Area Ministries Overview

Tom Shrader uses Acts 2:42-47 as the biblical foundation for East Valley Bible Church's Area Ministry initiative, tracing the church's history from its 1991 founding through its growth into a large regional congregation and the community-connection challenges that growth created. He introduces five geographically defined areas, each with a full-time pastor, designed to make a large church feel small by enabling believers who live near one another to do life together, care for hurting people, and reach their neighbors with the gospel. The message closes with a call for attendees to sign up for a four-week small group experience and to connect with their area pastor in the commons.

“We wanted to create a small, large church. You cannot take a small church and make it large. You can take a large church and make it small.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: DNA of EVBC

Recorded: 2007 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 58 min

Themes: community, belonging, small groups, fellowship, church growth, neighboring, connection, outreach, feeling disconnected, new to the church, searching for community, pastor, new believer, longtime churchgoer, young adult, neighbor to reach

Scripture: Acts 2:37, Acts 2:41, Acts 2:42-47

Theological Themes: ecclesiology, church structure, Acts 2 community, pastoral care, body of Christ, missional living, koinonia, fellowship

Full Transcript

struggle when perhaps we think this thing or that person, that object would be something that we really need for life, and in reality, You are all that we need. It's in You that we find joy and happiness and fulfillment. It's where we find life itself. God, thank You that You've saved us for a reason, to worship You, to love You, to serve You, and to make You known. God, I pray that You would do a marvelous work in our life here today, and that You would open our eyes to see Your truth, and that You would remind us that indeed we desperately need one another. We need to find a way that we can serve, be used by You in a powerful way. God, we pray that in Jesus' name. Amen.

Welcome and Announcements

Good morning. It was great to see you this morning. When you came into the room today, grab the bulletin you received. A couple of reminders: if you have a cell phone with you, make sure that is turned off, and if you have children and they become a little fussy, please take advantage of the room that is available for you. An officer will help you with that if you need help.

If you are visiting us today, we have for a long time struggled to find the best way to communicate with you, and we decided that the guest registry card is the best way. We invite you to complete that guest registry card and drop it in one of the boxes as you leave today. That is why it exists, and it will allow us to begin to contact you.

Another thing you can do to jumpstart this process — you will see an announcement in the bulletin in the left-hand panel under adult ministry — it says "Connect to EVBC." That is a Connect One class, a class designed for those of you who are new or feel newer to the church and want to know more about the church, how you can fit in, and what we are all about. It is a class we hold once a month on a single Sunday. The date is October 7th, beginning at 10:30, and we ask you to register using the guest registry form so we can make sure we have enough lunches. We will eat lunch together, and if you require childcare, we want to make sure we provide that as well. I come in around noon, and we have lunch together and spend an hour or so, and that portion is really driven by your questions and my answers.

Institute Classes and Upcoming Events

Institute classes begin next week. Out in the lobby of the chapel, as well as online and a number of other places, you can find information about classes taking place in the courtyard. There is an interesting mix of classes available, and one I always want to highlight is Everyday Evangelism — a wonderful class. We really encourage you to participate in those institute classes. They are targeted, they are purposeful, and we want you to take advantage of them.

Last Tuesday morning, about a dozen kids and their mom or dad, or mom and dad, gathered for story time over in the bookstore. We would love to have you join us with your preschooler over in the commons on Tuesday morning at 9:30. Please take advantage of that as well.

This coming Friday night — and about three or four times a year we do this — we will have an evening of worship and praise, and we incorporate worship and praise in the arts. There are so many different aspects to how God has gifted us and uses us, and we try to pull all of that together and give you an opportunity to come and worship and be part of that. The next worship and praise night is this Friday, the 21st, at seven o'clock here in the chapel. There will be an art gallery with pieces for you to look at — someone told me today there are around sixty-four or sixty-five pieces that people have submitted. Afterward, we will move over to the commons for a time of being together, seeing some old friends, and making some new ones.

Trip to Israel and Community Initiatives

Let me mention two things that are not in the bulletin. Jerry Smith left Friday for a trip and is by now about halfway around the world — he will be in Kashmir by the end of his travels. Before he left, he got in touch with me. Two years ago, Jerry was part of a team with Chris Mueller that took forty-five people — basically a busload — on a tour of Israel, and it was something we were doing roughly every other year as pieces came together. We started planning this next trip almost a year ago. The trip is set for New Year's Day, January 1st, and we currently have five or six openings.

