Sunday Reflections

As I walked to my truck after the last service today, I had a lot of joy in my heart. Why?  Well, thanks for asking.  I’ll tell you.

When we moved into our fixed facility in September, one of our objectives was to provide a place that our community could use as a meeting site.  Believing that the facility was a blessing from our Heavenly Father, we wanted to use it to be a blessing to others.  And He has allowed that to happen.

One of the ways we’re able to serve our community is by hosting the monthly luncheon of the Greater Leander Chamber of Commerce.  HCBC Leander is a member of the Chamber, and being the extrovert that I am, I love it when 100+ members of the business community have an opportunity to enjoy our facility.

But one of the real blessings of providing this service came today during the second worship service.  We had a man attend worship today WHO HAD NEVER BEEN TO CHURCH IN HIS LIFE!  I’d say he was in his 40′s.  He told me he had been having lots of questions recently about religion, so he thought he would come and visit us.  I asked him what led him to attend HCBC Leander, and he said he’d been here a few times with the Chamber.

WOW!  I could hardly contain my excitement!!

After the service, he came by the area where I stand to meet people who are first-time guests.  He told me he loved the service and would definitely return.  He said his mind was full of questions and that he had a lot of things to sort out.  He wondered if there was such a book as “The Bible for Dummies.”  I told him that there actually was just such a book, and that I’d love to get together with him and help him find some answers.

Who knows where this will go in the days ahead?  I have a feeling I know.

The truth of the matter is, we have lots of folks each week who are new to our church family.  Most have been to church at some time in their lives, but in the case of Mark, some are attending church for the very first time anywhere.

I what to thank each of you who are a part of the church family that is HCBC Leander.  I’m the luckiest pastor on the face of the earth, because I serve with people who Love God, Love People, and Serve to Reach.  Many of you made an effort to connect with Mark when he arrived, and you let me know that he was here.  Teamwork makes the dream work!  If so blessed to be a part of this great team.

Follow the Spirit this week, and experience His blessing!  And say a prayer for Mark!!

Love you!

Peter

Time Alone with God Using the Bible and Prayer

This post is the first of five on several Spiritual Habits that help us experience the Life Change of Transformation and develop a Healthy Faith.

One of the baseline habits that helps us become more like Jesus is spending time alone with God using the Bible and prayer. When you include the practice of journaling the fruit of these times alone with God, the results are even more life-changing. To maximize the life-changing potential of engaging in this habit, you need the following:

Bible: Get a Bible that’s easy to understand. A New International Version (NIV) is a good place to start. You can get one at any bookstore. You can also order one online.

Paper and Pen: I use a spiral-bound notebook to make daily journal entries. You can pick one up at any store that sells office or school supplies.

Plan: You’ll find your consistency in spending time in the Bible grows if you’re following a pre-determined reading plan. At a minimum, I’d encourage you to pick a book of the Bible a read it straight through over several days or even weeks. You might try a chapter or two a day in the Old Testament, or a paragraph or section of a chapter a day in the New Testament.  You can also find some great reading plans at YouVersion.com.

Place: Chose a place to meet with God each day that will enable you to focus on what you’re reading with minimal—if not zero—interruptions.

Time: Pick a time of day that works for you that you can keep consistently. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the morning (me) or in the evening (my wife), the key is to pick a time slot you can stick to almost 100% of the time.

Journaling Pattern: The purpose of your journal is to keep a running record of what God is saying to you during your time alone with Him in the Bible. There’s no right or wrong way to keep a spiritual journal. The key, once again, is consistency. Utilizing an easy to follow pattern helps you be consistent. I tend to use a four-step pattern most of the time.

Step 1 – Write Out The Key Verse. I’ll note the date I’m journaling and the scope of the passages I read that day at the top of the page. Then I pick one key verse that jumped out at me the strongest during my reading and write it out on my page to begin my journaling for that day. The reason I write it out is it makes it easier to look back and review my past entries if the verse is already written on the page.

Step 2 – What’s God Showing Me Today? I’ll usually write a paragraph on the main observations I have from that day’s reading. I want to capture the big idea that flows from the key verse or passage that spoke the loudest to me.

