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November 7, 2023

in Church, Guest Services, HCC Basketball-Cheer, Local, Outreach, School Outreach

by Brendon

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The Gathering Recap

“ So much time and energy is put into religious concerns-church buildings, church committees, church programs, and activities – that the secular world suffers from pure neglect. But it is in that very world, Christians spend more of their time. If the Christian faith is going to have any kind of impact at all, it must address how believers live in the secular world. Ordinary people must learn to live as disciples of Jesus when they are NOT at church. Perhaps we need a new category of saint – a ‘ secular saint’ who lives passionately for Christ while serving as a banker or teacher or construction worker or artist.”

Gerald Sittser – Waters From a Deep Well

It is hard to believe that it has been almost 2 weeks since we had our Guest Services and Local Outreach team Gathering! But it’s true, the days have flown by and it is time to prep for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

If you were able to join us for the Gathering, the quote above was one I explained that stood out to me when I read it but I wasn’t sure why at the time. But as I continued to think about and stew on the quote, it finally dawned on me…..

As a Guest Services and Local Outreach team, you are fulfilling this quote.

As a team, we welcome guests onto our campus and inside our doors and in our worship center. As a team, we go into the community and serve many different schools, organizations and people of all kind to be the hands and feet of Jesus to each of them. As a team, you are all secular saints. People that do not do ministry full time as a career, but a group of people that have fallen in love with Jesus and are genuinely passionate about Jesus and wanting others to know who Jesus is, all the while being that secular saint in your work places and homes that are in the secular world. The premise that Mr. Sittser speaks of in this quote, is that ordinary people learning to live as disciples of Christ in a secular world is one of the hardest but most fulfilling roles to have in life. And as a team, you are all a part of that premise and are doing amazing at it!

Before I get to any sort of information or details about a few things that will be coming in 2024, let me encourage you going into a very busy time of year:

” Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for i am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-20

Jesus speaks these words when he is talking with his disciples as well as disciples of John the Baptist. Jesus says these words also to each and every one of us. That when we are in the craziness of life, the mundane daily tasks, the transportation company that is your vehicle to practice and games and concerts and friends houses, that Jesus is the best place to find rest.

My hope for you individually, is that you are able to find rest in Jesus. I hope that you find the rhythms that find you resting in Jesus far more often than you have at any other point in your life. That 2024 can be a year that is a catalyst for a life long journey with Jesus as not just a need or help in dark times, but the source of light and life in your every day.

We are going to need it. Because in 2024, there will be two big things changing on an every week level that you need to know about:

A new Database – ChMS – Some of you reading this are probably thinking…huh? Why is this important? Well, in years past it may not have been. But this year, mainly for our Guest Services teams, this change to a new database is going to be a pretty large move, due to the additions of:
1. Self Logins – meaning, you will have access to this database. You will be able to create a login username and password for you to have access to ChMS. Sure, still may not seem like a big deal, but our reach just became massive! Having your own login will allow you to be just as big of a resource as a coach or leader because we all become ambassadors for our teams and our church. Recruiting is a massive task and when all of us have the ability to recruit and contact people, it makes recruiting an easier opportunity.
2. Scheduling – did you know that there are 8 teams that make up the Guest Services team as a whole?? Parking, Golf Carts, Greeter, Communion tables, Section Hosts, Living Room Guides, Guest Central, First Aid and our Mission Cafe is a huge partner with us. All of those teams have their own schedules right now….that is a lot of schedules to keep track of. In January 2024, we will be moving to using ChMS as our primary way of signing up to serve and keeping schedules. This will also allow ALL members of the Guest Services teams to see who is serving and where. As an individual team, it can seem a little lonely, but when we see the whole picture, we know that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. There will be more talk about the online schedules in the coming weeks.
The Belong Experience, wont Belong anymore – man that sounds so depressing, and it kind of is. But, we are brining our Belong Experience to a close so that we can start something new!
Enter – Discover Harvester – Discover Harvester, starting in April, will be our new space to invite and push new guests and anyone wanting to get more involved with Harvester CC. Just like Belong, Discover Harvester will be where people can learn about who we are as a church, what we believe and how they can get involved. But instead of attempting to do that in one hour, it will be broken down into TWO parts:
1. Week 1 – this will be very similar to what our Belong Experience is right now. It will be video driven and information based. However with filming new videos, it will also free up a ton more time for table conversations all about Harvester. Think these two things about week 1 – we want people to make a decision for Jesus and then Harvester.
2. Week 2 – part 2 of Discover Harvester will also be video driven but will be geared and designed specifically to help people have more time to see where it is that God might be calling them to take a next step. Through video stories, table conversations and hosts, week 2 should be a great chance for not only the hosts of the morning, but also the attenders to make a great decision on where God is calling them to be involved with HCC.

The last thing about the Gathering that I do not want to over look is this:

Our goal for 2024 – is to not get stuck in what was, but embrace what could be.