The first trip filled up immediately, and this one filled up as well, but with scheduling changes and other circumstances, those spots have opened back up. If you are looking for something that is not only fun and encouraging but truly meaningful, the people who were on the last trip came back saying God used it in a significant way. If you would like to claim one of those spots, you need to move quickly. Jerry is out of town, so I would encourage you to call here at the office. Mary will field those calls, put together a list, and when Jerry gets back he will get in touch with you and give you specifics about cost and everything that goes with it.

Another thing — and these are the things that literally make me smile — is when you see people in the church get together and begin to do things together, and begin to

A Community Rallying Together

There is a young lady by the name of Bonnie Cotier who has been part of the church for a long, long time. For quite a while she has been very sick, and the disease she has and the way it has infected her body have literally left the experts stunned. She has been in and out of the hospital for years, and her struggle has been a real testimony to those of us who have been around her.

We have been looking for ways to come alongside and help, and we have been able to do many things as a church. The 710, the twenty-something ministry, came up with an idea this past Wednesday that is not in the bulletin. This coming Wednesday, down at the Golden Spoon yogurt store at Ray and McQueen, all the profit from that day will go to Bonnie and to a fund that has been established for her.

It is one of those stories that really catches your attention. Channel Three is doing a story on it, and the Republic has picked it up as well. Bonnie is a wonderful woman of God whom God has used in a very special way, and you can come alongside simply by stopping in — any of the profits from that day go to help her.

The Teaching Series and Last Week's Message

Grab your Bible. If you have a pew Bible, those of you who are around on a regular basis are going to get tired of hearing this, but the pew Bible is divided into a New and Old Testament, and what the publisher has done is start the page numbering over again at the beginning of the New Testament. That can be a bit confusing as you are thumbing through. If you thumb about two-thirds of the way through, you will find page 93 — that is Acts chapter 2, which is what we are looking at today.

You are part of a historic time at East Valley Bible Church. We have never, that I can remember outside of the doctrines of grace, taken a stretch like this where we have stopped and brought a single topic before you for four consecutive weeks. What we are talking about in simple terms is something called area ministry. Let me remind you of the teaching schedule: today I am going to give you an overview of how area ministry works, next week we want to talk about the theology of it, and the final week I want to talk about you and me living in a purposeful way — making the gospel real, sharing the gospel, and preaching the gospel to ourselves and the people around us each and every day.

Last week I talked about the busyness of life. It was a meaningful time for me because I love keeping that truth fresh and in front of us, and most people, with almost no exceptions, identified with the fact — not just that we are busy, but that we are too busy. What we want to eradicate from our vocabulary is that little word "too." We are not trying to keep you from being busy; God wants you busy. We just do not want you to be too busy, and we want you to be busy about the right things.

I hope you did not listen last week and conclude that you need to simplify life so you can kick back and get your handicap into single digits, or have more time to fill in the blank. The goal is that you would be more purposeful in the way you live as God begins to use you and touch your life. That we are all busy seems to be a central part of the world we live in, the way we think, and where we find ourselves.

Acts Chapter 2: The Birth of Community

What I want to look at today is the idea of purposeful living, and one word that captures part of that is community. Let me give you the background to Acts chapter 2. Peter has preached and people are responding. Peter opens up the Word of God, and in verse 37 they are pierced to their hearts and they ask, "What should we do?" He says, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." And that is exactly what happened.

Verse 41 tells us, "So then those who received his words were baptized, and that day there were added about 3,000 souls." This is a large gathering — men, women, and children — and as Peter preaches and they begin to respond, God touches the hearts of 3,000 people. Though it does not say so explicitly, another question then arises, and in a sense it is the same question: what do we do now? Now that there are 3,000 of us, how do we respond?

The answer is right there in verse 42: "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer." The result of that was a sense of awe and wonder, and God continued to work. Verse 46 tells us, "Continually with one mind they were in the temple, breaking bread, going from house to house. They were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people."

They were in the process of living life together, worshiping God together, and helping one another. In the midst of that, people took notice, and lives were touched. They were finding favor with people, and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. God was in the midst of all of it, pulling everything together. He was using their experience of community, of life shared together, so that not only were they encouraging and uplifting one another — they were having a profound impact on the people around them. That is what we want to talk about.

Where We Started

When the church began, I tried to find some people who would help me get ready, principally because — and I've said this many times — we had no idea what we were doing. People laugh at that and think, "Oh, yeah." No, we didn't.

When Braden was born, there was a wonderful moment. Those of you who have kids and grandkids, if you are at all sensitive and aware, God gives you these wonderful moments. Braden was, I have no idea, minutes old. For whatever reason, I was the only one in the room with Haley and Braden. I was off to the side, looking at my daughter, knowing what she had just been through, watching her hold her little baby. It was just a wonderful moment.

