Equipped

Today will be our fourth Equipped Conversation with one of Connection Network's favorite church planters, Michael Page! Michael is the planting pastor of Connection Church Rincon.

Besides being the swaggiest pastor in the network, Michael has led his church through multiple hard decisions, location changes, and the sending of some of their best to go and plant other churches. What is important for us, as a podcast, is that tough challenges require Godly leaders. Michael is a Godly leader that knows how to identify and raise up other Godly leaders. Join us for this episode as we discuss what a FIT leader is, and how we MAWL them.

Today, Jordan talks with Kate Rentz, a college student here at Georgia Southern who just recently came on staff at Connection Church Statesboro. Todays conversation is all about how God's Better Game Plan includes Biblical community.

Today, we discuss God's better game plan for our lives through weekly corporate singing! Chase Buchanan shares his unique perspective as a worship pastor. Chase is one of Jordan's best friends, and is an invaluable part of who Connection Church is as a church.

Go check out Connection Music's new song "Heaven's Song," like it, follow them as an artist; also go check out Chase Buchanan Music and show him some love as well!

In this weeks episode Jordan talks about his passion behind the importance of Heart and Soul, Connection's membership process and the importance behind getting involved in church as a member.

Jordan discusses what is expected of Heart and Soul in our church and the level of significance that comes with it.

We're back this week with Jordan and Marie!

We said goodbye to James Balor on Wednesday. While we are sad to see him go, we cannot wait to watch what he does back in the Philippines. We learned a lot from him so today, Jordan and Marie sat down to discuss what they are taking away from this past month.

Today will be our third longer-form conversation with a true MULTIPLIER in SE Asia: James Balor! James is a pastor in the Philippines that is making disciples, preaching the gospel, and planting churches called His Touch Ministries.

James is an incredible guy, and has a heart to see churches planted throughout SE Asia...and is ACTUALLY doing it. Listen in as we talk about the differences in ministry in the US and the Philippines, and enjoy a few laughs along the way.

We are a podcast dedicated to investing in leaders and helping them multiply. Today, that effort involves remembering the lives of two great men that have served our church family faithfully, but have been called home to be with the Lord.

Jude O'Donnell was an incredible man. So was Bert Oakes. Today, Jordan, Marie, and Austin consider what about their lives meant so much to the work of Kingdom multiplication.

It's August. A new season has come. School, work, kids, church life, groups; how can we transition into a new season on purpose?

Give yourself grace

Have a plan (and stick to it)

Prioritize your life with God

Don't blame the mystical for practical problems

"Cast your anxieties on the Lord because He cares for you," 1 Peter 5:7

Today, we make the case that if someone is planting a group scratch, start an ANYONE AND EVERYONE group!

Why?

There's a NEED for Movement!

Multiplication requires FREEDOM; people need freedom from sin, groups need freedom to plant new ones.

The more complex the group, the harder it is to multiply. Have less parameters (men only, women only, couples only) and you will have a more simple system to duplicate.

There's a cost to discipleship (Luke 14:28-33). Will we sacrifice the good (our gifts) for God's great mission? (HINT: absolutely, because the mission to save lost souls is where the presence of Jesus lives).

There's a natural order to discipleship (Titus 2). Older men discipling younger men, older women discipling younger women, but those lives don't mix until they find each other in community.

Men's groups are awesome. Women's groups are awesome. We love ALL our CGs. Please hear this as an exhortation to MULTIPLY and not an indictment of any other group type.

How can my small group (we call them Connect Groups) send out a small group leader (Connect Group Leaders) well?

Pray—pray with your group for God to raise up a future CGLs

Cast Vision—share with your group why we need more CGs; share how many more people in

our church need to experience community; share why it’s important to live by faith and not for

comfort; share the possibilities of what God might do if someone goes.

Announce—when someone answers the call, share it with the group! Make it a big deal!

Celebrate—when you announce someone responding to the call to plant a new group, make it a party! People move in the direction of the behaviors that are celebrated. If we celebrate planting new groups, it shepherd's people that are uneasy about it to see it as normal (which, it’s BEYOND normal! It’s blessed by God because it’s HIS idea!).

Cast Vision—as the weeks go by and the new CGL gets closer to leaving the group to start their own, share with the group the process the new leader is going through. The leader is going through training, finishing applications, meeting with staff, stepping out in faith, and so much more. Your group will feel a wide range of emotions. They’ll need to be reminded of the vision. They’ll need to know God’s got more for their group, more for the leader that’s being planted, more for our church, and that we are all gaining so much more through “losing” a valuable member of the group.

Celebrate—figure out when the last time is that the new leader will be in your group and make it a party! It’s a huge deal! Vision and celebration are how we SEND, rather than just letting a leader leave.

Start over — pray...again. Cast vision...again. Celebrate...again. God’s not done. Do it again.