Steve Sjogren: Session 3 Notes on "Winning Cities for Christ"
We are more than just a 'church' - more than winning a neighborhood - we are winning Cities for Christ!
- When you are winning a city - planting a church - you have to engage in conversation. Tell your story - sell it everyday to 5 different people.
When planting the Vineyard in Cincinnati, God spoke to Steve and told him - "You are Small irrelevant and boring"...and he spent many months figureing out how to not be small irrelevant and boring.
Many churches have a 'Come and See mentality'. Until Christ returns, no church should be come and see. Because nothing we invite people to come and see is relevant, big, or exciting.
Churches should be "GOING and DOING"...Going and doing acts of love is what makes church exciting and relelvant. We are in danger every week of being small irrelevant and boring, unless we go and do.
LOVE PEOPLE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
Showing posts with label vineyard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vineyard. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2005
Outward Focused: Equipped for Outreach
Steve Sjogren: Notes on "Equipped for Outreach"
Most evangelism programs are "linear" - trying to win an argument. Evangelism is about creating an 'atmosphere'. An atmosphere of Love - enabling the Holy Spirit to work in peoples lives.
Create a Buzz in your city! - Read Seth Godin's All Marketers Are Liars...
If we give away love, we (church) become associated with what we DO, not by what we say, write, or where our building is.
The best way to figure out how to love people, is to talk to the people God has given you. It's how you figure out what type of outreach might work.
Practice!
DO outreach for several months. (doing it willy-nilly does not work)
We should be all about Acts 10:38 - doing good to all kinds of people!
We should be about acceptance, and not approval (we accept - God approves)
People were accepted by Christ - yet, Jesus did not approve all of them.
We are all in Process!
We can accept people, even if they don't change. The rest is between them and God.
We can't put a dealine on our love - we have to love continually - not just for a set amount of time, then give up.
We should love until God gives up on loving.
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More :Outward Focused: HERE
Most evangelism programs are "linear" - trying to win an argument. Evangelism is about creating an 'atmosphere'. An atmosphere of Love - enabling the Holy Spirit to work in peoples lives.
Create a Buzz in your city! - Read Seth Godin's All Marketers Are Liars...
If we give away love, we (church) become associated with what we DO, not by what we say, write, or where our building is.
The best way to figure out how to love people, is to talk to the people God has given you. It's how you figure out what type of outreach might work.
Practice!
DO outreach for several months. (doing it willy-nilly does not work)
We should be all about Acts 10:38 - doing good to all kinds of people!
We should be about acceptance, and not approval (we accept - God approves)
People were accepted by Christ - yet, Jesus did not approve all of them.
We are all in Process!
We can accept people, even if they don't change. The rest is between them and God.
We can't put a dealine on our love - we have to love continually - not just for a set amount of time, then give up.
We should love until God gives up on loving.
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More :Outward Focused: HERE
Outward Focused: Horizontally and Vertically Smart
Steve Sjogren: Session 2 Notes on "Vineyard Leader Meeting"
Read Re-imagine! by Tom Peters!
Big Churches have 3 things that small churches don't - Power, Heart for Service, and Marketing.
If you are small - look for artists in church to provide art for marketing...don't always go with the pre produced piece...(you can't always do that)
--------------------------------------------------------------
On Teaching...
Plug your listeners into something that is Practical in their lives.
Practical Applications should be the speaking points of your teaching...they should be the beginning points to teach biblically from...
--------------------------------------------------------------
On Worship...
Israel Houghton Worship...Good stuff!
...When we gather the people at our churches on the Weekends...are we having a celebration/party or are we having a funeral?...
---------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More Outward Focused: HERE
Read Re-imagine! by Tom Peters!
Big Churches have 3 things that small churches don't - Power, Heart for Service, and Marketing.
If you are small - look for artists in church to provide art for marketing...don't always go with the pre produced piece...(you can't always do that)
--------------------------------------------------------------
On Teaching...
Plug your listeners into something that is Practical in their lives.
Practical Applications should be the speaking points of your teaching...they should be the beginning points to teach biblically from...
--------------------------------------------------------------
On Worship...
Israel Houghton Worship...Good stuff!
...When we gather the people at our churches on the Weekends...are we having a celebration/party or are we having a funeral?...
---------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More Outward Focused: HERE
Outward Focused: Stories about the day I died
Steve Sjogren: Session 2 Notes on "The Day I Died"
Steve has a new book arriving early next year talking about the day that he actually died. ON the operating table, his heart completely stopped, and was dead for 7 minutes.
During that time, he had an encounter with God.
Steve explaings it as abook that will more than likely 'piss Christians off'! The book is actually not intended for a Christian audience, but for the Not yet Christians - as a tool to lead them to a better understanding of who God is.
There were many things that God spoke to Steve that day, and I can't do justice to the whole encounter ( you'll have to buy the book!), but he did give two specifics of things God wanted him to change. He did say that he was rebuked,and knew he had to change, yet felt encouraged and loved by a Holy God.