Then in the midst of this, something really special happened. Haley had Braden, and she was looking down at him, and she said, "Hey, buddy, I don't have a clue what to do next." That's how we really didn't know either.

What We Were For and Against

What we did is we knew what we didn't like. Many of us had been involved in other churches, and frankly, in some ways both good and not so healthy, we more knew what we were against than what we were for, to be honest. Then we went to the Bible and said, there's some stuff in here that we need to bring into the church.

If you were there on Dobson on November 3, 1991, you heard a message preached on Acts chapter 2, verse 42, this very verse. We said, here's what it appears the church is doing: "They're devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching" — so we better teach — "and to fellowship," which is the living of life together, "and to the breaking of bread," communion, "and to prayer." That seemed to be what the church is all about.

Advice from Daryl DeJouze

As I talked to different guys and tried to find pastors who would help me — and honestly, many didn't, they were just too busy — Daryl DeJouze stepped to the plate. So I met with Daryl, and he said, there are two things you have to remember.

Number one: because of the position you're in as the teaching pastor, the lead pastor, the one up front most, you're the one who is going to have to cast vision and direction. You're the one who is going to have to talk about the future. And here's what he said — you're going to have to talk about the same thing over and over and over again, because you're going to live with this. It's going to be so much a part of you, and you're going to have it so clear in your mind, you'll think everybody gets it — and they don't. So you talk about it over and over again. That made sense.

He said, here's the second thing — and this one didn't make sense to me at first: you're the keeper of history. You're the church historian. It probably made sense to him, but we didn't have any history yet, so I didn't understand it. Shortly after that, I began to see what he was saying. Because of the unique position God placed you in, because you're in a lot of the meetings and you understand what's going on, probably more than anyone you're aware of what's happening globally within the body — and you're going to have to call people back to that.

You're going to sit in a meeting, and somebody is going to say, "Let's do this," and you're going to say, "Let me tell you, we used to do that, now we do this, and here's why." That doesn't mean you say, "We've always done it this way," or "We tried it and it failed." You just bring that historic perspective.

Three Things We Did Well

So I want to do a little bit of that with you this morning. When we began, we had no clue what we were doing, and there were a handful of people who made a profound difference. But there were three things essentially that I think we did pretty well.

Number one was the corporate gathering. Cut me some slack — we did Sunday pretty well. The teaching wasn't bad. I look back at Paul and Naomi sitting back there, their faithfulness from the very start to this day astounds me. Then Gary came along, working on a part-time basis and figuring things out, and all of a sudden we were doing Sunday well.

The second thing we ended up doing well — because God did it — is we did staffing well. God brought along an extraordinary group of men and women who became part of the leadership team and staff at East Valley Bible Church at different levels and in different places. For me to be gone five weeks and have five different guys teach, and when you take Tim Maughan out of the picture, the oldest of the remaining four is 29 — that is an amazing thing. Most of the guys I know who are in a similar position, when they go away, they bring in a hired speaker from the outside. I love the fact that God has been good, and we don't have to do that.

The third strength was an extraordinary volunteer base. I mentioned Paul and Naomi and the music as they started. Along came Lorraine and Jim, people in children's ministry, people from all different areas. I don't want to leave anyone out, but I remember Karen Clow, Karen Fulbright, Ron Fulbright, Dave and Beth Bower. They came along in junior high and high school ministry, slugging it out with a dozen kids. It wasn't easy, and frankly not a very thankful

Recognizing Our Strengths

Those three strengths are what we did really well, and we did them well for a group of people that God brought together. Now hang with me, because this is important. That group was essentially at the same stage of life. They were married men and women who typically had three or four biological children and had life pretty well together. They were largely the same ethnicity and generally middle class. That was who we were, and those were our strengths.

Then — and this will blow some of you away who have been around — ten years ago next month we moved into this building. Amazing. At that point I think our strengths got even stronger. We do Sunday very well, we have an extraordinary staff, and you all are remarkable in the way you volunteer.

Weaknesses Magnified by Growth

But our weaknesses were also magnified once we made that move. A couple of things happened. God began to bring hurting people to us. He began to bring men, women, students, and children who weren't believers. He began to bring people whose families didn't look like the traditional biological mom-and-dad household — blended families, two or three families living together. I've done weddings where you literally need a roster to figure out who's who. The moms — plural — come in. That can be sloppy and messy, but that's how God called us to live, isn't it?

