Lifechurch.tv Staff Event: Day 2

Wow is all I can say. We are having a brain overload at the moment. We arrived at the church for Day 2 of the October "event" at Lifechurch.tv. Here is what transpired:

• First off we had Brandon Frazier lead us in worship.
  

• Then we heard from Steven Furtick. I have heard his name so many times but really didn't know much about him. I instantly admired his passion and heart for Christ! He taught on what it means to truly serve others (and how we should serve "where we are"....don't wait for some "big opportunity" to serve, but serve in the small ways everywhere you go). Then, he stopped talking about serving and said that he felt like God wanted him to talk directly to our staff. He talked to us about being a role model for other churches and told us not to miss it! We are so far inside the bubble that's it's hard to step out of the bubble and appreciate the move of God we are in the middle of. It was humbling and inspiring at the same time. Steven is 28 yrs. old but has the wisdom of someone much older! He was gracious and humble and we feel so blessed to have been able to meet him and hear about what God is working in him and through him (and in his church!!) (If you ever see this, Steven, THANK YOU for ministering to us today!)
  

• We then broke our into "quickshops". Brandon and I went to "Twitter as a tool" from Terry and Robin Storch, then "Team collaboration" with John Davis, and then "Connecting in a disconnected world" with Andrew Statezny.
  

• We went home to grab the kids and freshen up and then headed out for a big picnic with the entire staff. There was a cookout, volleyball, music, football, horseshoes, frisbee, and LOTS of conversation. It was great to be with the staff in a very non-formal environment.
  

• Lastly, Brandon and I went out to eat with some dear friends from a Lifechurch.tv Network church. We stayed with them until 11 PM. It was great conversation (as always).

Tomorrow we will be hearing from Craig and Amy Groeschel so I will share about that later! This year has been one of the better years for the Lifechurch.tv "staff event" because we have had lots of connection time!!

~Christi~

Lifechurch.tv Staff Event: Day 1

We kicked off our annual Lifechurch.tv staff event today.Here is the scoop:

• The first part of the day we talked about balancing your family and work and how our team members are our family! It was very good and personal.
• We ate lunch at the "Red Barn". It was a unique environment and I thought it was fun going somewhere new (although we brought our own catered lunch in!)
• We had professional photos taken. I'm not sure how ours will turn out but I'm excited we got to take them.
• We watched Andy Stanley's talk from Catalyst 2007. It was very insightful and Brandon and I got a lot out of it. It was all about systems in the home and at work. Good stuff!

Then we got to go get the kids and have a short break at home. I'm feeling some kind of sinus-y stuff coming on and I don't want to get sick!! We headed back up to the OKC campus for dinner and here is a recap of that:

• First, we had Chris Rogers lead worship. I love getting to hear some of the worship pastors from other LC campuses.
• Then, Bill Hybels got up to speak. He really just sort of "talked" to us. It was one of those times when you realize you are standing in the presence of greatness. (all thanks to God!). This is a guy that just bleeds wisdom. Their church, Willow Creek, is the founder of "Leadership Summit". They have been a church going strong for 33 years! Very impressive! Again- we took a lot away from his talk about "The Whispers of God".
• Craig, our pastor, then went to the stage and we had a Q and A time with Bill. We talked about ministries going stale and having to make tough calls. Also- that churches should not try to be "cool" but that we should be 100% about Jesus. The message doesn't change even though the methods might!

It was an amazing day and we go all day tomorrow. We hear from Steven Furtick in the morning. I love hearing from people outside of our "circle". I will write more tomorrow about Day 2 of our staff event.

~Christi~