Who Will Pray?

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ... 

(Col 4:2-3).

How do you pray?  Who do you pray for?  When you need prayer, where do you turn?  Do you ever pray for someone, or something, or only for yourself?

I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately, not because I am some prayer powerhouse, quite the opposite actually, I feel I don't pray enough.  It all started with our "Pray on Purpose" campaign where we committed to pray for thirty days.  It rocked me.  I learned a lot about myself, what I value, and honestly, what our community values.  Do we value prayer?

I want to start a prayer team.  I have a few ideas but I'll be honest, I don't want to be the guy leading this.  I want to open it up to our community and see if anyone feels led to lead this team.  In my experience, I've seen prayer teams work in one of two ways.  One way is a team gathers and prays for the ministry that is happening: The upcoming mission trip, the teaching tonight, that God would draw people to Himself.  Another prayer experience I have witnessed was a team of people available to pray for anyone who would come and needed prayer: for healing, for faith, upcoming life transitions, a job.  There are positives and negatives for both types and I've seen both teams work well. 

But, I want to see a third type of Prayer Team: one praying that the Gospel would be seen vividly in our community.  A team that gathers at 6:30 every Tuesday night for 20 minutes and is available to pray for the needs of this community, but is also praying for the Gospel to be vividly seen in our ministry.  Instead of praying blanket prayers, they pray selected portions of scripture to be relevant and active in our lives.  They pray for specific needs in our community and for specific people that aren't. 

What would it look like if the Gospel was more evident at The Awakening?  What if this community  was one that sought the Lord and his will for their lives and the lives around them?  What if the blind did see, and the lame did walk, and those who were hungry were fed.  Can our community accomplish these tasks?  Not without Christ and speaking to him through prayer. 

When the Original CORE team gathered last summer to start this gathering, we prayed.  We prayed a lot.  It is time for us to return to prayer.  In my opinion, this new Prayer Team is the most important team of servants at The Awakening.  So what needs to happen next?

• First, I am looking for one passionate leader to step up to the plate and develop this team.

• Second, I am looking for people to support this leader and gather at 6:30 to pray for 20 minutes every Tuesday night.

Let's start this along with the new series through Philippians on March 8th.  Who's in?  Contact Phil if you would like to lead or join this team. (PhilO@fellowshipdallas.org)

Posted by Phil

Ready...Set...Go! "God Set it all Up"

This past Tuesday night at the Awakening, Lindsey Duncan gave a great exhortation to all singles to live a life that honors God by serving others.  One young single, Brooke Ward was inspired to write about it:

READY? uhh.. not really!! SET! oohhh, not so much  GO!  okay, but where?
Running the race of life as a Christian, especially as a young adult, can be confusing and leave you wondering how to do it and who to share the journey with.  I am so thankful for The Awakening and the inspiration it has brought to my life. Last weekend I had an eye awakening experience with God.  Granted... in my life I have probably had more eye awakening experiences, but this is the one God used to really shake me into a new mindset that will allow me to DO something about it.  Super Bowl Sunday was the day God told me I had to die to my selfish desires, and change my life if I wanted to live the life he set out for me.  I didn’t really know how to do that, because I’ve done it completely wrong for as long as I can remember.  I've had the book A Call to Die by: David Nasser for quite some time yet never really devoted myself to that.  I'd read a chapter here and a chapter there, but definitely did not make it the 40 days.  I skipped out on our bible study last year when things got overwhelming, and I chose not to lead my bible study at work because I didn't think I was well equipped.  I've been choosing to live a life of convenience, pleasure, and fun.  Leading this double life of partying on the weekends, scrambling to church on Sundays hung-over, never committing to anyone, and finally (THANKFULLY) God exhausted me of living this way.
 When I came to The Awakening on Tuesday for the second time it was clear that God set it all up, because I had a million things come up and reasons not to go that night.  God put me there to hear the exact message that just blew me away.  Lindsey Duncan spoke about how she uses her singleness to glorify God, and how she lives her life on purpose.  It was so encouraging to hear someone who is living out what my heart is so desperately yearning for.  Every single thing she said I wanted to stand up and shout "Amen!!!"  It's really interesting too, because I have said 100 TIMES! "I'm done dating.  I'm going to be single for God.  I'm going to be single for one year, or 6 months or whatever...”  I've never had the desire to honestly carry this out in my life even though it's something God has been asking me to do for way too long, and when I heard that message I knew that God was telling me I wouldn't have to run this race alone.  He had not only provided a welcoming community with others who believe in Him, but also young adults that are going through the same exact phase of life as me.  Being in the presence of others who believe in God and live their lives on purpose is exactly what my heart was searching for, and God put me here for this reason.  I look around and see others whose hearts are yearning for friendship, compassion, and more God in their lives and it is so refreshing.  I can't wait to go again.....is it Tuesday night yet?