Our weaknesses became magnified in this new context. We had what I've described as a code that was very hard to crack. If you were new, you didn't automatically feel like you were part of things. Nobody necessarily reached out to say hello, and there wasn't always a clear place for you to plug in.

Let me finish that thought, because I do smile when I read statistics about church growth. We came over from Dobson with about 450 people, and within a year or eighteen months we had 2,000 or 2,200 — some huge number. That's the kind of thing you write articles about. So we were making our strengths stronger, but our weaknesses were becoming exposed at the same time.

A Community We Weren't Reaching

We did not have a compelling drive to reach the community we lived in. We were not particularly concerned about the uniqueness of Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, or whatever community we were touching, and how God might use us within it. There was not a driving collective desire — though there may have been individual exceptions — to reach new people, hurting people, or lost people. That is totally understandable, but it was real.

That weakness would manifest itself in a very specific way. After a year or two or three in this building, I began to hear people say, "I don't feel connected." Maybe you've said that. Maybe you've felt that. Maybe you're there right now.

That first group did feel connected. They pined for the old days when everyone gathered and shared one another's life burdens. But most people numerically were now saying they didn't feel connected. They wouldn't think to call me if they had a problem — not because I wouldn't care, but because 4,000 people cannot all call one pastor. That's just realistic. I've said this many times: if you go to the hospital and I show up, you are in serious trouble. I cannot be there when you get your tonsils out, and the people who have been around long enough don't even expect that, because it simply cannot work that way.

The Problem of Size and Geography

I love Sunday. I love the praise and worship. I love what happens in the conference center. I love everything that comes together. But people were still saying, "I don't feel connected." My response is that the cause is partly numerical — organic to any large gathering — and partly geographical. I have very good friends who drive about an hour and twenty minutes each way to come to church here. I've told them they need to find a different church. I've said, just quit driving and send us the gas money. But they say, "No, Sunday is too good. I want to be there for what happens on Sunday, in the kids' ministry, with the students." And so for a while we just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. We couldn't get a sign designed and posted out front before we were adding another service.

As we grew, our strengths got stronger, but that weakness around connection became more and more exposed. Part of the problem was simply the size of the church.

Our Response: Area Ministries

Our response could have taken several forms. We could have blown up the church model altogether and said God just doesn't want large churches. But I don't think that's right. I don't think God is particularly hung up on size. He uses all shapes and sizes of people and all shapes and sizes of churches. Or we could have done nothing — said, "That's just the way it is with a big church; people have to figure it out and fend for themselves." Or we could stop and say, "We have a responsibility here. We are leaders and shepherds, and we need to figure out how to minister to these people."

That is what we did. Our answer — our solution to this weakness we had identified — was area ministry. We wanted to create what I think is a really important phrase: a small, large church.

Jim Harper reminded me of this story the other day. He and Luke had been away while we had been talking and talking about this problem — what do we do, how are we going to fix this? Luke and Jim went to a conference, came back, and they had found an idea similar to area ministries. Randy Frazee was rolling it out in Texas.

Small Church, Large Church

Harper was telling me this story on Friday. He said, "Do you remember this?" And I said no. He said, "I came back from this, and I knew that this was something we had to do. So I came to meet with you, and I knew that in the first five minutes you were either going to blow this up or we were going to do this." I said I didn't remember it. He said, "I sat down and started to unfold this, and I said to you, 'We want to be a large, small church.'" And he said, at that point I said no. He said, "I thought my dream was shattered." And I corrected him and said, "We want to be a small, large church."

Do you get the difference? You cannot take a small church and make it large. You can take a large church and make it small. It is really important to grapple with this distinction.

The Appeal of a Large Church

I am convinced, and the empirical data is overwhelming, that people like large churches. There are just some things that are benefits of a large church. Typically, that Sunday celebratory time is a little bit better. Typically, there are options — options of worship.

I have three girls in my family. They corrected me this morning and said four, but I am not counting Gracie — she is nine months. So I have Sarah, Haley, and Susan. Let me tell you what had already transpired this morning. At 8:30, Sarah was here in this room, the chapel. At 8:30, Susan was in the conference center. Tonight at 6, Haley will be in the 6 o'clock service. None of them were told, "Go here, here, or there." They were there for a variety of reasons — time, options, room preference, all sorts of things. That is somewhat what a large church does. A small church does not have that. You meet at 8:30, and it is in that one room, and frankly it is typically much less diverse.

