No strings attached!

One of the things I’ve been processing lately is the importance of serving people as Jesus did… with no strings attached.

Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
                                                                              Acts 10:38

So often churches use what many refer to as “bait and switch” tactics: You invite someone over for dinner or a party, and then spend the evening “witnessing” to them.  Or they invite someone to a party or some other kind of fun activity, but they have to attend a church service first.  At the very least there is an expectation that they come to a service at a later date. 

But what would it look like if a church served and loved people with no strings attached?  If it just served people in order to live as Jesus did?  If it helped people, counseled people, fed people, performed weddings, etc. just because it is the right thing to do?

I think it would help the world around us lower its defenses when it comes to Christianity.  It would make it easier to engage people on spiritual topics.  It might even open the door for people far from God to come check out a church.  And we want Watermark to be that church!

19 July 2010 Launch Team Mtg

We had an awesome time with many of the launch team members yesterday at Justin and JJay’s apartment. They have an incredible apartment with a huge balcony overlooking a castle, an old church and the “bath houses” of Badenweiler.

We talked about the four “core values” of the church.

1) A SAFE PLACE – to discover a relationship with God. We talked about how the style of the church will be one with a totally unchurched person in mind... and without “churchy” language.

2) FAMILY ORIENTED – where kids can feel like they’re the center of attention or the “Superstar” for an hour and a half on Sunday mornings.  We want to be a fun, safe place for kids to experience God.

3) MISSIONAL LIVING – we want the entire church to be involved in ministry of some kind. We believe that everywhere we go in our daily lives is our “mission field”.  We don’t want to do church... we want to BE the church.

4) AUTHENTIC FAITH – not television evangelist faith... but how to trust God in the daily details of our lives when we need to pay bills, struggle in our relationships, etc.  And this faith will be characterized by taking calculated risks for the Kingdom.  God is not honored by small-minded, play-it-safe, comfort zone faith.

In Matthew 14 we read the story of Jesus walking on the water.  When Peter realized it was Jesus, he asked Jesus to call him to come.  Jesus called him; and Peter responded.  Although the boat was filled with disciples, Peter was the only one willing to take a huge risk and get out of the boat.  And he was also the only human ever to walk on the water besides Jesus.  The higher the risk, the higher the reward!

Each of the team members shared their passion for a certain area of the ministry and how they could get involved. Then, we talked about how we can serve the community and how to get the word out about the church in different ways. They had some incredibly creative ideas. What an awesome and diverse team that God is raising up here!

We also talked about meeting every Sunday for a short service and then break off into a few groups to talk about the area of ministry that each is involved in. We are adding people each week that are interested in helping us launch....or that are just checking it out. Everyone is welcome at these meetings!

God is so good! We have found a building that is incredible. We are working on getting city approval to meet there, funding, getting our non-profit status, buying equipment, etc.

Prayer:

• That the city officials approve a “church” in this area and that they will work with us concerning handicap accessibility.
• That a few of the team members would be accepted into the University of Freiburg or the job internship that they desire in the Freiburg area.
• Housing for the interns (and a few others) that are raising support to come help us.
• Provision for those that are now raising support to come join us.
• More team members so that we can start with a bang.
• Talented musicians to join the team because good music is at the heart of what we are doing.
• Direction for all of us because we are “stepping out of the boat” while we try to create a type of church that we have never seen here before!

Ein sicherer Ort

Super Neuigkeiten: Gott hat ein Wunder für Camila getan. Die Freiburger Uni hatte ihr eigentlich gesagt, dass es überhaupt keine Möglichkeit gibt dieses Jahr ihr Studium anzufangen, da sie noch weitere Credits in einem Kurs in Heidelberg sammeln müsse, um zugangsberechtigt zu sein. Camila hat jedoch eine Email erhalten in der steht, dass sie doch akzeptiert wird. Das heißt, dass Camila hier in Freiburg bleiben kann und uns weiterhin bei der Gemeindegründung helfen wird. Gibt es einen besseren Weg die Gemeinde anzufangen als mit der Macht Gottes?