The great theologian, Olaf the Snowman said this in Frozen 2 – ” Oh how I wish this could last forever. And yet change mocks us with our beauty.”

Olaf could not be more right. The machine is clicking right now. Things are working and each week, as teams fulfill our team goal of being the most welcoming church anyone can experience.

The danger that we run, especially in a season like it is right now, that if we do not begin to change or think about how things get better and move towards that, we get stuck and end up behind the game. And it is much harder to catch up instead of trying to be ahead of the curve.

So come along with us for another great year of welcoming guests and being the hands and feet of Jesus to our church, community and world!

Oh yea, here are some dates you might want to know:

Christmas 2023: all services are full programmed except the 11pm service on the 24th.

Friday, December 22nd – 6pm
Sunday, December 24th – 8am/9:30am/11am & 3pm/4:30pm/11pm

Guest Service and Local Outreach Trainings 2024:

Thursday, February 29th – 6:15-8:30pm in the Mission Cafe
Thursday, May 16th – 6:15-8:30pm in the mission Cafe
Thursday, October 24th – 6:00-8:30 – The Gathering in the Landing

feel free to reach out if you have any questions!!

Love you guys, thanks so much for serving!

May 30, 2023

in Church, Guest Services, Outreach

by Brendon

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GST #2 is a wrap!

” When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So theytook his advice, ” Acts 5:33-39

We had a great night to celebrate and gather together last Thursday night! We gathered to be together, to fellowship with cookies and coffee and to learn some things.

As a Guest Services team, we do not always get a chance to see each other since we are spread out all over the place on a Sunday morning. So as a team we are going to be getting into an annual rhythm of meeting together 3 times a year.

The first Guest Services Training ( GST ) will be at the beginning of the new year with a focus on safety and security things that we as a team should be aware of.

The second GST will be towards the end of the school year so that we can learn and be together before the summer travels begin.

We will gather together one more time at the end of the year, normally October before the holidays start to celebrate together what God has done throughout the year and what to expect as we finish the year strong!

Below is the Power Point presentation we walked through with lots of information. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me or your coach/leader for more information!

Guest Services Training #2 Power Point. Download

Thanks so much for being a part of our Guest Services Team!

May 3, 2023

in Church, HCC

by Brendon

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GST #2 is Coming!

As a Guest Services Team, we started the year with some goals in mind. One of those goals was to gather more often and more intentionally. We entered into the 2023 year with 4 things on the calendar that would bring about an annual calendar rhythm. Two trainings and two gatherings. The trainings come in the front half of the year and the other two are specific gatherings, one for coaches and leaders and then one for all Guest Services to come together and celebrate the year and look towards the new year.

We are gathering together for our second training of the year on May 25th!

The first training we gathered for was mainly for a quick recap of who Harvester Christian Church is and what we believe as well as a great walkthrough from our safety team about what the process looks like if there was ever a severe weather event on a Sunday morning.

This upcoming training will be more about on-the-ground training. We will talk through how we handle the exterior entrance doors all the way through what to do if someone wants to get baptized. I hope that you will make the time in your schedule to join us in The Landing from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Click on this link: GST #2 – to register to come and be with us!

February 27, 2023

in Church, HCC

by Brendon

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GST #1 – FAQ’s & Safety

” I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ” Romans 12:1-2

Training. Something that I have never enjoyed. It takes time, and energy and sometimes it just doesn’t seem to work out, but for some reason, training is something that we have to do throughout our lives. We train for everything, whether it is a marathon, a test, a trip or an interview. We work on bettering ourselves for whatever the reason may be. Why would it be any different in the church? We should be training whether that it is in the spiritual sense or the physical sense.

We train our minds and hearts as we dive into spiritual disciplines and we train our physical actions when we learn, relearn or review the protocols and practices we need to know. Last Thursday we were able to do just that. A little bit of both. Gathering together is always a good thing. Getting to fellowship with one another and see each other and be a part of each other’s lives outside of a Sunday, is always a good thing to do. But when we are able to couple that with some action training, that makes the night even more impactful.

Below are a few things that we passed out and talked about at the training that I wanted to make available to you. So please take a look, download it and know it! Feel free to reach out and ask any questions you might have:

GS Training #1 with animation. Download

Big Campus map_working2020 Shelter In Place inwork-1[16]

Big Campus map_working2020 Shelter In Place inwork-1[16]Download

February 23, 2023

in Church

by Brendon

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2023 is going to be….. Posted on January 10, 2023 by Brendon

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

I love traditions that brings back memories. One of those traditions for me is rewatching all of the Lord of the Rings movies. The Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001, I was a freshman in high school. Whenever one of these movies came out, my dad, brother and I would go to the movies to sit and watch together. The movies and that time quickly became some of my favorite. I took it a step further though…..ever December 16th, after 2003, when The Return of the King came out, all my high school buddies would skip school and end up at Tim’s house to watch all of them in row!! Every year, 12 hours of Middle Earth on December 16th. I continue the tradition today as every year, towards Christmas I will embark on a journey of now 6 movies in Middle Earth. Even this year, I told Amanda that I had to finish the series before the end of Christmas because I won’t watch them again til next year…..she laughed and allowed me to finish them!