I was standing by Mary's desk one day — this takes you back, those of you who have been around. The phone rang, and she answered, "East Valley Bible Church, Mary, can I help you?" Then a pause. Her answer was: "8, 9, 10, 11, 4, 5, and 6." The question obviously was, "When are the worship services?" Then another pause. "No, I'm sorry. Those are the only services we have. Unless we're going to swing by and do it in your bedroom, I don't know how we can make this any more convenient." Those are the kinds of things that a large church offers.

Large has an energy to it. There is something energizing about coming on campus. I remember after Mike Nothom Senior died, Jewel and I were having a conversation one day. She said that Mike used to sit out — this was before we decided to spend money on a policeman out there to make your life easier. We did not have the policeman then, and it would stack up. Jewel told me Mike used to sit in the van in that line, and she said she was preparing herself for him to be unhappy. But he said, "I love this. Look at this. Look at what's happening." There is an energy to that, isn't there? There is an energy in a youth group of 10 versus a youth group of 300. There just is. And people seem, by the way, willing to drive for that.

There are also typically resources that allow you to do things technically and with facilities that a smaller church cannot. Those are just some of the things that are very attractive about a large church.

The Appeal of a Small Church

Here is the other thing: there are some great things that are attractive about small churches as well. There is a sense of community. Sometimes you go and you think, "There is that pastor. I know his name. I can get him on the phone. I can talk to him. He knows me, he knows my kids, he knows my dog." There is a relationship with the people. Three generations may have been there in the same period of time. Generally, there is also a kind of geographical commonness in a small church.

A Small, Large Church

I am convinced that people want — and God is not at all uncomfortable with large churches — but I am convinced that people want, if possible, a small, large church. A church where you have all the benefits of what God is doing on a large scale, and also that opportunity — and it is more than an opportunity, really — that way of living out the biblical admonition for community.

Area Ministry

Last week in the bulletin, we supplied you with some material on area ministry, and I asked you to keep it. I am sure about two of you did, but that is fine — all of it is on the website and we can keep it in front of you. Within that material were some things about area ministry. Let me read you the purpose statement that area ministry operates under.

*Equipping believers of East Valley Bible Church who live in close proximity to each other to minister to one another* — that is part one. Part two: *to relationally reach out to the lost who live around them.* What we have said is that we are going to take this church, which represents — cut me some slack here — five geographic areas, and divide it into those areas.

It was interesting today, because now I see orange and yellow and green, and apparently I only have to talk to the blue ones, so this is perfect. It makes it much easier to know who to ignore in the course of a day. But in all seriousness, it has also been interesting to see how some people are stumped by the question, "What town do you live in?" At the first hour, there was a husband and wife here who had two different colors on.

Five Churches Within a Church

We have taken the East Valley and cut it into five pieces: Tempe/Phoenix, Mesa, Queen Creek, Chandler, and Gilbert. That last category is really a catch-all in many ways, covering some Scottsdale and other surrounding communities. After almost a year and a half to two years of planning and working this through, we have staffed each of those areas with a full-time pastor.

I have, in the course of my time in church, heard the following phrase used in a negative way — but I want to use it in a positive way. We are trying to create, at least for now, five churches within a church, five distinct pastors. I want to give you a brief opportunity to understand a little of the rationale, a little of what we are trying to do, and to connect a name and a face together for each one.

The History of East Valley Bible Church

East Valley Bible Church began in November of 1991, with a commitment to glorifying God by helping people learn God's truths and live biblically changed lives. While meeting on Sunday nights in rented facilities, the church modeled itself after the early church's devotion to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Like the early church, many people were converted to Christianity, converted to Jesus, and saw God change their lives.

In October of 1997, the church opened its own facility in Gilbert, and explosive growth followed. Within a year, the church had nearly tripled in size and began to reach people from across the East Valley from a variety of backgrounds. The following years were filled with change and adjustments in order to meet the challenges of a growing regional church.

The Birth of Area Ministry

Then in early 2006, the church leadership began to pray and strategize about how to make the large church feel smaller, how to connect and care for people in a personal way, and how to more effectively reach the surrounding communities. As a result, Area Ministry was born. The purpose of Area Ministry is to equip the believers of EVBC to minister to one another and to relationally reach out to those who live around them.

To accomplish this, five areas were established, each with a full-time pastor and growing ministries. With ministries in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek, and Tempe/Phoenix, Area Ministry is poised to unleash the love and grace of Jesus Christ on the people and communities of the East Valley.

Meet the Area Pastors

**Luke Simmons — Gilbert Area Pastor**

My greatest passion is that you and I would treasure Jesus Christ. Every week when we gather together, we celebrate who He is and what He has done. But in order to really love Him, we need connection — we need each other. We can have great convictions, and from that make great commitments, but unless we have significant connections, we will never go as far as we could. That is why home groups are such a key part of what we do in Area Ministry — they are really the backbone of Area Ministry.