Were you there that night?  
What inspired you that night?

NEW BLOGGING TEAM!!!

Hey folks, we are starting a new blogging team so that the Awakening community can share their stories.  Right now the team consist of Pastor Phil, Whitney Mildren, Kendall Johnson, and Bunmi Ishola.  We are looking for more team members, want to join?  Email Whitney at wmildren@gmail.com.

Community: On Tap

If you have been coming to the Awakening, you should by now be catching a sense of what we are trying to do.  We want to help young adults join community and in so do, be disciples. (Plug In. Wake UP.)  We have had several new faces that aren’t even church members showing up and I had to share this story with you. One of our CORE Team members, Michael DeGroat shared this story with me from our last gathering of The Awakening:

Last night I met (we’ll call him John on the blog). He had never been to The Awakening before, but I thought he might be the guest of someone else because they seemed to be friends and had spent lots of timing talking. When I asked John how he heard about The Awakening I heard an amazing story of God making a divine appointment!

John told me that just two hours earlier he had been sitting at home alone overwhelmed with a sense of loneliness. There was a craving deep inside him to be around or with other people. He was craving community. Anything would do.
"I was headed out to find a bar or something… people. I stopped by the church because I thought I might find my friend here. I didn't know anything about The Awakening. But it’s crazy, just like the guy (Phil) said, I didn't like being alone and was just going in search of people. I needed to be here tonight." 

"So you just stumbled into The Awakening without knowing about it?" I asked a bit confused.

"Yeah. I was just tired of being alone, and I ended up here."
I was still confused. The dots didn't seem to line up. It felt like some information was missing. How does someone just randomly stumble into The Awakening without having a clue what it is, where it meets, or when. And how does that person find exactly what their soul has been searching for even though they didn't know it? 

Then it struck me. I have been saying this prayer for months: "Lord, orchestrate the events of people's lives to develop a strong awareness of their craving for community. God begin, even now, drawing them to this ministry and to your heart. Amen"

The Awakening has Begun!

What a fantastic beginning to a new young adult community!  After a summer long preparation by an excellent CORE team, it was so exciting to finally see The Awakening begin. I met so many new people - people who were thirsty for community. I met people that are new to Dallas and even new to the church!  It was an exciting time clearly influenced by God. I couldn't have hoped for a better launch.  Here's a quick play by play:

We began at 7:00pm and already we were pulling out more chairs and by the end of worship we had about 100 people joining us.  Cody Kimmel, our worship leader (Cody is also at Fellowship White Rock Sunday mornings at 11am) with his team of musicians lead us to the throne through some great worship.

I got up next for our teaching portion of the evening.  I taught for about 25 minutes sharing the story of how The Awakening began and about the void in community this ministry is addressing. Then I shared some vision of what we want this ministry to look like and what someone can expect to happen on Tuesday nights.  I also asked people to come for the next 4 weeks because we will be sharing more about who we want to be, our values and the culture we are trying to create.  Finally I called people to not just commit to coming, but if led, to participate in the progress - to join us in building this ministry.   

After a quick break to grab some refreshments, we broke up into Connection Groups where young adults were able to discuss the message as well as get to know several other people in their group.  It was so cool to see 13 groups of 7-10 people gather together and talk about life, how they have experienced community or the absence of it and sharing their excitement for this new ministry.

After about 45 min - a lot longer than I expected, groups began to disperse and hang out in a larger group again.  We had pool tables going, some ping pong and of course plenty of refreshments.  It was just cool to see people getting connected with others and developing new friendships while sitting in the cafe area, the lounge below or standing around in smaller groups.  

The room was full of conversation which created a contagious buzz and excitement.  People didn't really leave until well after 9:00.

There were about 25 of us that continued our conversation across the street at Gordon Biersch until  I don't know when.  I left at 10:30 and people were still hanging out.  Again, another chance to get to know people and become part of this community.

The Awakening seeks to lead young adults in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ through authentic social community.  From what I saw last night, God is up to some pretty cool stuff here at Fellowship Dallas.  Authentic community is being built and time will tell just what exactly this will become.  From my vantage point, God has some pretty big plans.