Unser Team besteht zur Zeit aus 15 Leuten, außerdem sind 8 weitere Personen am überlegen entweder sich selbst zu engagieren oder sammeln Geld, um sich uns hier in Deutschland anzuschließen. 

Was das Gebäude betrifft...wir treffen uns mit einem Architekten, um zu sehen inwieweit das Gebäude für unsere Zwecke umgebaut werden muss, so dass wir es als Gemeinde benutzen können. Soweit sieht es ganz gut aus. Es scheint so als ob uns der Baumeister wohlgesonnen ist. Er hat uns ein paar Vorschläge gegeben, die uns helfen, die Erlaubnis für das Gebäude zu bekommen. Trotzdem müssen wir noch viele Spenden sammeln, aber Gott schenkt uns Gunst überall wohin wir uns wenden!

Zum Schluss hier noch ein kleines Protokoll vom letzten Treffen, für jene, die es nicht geschafft haben zu kommen.

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Eph. 4:11-12, 16 (Hoffnung für Alle)

11 Einige hat er zu Aposteln gemacht, einige reden in Gottes Auftrag prophetisch, und andere gewinnen Menschen für Christus. Wieder andere leiten die Gemeinde oder unterweisen sie im Glauben. 12 Sie alle sollen die Christen für ihren Dienst ausrüsten, damit die Gemeinde Jesu aufgebaut und vollendet wird…… 16 Er versorgt den Leib und verbindet die Körperteile miteinander. Jedes Einzelne leistet seinen Beitrag. So wächst der Leib und wird aufgebaut in Liebe.

• Gemeinden wachsen und erfüllen ihre Berufung, wenn alle Personen involviert sind. Beachte: "Jedes Einzelne leistet seinen Beitrag..."
• Viele Gemeinden haben ihren Schwerpunkt auf dem Pastor und seinen/ihren Gaben. Watermarks Fokus liegt auf den Menschen, es geht nicht um Robin und mich!
  • Denn unsere Aufgabe ist es, euch zu helfen euren Platz zu finden und euch dabei zu helfen, eure Gaben für Gottes Ehre einzusetzen.
  • Wir werden mit euch Hand in Hand arbeiten, unser Fokus liegt aber auf unserer Vision und unseren Werten, Menschen zu befähigen und ihnen zu helfen ihre Gaben für das Königreich Gottes zu gebrauchen.
• Wir wollen Leben verändern. Deshalb fragen wir uns nicht, was wir von ihnen bekommen, sondern was wir ihnen geben können.
• Mit diesem Gedanken im Hinterkopf wollen wir nun über unsere Werte/Grundsätze sprechen...wir wollen, dass die Gemeinde ein sicherer Ort ist, um die Beziehung zu Gott zu erforschen.
  • Wir müssen uns vorstellen, wie es sich anfühlt als Besucher in eine Gemeinde zu kommen, insbesondere, wenn man normalerweise in keine Gemeinde geht oder an traditionelle Gottesdienste gewöhnt ist. Wie fühlen sich die Menschen wenn sie in die Gemeinde kommen, was denken sie? Welche Ängste und Hoffnungen haben sie?
  • Wir wollen "Benutzer-freundlich" sein. Das alte MS DOS Programm war schwer bedienbar, es sei denn man war ein Programmierer. Seit Windows und MAC Programmen kann nun wirklich jeder einen Computer benutzen...das meinen wir, wenn wir sagen die Gemeinde soll "Benutzer-freundlich" sein. Wir wollen das Watermark eine Gemeinde ist, mit der jeder - unabhängig vom Hintergrund oder Erfahrung- gerne in Kontakt kommt und jeder eine Beziehung zu Gott finden kann. Deshalb müssen wir folgende Punkte neu überdenken:
    • Sprache
    • Image (Aussehen, Atmosphäre, etc.)
    • Schilder („Toiletten“, „Kinderkirche“, „Krabbelstube“, etc.)
    • Einstellung - das Leben von vielen ist ein einziges Durcheinander, besonders von denen die keine Beziehung zu Christus haben. Wir müssen barmherzig und gnädig sein. Wir müssen uns daran erinnern, dass wir alle eine Entwicklung machen und alle Probleme haben.
  • Wir wollen die freundlichste Gemeinde der Stadt sein. Das hilft uns "klebend" zu bleiben, denn wegen Beziehungen bleiben Menschen "kleben"! 