Step 3 – How Do I Apply This? I want to capture on paper what it would look like if my life was being lived according to this passage of scripture. I especially want to document any specific steps I believe God is asking me to take as a result of my time in His word.

Step 4 – Write A Prayer. It may sound strange, but I like to write out a prayer, usually just one paragraph, that expresses the desire of my heart that day to live by the truth my Heavenly Father revealed to me through His word that morning. Writing it out serves to slow me down and focus me on what I truly want to see happen in my life as a result of my time alone with God.

Life-on-Life Relationships: Finally, plan to share with the people you meet with for spiritual encouragement what God is teaching you in your time alone with Him. This might be someone in your small group, someone you’re mentoring, or someone who’s mentoring you. There’s an added catalyst for consistency when someone is expecting you to share with them the fruit of your time alone with God. I have found the experience to be mutually beneficial.

Hint: If you don’t know where to begin, try reading a chapter a day from the book of Proverbs that corresponds with today’s date. In other words, since it’s June 1st, read Proverbs 1. Since there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, you’ll have a chapter for every day of the month. One months with less that 31 days (like this one), just double up on the last day. But watch out! Doing this has been known to change the way people live their lives.

QUESTION: What’s your biggest barrier to spending time alone with God using the Bible and prayer on a DAILY basis?

Sunday Reflections: September 12, 2010

Today was our second Sunday in our new location.  We wrapped up our recent series, RELOCATION.  Several thoughts are on my mind about the series and today in particular.

1.  God is up to something…LIFE CHANGE!  I don’t know that I’ve every been a part of back to back weekends that excited me more the these first two weeks in our new digs.  The LIFE CHANGE cardboard testimonies last week combined with the prayers for future LIFE CHANGE by nearly every person present today have combined to stir my heart with great anticipation about the days ahead.

2. I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to be a part of HCBC Leander!

• Our ladies had a great retreat.
• God is stirring up a great spirit of prayer among a lot of folks.
• New volunteers are entering into ministry.
• Members are investing in the lives of one another.
• One of our folks led a first-time guest into a personal relationship with Jesus after the 2nd service today.
• The expectation that God is up to something big is being felt by a lot of people.

3.  LIFE CHANGE PRAYER GARDEN – we started the LCPG today, and it appeared to me that many people in the first service and almost everyone in the second service “planted a prayer rock” this morning with the name of someone in whom they want to see God do some significant LIFE CHANGE.  That was an awesome time of commitment at the end of each service.

4.  MEASURING SUCCESS – At Hill Country Bible Church Leander, we measure success by LIFE CHANGE!

• THE MYSTERY revealed by God is that the MESSIAH/CHRIST lives in every believer, and this provides us our HOPE/CONFIDENT ASSURANCE of glory–that is, COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION from the inside out!
• THE MESSAGE of LIFE CHANGE is for every man, woman, and child in our community.  For some, it’s the LIFE CHANGE of SALVATION (which one of our 1st-time guest experienced this morning!).  For believers, it is the LIFE CHANGE of TRANSFORMATION–becoming like Jesus from the INSIDE OUT!
• THE MINISTRY God has CALLED us to and PARTNERS with us to carry out is all about LIFE CHANGE.  It happens when we PROCLAIM the message of LIFE CHANGE by ATTEMPTING what we know we cannot do on our own, but must have God’s energizing power to pull off.  And when we bathe it all in PRAYER for LIFE CHANGING RESULTS, door open, hearts open, and in the moments of truth, the words come!  AWESOME!!!

5.  I LOVE OUR PRAYER STAIRS!  With the relocation, we’ve created a place for prayer at the foot of the stage at which many spiritual battles have been wagged in just two weeks.  God was up to something special when He led us to design the stage area to include these stairs to the stage…in reality, they’ve become stairs to the THRONE of GRACE – Hebrews 4:16.  This puts our Heavenly Father at CENTER STAGE…as HE SHOULD BE!!!

