How Firm a Foundation II (adapted from Jim Widemans March leadership lessons)

It takes people for ministry to happen, the larger the ministry, the more people that are needed. This is demonstrated in the Bible in many passages. The first that comes to mind is Jethro’s advice to his son-in-law, Moses, recorded in Exodus 18.

You really need to read the story for yourself, but, here is a brief recap of the events. Jethro comes to visit Moses and watches as Moses works tirelessly to be the judge of disputes for the entire group of Israelites. Remember there were more than 1 million of them by this time. Jethro saw that Moses was exhausting himself and told him to find men who could help him with this monumental task.

A New Testament version of this principle is found in Jesus Himself. Jesus desires to spread the gospel beyond His realm of influence, so, He chooses, trains, and sends out twelve disciples for the job. The early church called and sent out missionaries to expand the gospel even further.

The concept is simple if you need, expect, or want your ministry to grow, to enlarge your structure. This is what I am trying to communicate to each of you. I believe that God is beginning to do some great things here at Southcliff. In the past few weeks more than 25 people have indicated making a major faith decision. This is evidence by their taking the Next Step boxes from the foyer.

Your church staff has been evaluating and reassessing everything we do to ensure that we will be good stewards of the people that God sends our way. I believe that we are on the edge of a large sustained growth pattern for Southcliff. And like I said earlier, more people means more preschoolers. We must be ready now and not play catch up later.

This is what I am proposing: I want to break down the preschool area into three age groups. Those would be Babies, Ones and Twos, and Threes and PreK. I want to place a leader over each area. These leaders would be responsible for the classes in that area. All the teachers in each area would seek out the leader over their age group with questions, concerns, and suggestions. That leader would in turn interface with me for things that they cannot provide on their own.

Remember, we are preparing for the major growth that God will bring, not what we have now. If we have 200 or more children in the preschool ministry and have to find new locations for classes we will need this kind of structure to maintain a consistent level of excellence.

I will continue to be there for each of you as you have need, and don’t think that you cannot come to me with anything. However, I am trying to put into place a structure that will ensure that no matter how big we get, no person or problem will go unnoticed.

As Vince Lombardi once said “As we strive for Perfection, we shall surely attain Excellence”. Join me as we strive for perfection to attain excellence in the preschool ministry.

How Firm a Foundation I (adapted from Jim Wideman March Leadership lesson)

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.” Matt 7:24-25 (HCSB)

I have been told, though it is yet to be confirmed, that the preschool building was built with the structural capabilities of adding a second floor. Now, you can’t just take any old building and add a second floor. You must make sure that the foundation and structure are solid enough to build on for if you don’t, the building will collapse under the added strain.

Your life is like the preschool building. If your foundation isn’t strong enough, the added strain from life’s stresses can cause your life to collapse. However, with a foundation that is built to take the added stress, you are built to undergo these stresses without wavering. Jesus says that if we build our foundations on His teachings then we will have a foundation able to withstand any stress that the world adds. We can weather the storm and come out just fine on the other side. And, just so you know, He also told us that these stresses will come. So, it would be wise to be ready by being in His word.

I want to apply the same principle to the internal structure of Preschool Hall as one would apply to the external structure. For me, that means that we need a structure that will be able to withstand added challenges we may face in the future. This is why I want three leaders in every room. And each of those leaders needs to be grounded on the rock of Jesus’ Word.

The goal of Southcliff is to double in attendance. If that happens, then it only follows that we will likely double in attendance on Preschool Hall. So, following this line of thinking, we need to have a structure that will allow for growth. If we fail to prepare, the system may collapse under the weight of added children.

I will expand upon this idea in my next entry.