August 30th, 2010 by Tim Moore

I love the weekend so much that I’m often re-living the great things we saw and heard the next day.  So, I thought I would take a moment to recap some of the highlights from this past weekend.  I may do this every Monday.

• Our 10:30 experience was packed full.  Thought we were going to run out of chairs at one point.  I’m praying we fill it so much on 9/12 that we have to ask our regulars to stand along the walls!!  Praying the other times fill up as well.
• Band was spot on and worship was off ‘de hook!
• I preached on vision.  Probably spoke more to people who know they need to chase what God is putting in their hearts to do.
• Made this statement:  Dreamers dream with their eyes closed, visionaries look with eyes open to see a need to be met.
• A vision always begins with a burden.  Otherwise its just a self-motivated dream.
• I’m praying that God will turn our people’s passion into burdens that we can’t ignore.
• Don’t spend your life without discovering what God wants to do through you or it will be a life filled with regret.
• Preached from the Book of Esther.  Love the story in that book.
• Didn’t share the happy ending in Esther in the first 2 experiences and my wife said I should.  I did in the 12pm.  They usually get the best message.
• Talked with a bunch of first time guests that loved it!! 
• Talked with a Muslim leader who wanted me to condemn a church in Florida that is going to burn the Koran on 9/11.  While I don’t agree with that action, I will not get political or preach on what the Church should be AGAINST.  I have one focus – sharing Jesus.  That’s what I want to be known for.

Gearing up for FAQ.  We have some really tough hard hitting questions.  I can’t wait to celebrate 2 years in Lithopolis.  Bring as many people as you can that day.  I will be sharing the Gospel!

Also, don’t forget to join us on Sep. 8 from 12-1pm in the auditorium as we pray for the names of the people we are going to invite to church or share Christ with.

It was a great day.  I love my church.

August 19th, 2010 by Tim Moore

People often look to the top leader in any organization for vision.  As a lead pastor, that is one of my primary roles for the church I lead.  I am expected to receive vision from God and then cast it to the church.  But one thing I’m learning as I grow as a visionary is that I must IMPART vision and not simply CAST it.

Casting is a fishing term.  It’s when you throw a line out in the water with hopes that a fish will take the hook.  When I was a kid, my older brother used to take me fishing.  He loved it…I hated it.  It was incredible lifeless, especially when the fish weren’t biting (which was most of the time).  I think I’m too ADD for fishing.

The difference between casting and imparting is paramount.

Anyone can CAST a vision, but not anyone can IMPART one.  To impart is to take part of something in you and put it in someone else.   To do this the vision must be genuine and really IN you.

I went through a 6 month period of time when I was so desperate for God’s vision for our church that I fasted and prayed almost every day for it.  I lost about 25 pounds that year through much angst and internal termoil.  I was so desperate to see a clear vision from God or I was going to quit the ministry.  I remember praying, “God if something doesn’t change within a year…I’m done.”  Through that broken experience God ignited a red-hot vision INSIDE of me.  It wasn’t really any different from the vision we set out to accomplish, but rather it was now alive in me.

It can be so easy for a pastor to grab another person’s vision and try to cast it in his church.  I have seen that fail.  But if you own it, believe it, and truly receive it from God, then it will come out of you with fervor and zeal.  It won’t be a lifeless cast, but something communicated with passion and desperation.

People want an inspiring vision to follow.  People want to be part of something bigger than themselves.  Yet many are not inspired because they are given diagrams and 5 year plans on paper rather than receiving the vision through impartation.

If you want people to truly be passionate about your vision, impart it don’t just cast it.

August 4th, 2010 by Tim Moore

I think sometimes it is easier for us to invest in a system rather than in people.  It’s less complicated to create a uniform system where everyone is recruited, given a handbook and told how to operate.  But we have seen the limitations of systems in the church.  Sometimes they help, but other times they can actually hinder.

The church is in the PEOPLE business.  We are called to reach PEOPLE with the Gospel.  We want to see PEOPLE get on the path to God.  So we’ve decided to invest in our people rather than any curriculum.

