C3 Session #4

Dr. Ed Young, Houston TX, Second Baptist Church, 32,000 people a weekend, multiple campuses. Ed Young Jr's dad.

Alright, I had not heard Dr. Young live before. Seen him on TV a time or two.

Dr. Young brought a message out of Isaiah 54. Frankly it became so good I stopped taking any kind of notes. When the DVD gets here I will post some more. But here are the high points!

First, when building a church: Strengthen the Stakes!
1) The stake of theology! Our statement of faith.
2) The stake of ecclesiology! Our philosophy of Church. Let Acts 2 be our guide.
3) The stake of eschatology! Looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ for His church!

He said something about excellence in the local church I thought was profound. He said, "The physical beauty of a church is a sign of the inward beauty of a church." In other words, as a body of people treat their facility so they feel about themselves.

Then Dr. young transitioned his message to focusing on children and young people! I was blown away! I stopped taking notes and the Lord began to speak to me.

Did you know that our church has over 50% that are under the age of 18 attending on a weekly basis! I told that to a few people this weekend and this what they said, "That is a sign that your parent's are bringing all their children and feel safe in your church." I thought that was great. Another said, "You will soon be a mighty strong church as those children and young people age." In both statements, I thought, Yeah GOD! And Yeah children's leadership!

So here is the deal! I am seriously praying about some core values to direct us in this season of ministry. It is not that we will do away with the ones we have now, just focus on these for a season. Here they are: We value, Kids, Teens, Weekend Worship and Reach Teams! I will post another on this!

Well, two more sessions tomorrow and then we are back to Seattle by dinner! Session 5 is TD Jakes! and Session 6 with Ed Young! Gonna be fun!!!