August 30th is coming up fast, and that’s the date of our first service for Beachside Community Church! Have I mentioned before how excited I am? I’m excited because I really believe we have so much opportunity to reach the unchurched of this area. I still can’t believe the Lord is allowing me to be  a part of what He is doing here. It’s amazing!  We have the opportunity to start with a clean slate as we create irresistible environments for our friends. We have an opportunity to BE the CHURCH and not just go to church, and God has brought together an AMAZING group of people to lead this effort. But… (here’s where my mathematical wizardry comes in to play)

We’re creating a new church because we believe something different is needed to reach the unchurched of the Emerald Coast. There are plenty of places for church people to go to church on Sunday. We don’t need just another church. We need a church that UNCHURCHED people will want to attend. We want to create INCREDIBLE environments that are engaging, relevant, and helpful. So in order to have a different result, we have to have different parts because we all know that the sum of the same parts is the same result- everytime! 1+1+1 will always equal 3. Here’s the point:

If we…

… spend time with God the same
… use our time and talents the same
… trust God with our finances the same
… care for the poor the same
… love our neighbors the same
… love our enemies the same
… love those we’ve never met the same
… invest in our unchurched friends, neighbors, and coworkers the same
… view the Church the same
… view God the same
… obey God the same
… expect things from God the same

Then we can be sure of one thing: We’ll be the same kind of church.
Here’s my question: What does God desire for YOU to do different?

1+1+1+(God)= ?    I’m not really sure, but I can’t wait to find out!

-Shaun

Well, I think we have to begin to really live biblically. It will take a long time to overcome the perceptions we’ve created in our society, but we can begin that process as we change the perceptions of individuals one at a time. This won’t happen if we don’t develop a solid biblical worldview and live accordingly. Young people must come in contact with biblical Christians- at work, in our communities, and at “church”. We all have a long way to go here. We must begin to serve our community, help the poor, and battle world-wide social injustice- more than Kiwanis clubs, homeless coalitions, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney. We must raise Godly kids, set a Christian example at work, and show a genuine love for others- even those “difficult to love” people that God puts in our path. As Francis Chan says, we must “love others so much that we go to extremes to help them.” We must love them so much that people call us crazy. We must put others before ourselves, and that hurts.

Andy Stanley recently made an interesting statement. As the Senior Pastor of a church with a very attractional church model (a model we at Beachside have chosen to follow) he stated, “people are attracted to environments, but they stick to relationships.” Should we give up on creating amazing environments? No! Those environments are ONE important part of connecting with the unchurched. But, we must recognize that it is ultimately the geniune relationship- built on love- that people stick too. This should be obvious. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment he gave a very simple answer: Love God and love others. But genuine love is difficult.

We also have to rethink the way we “advertise church”. The goal of advertisement is to show that we’re the best at what we do. If we succeed in advertising that we’re the best church, we’ve actually done more harm than good in the minds of young people (who think the church is hypocritical and judgmental- do we really want to be the best at that?). We have to find ways to separate ourselves from the common perception of the “church” category. How do we do that? We just said it. It’s by loving people and investing in them one on one- not to try to get something out of them, but because we really care. Love is a verb. It’s something we do. When we love people we show that love in tangible ways. The church has spent too much time thinking of love as a feeling. If I love my neighbor, I demonstrate my love for him with my actions. Isn’t that the kind of love that Jesus demonstrated for us on the cross? The church (I’m referring to the Body of Christ which is made up of us individuals) must find ways to demonstrate Christ’s love, flowing through us, to the lost people of the world- our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and those we’ve never met- even those in other nations.

So, back to the question: What do young non-christians really want from us? Nothing. But, what can we give them? LOVE. If we do that, Beachside Community Church, Fort Walton Beach, the panhandle of Florida, and the world we live in won’t be the same! This isn’t going to be an easy journey, but it’s going to be amazing!

Shaun

This coming Monday I have the privilege of travelling with several other NP Partner lead pastors to Lima, Peru. We’re travelling with Compassion International to learn more about their efforts to provide for disadvantaged children around the world, and I can’t tell you how excited I am about this trip.

Compassion has ministry centers all over the globe, and they are most well known for their child sponsorship program. Tami, the girls, and I have been sponsoring a girl named Mirella for almost 5 years. For $32/month we provide an opportunity for her to spend time in one of these centers. She gets a good meal each day, has tutors to help with her schoolwork, and she gets to hear that God loves her. When I was given the opportunity to go on this trip I was amazed that of all the possible locations, it was to Lima, Peru. That’s because Mirella lives just a short distance away! I’m not sure I’ll have the privilege of meeting her, but it’ll be amazing to just visit the area where she lives so I can learn more about her culture and her environment.

I’m also excited because of how God has been working in my life over the past few years. I’ve spent a significant amount of time in Mexico, and I’ve also travelled to India. Each time I serve in one of these places I learn more about myself and about God’s amazing love. I could tell you hours worth of stories, but I won’t. I will say that I can’t wait to see what the Lord will teach me while in Peru, and I hope you’ll begin praying about how God might use you on a short-term mission trip during the next year or two. I believe Beachside Community Church will create incredibly relevant environments that reach the unchurched in our local area. However, I also believe we will make a global impact as we carry the love of Jesus to the rest of the world. And, who knows- that just might be what God uses to develop your passion for those that live right here among us.

When we first began the discussion of a new church in the Fort Walton Beach area we made it very clear that there wasn’t a reason to just create another place for church people to attend on Sunday. That’s really the last thing our community needs. But, we did feel like there was  a definite void that needed to be filled. The Emerald Coast was in need of relevant environments where unchurched people would want to attend, because church isn’t just for church people. It’s for everybody.

We have now created several incredible environments: Life Lessons Over Lunch, Kidstuf, and Small Groups, and our Sunday environments are on their way. Because of your commitment to give sacrificially in the midst of a major recession, to serve strategically to create incredible environments, to invest in your unchurched friends and invite them to these environments, and to join launch groups to grow with other believers, we have been able to take our first significant steps. Now, we are about to take a major leap forward on this incredible journey that is limitless in its possibilities.

I have said a dozen times that in order to be successful with what we do as a church on Sundays we have to first understand what it means to be the church apart from Sundays. August 30th doesn’t mean we finally have a place to go to church. It means we have another irresistible environment where we can bring our friends. The next few months are incredibly valuable to Beachside Community Church and to you, a member of this body. We get to concentrate, maybe more than ever, on being the church in our families, with our friends, and at work or school. This isn’t an “interim” period at all. We’re right in the middle of the most important time of our lives. I’m amazed at the people God has brought together for this task and I’m honored to be on this journey with you.