I believe that if we can equip and train leaders how to care for and lead a smaller group within the church, that our entire church will grow spiritually.  So we are taking many steps to find and invest in new leaders.

Here are some of the things we are doing for the leaders:

1. Walking them through an application process.  (This can be started on the web, but it will finish with the personal help of our ccGroup leaders)
2. Our ccGroup leaders are making themselves available to meet one-on-one with leaders if the situations calls for it.
3. Offer up regular training sessions for anyone who wants to lead a ccGroup to give them the tools to do it well.  I believe the first scheduled training is August 11th.  Contact Mike McCoy for details.
4. We want to regularly bring leaders together to share ideas and continue to provide them with tool for leadership.
5. We are doing a series coming up to raise the bar of leadership within our entire church.

Jesus took 12 young guys who had nothing to do with ministry and turned them into leaders who changed the world (okay 11 of them).  He invested the majority of his time into those guys.  We want to do the same thing.  We are investing in our leaders!

August 2nd, 2010 by Tim Moore

This past Sunday, I shared the new direction we are taking with our groups.  They are now called ccGroups and with that name change comes an even bigger strategic change.  We have for many years had groups focused around doing the same thing (rehash the weekend message, bible study, etc).  They have been okay…but we are not fine with “okay”.

We are attempting to remove the road blocks to allow community to happen.  I believe when we simply allow true community to happen, discipleship naturally occurs.  Here are some of the key thoughts from this past weekend’s message based on Ephesians 4:11-13.  If you missed it, catch it later this week on our website.

• The pastor is NOT responsible for discipling the church…the church is responsible to disciple each other.  (Wow!! That was something I never captured in this text before.)
• Pastors and Teachers ARE responsible to equip or train the church to disciple each other.
• We don’t need another system or method to force discipleship, instead discipleship happens when people in the church are empowered to do what God asked them to do.
• We are not going to invest in methods or classes, but rather in people – to equip leaders to facilitate discipleship.
• Church leaders have often hindered this because we’ve wanted to control it.  (I am guilty of this as well)
• What is one thing you absolutely love to do and are passionate about it?  (Ride a motorcycle, play golf, scrapbook, read, etc…)  Could you imagine doing that for God and getting to help others as well through it?
• We are empowering our people to form a group around something they LOVE to do.  When people love the same things, they want to be with each other.
• Some might object to this because they think it is “too shallow”.  To that I say, “When you’ve lost your job and have no money for bills and food and people in your “shallow” group step up and give you money and food, you probably won’t think it’s shallow anymore.”
• I believe we can triple our ccGroups almost over night.  We have received TONS of requests already to form new groups or join one.

Some of the groups that people have expressed interest in forming are motorcycle groups, exercise  groups, outdoor groups, knitting (yes I said knitting) groups, reading/book groups, sports groups, business groups, and more.  I really believe this has the potential to create a deeper sense of community than we have ever known at Crossroads.

If you were inspired to be in a ccGroup or form a new one, go here and take the next step.

I’ll share some more thoughts on this throughout the week.

July 30th, 2010 by Tim Moore

Most everyone that comes to our church will see quickly that we put a major emphasis on our Weekend Experiences.  We recognize that in our culture, it is one of the best ways to reach people with the Gospel.  Our environment is darker, with moving lights, haze, videos and more.  Trying to reach an MTV generation is not easy.  Yet, it’s working and people are receiving Christ nearly every weekend at Crossroads.  That’s stinkin’ awesome.

But we are working to make it even better.  Here are few things we are working to help us create 5-star Weekend Experiences.

• We recently added a production manager that is responsible for the entire experience.  His job is to make sure everything runs well and is done with excellence.
• We have a short review after the 9am experience to see what needs changed or what can be made better for the other experiences.
• We are moving toward IMAG.  This would move us one step closer to stream our entire experience online as well as enable us to broadcast to future sites.
• We are training our Host Experience Team to do everything they can to remove distractions.  There may come a time when you walk out of our auditorium that you will be asked to stay somewhere else to watch the feed.  We aren’t trying to be difficult…we are trying to remove all distractions so people can clearly hear and receive the Gospel.  You can help us do this now by being courteous to those around you.
• We hope to get our construction going for tearing down the back stage wall and expanding the room by 2,000 sq ft which should let us add more seating and make the stage presence better!