The idea of traditions is one that we all look for in lots of different areas of life. Whether it is a ridiculous one like my obsession with Middle Earth, or maybe it is a vacation that you have been taking with friends for years or a trip that you and your spouse take every year. Maybe it is a tradition for your child’s birthday or maybe its a certain birthday. Traditions are all over the place and can look incredibly different for all of us.

There is a tradition at the turn of every year that most people will make, whether serious or funny. But the tradition is to set…..New Years Resolutions! Or I think the trendy word right now is setting new HABITS. Whatever you want to call them, the tradition is the same.

It is a new year, I should put something into practice that I did not do last year or

was not good at and I want get better.

Each year, there are goals set for weight loss, exercise, spending less time at the office, actually using the vacation time that you have earned, and spending more time with loved ones. Maybe some of us make dedications to go back to church or read our bibles more or pray more or pray with our spouse more. Can I challenge us this year to create a new habit or maybe bring one that has been hiding for a little while back to the forefront of our weekly routines?

Come and Serve.

Many of the habits or resolutions that we set at the beginning of the year are personal. Never a bad thing to have personal goals, habits or resolutions. But what if we change the narrative and begin a new habit that is centered around others.

Reading our bibles is incredibly important for our becoming like Jesus.

Praying more and with those you love is incredibly impactful.

Journaling your thoughts and questions can bring clarity and insight that you may have not had before.

Going to church to worship and listen to a message is a huge part of our discipleship transformation.

All of those things are great, but they are for you. Maybe down the road others will benefit from these things that you are working on. But what if you add in the ability to grow in your becoming like Jesus with other people?

When we serve, not only do we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those we serve, the Holy Spirit does something in our hearts that we can feel and it changes us.

Mark 10:43-45 is one of my favorite scriptures in the bible. Jesus, sitting with his disciples, the 12 that were with Jesus during all his ministry except the end…. that’s a different conversation…..and Jesus giving them instruction, hard instruction. He ends the instruction with a reminder and a concrete truth that brings more meaning to when we serve:

” But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many. ”

Our Lord, our Savior did not come to be served, which he should have been, but to serve, those that did not deserve or earn it, by loving them and healing them, and pointing them to something to hope in.

When we serve, we bring that same hope and the same love, and same healing grace that all of us crave and never deserve.

One aspect of the Lord of the Rings movies that I love is when you see Bilbo writing his book, then handing it to Frodo when he is done and saying the blank pages are for you. Then when Frodo is done, he gives the book to Samwise and says the same thing, that the blank pages are for you.

Our lives can be written like a book. Each year a new chapter. So now with the pages still almost all blank……

What will you write in the blank pages for 2023?

February 23, 2023

in Church, HCC

by Brendon

0 Comments

Guest Services Gathering – Posted on November 16, 2022 by Brendon

Mark 10:45 Jesus says – “ For even the son of man did not come to be serve d but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.”

John 13:34-35, Jesus says “ A new commandment I give to you, love one another as I have loved you, you must also love one another. BY THIS, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Paul talks about the church in scripture as being a body. One that is made up of may parts and all the parts have a purpose in making the body move, hopefully in a forward motion. As a Guest Services team, we are all a part of the body of Christ and we all have a part and purpose in making the church move.

If you are part of the parking team, you are the first line of experience for all of our guests. You are the first ones that will be able to smile to all of our new guests. You are the ones that take the edge off of where to park or where to go.

Golf carts, The Holy Rollers, you provide another experience touch when you drive those carts around the parking lot bringing people to the entrance doors. You provide a safe and easy environment for adults and kids alike to easily get to the building all the while smiling and having fun!

Greeters! You set the stage for what every guest will experience when coming into the building. Your warm and friendly smiles and hello/good morning make walls come down, especially for our new guests! You provide a safe experience touch that allows people to breathe easy as they come into the building.

Guest Central, you are the hub for all guests. And even when it is a little slow and may seem like you do more standing than you do talking, in the moments when a new family comes in and asks what the heck to do with their kids….you are there to greet them and walk them to Harvester Kids or the cafe or maybe even where the bathroom is.

Communion servers, we may not be serving communion by passing trays like we have in the past, but you are part of potentially the most important part of the service as a whole. As much as singing and listening to the word preached, you provide a welcoming face for those that are going to remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus each and every week. And for those that clean up every service, you are providing a clean and put together space for all of our guests. Picking up the communion cups is definitely a role that is unseen, but you make a world of a difference. I like to think of it this way….if you walked into a movie theatre and were sitting down to a movie that you have been looking forward too and you sit down and have to walk over a pilled bag of popcorn and a couple of candy wrappers and soda spilled in your seat…..it wouldn’t be the best experience it could be.

