S1E5: Taking Strategic Ground

Welcome to session two in our summer intensive. The first session I think was great as we all kind of looked at ideas and ways of how we can get unstuck this summer and actually using the summer as a springboard into the fall. And so hopefully you found that time together ⁓ encouraging and refreshing, and hopefully you found the resources that we provided as well to be also a good encouragement and hopefully a way to kind of jumpstart some ideas. ⁓ in your own brain as far as where God would want to perhaps take you this coming fall. And so as we look at session two, it's all about taking strategic ground. You know, there's a fierce spiritual battle that is going on, and every single one of us is involved when we're in ministry, right? We understand this. But we know this to be true: that every single day matters. What you do today, what you do tomorrow, what you do next week, every single day matters. Every decision that you make. Matters. Again, as we're being led by God and by the Holy Spirit to do things, then we know every decision matters. Every soul matters. Again, you probably wouldn't be in ministry if you didn't think that and care about people's soul and and where they were going to be for eternity because you know that Jesus can change lives. And so every soul matters. And so when you think about strategic ground and you think about what God is calling you to do and what he's calling us to do collectively as the big C church. Here's the thought kind of going into our session number two that every inch of ground matters. Every single inch. I don't care if it's in the corner. I don't care if it's like in the dark, wet, dirtiest corner, every single inch of ground matters because strategic ground matters when we think about the kingdom of God and what he's called us to do. There's a book by Jim Collins called Great by Choice. And again, if you've not read that. It's a great book to kind of supplement kind of this idea that we're looking at today. But in this book, Jim talks about and shares a story that's out there. Again, you can go research this on your own, but there's a story that's out there about two teams that were competing to get to the South Pole back in 1911. And it's been titled The 20 Mile March. And I've heard this story shared a couple different ways, but here in this book, Jim kind of sets it up that there were two. Two teams here, they were equal in kind of what they had in front of them. You know, they had the equal opportunity. They had, you know, by all I guess almost all measures that the teams were evenly matched with the equipment that they had, their skills and experience. So what made one team successful versus the other? I mean, when we think about why we're telling the story to kind of supplement where we're going today and kind of highlight where we're going today, one team was successful and one. Team was not, meaning one team made it to the South Pole and the other team, they all died. And it all came down to their strategy. You see, one team, their strategy was pretty simple. We're gonna march 20 miles every day, no matter what. No matter what the weather is like, we're gonna march 20 miles. If it's great and if it's like, you know, if it's if it's nice outside, we're gonna march 20 miles. If it's terrible weather, guess what? We're still gonna march 20 miles, but that's all we're going to do. We're not gonna do 19. We're not gonna do 40, we're just going to do 20 miles. The second team, their strategy was a little bit different. Their strategy focused on, hey, we're on the on the good days, meaning when when the weather was nice, we're gonna go 40, 60 miles, we're gonna really get after it. But on the bad days, well, we're gonna kind of we're gonna kind of stick it out in our tents, we're gonna kind of stay as warm as possible. And so you had these two different strategies. And so you may be asking yourself, well, which one was successful? Well, the team That got to the North Pole first was a team that was committed to going 20 miles a day, no matter what. The team that had committed in their hearts that no matter what tomorrow was gonna hold, they were still gonna march your 20 miles because they knew the objective. And and you think about this other team that didn't make it, who said, Hey, we're gonna we're gonna go as far as we can, 40, 60 miles on the good days, but on bad days, we're gonna kind of take it easy. We're not gonna be as invested. They didn't make it. And not only did they not make it, But it cost them their lives. And so when you think about planning a church or or doing ministry, every day is a commitment. We can't be committed on three or four days of the week when when things are going great, and then when things are kind of hard and difficult, we're we're we're not as committed. No, every day we've got to be committed. And I think about planning a church, and even in my own heart, as I was kind of reflecting on this, when I was called to plan a church, and we were called to to move to St. Augustine, Florida. One of the biggest burdens that I remember just kind of feeling, just this sense of the Lord is just kind of saying, like, hey, there's people that are in this city that need to hear the truth. They need to hear