Essential Number 4: Strategic Service

As we look forward to what Encounter will be like, I can identify at least four things that will be essential to making our mission a reality. If we really want to lead people into growing relationships with Christ, everyone must be focused and committed to our Entry Environments, Life Groups, an Invest & Invite Culture, and Strategic Service. Let's discuss essential number 4, an Strategic Service.

INTENTIONAL STRATEGIC SERVICE
Strategic service occurs when we intentionally serve in a place that moves the church closer to fulfilling its mission.

Our strategy is very specific: to create environments where people are encouraged and equipped to pursue growing faith through intimacy with Jesus (Encounter God), authentic relationships by doing life together (Experience Community), and trust relationships that lead to transformation (Engage Culture).

One of the best ways to connect and grow is to serve others, but it's not enough to simply serve. Our impact relies upon a coordinated, strategic effort of service with other gifted members of the body of Christ. That is why we need every person to serve in at least one of our ministry environments.

At first, you may be asked to serve in areas of need. It is important to understand that as Encounter grows and as God adds new gifted individuals to our community, we will eventually find a place that best fits our individual mix of gifts.

Essential Number 3: Invest & Invite Culture

As we look forward to what Encounter will be like, I can identify at least four things that will be essential to making our mission a reality. If we really want to lead people into growing relationships with Christ, everyone must be focused and committed to our Entry Environments, LifeGroups, an Invest & Invite Culture, and Strategic Service. Let's discuss essential number 3, an Invest & Invite Culture.

INVEST & INVITE CULTURE
Everyone at Encounter must be committed to investing in relationships with people who are far from God. It is only in this way that we can Engage Culture resulting in transformed lives. As Jesus invested His life into those around Him, we must invest our lives into those around us. We must serve them, befriend them, accept them, and when we speak of our faith, we'll speak from the overflow of our heart. One thing about investments is that there is rarely an immediate pay-off. Investing takes time. It took Jesus three years to convince the twelve.

After such an investment, it is much easier and effective to invite people to an Encounter environment. Then it is more natural to resurface the subject later providing opportunities to share your journey with Jesus. Being with other believers at the right kind of event has a way of opening people up or pricking their interest in spiritual things. We all know people whose picture of Christianity is so distorted that they need to see the real thing before they can hear you.

Invest & Invite is a both a community culture and a personal strategy. It means genuinely caring for people outside the church and then being bold enough to risk the relationship by inviting them to go deeper. It takes energy and effort to build and invest in a relationship. It takes equal compassion and courage to leverage that relationship for the sake of eternity.

Essential Number 2: LifeGroups

As we look forward to what Encounter will be be like, I can identify at least four things that will be essential to making our mission a reality. If we really want to lead people into growing relationships with Christ, everyone must be focused and committed to our Entry Environments, LifeGroups, an Invest & Invite Culture, and Strategic Service. Let's discuss essential number 2, LifeGroups.

LIFEGROUPS
As we move people from the "entry" environments, then through transitional "connection" environments, we want everyone to end up in the "growth"environment of LifeGroups. We believe that the best place for people to experience life change is in the small group context.

These groups consist of six to eight individuals or five to six couples who meet regularly for Bible study and prayer and commit to accountability, friendship and support. They are a safe place to ask tough questions and build lasting friendships in an environment of commitment and strength and security. They are also a great place to grow in our relationship with Jesus and community with others.

Essential Number 1: Entry Environments

As we look forward to what Encounter will be like, I can identify at least four things that will be essential to making our mission a reality. If we really want to lead people into growing relationships with Christ, everyone must be focused and committed to our Entry Environments, LifeGroups, an Invest & Invite Culture, and Strategic Service. Let's discuss essential number 1, the Entry Environment.

ENTRY ENVIRONMENTS
In our homes, the foyer is the "entry" place that serves as the welcome area for guests and new friends. It's the first step and it's often the only chance to make guests feel comfortable enough to return.

The gathered worship service will be our primary entry environment. This environment must be one where believers can be excited about bringing their un-churched friends. Therefore, it must be an irresistible environment where excellence is experienced with everything we do. From the physical environment to the look and feel, music, video, sound, lights, and hospitality - all must be done in such a way that it honors God and is appealing and enjoyable.

Believers will definitely be challenged spiritually, but the un-churched will experience something so different and unique that they want to come back, whether they believe the teaching or not. Encounter will create all our entry environments where things are done with excellence and where adults, teens, and kids experience a creative God as a result of what we do.