6.  COMMUNION – As we reflected on Colossians 1:19-22 during communion this morning, we celebrated the fact that for every man, woman, and child who has placed his or her confidence in the LIFE CHANGING REALITY OF JESUS, we share a position in the eyes and heart of God of being holy, blameless, and without accusation!  We’re no longer the objects of God’s wrath…but fully the sons and daughters whom HE LOVES…and OH, HOW HE LOVES US SO!

Can’t wait to see what God does through us this week!

I LOVE OUR CHURCH FAMILY!!!

Your turn.  Post a comment.  Why do you love HCBC Leander?

Today’s Top Ten Words

Here are my Top Ten Words from today and our first day in our new location:

10.  VOLUNTEERS!  Our volunteers are resilient.  Lots of challenges today in working out people flow and dealing with crickets and grasshoppers in the gym, but we have the leadership among our volunteers to solve these challenges and excel in the weeks ahead.

9.  BUILDING!  A building is just a building…but it was fun being in a building.  Can’t wait to see all the doors that God opens up for us to use this facility to reach people with the life-changing reality of Jesus!

8.  TECHNOLOGY!  We have been using technology in some good ways, but we can utilize it so much more…we should…and we will.

7.  CHOIR!  We don’t have a choir every week…but when we do, it’s awesome!  Thanks to all of you who participated!

6. PARKING! Don’t know exactly how may people parked in the far northeast parking lot, but I know quite a few did.  May your tribe increase.  Thank you for your servant’s heart.

5.  WORK!  Today would never have happened without a lot of good ol’ hard work.  Too many people to name, but you know who you are.  On behalf of Jesus Christ and the Elders of HCBC Leander, THANKS!!!

4.  TRANSITIONS!  Change is fun for some and terrifying for others.  But the spirit of our church family is awesome!  The practical needs to bend and flex until we hit our stride in our new location is a characteristic that we’ve owned from the beginning.  Let’s keep it going!!!

3.  LEADERSHIP!  I’m the most blessed pastor in the world because of the leadership team at HCBC Leander!  From our Elders to our Staff to our Ministry Leaders, we have the best people on the planet!!!  Love each of you!

2.  STAIRS!  The “prayer stairs” were a last minute decision when we were finalizing the design of the worship center.  After today, I think we all know that following this idea was actually following the prompting of the Holy Spirit!  My best impression of the prayer stairs today was, “What starts here changes the world!” (Sorry UT PR Dept.)

1.  CARDBOARD!  Who knew what God had in mind when He put it into the mind of someone to invent cardboard.  Dozens of people shared their life-change stories via our CARDBOARD TESTIMONIES.  We’ll have the two services combined and posted on the website by the end of the week.  Can’t wait to see them again…and again…and again…

From Children’s Ministry to Worship Ministry and all the support ministries in between, we have a great group of leaders and volunteers.  And together, we are going to see every man, woman, and child in our community receive repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus!

Upon This Rock!

Peter

Heart-2-Heart

Most of us aren’t.  But some of us are.

“Aren’t” or “Are” what?

Gifted in the area of practicing personal evangelism, that’s what.

In my last post, I introduced three strategies for helping us at Hill Country Bible Church Leander accomplish our VISION of giving every man, woman, and child in our community repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus.  I’ve identified them as Heart-2-Heart, Hand-2-Hand, and House-2-House. Let’s dive into the first one.

Heart-2-Heart is the strategy that seeks to empower and resource the gifted evangelists among us.  The goal is for each evangelistically-gifted person to build intentional relationships within his or her sphere of influence for the purpose of giving your friends repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus: initially, the life change of salvation; then, the life change of transformation.

We almost always resource the various disciple-making ministries in the church.  This may look like equipping workshops, web-tools, the formation of ministry teams, conferences, staff support, and budget money for all of these and more. However, not many churches that I know of have a strategic plan to empower and resource those who have, or think they might have, a spiritual gifting in the area of personal evangelism.  Heart-2-Heart is a strategy to do that.