the truth from the word of God. And I knew that no matter what, there were people that were confused, there were people that have been maybe hurt by the church. There have been people who had never been to church before in their lives. But I knew that if God so willed that there could be a generation change right here in my community. I know many of you thought the same thing, and that's why you are. Where you are, because you know that God can change people's hearts. He can change this next generation. But I believe with everything within me that if we could just do what God called us to do, and if we could stay committed daily, every moment, every day, every hour, every week, every month, every year, you get the point there, right? We knew that there would be those who were hurt that would be healed by Jesus. We knew that there would be those who were confused, who would now be enlightened. By the Holy Spirit. We knew that those that there were those who were broken in some way that the Lord would heal and restore in a miraculous way. And we knew that the lost would be found. But all it was gonna take was our commitment to do what God had called us to do, to be committed to that 20 miles a day, no matter what. And so I believe that God is gonna use this summer to reignite the fire that's in your heart. I believe he's called you. To continue that 20-mile mark because again, if you're listening to this and if you're watching this and you're in ministry, unless he's called you to do something different, then you and I are committed to doing what God has called us now. But you think about the kingdom, the kingdom of God advances one person at a time, right? One person at a time. And that's why everyone matters. I think back to the early days of of church planning, and I know many of you probably have stories like this. You know, you don't know a soul in the city, or maybe you just know two or three people. Well, when you're doing an event or you're doing something as a church and you see that first car start pulling up, you're like, ⁓ my goodness, this is great. We have people that showed up, right? You're you're just so excited. Why? Because you knew and you know that every soul matters. Every person matters. Every street in your city matters. Every city in your state matters. You you get the point here, right? And we've got to be committed to doing twenty miles a day, no matter if it's Rain, sh sunshine, snow, sand, whatever the weather may be where you're at. But we've got to be bold. We've got to pray. We've got to believe that God has called us to do something that only we can do, that only He wants to do through us. And the number one thing I think that prevents most of us from doing this is that too many of us make excuses. And the excuse that we make sometimes in taking strategic ground. And failing, I think, to take strategic ground sometimes is we just we just don't think we can ask God for favor. We just don't think that we can ask God for something. We that maybe we feel awkward or whatever it may be, but I think sometimes we get hung up on this idea that we're afraid to pray and ask God for some sort of favor. And so in Luke chapter 11, as you're gonna see here in your notes, we're gonna see that Jesus teaches the disciples something pretty amazing here. He teaches them how to petition God boldly in prayer. In spite of their circumstances. So you think about you and I, you think about your circumstances. That right now, you and I can be bold. We can petition God boldly. And perhaps you've been doing this, and and I'm gonna can encourage you to continue doing this. We can continue to ask boldly until we see breakthrough or until God changes our heart or changes our prayer in some way. But here in Luke chapter 11, verses five through eight, we see a story unfold of how. Jesus shares this story with the disciples. He's like, listen, you know, you there might be a time in your life where you might need to go to your friend's house at midnight. Now, some of you may have some great friends that will answer that door or help you out. I mean, I think we all need friends like that. But here, Jesus uses this story to illustrate this incredible point of being able to petition God in this manner to ask boldly of our Father in heaven. He starts in Luke chapter 11, verse 5. He says, And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight and say, friend, lend me three loaves? And so Jesus is setting up the story. He's going to teach them and teach you and I this very valuable lesson, I believe, here about petitioning God. And he says, Hey, which one of you has a friend that you can go to and you can say, hey, give me three loaves? Give me something. I'm in need of something. He says in verses six and seven in Luke chapter 11, he says, For a friend of mine has come to me on this journey, and I have nothing to set before him. And he will answer from within and say, Do not trouble me, the door is now shut, and my children are in my bed. I cannot rise and give to you. He asked this question. And so you think back through the context here, back during the biblical times, so kind of back when this was kind of, you know, in the forefront here, it was typical for a family to be all on the first floor, right? And so