Section Hosts, you are the hosts of the worship center. Your role is to help guests find seats and make it as easy as possible for them to enter into a worship space. You are also making connections and relationships with these guests that will mean more to them than you may ever know. Just two weeks ago, a section host brought back some new guests that she had met the week prior! You provide a service that is necessary and incredibly helpful for all guests when the lights go down in the room.

Living Room, this is the one space we invite every single new guest. Most churches don’t exactly know where to invite their new guests to and some preach this exact thought. The Living Room is where new guests move from being an acquaintance to a friend. There are two many stories of people that go into the living room nervous and afraid and coming out breathing a sign of relief. The connections made in the Living Room are some that will shape whether or not a new guest will find a home here at Harvester.

First Aid, you guys are the silent team that no one really ever sees, unless something happens, then you are in the middle of everything! You quietly and in anticipation wait for anything to come your way and whatever that might be, you are willing to help out. Trust me, at some point I know I am going to hear about someone bleeding all over the new renovation of Harvester Kids and its going to be my child……..I will breathe easy knowing who is in that room and what your hearts are about keeping people safe whether on a sunday or an event.

All of these teams have a place in making the Guest Experience a huge success!

A few months ago, we hired a new Local Outreach Pastor, Carissa Figgins, she brought with her a wealth of knowledge and an uncanny connection to St Charles county in a way that I could not even imagine. However she also brought the desire to see people encounter Jesus through serving. She introduced a book that we read as a team……aka I read about a 1/3 of it. But in the book it asked two questions:

What do you WANT to be KNOWN FOR? and What ARE you KNOWN FOR?

The difference in those answers could be the reason that an organization or maybe you as an individual could be missing something or in plain language, failing. Because if what you want to be known for, doesn’t match up with what you are known for…..then there is a disconnect somewhere in the organization or team or person.

So to ask this question of a Guest Services team, what do we want to be KNOWN For…….The answer:

TO BE THE MOST WELCOMING CHURCH ANYONE CAN EXPERIENCE

We see above that Jesus came to serve and not be served and also that by the love we show others, people will know that we are Jesus disciples. As a guest services team, this means the way we welcome each and every guest, old or new, should reflect the love we have for Jesus and the love Jesus has for every guest we encounter. This is what we should be known for.

I know, thats a great phrase and a great thought…..but How do we know if we are being sucessful or how do we know that we are being the most welcoming church anyone can experience…….by a measuring number.

1750 New Guests in 2023.

That is a large number! But it is one that is attainable as we venture into the new year. We will hopefully welcome and connect with close to 1300 new guests by the end of 2022 and I know that we have had more new guests come through our doors that have not made themselves known to us. But with the number above, what it will hopefully do is create an eyesight that looks and seeks out those that seem new or maybe just look lost. When we begin to shift our eye sight from our normal people to all those that come through the doors, our eyes start to see the new faces that we can introduce ourselves too.

Be Bold when you are parking. Be Bold when you are driving the golf carts. Be Bold when you are greeting. Be Bold when you have someone come to Guest Central. Be Bold when you are serving communion. Be Bold when you are helping someone sit in your section. Be Bold when you are speaking with someone in the Living Room. Be Bold when you are watching for injuries.

What does this mean for each one of us as individuals not just a team???

It means that all of us are Ambassadors for Jesus. As we step into a serving team, we are now being the hands and feet of Jesus which means we are ambassadors for Him. Do not ever think you are in a lowly spot or a lowly position. All the positions that you fill are important to the body of Christ and all of your have the ability and power to help lead someone to find and follow Jesus.

It means, all of us have to be recruiters. Because as we continue to see and identify more and more new guests, we will need more and more hearts to meet theirs. So we are going to be focussing on growing our teams so that we can continue to add and make more room for more Guest Services team members.

It also means that we are going to create more space. Starting January 8th, we will be moving to 3 services on Sunday mornings. 8am, 9:30am and 11am. This will allow us to create more space in the prime service times and hopefully begin to see more and more guests come into our building.

Guest Services is a team. A team built by multiple teams and hundreds of people. Together we can be a light in the world that is full of darkness and craziness.

February 23, 2023

in Church, HCC

by Brendon

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Guest Services is….. Posted on July 27, 2021 by Brendon

” Moses’ father in law replied, ‘ What you are doing is not good. YOu and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it along. Listen now to me and I will give you some afvices, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from all the people……Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can handle themselves. That will make your load lighter because they will share the load with you.” Jethro’s advice to Moses, Ex. 18:17-22

Guest Services is a team.

If you have ever attempted to lead anything, all by yourself, whether you are successful or not, in the end you will be spent. This coming from someone who thrives on being with people and being around people and planning things that will bring people joy and excitement.

