, weight, sleep, financial, career challenges, etc. There are days right now where you’re probably thinking, “I wish this problem would just go away.” The reality is that you are walking through an experience that will ultimately put you in a better position to help others take their next steps toward Christ.

By the way, this same advice applies to personal challenges and ministry challenges. Just because a church is bigger than yours or more well-known than yours doesn’t mean their leaders are the best folks to give counsel.

What’s your specific challenge? Who has successfully walked through that challenge? Talk to that person."