GlocalNet

September 15, 1985, Nikki and I, along with 19 other families started NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas.  It’s been an incredible ride - lots of awesome stuff has taken place:  a few thousand people have found Christ, our church has grown, churches have been planted, nations engaged, disciples made, cities engaged, etc.  I could go on and on and on. 

Sunday was a blast!  There were letters from the Governor of Texas.  There were 2 flags I was given - both Texas State Flags one flew over the Alamo and one flew over the Texas Capitol.  They flew August 3rd this year - this date is significant because it is the anniversary date of that littler creamery in Texas called Blue Bell - Ice Cream that is!  The President of Blue Bell sent an incredible letter congratulating us - it was the greatest gift of all!!!!  We sang, celebrated, had the initial families come up, balloons dropped from the ceiling, it was neat. 

NorthWood has never been an “explosive” church in terms of growth - just steady, consistent, and forward moving.  There are now a few thousand that consider NorthWood their church, and literally tens of thousands in the churches that we’ve helped plant out of our church. 

What has set NorthWood apart is what she has done that churches don’t “normally” do.  More than anything - NorthWood has become a global church - one that makes disciples, mobilizes the body, and multiplies churches.  Being a global church means being “apostolic” or moving beyond the influence of a single local church.  There are three expressions of the church and without each one - the church will not be complete:  the cell (house, organic, simple, etc.) for the building up of the body and sharing of faith, the city church (coalition of the cells for strategic engagement of the city and world) and the global church - which is connecting with God’s global and eternal purposes.  The function of a global church is seen in four ways:  connecting the body of Christ, clarifying and simplifying theology, engaging the society in a broader scale than just “a” church growing, and finally developing a single conversation.  You can hear my message at http://www.northwoodchurch.org - it will be posted later today.  I deal with what that means in a global era. 

Here are some core lessons I’ve learned over the past 25 years:

1.  A church’s impact must be far more than what sits in the worship service on Sunday morning.  The Kingdom of God is our lens through which we do everything.

2.  The world is more ready for the church than the church is the world. 

3.  In the end, the effectiveness of the church anywhere is its ability to communicate clearly and simply, humbly and in love, the truth of Jesus Christ. 

4.  Disciple making and city engagement go hand in hand - without both we get an aberration. 

5.  Impact and influence comes with long term focus and consistency.

6.  God is always opening doors that come from the previous doors we entered.  When we don’t go through the doors he opens, we miss far more than we realize.  When we go through the doors he opens, he’s going to do a lot more than we can imagine or see at that point. 

7.  Faith is what makes us connect to the extreme that others say is not possible, feasible, practical, or doable.  Only when faith is radical will we make a difference.

8.  It is impossible to serve God, do what he wants, and not expect challenges along the way.  The toughest challenges are not the money, the organization, or even “the others” but are from your own “tribe.”  That’s even Biblical. 

Lots more, but just some stuff . . . . . .  .