A couple things he heard that day:
1. Stop moving like a rabbit. Move like a turtle.
As a church planter, Steve was working over 100 hours a week. Several lunches a day, several meetings a day. God clearly told him to slow down. The Rabbit life doesn't pay off in the end. He lives that out since that day, and in his next church planting experience, hopes to continue a more turtle pace. Slow And Steady!
2. What are the names of your kids friends?
God spoke to him about getting to know his kids friends. During that time, they would be over at the house, but Steve never took the time to get to know them, to love on them, and be a good father figure, and Godly influence in their lives.
From his experience that day, Steve wanted to encourage people that there should be no fear in death. Many have fears of death, and from his 7 minutes (which to him felt like much longer) he knew he was in the presence of a loving God who cared for him.
After his experience, he spent many hours finding our what went wrong, what doctors did and didn't do. He has gained much wisdom about the experience. He encouraged all the men at the conference to take care of themselves, and be wise about their helathcare, adn ask many questions. Live with the Wisdom of Solomon!
Steve said he read a chapter of Proverbs a day for the past thirty years and Prays that "God would let him live out that wisdom is his life".
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More :Outward Focused: HERE
Steve has a new book arriving early next year talking about the day that he actually died. ON the operating table, his heart completely stopped, and was dead for 7 minutes.
During that time, he had an encounter with God.
Steve explaings it as abook that will more than likely 'piss Christians off'! The book is actually not intended for a Christian audience, but for the Not yet Christians - as a tool to lead them to a better understanding of who God is.
There were many things that God spoke to Steve that day, and I can't do justice to the whole encounter ( you'll have to buy the book!), but he did give two specifics of things God wanted him to change. He did say that he was rebuked,and knew he had to change, yet felt encouraged and loved by a Holy God.
A couple things he heard that day:
1. Stop moving like a rabbit. Move like a turtle.
As a church planter, Steve was working over 100 hours a week. Several lunches a day, several meetings a day. God clearly told him to slow down. The Rabbit life doesn't pay off in the end. He lives that out since that day, and in his next church planting experience, hopes to continue a more turtle pace. Slow And Steady!
2. What are the names of your kids friends?
God spoke to him about getting to know his kids friends. During that time, they would be over at the house, but Steve never took the time to get to know them, to love on them, and be a good father figure, and Godly influence in their lives.
From his experience that day, Steve wanted to encourage people that there should be no fear in death. Many have fears of death, and from his 7 minutes (which to him felt like much longer) he knew he was in the presence of a loving God who cared for him.
After his experience, he spent many hours finding our what went wrong, what doctors did and didn't do. He has gained much wisdom about the experience. He encouraged all the men at the conference to take care of themselves, and be wise about their helathcare, adn ask many questions. Live with the Wisdom of Solomon!
Steve said he read a chapter of Proverbs a day for the past thirty years and Prays that "God would let him live out that wisdom is his life".
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More :Outward Focused: HERE
Outward Focused: Putting a dent in the world
Steve Sjogren: Session 1
Notes on What Steve has learned as a Church Planter/Pastor/Writer/Speaker/Teacher
1. People have a desire to Change the World. Sometimes, their desire to change the world is even more deeply rooted than their desire to get to know God.
- We should be World Changers! We should be radical ALL of our days. Not just until we are 35.
We should always focus on loving the untouchables, the outsiders, the nobodies, the hurt and broken - the people no one wants! Thats what Jesus did. And He is our model.
2. To do the Stuff that Jesus Did - You have to have to engage people.
- Doing the stuff is as easy as leaving an above average tip (30 percent instead of fifteen!). Compliment your server at a restaurant, then call the manager over and compliment your server again!( I saw Steve do this personally - and it blows people away - because the manager expects you to complain. He didn't know what to say when Steve kept lavishing on the compliments of this server)
Buy someone Coffee behind you at Starbucks. Buy the next person in line behind you at Taco Bell lunch. Buy Tic Tacs and give them away!
Each of these is simple and easy, and gives an opportunity for the Kingdom of God to show up right there - in that moment.
Mat. 13:1-23 The SCATTERING of the seeds.
Jesus told the parable of Scattering - Not Planting- seeds. Of course, the seed fell on all types of ground. But the point is not the ground, the point is the abundance of seed that was thrown. We can constanly look for opportunities to scatter the seed of kindness and let the Holy Spirit do the work of 'plowing' in peoples hearts.
- God will grow you into an extrovert. Spending 25 hours preparing your message behind the computer is a cop out. There are better things to do with our time. (There is ENOUGH TALK about God...Let's DO SOMETHING to show His Love to People!)
How do we get people "OUT THERE" -> "IN HERE"?
Many churches can't anwser that question.
We have to BRING and INCLUDE.
Watch our Vocabulary - not "Visitor" - "Guest" is better - "Newcomer" is best...
We make people feel like there is a great chasm between "all of us who are already in the church" and those who are "Not Yet Christians". Yet, if we don't watch our vocabulary,if we don't include, we'll never bridge that huge gap.