However, being in the guest services field, both in ministry and in the business world, guest services is much more than just getting something done. There is more that happens in guest services than meets the eye. On the service level there is all smiles and joy and elation, however on the back end, there is a lot more than meets the eye.

Guest services, like what Moses was working through as he led the Israelites through the wilderness, is full of teams and facets that need to be overseen.

No, not comparing what I oversee to what Moses oversaw, however the idea of leading a team, is something that is incredibly necessary in order to curate a remarkable guest experience, whether in ministry or business.

There are levels of the guest service branch that not everyone sees, whether it is a call center employee, a supervisor, a parking attendant, a golf cart driver, a greeter at an entrance door, or a guest services volunteer at Guest Central. All of these things take a person and a leader to oversee that all that requires of them gets done.

There are 3 things that stick out from both Jethro’s advice and the practicality of guest services that help curate that remarkable guest experience:

Guest Services requires Leaders – with there being so many facets of guest services that need to be overseen, it is too large of a job for one to take on by themselves. It is a team that makes the guest services plan be executed to completion. The one thing that differs from Jethro’s advice, is that in the guest services world, both ministry and business, that women can and should play a vital role in the areas of guest services. Personally, the one that influenced me the most when it comes to staying on task and getting things done, was a female supervisor while in the business world. She taught me how to be organized and how to stay on task even when it seemed like I didn’t have much to do. In ministry, it doesn’t matter if you are male or female, but the ones who can oversee a facet of guest services and execute the expectations of leadership, should be the one leading.
Guest Services requires a goal – when you are leading a team of people, with leaders and volunteers or supervisors and employees, if you do not have a mission that your team can get behind, the guest services area will fail. It may not fail in executing a job requirement or opening a door, but the meaning behind which the requirement is being done will not meet the goal since the mission is not stated clearly and communicated continuously. For Harvester Christian Church, the goal of our Guest Services teams is to create and curate a remarkable guest experience for all guests that come to the building for worship. The goal of a guest services team does not overtake the mission or vision of the church, nor does the goal of an employee overtake the overall mission of the organization, but to accomplish the goal given is incredibly important to the overall mission of the church or organization.
Guest Services requires people – If you have ever worked in a place where it is short staffed or not enough people to fill volunteer roles, it becomes exhausting. Not only for the volunteers or employees that you are leading but for you as the one that is oversee all of the facets of Guest Services. Continually and always recruiting and creating a large pool of people that are willing to do the job required will allow the leaders over each facet be able to accomplish the goal at hand. In the previous role I served, I experienced a tired and overworked office with emotions flying all the time. There was turn over every month it felt when it came to finding people that would apply and not like it or not want to work through the beginning stages of the job. It made the environment constantly tense and nerve racking. Without the people to accomplish the goal, the goal will never be met. The same goes for the church, without the volunteers to accomplish whatever goal is set before the room or team or ministry. To continually be connecting people in to the teams that are needed, is critical for the goal of guest services to be accomplished.

In the words of a former supervisor…” Guest services can and should be the at the center of making the engine run.” Without a great guest services experience, in business or church, people will remember their experience before they remember the cheap price or the great speaker or awesome decor or great music.

The guest service team sets the tone for a person’s overall experience wherever they go.

February 23, 2023

in Church, HCC

by Brendon

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A Recap Posted on May 17, 2021 by Brendon

” There will be so many of Gods sons/daughters there today who feel like they don’t belong. You get to be the grace of Jesus in flesh to them!” – Nikomas Perez

Receiving a text message like this on a Sunday morning is such a great reminder and a truth to what First Impressions is, each and every weekend.

First Impressions is so much more than just opening a door, or keeping a table full or helping someone park or driving them to a door.

First Impressions is the starting point and ending of an entire experience.

John 13:34-35 says ” A new command I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I love those words from Jesus. They are so true and so meaningful in today’s world. As much as Jesus was teaching the disciples that were with him in the upper room that night when he said these words, Jesus was giving us a new command to follow through with always.

First Impressions is a team that consists of multiple teams under the umbrella of that phrase. The teams consist of parking, golf carts, guest central, greeters, communion, Living Room and Belong. All of these teams combined create the First Impressions umbrella that we all serve under. Each one doing it’s own part and each serving a different function of the whole.

The whole? Is the mission of Harvester Christian Church and hopefully all churches, it may sound different, but to lead people to find and follow Jesus is the mission. That is the whole that First Impressions is a part of. No matter which position you fill or role you play in the umbrella of First Impressions, you are playing a critical role in the mission.

Each weekend there are guests that come to a building whether being for the first time, church shoppers or someone moving into the area looking for a place to be welcomed and loved no matter what.

No where in Jesus’ teachings or life did He say or teach that only certain people would be welcomed to the church. No where did Jesus not help someone that came to him. Jesus was always ready. Jesus was always welcoming and loving to anyone that came near. He teaches and commands the disciples when He was on earth and as He is in Heaven to be ready for any and all that will come and listen to the good news of His life and grace.