Here’s the fun part.  Let’s assume that somewhere between 5-10% of the typical congregation is gifted in the area of personal evangelism.  As with most gifted people, we’d expect to see these folks bearing fruit as a result of exercising their giftedness in the power of the Holy Spirit.  In this case, let’s assume that by empowering and resourcing these folks, each of them would see at least one person put their confidence in Jesus each year and experience the life change of salvation.  In a church of 100, that would be 5-10 people each year.  In a church of 500, we’re talking 25-50 each year–primarily adults.  And this doesn’t factor in the results of the other intentional efforts of the church to reach people with the gospel.

Now, ask yourself this question: Is your church seeing those percentages of people (again, primarily adults) committing to a saving relationship with Jesus each year and becoming an active participant in the life and ministry of the church?  If so, please let us know what you’re doing!  However, in my experience, most are not.

We want to change that at HCBC Leander.  If you believe you are (or may be) gifted in the area of personal evangelism, I’d love to hear from you.  Give me a call, shoot me an email, or catch me after a service on Sunday.  Let’s see how God wants to use you to help us go into our community and give every man, woman, and child repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus.

QUESTION:  What would help you be more effective in your efforts at personal evangelism?

H2H X 3

Our Vision: Go into our community and give every man, woman, and child repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus.

I raised the issue in my last post about wanting to KNOW that we are making progress toward seeing the Vision of our church becoming a reality.  Well, I have several ideas about how to WORK toward that end.

Let’s call them H2H X 3

I’ll give an overview of them in this post, and then drill down on each, one at a time, in the days ahead.

H2H #1:  Heart-2-Heart. The idea behind this strategy is to empower and resource the gifted evangelists among us to build intentional relationships within their spheres of influence for the purpose of giving these friends repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus: initially, the life change of salvation; then, the life change of transformation.

H2H #2:  Hand-2-Hand. This strategy is all about working to serve the felt needs of the people throughout our community.  Three questions form the decision-making grid for deciding what needs should receive the greatest attention.  1. NEED: What needs are we aware of?  2. ABILITY: What needs are we as a church family uniquely positioned to meet?  3. RELATIONSHIP: What needs that we have the ability to meet give us the greatest opportunity to build relationships with people?  At the intersection of NEED, ABILITY, & RELATIONSHIP we believe we find the greatest opportunity to reach people with the life-changing reality of Jesus utilizing strategic ACTS OF SERVICE.

H2H #3: House-2-House. Yep, that’s right, it’s just what you’re thinking: going house-to-house.  It’s old school, but it’s cool.  It’s not the “cold-call evangelism” of the 1960′s & ’70′s.  Instead, it’s stopping in to see if anyone would like for someone to pray with them about anything that’s going on in their life…and seeing where God takes it from there. More in a week or so about what happens after the initial contact.

Using a combination of these three strategies, we believe we can KNOW how many people in our community have received repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus, and who they are.  We’ll then KNOWhow many more need to receive their own opportunities, and what it’s going to take to give those opportunities to them.

So, what do you think?  Which would you be most likely to participate in and why?

From Vision to Reality

So, I had this idea.  Actually, I’ve had this idea with varying intensity for several years now.

The idea sprang from a question: How would we know that our Vision has been fulfilled?

As a member church of the Association of Hill Country Churches, we are committed to a Vision for the Greater Austin Area.  The key phrase in our collective Vision is “EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD.” For the church I pastor, Hill Country Bible Church Leander, the Vision is this: Go into our community and give every man, woman, and child repeated opportunities to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus.

So, back to the question.  How would we know that our Vision has been fulfilled?

Now, what you need to know about me is that I’m an idea person.  I love ideas.  However, there are areas of ideation in which I want proof.  While the Vision is compelling, I want to be able to KNOW that we are MAKING SPECIFIC PROGRESS toward seeing the Vision become a reality.  And making progress in such a way that we can see how it WILL BECOME REALITY.

Over the next several days, I’m going to share some thoughts and ideas about how WE CAN KNOW!

Stay Tuned!

QUESTION: What are your thoughts about our Vision Statement?

Sunday Reflections – March 28, 2010

Sunday was a great day of celebration!  Hill Country Bible Church Leander turned THREE YEARS OLD this weekend!

Here are a few of my thoughts about today:

• God is able to do immeasurably MORE THAN all we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21)!

