Sustaining our joy is a matter of sustaining a close walk with Jesus – the great Joy-giver. Pastor Brandon Cox walks through three principles for remaining close to God continually.

Sustaining Your Joy – Discussion Guide

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Sustaining Your Joy is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.

In other words, I don’t think it’s a matter of a lack of “want to.” It’s often more about “how to.” How do I encourage my friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to become a part of my faith and my church family? Here are the five most simple ways I can think of, at least within the context of my own church family…

1. Make a list of a few people you know personally who don’t have a church family or a relationship with Jesus. Pray for them and ask God to give you an opportunity to include them in your church family.
2. Bring them to a weekend service. At Grace Hills, we attempt to strike a balance between challenging believers to grow and to go on mission, but also making the truth of Christianity plainly understandable in an atmosphere of real acceptance and love. We are ultra-clear about the gospel, unapologetic about the truth of our message, and unquenchably in love with people – especially people who are lost and hurting inside.
3. Bring them to your small group. Sometimes someone at Grace Hills will ask me, “Is it okay to invite my friend to my group? They don’t attend Grace Hills.” When I hear that question, I realize we haven’t been clear enough that this is the very mission of groups to begin with - to connect the disconnected. YES, bring them to your group! And let your group love them too.
4. Be a greeter, even if you’re not a greeter. We have a greeting team, but the fact is we tell every new member who attends our Newcomers’ Lunch that once they decide they’re “all in,” they covenant with the rest of the church family to greet those who attend. We’re a family, yes, but we’re not one of those families that keeps to themselves. We’re a family with an open door policy and we love it when extra guests show up to the table!
5. Serve people, inside and outside the weekend service. Serving inside the weekend service structure (as a greeter, kids’ leader, diaper changer, stuff-putter-upper, etc.) creates an atmosphere where life change can often happen. And serving outside the weekend service, especially along with the rest of your small group, reflects the real assignment Jesus gave to His church, which is a sent group of people who just happen to gather weekly.

So… bring someone. Think of them, pray for them, invite them, and share Jesus with them by loving words and actions. Now, start your list.

5 Ways to Encourage People Into God’s Family is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.

The Baby Bottle Campaign is a community-wide fundraiser where organizations and churches pass out empty baby bottles and collect them back two weeks later filled with loose change and small bill donations. All of the money donated benefits Loving Choices, a local nonprofit that serves women in northwest Arkansas.

How can you help? Pick up a baby bottle this Sunday at Grace Hills, fill it with change or bills and return it by Father’s Day, June 16. That’s it!

Loving Choices Baby Bottle Campaign is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.

Security and Stability

Kids need to know that they’re safe, their basic needs are going to be provided for, and that they will be free to grow up in a stable environment. Selfishness often causes us to fight dirty, abandon, or neglect our spouse. Kids need to know that home is the safest place on the planet – the place to which we flee from a threatening world.

Oneness and Intimacy

Beyond merely keeping kids safe and letting them know that we’re stable in our marriage and as a family, we also need to go deep with each other. Getting up close and personal so that you know and are deeply known by your spouse really matters. It isn’t that Mom and Dad need to get along all the time perfectly or have it altogether, but that even when there is conflict, there is also love and commitment.

The Gospel!

Kids not only need to hear the story of Jesus from beginning to end – they also need to see a living picture of the effect and the nature of the gospel. And with the gospel, truth is truth even when it’s painful. God’s expectations aren’t lowered or compromised. But the other half of the gospel is the redemption offered to us when we’ve failed to follow the rules. Legalism and perfectionism show our kids a false or shallow gospel, and so does permissiveness. In between is the balance of truth and grace and the good news of redemption for all of us who have messed up… and that’s all of us.

What else do kids need to learn from us?

Three Things Kids Need to See In Their Parents is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.