The goal of our First Impressions teams, is to create a remarkable guest experience each and every weekend for all guests that come to worship Jesus. Whether it is their first time or their millionth time. Every guest that comes into church should have a remarkable guest experience.

Think of it this way: when we do our part, Jesus will do his.

So what is our part?

Mark 10:45 says “For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.”

Our part in this whole thing……is to serve.

We have a part in creating a remarkable guest experience by being there. Showing up us one of the hardest things to do in life. Whether it is in church or in life. There are so many obstacles and so many hindrances that can stop us from showing up.

When we show up, Jesus shows up.

Be willing. Be ready. Be part of the whole. Be present.

Our First Impression team has the ability to shape an experience for someone that has never been to church and be able to meet Jesus for the first time.

A great example of this is the experience that you get when you go to Disney world. Everything is immaculate. It is clean, it is organized, it is fun and the memories that are made can last a lifetime. My own kids remember our first trip as a family to Disney World. I remember it like it was last summer but in reality it has been 3 years. We took our 3 year old and 5 year old to Disney for the first time and we last 11.5 hours without one meltdown or fight or argument. We got there early and stayed for the fireworks at Cinderella’s castle.

How did we last that long?

God’s grace…..but really it was the experience that we all received when we went. We were greeted with smiles…before masks….and sent off with a smile. And everything in between was treated with the utmost respect and accuracy.

We may not have face sized rice crispy treats or rides or characters running around in parades.

But what we do have….

Is a God who sent his son to die on a cross to take away our burden of sin and give us eternal life through grace that we do not deserve.

That is worth showing up for and being a part of.

February 23, 2023

in Church, HCC

by Brendon

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Creating a…… Posted on August 4, 2020 by Brendon

” ….Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you…..so in Christ, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others…..Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Romans 12:3b, 5, 9-12

Guest services is the first line of impression that a person can have of a church. Whether it is the parking lot or a shuttle system or a sidewalk greeter. Guest Services has the ability to make or break the experience before it really even gets started.

When approaching the ministry of Guest Services, my mind inherently goes to having someone or a group of people over to my house. Maybe it is the Mary and Martha syndrome that I run into a lot. There was one time where I became so flustered that I started making cookies right as people came in to the house and I was determined to finish them because I needed to have them done….but in reality, we could have done without the cookies at that moment and could have passed on them that week….or we could have just eaten the dough! But the problem that I saw was that I was too busy to even welcome the guests into my house. I was thrown off the rest of the night because I almost felt guilty I was able to welcome them.

There are times on Sunday mornings when we can fall into the same trap. We know that we should be like Mary and sit with Jesus and allow Jesus to speak into our lives, but we end up acting like Martha…running around like a chicken with our heads cut off and never having enough time to stop and breathe and allow Jesus to speak in and through us.

There are a few things that I have learned with Guest Services that are growing as essentials to a Guest Service Experience:

First, Creating a Remarkable Guest Experience – you have heard the phrase, we will do anything short of sin to spread or tell the Gospel of Jesus. I am in the camp that would say – I will do anything short of sin to create a remarkable guest experience for all guests that come to a Sunday service. What that looks like depends on the Sunday. It could be pouring down rain and to create the remarkable guest experience you make sure your shuttles are running in full capacity, maybe it is getting a team of people with Umbrellas that are walking people in to the building. Maybe it is freezing outside – shuttles with warmth are a must, maybe even pulling out some fireplaces or gas heaters on the walk in. Whatever you need to do to create a remarkable guest experience, you do it.

Second, creating a space for Jesus – this one may seem obvious, but a lesson I learned was, in order to allow Jesus to be in the space, you have to make room for him to be there. At an Easter service, we encouraged all of our staff members to be in the lobby, which they should be anyway, but we encouraged all of them to be greeters. We wanted all of them to be out and about welcoming people. The turnout…..was amazing!! However looking back at that easter service, it almost was too many people greeting and there was not enough space for Jesus. Finding and working the balance of greeters and too many people is hard. You want to have as many people as you can welcoming guests and especially new guests, but when you start to flood the system, the system gets clogged and it doesn’t work to its fullest potential. Even in the midst of this pandemic, I am hearing stories from my team about how many people they are able to talk to and how many have identified themselves as new. This is with a skeleton crew. What would it be like if you were able to find the sweet spot and hit that sweet spot for 6 weeks? What a difference maker! Allow Jesus space to join in the conversation and see what can happen.