**Jim Harper — Chandler Area Pastor**

When I got into the ministry years ago, one of the things I really looked forward to was caring for people. I believe that this is going to be a way that the area pastors, including myself, will have an opportunity to love the folks who are a part of our church. But we are not just concerned about those who are already a part of our church — we are also concerned about those who are new. Area Ministry is going to be a great way to reach out to folks who are new, because instead of programs, we are going to use the people who live near them to reach out and enfold them into our church. We do not want to be the church that plays hard to get, and hopefully Area Ministry will help men and women fall not only in love with Christ, but do so through the friendship of the people who live around them.

**John Bell — Tempe and Phoenix Area Pastor**

Do you realize that there are over five million people living in the greater metro area? Do you realize that many of them are living in poverty and have physical and spiritual needs? God, through Area Ministry, will use you to make the invisible God visible in your area.

**Curtis Field — Queen Creek Area Pastor**

One of the most powerful ways that we can impact our communities for Jesus is to be there to care for one another in our times of need. Right now, each area is building a compassion team to help bear the burden of people in each area from the body of EVBC — in the event of a hospitalization, the death of a loved one, a terminal illness, or even the birth of a new baby. Jesus said that the world would know that we were His disciples by our love for one another, and we can demonstrate that love in tangible ways as we show compassion in each area.

**Bill Hartley — Mesa Area Pastor**

Jesus said in the Scriptures, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." And in Mesa, just like other cities across the East Valley, that truth is what we are committed to bringing to the people around us.

Area Ministry: Addressing Real Needs in the Valley

In the valley, we are dealing with a lot of bondage — the bondage of false doctrine, economic oppression, crime problems, and issues related to immigration. All of these things are opportunities for us in Area Ministry to take the church into those lives. Through prayer, through the teaching of the Scriptures, and through serving our communities, we can make a difference in Jesus' name in each one of our areas. We invite you to join with us in making the Gospel of Jesus known throughout the East Valley through Area Ministry. Together, we can be the hands and feet of Jesus in our communities, and, like the earliest followers of Christ, we can be on the front lines of seeing God change lives.

Five Voices, Five Dimensions of Ministry

It is wonderful to observe that each of the five leaders who spoke really talked about a different aspect of what is important in Area Ministry — and I do not think it was programmed that way. Luke talked about outreach. Jim talked particularly about new people. John Bell talked about community and making the invisible God visible. Curtis talked about caring, compassion, and love. Bill talked about hurting, bondage, and difficulty all around us.

Those emphases are not special or unique to each individual area. Our idea is that those are key components of everything we do across all areas.

A Map for New People and Those Who Are Hurting

What I have realized is that Area Ministry is an opportunity for us in a couple of specific areas. First, for people who are new: if you are new to East Valley Bible Church, there is all of a sudden a map to figure out who you are, where you fit, and how you get connected. Beyond that, we begin to reach out to people who are hurting and in pain in a way that is much more synergistic in its nature.

Here is what I mean. Up to this point, if you had somebody in the hospital, you would call in and say, "I've got a friend, or my dad, or my mom, or a kid in the hospital — can you send somebody from the church?" A care and compassion person would go out and begin to deal with them, and inevitably, in the midst of crisis, a bond would form. But after a period of time, each person would go their own separate way.

Now, when you call in and say there is somebody in the hospital, the response will be, "What city do you live in?" You say Gilbert, and Luke or one of his people shows up. Now there is a connection. Now there is a ministry that takes place with a focus. They begin to deal in a geographic sense, begin to live life together, and begin to take a spontaneous approach to ministry.

Overcoming the Geographic Barrier

I am hearing this all over, especially from the area gatherings I have attended — people are realizing they live right down the street from one another. We have had people living literally within blocks of each other, driving twenty minutes to get to church, not even knowing the other person lived right there. Now they are realizing their kids are in the same class and playing on the same soccer team.

All of this allows — and cut me a bit of slack here — a sense of spontaneity in life. People are forming friendships that are allowed to be vibrant simply because the geographic barrier has been overcome.

I have a friend who does not go to East Valley Bible Church. I was with him one day over coffee, and he said he had a small group that night. I said, "Good." He said, "I don't want to go — I've got to drive." I asked why he was going anyway, and he said, "Well, I'm leading it." He went on to describe it: they come together once a week, they have a lesson, they have all prepared, they answer the questions, and they go away. It is fine — it is better than nothing — but there is nothing really happening there.

