John Markum

Church Values

This past Saturday, we talked about the Values that define our church culture that we want to cultivate on Saturday nights. This is not a doctrinal statement. We already have that. This is more for the purpose of describing what kind of church we want to be.

  • We are for People Far from God. Jesus left 99 to find that 1 that was lost. We are intentionally disproportionate toward outreach.
  • We Speak Life. We would rather be known by what we are for, rather than by what we’re against.
  • Found People, Find People. We embody the mission of God to our world, not just on the weekends.
  • We Lead the way in Generosity. We can’t out-give God, but that doesn’t stop us from trying.
  • Faith is an Action. We were saved to serve, not saved to sit.
  • We Belong to a Family. We are each a part of a whole.
  • Nothing worthwhile is Ever Easy/Nothing is Hard for God. We live in audacious faith and trust God to do the impossible.

Most of these statements are already a part of our language, it just feels like it’s time to unite behind these Values together. Expect to see and hear these often. God is working in His church!

Blessings,

John

How to Gain Favor with Your Leader

The following comes from the blog of Herbert Cooper, the senior pastor of People’s Church in Oklahoma City. I found this very applicable, whether you are on church staff following your pastor, in the corporate world, or even the military.

1. Understand their vision and heart.

2. Exceed expectations.

3. Praise them publicly and challenge them privately, not the other way around.

4. Put the team’s success before personal success.

5. Submit and line-up your vision with your leader’s vision.

6. Don’t cause your leader problems by doing stupid things.

7. Bring your leader solutions and not just problems.

Edgewood 2011

 

This past week, in each of our weekend worship services at Edgewood, we unleashed 7 Challenges for every person that calls Edgewood their church home. I wanted to take the time to reiterate these 7 Challenges this week here on the blog, and so I will deal with each one in a separate post this week. In case you didn’t get the bookmark we handed out this week, here are the 7 Challenges.

  1. Read through the Bible in one year.
  2. Pray for the Church one hour a week.
  3. Share Christ: Lead one person to the Lord.
  4. Increase giving by 1%.
  5. Give time to serving in one ministry.
  6. Find one thing to be thankful for daily.
  7. Bring a Bible to church.

Again, these are for people who call Edgewood their church home. We are not asking, nor do we even want any of our guests to give financially to the ministry of Edgewood. But for those who call yourselves members of Edgewood, or consider Edgewood your church home, this is the year to step up to the plate in all 7 Challenges. I truly believe that as we do this together, God is going to show Himself mightily in our lives, and in the life of our church. We are the people of God! Not even the gates of Hell have power against us! Let’s turn the Quad Cities upside down with the Gospel and see God impact our world through our church like never before. Read more about Challenge #1 real soon…

Blessings,

John

The phrase no pain, no gain has been a mantra for athletes and fitness junkies for years. And what they understand about physical pain needs to be broadened to a much more general use in all of our lives. Pain hurts. That's the whole problem. No one enjoys it, and if someone does, we rightfully

The Premium of Pain