• Stories of LIFE CHANGE never get old! We could spend a whole service just telling stories of how God has changed so many hearts and lives over the last three years.  The latest story came from a couple who came up to me after the second service and share how our Heavenly Father has used HCBC to change their lives and save their marriage.  With tears in their eyes, they just wanted to stop by and say, THANK YOU!!

• Never underestimate the power of a few COMMITTED PEOPLE! The core group of people who invested their time, talents and treasures to start HCBC Leander are awesome people.  I spent some special time this weekend thinking about how God has blessed me with the privilege of knowing and partnering with these great kingdom builders! (Philippians 1:3-6)

• A church is only as strong as it’s FUTURE LEADERS! As I preached this morning, I looked into the eyes of a lot of new people that have come our way in the last 12 months.  As I saw them, I saw many who are moving into places of ministry and leadership.  This is super exciting…and makes we wonder, “What does God have in store for us during our upcoming fourth year?” It also reminds me that as a leader, I have a huge responsibility to live a life worth following. (1 Corinthians 4:16-17).

• THIS IS FUN! This afternoon about 30 people form our church family showed up to serve our community at the City of Leander’s annual Egg-Stravaganza!  We scattered 30,500 pieces of candy across two baseball fields.  Within 20 minutes, hundreds of kids had picked up every piece!  As we serve our community, sometimes it’s just FUN! (2 Corinthians 11:1)

Heavenly Father, You have been so good to me!  Thank You for the privileged responsibility of partnering with Your people who make up the community of faith known as HCBC Leander!

ServeFest

I’m thinking this morning about a ServeFest in our community.  The IDEA was sparked by a conversation I had yesterday with someone about a community-wide worship gathering to demonstrate that Christians are “taking back” our community.  That idea doesn’t sit well with me.

However, showing love through acts of service does.  And gathering to celebrate 100′s of demonstrations of that love gets me pumped up.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

1. Churches in our community would partner together for a massive weekend of service beginning Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon (yes, no worship service on Sunday morning–community service instead).
2. Sunday night we would all gather together for a community worship service and celebrate all that happened.

Right now, it’s just an IDEA.  But I’m interested in your thoughts.  Let the comments begin.

Sunday Reflections – March 7, 2010

Today was a God-Movement day at Hill Country Bible Church Leander.  Here are some thoughts I have this evening:

28 Days In Acts is opening a lot of hearts to “next-level” commitments of listening to and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  What more could I ask for as a pastor.  Thanks to all of you who are reading, and especially to all of you who are posting what you hear the Spirit saying to you about your life and expanding the Kingdom of God! If you’re not signed up to read with us, click here and follow the instructions under HOW TO PARTICIPATE on the menu bar.

Serving IN the Church: I am so grateful for all those who serve God by serving others at HCBC. From the set up team to the tear down team, and all the teams in between, it’s a God-glorifying event each week that you serve!

Serving AS the Church: WOW! Kelly’s story of God’s work THROUGH her and IN her during her relief trip to Haiti moved me!  Check the HCBC Leander website this week to see the video again as well as find links to what you can do to Serve AS the Church!

Fishers of Men: Our own Clark Wendlandt has won the Angler of the Year Award three times.  No one has ever done that.  Awesome.  Read the story by clicking here.  However, this is what’s AWESOME!!!–He and some other professional fisherman conduct “Meet the Pro Night” events in many of the cities where their tournaments are held.  Last week 21 People made commitments to follow Jesus as their LORD & SAVIOR!  46 others recommitted their lives to the GREAT ADVENTURE of following Jesus!  Like we said in today’s message: God can and wants to use who He has made you to be and the skills he has given you to do AWESOME things to expand His Kingdom.  We just need to step into the water.

My Wife: Lisa serves first hour and worships during the second hour.  Friday we celebrated 27 years of marriage! During the sermon, as I spotted her in the congregation, I thought, “You are a very blessed man, Peter Horn!” (Sorry, I should have been paying attention to the message.) I love you, Lisa!

All in all, it was another great day of worship!  Thank You, JESUS!