Too much month at the end of the money? In debt and need relief? Consider becoming a part of Grace Hills’ Financial Peace University. The group will meet on Wednesday evenings at the Grace Hills office at 6:30 pm starting June 5. This first group is a closed, pilot group. Publicly open groups will launch in the fall. To be considered to be part of this initial pilot group, fill out the form below:

I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

- 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (NIV)

Paul was writing about his willingness to adapt his personal communication style to that of his hearer, whether Jew or Gentile. Whenever I hear someone say, “we shouldn’t try to be like the world just to reach the world,” I realize I’m probably up against someone who doesn’t like the pain of change or the awkwardness of adapting to the culture. It’s not that I disagree. We really shouldn’t have a theology or philosophy of life like those who haven’t submitted themselves to the God of the Bible. But usually when Christians talk about being “like the world,” they’re talking about non-biblical issues like the way we dress, our style of music, and whether we have tattoos or not.

So let me clarify what I mean when I say “whatever it takes, short of sin…”

• I mean we will communicate to the culture in its own language, defining our distinctively Christian terms.
• I mean we will share the gospel through the style of music people listen to.
• I mean we will remove the awkwardness of walking into a group of strangers.
• I mean we will address the struggles that people have, the questions they are asking, and the issues they are wrestling with.
• I mean we will spend time with people who have time-consuming problems and brokenness from their past.
• I mean we will host events to build a friendship with the community and ask nothing in return.
• I mean we will love and serve people around us whether or not they ever become a part of our church.
• I mean we will devote resources to missions locally and internationally to find the lost.
• I mean we will care more about being respected and listened to by outsiders than being liked by other church leaders.
• I mean we will speak the truth in love and trust God to heal and change people from the inside out.
• I mean we will always make room for someone else to sit at our table (or in our theater).
• I mean we will go all-out when it comes to kids ministry to serve and help parents.
• I mean we will try things and fail rather than trying nothing to protect our false image of “success.”

That’s what I mean. Or to put it another way…

We will do whatever it takes… (all possible options are on the table)

Anything short of sin… (we do have parameters, but only where the Bible clearly gives them to us)

Anything short of sin to find people… (rather than expecting them to find us)

People who are far from God… (so we don’t expect them to look or act like us)

And lead them to life in Jesus. (the One and Only Savior)

That’s our mission, and it will be fulfilled by people who are willing to leave the comfort zone of their safe, religious bubble to invade the darkness with light.

Whatever It Takes, Short of Sin is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.

The key to finding joy in any relationship is not found in deciding how to get other people to make you happy. Rather, it’s found in deciding to put others first and make yourself a servant. In other words, it’s selflessness. Listen as Pastor Brandon teaches about how to choose joy by putting the needs of others first.

Choosing Joy In Your Relationships is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.

Choosing Joy In Your Relationships – Audio is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.

You need to be led before you can really lead.This one is tough for eager leaders, but in order to lead well, you must first be okay with being led. One of the greatest leaders I know who was in charge of 350+ staff in a well-known megachurch said, “I’m a man under authority.” If you don’t know what it’s like to follow or if you’re unwilling to learn from those ahead of you, you’re not quite ready to lead.

You need to love people before you can really lead. You can lead and love self, but the end result is pretty pitiful. Great leaders love those they are leading. Good shepherds have a tendency to lay down their lives for their sheep, and great leaders are always thinking about how to move their followers to the next level.

You need to become a servant before you become a leader. We know that servanthood is the prerequisite to kingdom influence based on Jesus’ example and His words, but we don’t like to let go of our identity as a leader to fully embrace it. We even like to call ourselves “servant-leaders” so we’re not leaving out the leadership part of the equation. But think differently for a moment. What if you saw yourself as a servant firstand as a leader second? How would it change the way you lead people?

Can you lead and influence without being led, being a lover of people, and being a servant? Sure, but why would you want to? Your reward for such leadership is shallow and short-lived. Instead, choose the Jesus path – be a servant and a shepherd. Be led well, and then lead with confidence!

Three Prerequisites to Leading Well is a post from Grace Hills Church. © 2011 Grace Hills Church. All rights reserved.