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More of :Outward Focused: HERE
Notes on What Steve has learned as a Church Planter/Pastor/Writer/Speaker/Teacher
1. People have a desire to Change the World. Sometimes, their desire to change the world is even more deeply rooted than their desire to get to know God.
- We should be World Changers! We should be radical ALL of our days. Not just until we are 35.
We should always focus on loving the untouchables, the outsiders, the nobodies, the hurt and broken - the people no one wants! Thats what Jesus did. And He is our model.
2. To do the Stuff that Jesus Did - You have to have to engage people.
- Doing the stuff is as easy as leaving an above average tip (30 percent instead of fifteen!). Compliment your server at a restaurant, then call the manager over and compliment your server again!( I saw Steve do this personally - and it blows people away - because the manager expects you to complain. He didn't know what to say when Steve kept lavishing on the compliments of this server)
Buy someone Coffee behind you at Starbucks. Buy the next person in line behind you at Taco Bell lunch. Buy Tic Tacs and give them away!
Each of these is simple and easy, and gives an opportunity for the Kingdom of God to show up right there - in that moment.
Mat. 13:1-23 The SCATTERING of the seeds.
Jesus told the parable of Scattering - Not Planting- seeds. Of course, the seed fell on all types of ground. But the point is not the ground, the point is the abundance of seed that was thrown. We can constanly look for opportunities to scatter the seed of kindness and let the Holy Spirit do the work of 'plowing' in peoples hearts.
- God will grow you into an extrovert. Spending 25 hours preparing your message behind the computer is a cop out. There are better things to do with our time. (There is ENOUGH TALK about God...Let's DO SOMETHING to show His Love to People!)
How do we get people "OUT THERE" -> "IN HERE"?
Many churches can't anwser that question.
We have to BRING and INCLUDE.
Watch our Vocabulary - not "Visitor" - "Guest" is better - "Newcomer" is best...
We make people feel like there is a great chasm between "all of us who are already in the church" and those who are "Not Yet Christians". Yet, if we don't watch our vocabulary,if we don't include, we'll never bridge that huge gap.
Steve Sjogren is the founding Pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, and loves servant evangelism.
More of :Outward Focused: HERE
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Outward Focused: A week with Steve Sjogren
What a great weekend at Camp Garner Creek! The Tennessee men's retreat was a blast, then this morning, Steve Sjogren spoke again at Franklin Vineyard.
This week, I am going to go thru my notes and post some of the best, and most thought provoking things for me from this weekend retreat.
This week, I am going to go thru my notes and post some of the best, and most thought provoking things for me from this weekend retreat.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Steve Sjogren at Vineyard Men's Retreat
Late this afternoon, its off to the Vineyard Tennessee Men’s retreat at Camp Garner Creek. I am really excited. This two day getaway is much needed!
Very cool: Pastor and Author Steve Sjogren from the Cincinnati Vineyard will be speaking at several of the sessions.
I have no way to blog while there, but I’ll take notes, and post some thoughts when I return!
(He’s also speaking this weekend at Franklin Vineyard, about the 7 minutes that he actually passed away, and God spoke to him. – His new book on the subject comes out soon)
Very cool: Pastor and Author Steve Sjogren from the Cincinnati Vineyard will be speaking at several of the sessions.
I have no way to blog while there, but I’ll take notes, and post some thoughts when I return!
(He’s also speaking this weekend at Franklin Vineyard, about the 7 minutes that he actually passed away, and God spoke to him. – His new book on the subject comes out soon)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Haven't been posting in a while
So here is the first post in a while.
Yay.
Late night - preparing for the Youth tomorrow night...talking about acceptance and rejection - and how we tend to lean towards always going for people who automatically accept us as our friends...instead of takinga front seat and being a person who is accepting, not rejecting, and being involved with our choices in life...hmmm. Its is you go too far one way or the other, the two sides could contradict each other. One side - paying no attention - lean toward acceptance - you get what you get - side two - be picky - and selective - so you have to play the middle...selective with who is in your inner circle, yet accepting and not rejecting, so people want to be around you in the first place.
Yay.
Late night - preparing for the Youth tomorrow night...talking about acceptance and rejection - and how we tend to lean towards always going for people who automatically accept us as our friends...instead of takinga front seat and being a person who is accepting, not rejecting, and being involved with our choices in life...hmmm. Its is you go too far one way or the other, the two sides could contradict each other. One side - paying no attention - lean toward acceptance - you get what you get - side two - be picky - and selective - so you have to play the middle...selective with who is in your inner circle, yet accepting and not rejecting, so people want to be around you in the first place.
Friday, June 03, 2005
From the Crescent City
I got an email from my former Worship leader in N.O. (Kenner) to be exact...And he has a new CD out. I've only listened to one song so far - but I intend to buy the whole cd! www.crispinschroeder.com is the website - his blog is over in the right hand corner. My wife and I were always big fans of Crispin and his music while we were in New Orleans - She always thought He had that 'Edwin McCain' sound...which is a good thing in our book! Talented guy - and I can'twait to hear the rest of the CD!
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