We want everything we do to be 5-star quality.  Our hope is that by the time a guest makes it into the Weekend Experience, they have been greeted, seated and treated with excellence.  At that point, we will present the Gospel through a 5-star Weekend Experience and continue to trust God to lead people across the line of salvation.

July 29th, 2010 by Tim Moore

As many of you know, we have invested lots of $$ and hours into our new ccKids facility (The Boulevard).  We invested in our kids first because we believe in them and want them to know Christ.  It’s actually an outreach strategy.  Most statistics say about 80% of people who give their lives to Christ do it by the age 18.  So perhaps, they are worth investing in.  Here are some of the things we are doing to give every kid that comes to Crossroads a 5-star experience.

• We are finishing up The Loft (new space for Jr and Sr High groups).  We still need couches (good stuff) if you can donate any.
• We are investing big money in the kids space to reach people who never go to church or are disillusioned by it.    People who have an issue with this should read this post by Joe Miller.  Enough said.
• We want to double the number of people in our Impressions team and install the Concierge Team in the youth facility as well.
• We still have work to do to finish our ccKids Studio room.  We’re going to need help for this soon.
• Beth, our ccKids Director, is working to add more teachers and helpers to each room so individual kids can get more focus.  But to do this…we NEED you!
• We want to launch a 5-6 grade experience in The Loft and need leaders and teachers who are willing to invest in our kids at possibly the MOST important time of their lives.

Let’s just say, we care about our kids.  I care about my own kids and I want to do everything I can to build the most amazing Kids and Youth program I can.

It bothers me that nearly 80% of kids who are raised in the church walk away from it when they graduate.  I want to CHANGE that at Crossroads and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.  But I can’t do it alone.  I need your help.  Our kids need your help.

Listen, if you are a parent of kids who attend at Crossroads…YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING.  Don’t just drop them off every week and hope they learn about God.  Be part of it.  Be a helper, be a teacher, heck, be a bouncer.  Just get involved.

Are you ready?  If so, go here and fill out our volunteer application online!

Oh and you must have a background check before you can help out.  (And speeding tickets won’t disqualify you)

July 28th, 2010 by Tim Moore

One of the biggest questions we have wrestled with regarding new converts is, “How do we help them take their Next Step once they make a commitment to Christ?”  We have seen almost 170 people make commitments to Christ since launching here Lithopolis.  (That is only the people who have told us, I believe there are more)  We realized early on that we must be responsible to not only help them cross the line of faith but to take their next step as a Christ-follower.

One thing we implemented about a year ago was the creation of a Next Step to give anyone makes a commitment to Christ.  In this kit, we give them a Bible with simple reading plan to get them started, a DVD of a message I preached on Baptism, some cards talking about the essentials of The Bible, Jesus, a relationship with God and more, a journal, and a letter from me congratulating them and helping them take another step.

I think we have done a good job putting together something on a dime.  But we want to make this entire process a little more strategic.

Here are some of the things we want to do to make sure each new believer has every opportunity to make the Next Step.

• Revamping Guest Services to be more than just an information table, but rather people who call and follow-up with people who get a Next Step personally.
• We have plans to get a more professional looking box and materials to give out in this kit.  (This portion is very costly and we can’t do it yet)
• Creating Next Step small groups where people can attend for several weeks and begin to develop a good foundation for their faith.
• Trying to develop a process to help us capture their stories either on video or written shortly after the moment of salvation.
• Developing a process to help encourage them to take the next step toward baptism and joining a small group.

These are some of the ideas we have and are currently working on.  If anyone has any thoughts or things we could do to help new Christ-followers take that Next Step, I’d love to hear them.

July 27th, 2010 by Tim Moore

After last week’s strong message on volunteering, I thought I would take some time this week to unfold the vision more for all my subscribers. I hope the message was received with grace and that my church knows that I only want to see us DO what Jesus asked us to do. I love our church and plan to spend the rest of my life leading it to impact the world with the Gospel.