Third, Create a space where diversity thrives – no, this is not in response to anything that is going on in the political or cultural world. This is just a fact. Our world is more and more diverse. There are more colors and languages and accents than ever walking around. Why would guest services not want to be diverse in people greeting? Its hard. But the bottom line is that the church is not meant for one color or one race or one tongue. The church is designed and meant for all to come and hear the good news of Jesus. The scripture above demonstrates this to us when it talks about the church being many members but one body. It doesn’t limit or specify what a member looks or sounds like, it just says many members. The scripture also tells us to be loving to one another and not putting ourselves higher than anyone else. That is huge in the culture that is created throughout your guest services team. If someone coming in that doesn’t look or sound like you, I would hope and pray that you welcome them with loving and open arms. Just as Jesus would love and welcome you with open arms, we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus to all people.

I am new to this Guest Services realm and would love to learn from you about what you think have been creeping up to being the essentials of your guest services teams!

Let me know.

February 23, 2023

in Church, HCC

by Brendon

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We are the Church….even in a pandemic. Posted on July 23, 2020 by Brendon

“The church does not exist for us. We are the church, and we exist for the world.” – Erwin McManus

” Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love……Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen…..Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 4: 2,29,32 & 5:1,2

The church has become a place of contention. So many thoughts and emotions and experiences that have impacted and formed opinions of every church.

Whether your church home has began gathering again or maybe your church home has suspended in person services for a long time or maybe you are waiting in the midst of confusion of when you will meet again. There is still one truth that lasts throughout the season we are in….

WE ARE THE CHURCH, even during a pandemic.

Serving in youth ministry, for about 8 years, some of that time was internships and schooling, but overall I spent about 8 years of my life serving in youth ministry. One of the things that I remember vividly about youth ministry is realizing that students may or may not have the best homes to help grow their relationship with Jesus outside of the youth ministry setting. Meaning, they would go home to a chaotic mess that would deter them from learning about Jesus. That wasn’t the case for all students and to be honest, the student that had a home that was chaotic were the students I gravitated too.

As I have served with adults over the last 18 months or so, I have learned that sometimes the same things that students are learning, are the things that we need to learn. For instance, the need to walk with Jesus more than just Sunday.

As you read in scripture, over and over again there are a few things that we use to train and remind our volunteers here at Harvester Christian Church when it comes to our guest services on Sundays:

Be Open – Throughout the life of Jesus, we see that He travels all of the country side. He walks in groups, he walks with his disciples, he walks by himself…sometimes on water. But the thing about Jesus, is that when the opportunity presents itself, Jesus was Open to anyone that came near him. Consider the Samaritan Woman at the Well. This woman was someone with a past and well a nasty past as we would learn. Not to mention that she is a woman and in Jesus’ time as a Rabi, He should never have even given her the time to have a conversation. However Jesus stopped, He listened and changed that woman’s life. So much so that the woman went on to the town and changed others lives just by bringing them to Jesus. Sometimes, in guest services, the best thing we can do is be open to having a conversation with someone.
Be on Mission – Leading People to Find and Follow Jesus. That is what we are all about. Everything we do as a church is to lead people to find and follow Jesus. Our Guest Services team is a critical and crucial piece to this mission. Within the team, it means we are training people to smile, be friendly, don’t hide behind doors but be expectant of people. Jesus had mission on this earth. Sure, his mission was a little different than ours, since we don’t have the ability to die on a cross and save every person from their sins, but Jesus was always on mission moving forward toward that Cross and that death that he didn’t deserve but also to the resurrection that changed lives then and continues to do so now.
Love like Jesus – we have all heard the phrase – don’t judge a book by its cover. That is so true with people. Every Sunday, churches are flooded with people of different stories, backgrounds, mornings and jobs and families and jobs. Each of them come with baggage of some kind and we as a guest services team could never know what each and every person walks in the doors of the church with. Knowing that we would never be able to know what each person is carrying, we have to have the same mentality as Jesus and loving each person the way Jesus loved us.

Over the past several weeks, we have re-gathered here at Harvester Christian Church and it has been interesting to say the least. However if there is one thing that does not change even in the crazy season we are in, its the truth that:

We are the church, even in a pandemic.

So when you have the ability to be open to someone, to be on mission and to love like Jesus…..you are being the church.

The church was never designed or created to be a building or a gathering location. The church was designed to go out into the world and share the love of Jesus to anyone who would listen.

When we remember…. whether inside the church walls or inside a living room or on the side of the road….we have the ability to lead people to find and follow Jesus.

February 23, 2023

in Church, Discipleship

by Brendon

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Serving is hard. Posted on May 14, 2019 by Brendon

In life you hear a lot about serving. Serving here, serving there, serve when, serve now. Not a bad thing at all. But there is a larger aspect of this idea of serving that has come to light in recent days over conversation with friends and family. The larger question that we have to ask ourselves is: Why are we serving, or better yet, how do we serve for not just ourselves?

It is an interesting distinction when you begin to think about those two questions. Because on the one hand, we could all give the correct sunday school lesson answers that we gave when we were 6. But why does it seem to get harder and harder to serve when we grow up? Ok maybe some of us haven’t ‘grown up’ but our age in number has gone up.