you would have one big large room where the husband, the wife, and the children Everyone would be and and and where they would be would be kind of a raised platform. And so they would build a little bit of a platform, wooden platform off of the ground. And then over to the other side of this one-story dwelling is where they kind of kept their animals. And so if they had some domesticated animals, there would sometimes be those animals in there. So inside of this dwelling place, not only did you have the family, but you had kind of their animals too. And so you get this point here that this family that would be sleeping in the middle of the night. That a friend, that Jesus is saying, like, you know, the this friend is gonna come over and ask, knock on the door and ask for three loaves of bread. Now that's a big bold thing, because if you were gonna go ask and knock on this door and ask for such a thing, you were gonna not just wake up one person, but you were gonna wake up the entire home. And so as he's painting this picture, he continues on in verse eight, and he says, And I say to you though, he will not rise and give to him because he is a friend, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. You see, it wasn't because of the relationship, it was because of the persistence. See, he was still a friend no matter what, but because of his persistence, Jesus is saying, this man would rise and give him bread. Now think about this, and when you think about our relationship with God, think about what's going on in your ministry, and maybe how you and I need to boldly ask God for some favor in our ministry. My question for you and I is how desperate. Are we for a move of God? Are we willing to go knock on a door at midnight? Are we willing to go to God in the darkest moments of our week when we're when we're questioning our call and when we're maybe people have left the church and maybe the finances aren't doing well? Am I kind of setting up an accurate picture? I think. I think for many of us we kind of go through those seasons, right, of difficulty in our church. But how desperate are you to ask God for favor? How desperate am I to To see God take strategic ground. Because if we really are serious about seeing God take strategic ground, then we need to be really serious about being persistent in our prayer life. In fact, my point here is that we need to demonstrate a passionate persistence and persistence in our prayer life. I think sometimes we can ask, but there needs to be like this passionate persistence because we just know that we know that we know what God has called us to do. David Guzick had this to say, he says, our persistence doesn't change God, it changes us. developing in us a heart and passion for what God wants. You see, when you and I continue to ask God and there's persistence there and we're coming boldly before his throne and we're praying and we're seeking God, our hearts are changing. And so we're really asking for what God wants to do because our hearts are changing to what he wants them to be. And God never says that I've seen, hey, don't bother me. I don't have time for you. No, he says, come to me. And I love the fact that you and I, as church planners, as ministry leaders, Get to go before the throne of God at any time of day, whether it's it's a great day or whether it's a bad day, but we can be committed in this 20-mile march mentality to be able to come before God each and every day, to be able to ask boldly of Him, to ask and petition Him for favor. You see, if we're gonna take strategic ground here, check this out, it's in your notes. If we're gonna take strategic ground, here's a couple things I want You and I to see and we've got to remind ourselves of this. Number one is that we have to have shameless audacity. I think sometimes we we keep it inside of us, like we don't, we don't share, and we don't want to share what God's put on our heart. But I think it's it's encouraging to others and perhaps your staff or your team or your family to share what God has put on your heart. Because we have to have a shameless audacity. We gotta be able to go before God no matter what and say, hey, I've got this tent meeting with the Lord. I'm gonna be spending time with the Lord. I'm gonna, I'm gonna get out of my normal tomorrow. I'm gonna. Go to the beach, or I'm gonna go, whatever it is, that spot that you have, and you ask with shameless audacity. Number two is that we've got to ask boldly and knock regularly. I think many of us can ask boldly, right? But do we ask regularly? Do we continue to knock with that persistence? And again, you see this from the story. Not only do we have to have shameless audacity, but we've got to ask boldly and knock regularly. It's gotta be a regular practice. Until God changes your heart to what it is He wants you to do, until He answers you in some way, we continue to boldly ask and boldly knock. Encourage you. Well this will change and revolutionize kind of the way we begin to process and think about our fall because I think God wants to do some amazing things in the Big C church this fall. And number three, and this is one of my favorites, that I I'm a strategic person, I'm a systems person, I'm a process person. But here I'm reminded that not only