What I am hearing now is different. I am hearing about people in small groups who are not driving twenty-five or thirty minutes — they are walking three minutes to get to a small group and live life together.

Discipleship That Happens in Real Life

I had a meeting that, when you have it, you just say, "This is incredible." It was an elders' meeting, and as I remember, John Bell, Jim, Luke, and Chuck Bishop were in the room — there may have been others. They began to talk to us about Area Ministry, and one of the things Chuck Bishop said stood out to me.

He said he had husbands he would deal with in a counseling session — he would meet with them once, but then they would go away and he would not see them again until the following week. Now he has those same husbands in his small group. He sees the husband and wife together, he observes their interaction, and all of a sudden counseling is not something out there at a distance — it is living life together, coming alongside, and discipling. He sees them with their kids. That is the idea behind Area Ministry: there is a high impact to doing life together.

More Than Better Small Groups — Reaching the Community

Beyond all of this, and I wrestle with saying this: if all we end up doing is small group done better, I do not know that it is worth it. I really do not. There is a huge expenditure of time, energy, effort, and money in this. At the core of this, beyond making you feel ministered to, what is far more important is reaching out into our community in a collective way.

On November 3rd, I am doing a marriage rededication. I do not know exactly how this works in every detail, but it is being held not here at the church, not in Room 100 or the commons — those are all fine — but in a couple's backyard. The husband was telling me this morning that he has a neighbor who is, as he put it, as pagan as can be, and that neighbor is excited about coming and hearing this. All of a sudden, it is not just you living alongside your neighbor or you demonstrating Christ —

Living Life Together in Community

It is not merely about having your own needs met. The real power comes from meeting the needs of others — from living a life that demonstrates Christ to the people around you.

We have been at this for almost two years now, and along the way we have encountered some pushback and resistance from certain people at certain times. Part of that resistance has sounded like this: "Wait a minute — I live in Tempe, I have a friend in Gilbert and one in Mesa, and we have had a small group together for a long time. What are you going to do to our group?" Our answer is simple: go get them. You do not need to break that group up.

The idea here is not to create something rigid and inflexible — as if there were a man at the door demanding you produce a utility bill from your town to prove you belong. That would make no sense. If God is doing something genuinely powerful in someone's life, we are not going to tell them to stop because of where they live.

For the majority of people, however — especially new people and hurting people — this geographic, area-based approach is, I believe, the most effective way to minister to them. Lately I have heard people say, "I don't think I need a group like that." That may be true for you personally, but if you have your life that together, we need you pouring yourself into others.

Sunday Morning and the Week-to-Week Life of the Church

This is not an effort to blow up Sunday morning or to suggest that Sunday morning is unimportant. Sunday morning is the key time when we come together — we celebrate, we experience community, and we do things collectively that we cannot do any other way. It is important that Sunday morning, staffing, and everything else we do together continue to be used by God in significant and appropriate ways as times of celebration.

But the day-to-day, week-to-week process of life is, I think, best carried out through area ministry.

What Other Churches Are Watching

Over the last three or four months I have met a number of other pastors in the community — some formally, some casually. It is remarkable to me how many churches in the valley are watching what we are doing. I did not even know how they found out, but apparently there is a network through which word gets around.

Many churches, especially large ones, are genuinely struggling with this question. They know how to do large church; they do not know how to do the relational, close-knit life of a small church. Every time I sit with one of those pastors and begin to tell them our story, every head bobs up and down. It really does make sense to them.

The Health of East Valley Bible Church

While I was on vacation, I did a great deal of thinking — about my life, about Susan, about the kids, and clearly about what is central to my professional life: this church. Not just how I am doing, but how the church is doing. Here is my conclusion, and I offer it from a perspective that may be biased, though I hope it is not: I do not think East Valley Bible Church has ever been healthier than it is right now. Ever.

I do not measure that by how many people are here, whether the finances are strong, or whether we are building buildings. Those can be wonderful things, but they are not what drives us. I make that evaluation on the basis of personal ministry — and I have never seen more of it happening at a personal level than I see right now.

There is also more hurt and pain visible. I was in a meeting recently where someone noted that six or seven marriages in the church are currently in trouble. But that is simply part of doing life together. In a real sense, it is evidence of ministry — because when you are reaching out to hurting people, that is exactly what you encounter. We are part of a family. Have you noticed that families get messy every once in a while? You have that one person — that crazy aunt in the basement. Well, we have a hundred of them. And I have never seen the church healthier.