Our 5-Star Vision to treat people like VIP’s is going to shape how we do Guest Services. We recognize that we only get one chance to make a great first impression. We’ve done a great job making people feel welcome, but we now want to make people feel special. That is why we are working to adopt more of a concierge type mentality. Here are some of the things we are working through right now.

• We want to figure out how to find first time guests the moment they drive on our property. We want to give them the best parking spots and personally greet them
• We would love to have a golf-cart or two available for picking people up in the lot and driving them to the front doors (this one is expensive so if anyone wants to donate one…)
• We want to have so many people serving each experience on the Impressions team that we can offer individual concierge attention to our first time guests.
• Each trained concierge host will have a mission to make that person or family feel welcome and answer all their questions. They may offer to take them on a tour of the facility, help them get their kids checked in, offer to grab them coffee, help seat them and even leave a business card with them so they can remember their name and find them if they need anything.
• We are working on a new brochure to give first time guests that will tell them a little more about us and help answer any questions they may have after they leave.
• We are working on a follow-up procedure that will include a personal touch as well as possibly offer to deliver a pizza to their house or give them a gift card for a meal at some restaurant.

These are some of the ideas that we are discussing and working to implement. We did not think all of these up ourselves, some are inspired by some other great churches. You can see now why we have such a big need to double the number of volunteers.

If you have any thoughts or ideas to contribute, please leave comments. We are still developing all of this and welcome your input.  I will post more this week about what we are doing in other areas.

July 15th, 2010 by Tim Moore

Last night we celebrated the 130+ volunteers who serve at Crossroads Church. It was an incredible night. We gave away HUNDREDS of dollars in gift cards throughout the evening, offered free massages, food and even karaoke. The band led us in some incredible music and I got the honor of sharing my deep appreciation as well as the vision of where we are taking the volunteer ministry.

I told our people we must ditch a church mentality when it comes to volunteering. The church mentality says I’m JUST here because they need this job done or I JUST park cars or I JUST teach little kids. You don’t JUST do anything…you practically demonstrate the Gospel through what you do. We need to realize that every part of what we do reflects the God we worship. (Col 3:23)

I think its time we adopt a Restaurant Mentality in the Church. I truly believe that what the church is serving is the greatest meal around. Jesus said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” If we believe that, then we must recognize our responsibility in how we present the Gospel.

When you go to a nice restaurant, you are treated like a VIP. Everyone working there knows their main goal is to treat the guests to the best experience they can. When you find a restaurant with incredible food (which the Church is already serving) and incredible service, it creates a buzz. It causes people to want to come back. It’s the best way to evangelize. People tell other people.

I envisioned our volunteers to ditch the church mentality and to think 5-star restaurant. We want every guest who walks through our doors to feel like and be treated like a VIP. Why go to so much trouble? Because they are a VIP. In God’s eyes, each person is a Very Important Person. They matter to God and should matter to us!

We have much in the works to step everything up a notch this fall. We want to go from a 4-start to a 5-star restaurant. And we need more volunteers to do this. If you are not currently volunteering at Crossroads, why not? Be part of what God is doing here. Get off the bench and into the game. The lost world needs you.

Click here to get involved.

May 27th, 2010 by Tim Moore

I spent many years serving in a church setting where I never saw anything happen. Sure we had great “emotional moments” in God’s presence. But at the end of the day, was someone changed? Rarely. After a while, I got very frustrated and was left wanting more.

That’s when God spoke clearly to me through John 15:16.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

When the reality of that hit me, I knew I must do something different. God began to birth a vision in me for bearing fruit with my life. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and be filled with regret for not impacting people’s lives. For not bearing fruit. That vision has only gotten hotter in me in the past 2 years!

Not only has our church grown 5 times what it was only 18 months ago, but we are hearing testimonies of people’s marriages and lives being changed! Last night I heard of a girl who has a heroine problem had surrendered her life to Christ in our church recently!

To me, this is the gauge by which we measure church. A church is not successful just because it can draw a crowd. A church is successful when the Gospel is preached and lives are being transformed.