Where you there last night?  What did you see?  What was your experience?  I'd love to hear your story.

Connection Group Leaders

Some of the most influential leaders in The Awakening are the men and women who facilitate discussion in our Connection Groups.  I want to share a quick post about our heart for our Connection Group Leaders (CGL).

First, we are looking for leaders who will love people well.  In the 20-30 minutes that connection groups gather after the teaching, we want each person to be cared for, appreciated, and heard. Second, a CGL will facilitate discussion. Each week CGLs are equipped with a list of questions to help guide and direct the conversation.  This means that individuals in the group will have an opportunity to be heard and hear the prospective of others.  The role of a CGL is to help his or her group members share their thoughts on what was taught that evening.  Third, a CGL will help foster connections.  Getting people connected is one of the CGL's primary roles. Our heart for this ministry is to lead young adults in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ through authentic social community, and CGLs are the lifeblood of creating this atmosphere.  Meeting and introducing young adults of like minded interests and life stages as well as getting to know the people in this community are some of the primary roles that a CGL aims to fulfill.

Connection Group Leaders are part of this community and have been confirmed by their peers and this church to participate in this role.  If you would like to be a Connection Group Leader, please let us know by contacting our team leader, Justin Ehle at justinehle@gmail.com.

What are Connection Groups?

If you come to The Awakening on Tuesday nights you will recognize that one of our values is authentic community.  It has been said here on this blog that we want young adults to walk into The Awakening, meet 20 new people and develop five new friends.  One of the ways we foster this kind of culture is through our connection groups.


Each week after our time of worship and teaching, we will break up into groups of 5-10 people in order to discuss the topic shared in the teaching time.  This is a great opportunity for two things to happen.  By discussing the topic, each person has an opportunity to be heard and hear from others allowing for greater discipleship within a community.  Second, this gives each person an opportunity to learn about each other, clearing the way for more personal friendships to arise.  Some connection groups will consist of married people, some single, some just for women or men, but we will expect these connections to form organically.  No one is expected to stay in the same group each week, in fact, our hope is that young adults will move from group to group in order to meet more people and develop more relationships within this social community.
               
Each connection group will have its own Connection Group Leader who will be identified by a special name tag.  This person will be equipped with prepared questions to help facilitate and guide discussion on the topic of the evening.  Get to know these people, they are the real influencers in this ministry and they can help you as we all grow together in community.  If you’d like to be a Community Group Leader please let our team leader, Justin Ehle, know by emailing him at justinehle@gmail.com.

Leadership Teams

I have been thinking about my leadership style lately. I recognize that I am not like all other leaders - not necessarily good or bad, but just different. In several different points this past week, it seems that God is showing me a little bit more of those differences, and one of them I want to share with any new/potential attender of The Awakening.

I am a Team Player. Not sure if it's because of my  history in the athletic arena, or simply because it seems that I have seen so much value with teams in past initiatives I have led, but a leadership team is of up most importance to me.  We have a leadership team for the Awakening called the CORE Team. This is actually an acronym for Community, Ownership, Relationship, and Evaluation. You can check out a greater explanation here. This CORE Team is seriously the most high functioning volunteer team I have ever worked with. God has brought together a group of young adults that desire to be His agents, using their gifts and passions to serve Him. They are selfless, giving of their time and resources to see this ministry succeed. They are totally cool, and we are having a blast!

But that's not the only team I have envisioned for The Awakening.  The CORE Team is currently looking for individuals to be a part of our "Connection's Team"  This team, led by Justin Ehle, will be tasked to lead the discussion groups that meet after the teaching segment of Tuesday nights. Another team, led by our Logo creator and artistic genius Gabe Macias, is our Communications team. This is a team of people who communicate our values and mission through the Web, Social Media and Video. Our hospitality team is led by Shannon Ogilvie. She is so gifted to lead this team, believe me, I know - I've been blessed by her gift of hospitality for over six years now. She is the most self-less person I've ever met. 

The point that I am making, is that when you are working with volunteers, the team model of leadership is key. It spreads out the responsibility, keeps more people engaged in the ministry and "in the know," and it provides opportunities for God to show off his amazing ability as he created every person to uniquely participate in His plans. If you are a part of the Awakening community, there is room for you on one of these teams and others. We will need help in a lot of areas and I trust God to provide the teams and their members to accomplish His work.

Question: Do you want to use your gifts and passions in the Awakening Community?...We have a team for that.

-Phil