A First Report from Area Ministry Leaders

When we sat in that meeting and the area ministry leaders gave their first report after a full year, I had goose bumps listening to them. If you are a pastor with any kind of heart at all, you could not help but be moved as they described lives being changed in community — people living life together, not as someone on assignment, but as someone crawling through life alongside another person. Rejoicing with those who rejoice. Weeping with those who weep. It was a wonderful time.

An Invitation to Taste Community

Here is what I would like from you today. Over in the commons we have arranged an opportunity for you to connect — and please, do get over there. The commons has been open since the end of June, and I keep meeting people who have not yet been in. Make sure you check it out.

In your bulletin there is a card. It is an invitation to what we are calling a "taste of community." When we finish this series, we are going to launch a whole group of new small groups, each running for just four weeks. That is the only commitment — four weeks, either to host one or to be part of one. We will come alongside and provide leadership to help those groups get started.

Maybe you have never been part of anything like this. Maybe you have been in and out of a group and want to understand what we are really talking about. Whatever your situation, complete that card and drop it in one of the boxes on your way out. Go get your kids first — it will take a little time — and feel free to grab a sandwich or something to drink while you are over there.

An Invitation to Community

Go over and meet your area pastor. They are trying to get some pictures taken and fill in all of the blanks, all the details that go with it. On the 29th of September, each of the five areas will host a community service that evening, featuring a time of baptism. That is one of the things we have seen — we have not in the last four months been able to get together a corporate baptism time on Sunday night because they are all happening out there. It is a wonderful time. Baby dedications are happening out there, and I want you to be part of it.

I want you to benefit from it, yes, but bigger than that — if you have been around long enough to have your life together, you need to be part of serving others, meeting other people's needs, and letting them experience your wisdom and insight as you do life together. It is a really important time. I am going to invite you to be part of what God is doing, and the Commons would be a great way to start.

The Theology Behind This Vision

Completing this card is important. I can see someone saying, "Well, all they have done is come up with some sort of a marketing idea. This is what we hate about church — church is getting big and cold and corporate." No. I want you to understand that there is a complete theological, biblical reason that this is our solution. So next week we are going to look at the theology of community.

Then in that fourth week, I want to talk to you about why God left you here — He left you here for a reason and for a purpose. The following week, the first weekend in October, we are going to begin our in-depth study of Psalm 23. That is what we have ahead of us in the coming weeks and months together.

I hope you understand that we are not abolishing the corporate gathering. The corporate gathering becomes more and more important, but more focused. Where you live provides you, in many cases, a unique opportunity to touch people in the easiest way — simply by doing life together.

A Lawn Chair and a Bowl of Soup

Randy Frazee, when he was here, shared something he did to test this idea. He put a lawn chair in his driveway and sat out there, and he was blown away by the number of young parents pushing strollers, people walking dogs, and neighbors simply passing by. He said it did not take anything more than sitting in a lawn chair to begin doing ministry to the lost people around him.

He noticed that everyone was busy, but that Friday nights worked well, so they turned it into soup night. They put soup out every Friday evening, and people would stop by and have a bowl. That is not a lot, and yet it was enough to begin to impact a community. God is going to give you all sorts of ideas and ways to do the same.

It is not just you as an individual — other people from East Valley Bible Church are living right around you. I love the potential of what God could do with us in the lives of our communities. All of a sudden, it makes a difference where we live. It makes a difference to Tempe if East Valley Bible Church goes away, because we are engaged in that community, as I believe God would have us live.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for this truth. Thank You for saving us and sovereignly placing us in the neighborhoods we live in, bringing a workforce around us. God, thank You for how You are using us. I pray that You would open our eyes to see the people around us.

God, for those who are here and feeling hesitant — for whom completing a card about the Commons is a big move, maybe even a scary move — give them the courage to do that. Thank You for Jim and John and Curtis and Luke and Bill. We pray Your blessing on these five men who undertake a huge responsibility.

God, we pray that East Valley Bible Church would one day look back on this very occasion and say, "That was a significant moment in the life of this church." May our corporate gathering get better and better and more significant and more targeted, and when we left this campus, may You use us in a powerful way. God, do that in our lives. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Closing Hymn: Take My Life

*Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.*
*Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.*
*Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.*
*Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.*

*Take my voice and let me sing always, only for my King.*
*Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee.*
*Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.*
*Take my intellect and use every power as You choose.*

*Here am I, all of me. Take my life, it's all for Thee.*
*Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine.*
*Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne.*
*Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Your feet its treasure store.*
*Take myself and I will be ever, only all for Thee.*

*Here am I, all of me. Take my life, it's all for Thee.*
*Here am I, all of me. Take all of me.*