do we need to be strategic, while it's great to think about the future and it's great to plan, but more importantly is that we need to be completely dependent upon God. And I think coming to God daily and asking boldly and persistently and knocking regularly will open that up for us. We can be completely dependent upon God. Well, God, we know you we we're petitioning you to do some amazing things in our church, in our families, in the lives of those who who call your church their church home. And we're petitioning you to do a work that only you can do. But in the end, Lord, we're completely dependent on you. No amount of money, no amount of favor from the world, no building. All those things are great, but it's nothing to be to have the strategy to have all the material things. But not be dependent upon God, completely dependent upon God. So I think the summer is oftentimes a great time where we can kind of have that reset in our minds as we begin to think about strategic ground that we feel like God has called us to take. And so many times we don't do these things, we don't have shameless audacity, we don't boldly come before the throne and knock regularly. We aren't strategic, and maybe we're not always completely dependent upon God. And I think sometimes, and the number one reason why we don't do this. It's because we're hiding behind some sort of an excuse. Now, deep down inside, I know how pastors tick I am one, that sometimes we we harbor this excuse of maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe I've got this past, or maybe I have had these issues. But the truth is that if God has called you to be the leader of where you are and to lead the ministry, then it's on us to ask for these things. It's on us to to lead by example. To be a picture of the destination of what God wants to do in the local church. And so we can't hide behind some excuse. And I think sometimes summertimes and when when when the difficulties of the church season come in, it's easy to hide behind some excuses, but we can't let excuses kill the passion for what God has called us to do. I'm not gonna let you do that. And I hope that you wouldn't let me do that. If God has called you to do something, we can't hide behind the excuses. So maybe the the biggest family unit that was kind of contributing to the financial side of your ministry is leaving. Well you and I, well we can't we can't run. We can't let that be an excuse because God called God has called us to this 20 mile march. And when ten other families come on that God brings and things are going great and the excuses aren't there, we're gonna see God's provision and how He's kind of filled in the gaps for us. But the number one thing is I think of when when when for many, I think for many of us in in in pastoral ministry and as we're leading churches and ministries, that when you think about having these lids in our life, and I love the way John Maxwell unpacks this, and he ⁓ he has this in a couple of his books, but there are lids that are in our lives that are directly connected to the excuses that we're making. Have you ever thought about that? Like this summer, you might not be able to go much higher because you and I, we've got some sort of an excuse. Something that's holding us down, something that's keeping us from doing what God has called us to do. But the truth is that if you've been called to ministry, I'm going to remind you, and I'm reminding myself too, that it's a 20-mile march every day. No matter if it's a good day, no matter if it's a bad day, no matter if half the church was gone on Sunday, or if they all came back, it's a 20-mile march to where you are now and to where God is calling you. And we can't use excuses. And I want to encourage you for this summer as you start thinking about taking strategic ground to identify some of those lids in your life, to identify some of those excuses that are preventing you from doing what God has called you to do. Because here's what I believe is going to happen. I believe as we start kind of digging into this as and it kind of as a brotherhood here of pastors and ministry leaders, I believe as we start doing this, God is going to do something in our hearts. He's going to give us fresh vision. He's going to give us a fresh fire for what he's called us to do. And we're gonna be reminded. We're gonna be reminded that when that w one car shows up, man, we're gonna be so excited because we know that one soul matters. And we're gonna know that every single mile and that 20 miles matters and the march that we got to make each and every day. So I'm gonna encourage you, I believe in you and I know that God has called you to great things. Again, I know that if you are part of this, he's called you to be in ministry and I'm gonna encourage you to stay focused. Ask boldly, have shameless audacity, but never forget to stay committed to what God has called you to do. Because I believe that He wants to do something in you and through you that only you can do. And so I pray for you. I pray for our time as we jump into some discussion here after this. But more importantly, I pray for lives to be changed. And so let's see what God wants to do in and through each and every one of us as we boldly look and take strategic ground.