Over the past few days, through some conversation and study there are few things that lead me to these questions:

To be frank, serving was never something that I got when I was growing up. When serving opportunities came around, I joined not really caring about the serving but because all of my friends were going and I wanted to be with them and have a good time with them. The serving was the backside of the reason for serving. However as I have grown and have begun to understand what it was that Jesus meant when he states in John 13:15, that his example is there for us to follow. It still seems blurry at times of WHY serving is so important.

John 13 is a passage that everyone has probably heard whether in story or in a sermon somewhere. But John 13 is one passage that can outline and shape the way we look at serving:

John 13:1-17 is the story of Jesus, in his last week of life coming to a table with his disciples as they are about to partake in the holy supper for the Passover feast. At the beginning of the night, before anything even happened, Jesus noticed that the room was prepared but there was nothing or no one to wash the feet of those reclining at the table. So Jesus, the Son of God gets up, takes off his outer garments (because cleaning feet is not clean or neat – it’s messy) and grabs a towel and a basin and begins to wash each and every one of his disciples feet. To the amazement of the disciples as they watched this happen, they really didn’t know what to say or do. Jesus at the end of this even states – ” You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” It was a perplexing moment in time that left people speechless and even the ones that did speak just spoke, with no thought.

A few moments later, after he calls out the disciple that is going to betray him, Jesus takes to the stage again for a swan song lesson and a command to his disciples and anyone else that was there with them.

John 13: 33-35 – Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

A new command I give to you – to love one another.

So if we are going to be disciples of Jesus and if we are going to say that we follow Jesus – then we ought to love one another the way that Jesus loves us.

Peter was one of the ones that were in the room with Jesus when this timeless situation took place. He was actually one that really just didn’t know what to say and just started talking. He was always like that, Peter even took off a guards ear because he was zealous to protect Jesus.

Peter went on to lead the church from the beginning in the book of Acts and he continued to raise up disciples and became an elder in the church. Peter also wrote letters that are in the scriptures. One of those passages take this a little idea of serving and the questions of why do we serve and how do we serve without worrying about us a step further.

1 Peter 5:5 – ……And all of you, serve each other in humility for ” God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”

So why do we serve? Because Jesus told us to serve others the way he served us.

How did Jesus serve us? We see in John 13 that taking on the role of a slave or house keeper, that he humbled himself before everyone else and washed their feet.

How do we serve not just for our own needs? We humble ourselves like Jesus and put others before us.

The outcome – we become disciples of Jesus that listen and follow the new command that Jesus gave to his disciples in the upper room.

When we gather together to serve, when we serve each other in our homes, when we serve our kids, when we serve our wives, when we serve our neighbors, when we serve our parents, when we serve the annoying neighbor or grouchy lady in the grocery store…….

We will be loving others the way Jesus loved us by humbling ourselves and serving everyone out of the love that we have from Jesus in our lives.

Humility leads us to love one another. Loving one another leads us to serving those all around us.

February 23, 2023

in Church

by Brendon

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Controlled Chaos Posted on April 18, 2019 by Brendon

Every big event that you have ever attended has normally had something in common with the next big event that you go to. Whether the big event is a concert, a festival, a them park or just a simple party with a lot of your friends.

The common thread is – Controlled Chaos.

Controlled Chaos is exactly what it sounds. It is a combination of chaos, which is defined as – complete disorder and controlled, which is defined as – under the control of someone or something.

Chaos is a great thing! I know a lot of times we think of chaos we think of turbulent times and situations that do not always turn out well. But when Chaos is done in a well manner, chaos can be one of the most powerful things that we can encounter.

Hockey games for me are a prime example of controlled chaos. When you attend your first hockey game, you are not sure what to expect other than the game of hockey that you know. The crazy part about a hockey game is what happens in the stands during the game. From the moment the puck drops to the moment that the game is over, the crowd is in a chaotic state.

I was priviledged to go to my first NHL hockey game a few weeks ago and little did I know, what I was going to experience would change the way that any other event would be planned or executed.

Learning that controlled chaos is a powerful and great tool for momentum is something that I will not underestimate moving forward. When you go to a hockey game and all of a sudden you are high fiving people that you have never met, screaming at the top of your lungs the whole time and doing crazy things like the Power Play dance…maybe a St. Louis Blues thing……controlled chaos has made its impact on the event.

For churches, there are two times a year where controlled chaos is welcomed and planned for. Easter and Christmas are the two most attended services throughout the year. This means that all over the world there is going to be controlled chaos taking place this weekend.

However the hard part about controlled chaos is to make sure the people that are planning and in charge of the chaos do not stiffle the chaos with their fears of whatever it might be.

When you encounter controlled chaos, unless it is a situation that you do not want to be in, allow yourself to embrace the chaos rather than run away from it. You never know, it may change your perspective on what is going on around you.

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From the HCC Outreach Team: