Once again we have an opportunity to offer discounted tickets to the Catalyst One Day Training event in Denver. Again this year it will be held at:
Cherry Hills Community Church 3900 Grace Boulevard
Highlands Ranch, CO 80126
It is often said that change is the only constant and we know that our world is constantly advancing, shifting, and adapting, but how do we lead in these new realities?
Join Craig Groeschel, Lysa TerKeurst, and Levi Lusko as we examine how to anticipate coming change before it arrives, create a strategy for transition, and map a compelling vision for the future.
Bring the entire team! Together you’ll learn to:
Foresee problems and opportunities before they arise
Create and communicate a strategy for change
Understand organizational life cycles
Establish a different way of thinking
Foster a culture that embraces change and fuels progress
Most pastors do not see themselves as effective fund raisers. Few enjoy talking about the financial component of ministry, let alone soliciting people to give. Yet, stewardship is a critical component of discipleship and a revealing window on the heart of those who follow Christ.
Pastor Fite will lead us in the exploration of this important topic. Some of the areas for our discussion will be:
Preaching on Generosity.
The importance of leading by example.
The 5 reasons people give.
The generosity Ladder.
Following up with first-time givers.
Electronic Giving is now a non-negotiable -the culture has already changed.
Calvary Church in Longmont, Colorado, sent a group of six to Ingleside, Texas, to assist Calvary Relief in clean-up from Hurricane Harvey, for one week in November 2017. This area between Rockport and Corpus Christi, Texas was in the center of the eye of the hurricane and sustained substantial damage and are still trying to recuperate. Not only was there damage from the winds of the hurricane, but over 70 tornados hit the area during the hurricane. Many homes and businesses were totally destroyed. Some structures were so damaged that when the rains came, they were unprotected and then the interiors were damaged as well. Even now, over three months later there are still huge piles of debris to be cleaned up and many structures to be repaired.
The group from Longmont spend the week replacing a roof for Jerry, who is a disabled Vietnam veteran and his son. Clean-up was done in his yard and several other homes to pick up debris from the hurricane. There are many areas of service needed when responding to a disaster. There are no unimportant jobs or unimportant people; it is a team effort. There is always something for everyone to do. Over the week in Texas, relationships were developed, and there was the opportunity to share the gospel and invite those who were helped to the local church on Sunday. The community was so grateful for the work that is being done to help them.
Calvary Relief is a non-denominational ministry that responds to areas that have been hit by natural disasters. Pastor Curt Hencye and his wife Mary Jo aim to assist the elderly and those lacking resources for repairs to their homes. Calvary Church became connected with Calvary Relief when Curt and Mary Jo came in the area to help in the Lyons and Longmont area after the floods in the fall of 2014. This ministry stays in disaster areas for months at a time to develop long-term relationships and especially to reach unbelievers through their work. They are always in need of volunteers and donations for their ministry. If your church is interested in helping, please check the Calvary Relief website (www.calvaryrelief.com) for more information.
In the mid-1990’s Tom and Sheri Luksha, with their two sons, acted upon a deep sense of calling to leave Charlton, MA and travel West to plant a church in rural Montana. The Lord led them to establish a Gospel outpost, naming it Grace Community Church, in the Ruby Valley of South Central Montana. They have now served faithfully for over 20 years.
Workers from First Baptist Church of Basin, WY
Hidden amongst arguably some of the most spectacularly beautiful landscape in God’s creation are people who are fiercely independent and acutely rugged. But also, like everywhere else, they are people who are often broken in spirit, isolated relationally, and overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness.
Tom and Sheri have given themselves to not only share the gospel through the establishment of the church, but to share their very lives with the community. Tom is a Chaplain with the Sheriff’s department, and the Luksha’s are known throughout the Valley as a resource of care and compassion. They have come to learn that rural ministry is best expressed not only in sermons on Sundays, but in life-on-life relationships. Then again that is what real ministry should look like in a suburban and urban context also.
The Luksha’s have been working for many years to give Grace Community Church a place to call home. For most of the church’s existence, they have been meeting in rented space at the small country school in Alder, MT. A number of years ago they were able to purchase property with a vision for ministry opportunity. In addition to their home, they have developed a Bed and Breakfast ministry called Elijah’s Rest and have been working to convert a barn on their property into that church home for Grace Community Church.
Work nearly completed!
Recently, some men from First Baptist Church of Basin, WY, under the leadership of RMCN Area Coach Kent Dempsey and Pastor Aaron Gesch, traveled to Sheridan, MT to do additional work on the future home of Grace Community Church. Their goal was to finish the exterior of the building before the onset of another harsh Montana winter. This included the installation of backing board, siding, and a window. Additional work was done on the interior of the building.
Your support of the Rocky Mountain Church Network can help bring together resources to aid one another in Kingdom expansion and Gospel impact.
In an article in the magazine Executive Leadership, Dick Clark, CEO of the pharmaceutical firm Merck noted: “The fact is, culture eats strategy for lunch. You can have a good strategy in place, but if you don’t have the culture and the enabling systems, the [negative] culture of the organization will defeat the strategy.”
Samuel Chand notes the importance of organizational culture:
Culture is the most powerful factor in any organization.
Culture is usually unnoticed, unspoken, and unexamined.
Culture determines how people respond to vision and leadership.
Culture most often surfaces and is addressed in negative experiences.
Culture is hard to change, but change results in multiplied benefits.
Our Keynote Speaker is Mark Hanke. Mark is the Senior Pastor of Salem First Baptist Church. He has been a pastor for 26 years serving in three churches (two of which were in the Colorado Front Range are) and has taught at Denver Seminary as an adjunct professor in Theology for 20 years. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Oregon State, a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary, and DMin from Gordon-Conwell Seminary.
Mark will address the role of leadership in addressing the culture of your congregation.
The Power of (Congregational) Culture
Artistic Vision – Getting Others to See the Possibilities
The Art of Sculpting a Missional Culture – The Pastor’s Role in Shaping Congregational Culture
Date/Time: 5pm, April 24th and 3pm, April, 25th
Location: Y of the Rockies – Estes Park Center
Keynote Speaker:Mark Hanke, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Salem, OR
The cost of the retreat will be $110 per person, spouses are free. This will include dinner, breakfast and lunch.
Those driving greater than 3 hours will be gifted another nights lodging, dinner and breakfast .
Those driving less than 3 hours can get an additional nights lodging, dinner and breakfast for $80.00.
God’s primary way of communicating truth is through story. Over 50% of the Bible was written in narrative form. Seldom however, in our Biblical and Theological training are we taught how to understand, interpret and preach stories. The results are that often stories are used to illustrate teachings found in other passages or treated as allegories. Much of the theological richness of the text is silent for us since we have not been trained to handle story, as story.
I want to spend time helping us understand how to interpret stories, prepare sermons from longer passages, such as many O.T. narratives are, in the same amount of time it takes to prepare for shorter passages and demonstrate how to preach stories in a way that reflects the essence of story.
We live in a media saturated society where story is king. If we preach stories well we will increase interest and attention. Plus we will discover rich truths that speak to people in ways other Biblical literature does not.
Date: May 16, 2017
Time: 10 am – 2 pm, – Lunch Provided
Location: Good News Community Church – 5511 W 136th Ave, Broomfield, CO 80020
Presenter: Paul Borden – Author, Educator, Consultant
How do we handle the scriptures with integrity and preach with biblical authority yet do so in a way that still connects to the culture and concerns of people who live in a modern and secular world? How do we move from a text written over 2000 years ago to a relevant and transformational message?
Date: September 20 , 2017,
Time: 10 am – 2 pm, – Lunch Provided
Location: Good News Community Church – 5511 W 136th Ave, Broomfield, CO 80020
Presenter: Nick Lillo, Pastor – Waterstone Community Church
Jesus talked about the Kingdom all the time – more than any other subject. But, what difference does the theology of the Kingdom make in the practice of ministry and the mission of the church? If we are to be seeking the Kingdom first what does that mean in a practical way in how and what we do in church? How does it change our strategy, mission, and re-shape even our understanding of the gospel? Does the Kingdom require a shift in our paradigm of ministry! As Gordon Fee said “If you miss the Kingdom – you miss everything!
Date: March 22, 2017
Time: 10 am – 2 pm, – Lunch Provided
Location: Good News Community Church – 5511 W 136th Ave, Broomfield, CO 80020
Presenter: Nick Lillo, Pastor – Waterstone Community Church
By Samantha Krieger (wife of Pastor Krieger in the RMCN Region) is a pastor’s wife, mother, and author. For more than 14 years, she has been writing for leading Christian magazines, books, websites, and devotionals.
Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom, she wrote and edited Bible study curriculum for RightNow Media alongside the video teaching of pastors and authors including Max Lucado, Francis Chan, and Margaret Feinberg.
Currently, she is a regular contributor to FortheFamily.org and pens the column “Samantha’s Salt” for her local newspaper. She is passionate about helping others live out their faith in real life.
About the book:
MOMS OF YOUNG CHILDREN OFTEN FEEL BATTLE-WORN. Tantrums, mountains of laundry, sibling fights, discipline, emotional ups and downs, sleepless nights, feelings about the worthiness of the calling, and battling against the bitterness and despair are all part of the daily encounter we face each day.
Is there a way to retreat from the noise to intentionally engage in the calmness that can only be found in Christ? Is it possible to have a quiet time for your soul … while at the same time finding a sense of sanity?