A safe place

Awesome news: God worked a miracle for CM.  The Freiburg Uni had told her there was absolutely no way she would be accepted as a student this year… that she would have to take additional classes in Heidelberg for a year first.  She just received an email saying she would be accepted.  That means she will be here to help us launch the church.  What better way to start a church than with a display of God’s power?!?!

And our Launch Team is now up to 15 people, with an additional 8 people that are either considering getting involved or are raising money to be able to join us here.

Concerning the building… we are meeting with an architect to see what needs to be upgraded in order for us to be able to use it as a church building.  So far, things are looking good.  We seem to have favor with the Zoning Commissioner (Baumeister).  He gave us a couple of suggestions to help get the permit for the building.  We still need to raise a lot of money, but God is giving us favor everywhere we turn.

Finally, for those that weren’t able to make the meeting last Sunday night, here are the notes from the meeting (we didn’t record it).

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Eph 4:11-12, 16 (NLT) 11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.12 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ…. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

· Churches grow and fulfill their destiny when every person gets involved.  Notice: “As each part does its special work…”

· Many churches are focused around the pastor and his/her gifts.  Watermark is in the business of building people; it’s not all about Robin and me!

• Our job is to help you find your place and help you use your gifts to God’s glory.
• We’ll be working alongside you; but our job isn’t so much to do the work as it is to keep our focus on the vision and values, to train people, and to help them use their gifts for God’s Kingdom.
• We’re in the business of changed lives. It MUST BE about what we can put into them, not what we can get out of them.
• With that in mind, let’s start looking at our core values… the first one we want to talk about is “Being a safe place to investigate a relationship with God”
  • We need to think through what it would be like to be a first-time visitor in a church… esp. if you’ve not used to church, or are used to a traditional church.  What are unchurched people thinking/feeling when they come in?  What fears/hopes do they have?
  • We need to be “user-friendly”!  Old DOS computer programs were difficult to use unless you were a programmer.  But since Windows and Mac operating systems came along, now anyone can use a computer… this is what we mean by user-friendly!  We want Watermark to be a church that anyone – regardless of their background or experience – can connect with and find / develop a relationship with God.
  • This means rethinking / redefining our
    • Language
    • Brand (look, feel, etc)
    • Signage – Toilets, children’s church and nursery areas,
    • Attitude – People’s lives are messy… especially those that don’t have a relationship with Christ.  We need to be grace-giving.  We have to remember that we are all in process and have issues we’re working through.
  • We want to be the friendliest church in town.  This helps us become “sticky”... it’s relationships that cause people to stick!

Evolving websites...

As we said, this blog will record the thoughts we’re processing as we head into our first church plant in Germany.  Two main website thoughts today:

1. As our church plant transitions out of the initial fundraising phase into the recruiting and branding/marketing phase, we need to adjust our website.  Up to this point the website has been a lot about us, since investors need to buy in to the leader before they’ll seriously consider supporting a church plant.  We still need to raise a large amount of funds just to launch the church, but it’s time to start looking at the people God has called us to reach.

So we’re changing our website focus from investors to our target audience: young adults and young families.  We don’t want this to be a personality-driven church... it needs to be a Christ-centered, people-driven church.  This means it must be about more than just the Perrin Family.  Which also means that our website has to change.  You should start noticing some of these changes soon.

2. Our ministry website needs to change... as we look to attract more shareholders in the corporate vision, we have to step it up in  the area of our personal ministry website.  Six months ago I grew tired of the “nice and clean, just like everyone else” look of our website, so I changed to a more grunge theme.  But recently I stepped back and looked at it through the eyes of a potential investor. 

I realized that the Perrin Ministries Website may look cool to a younger crowd (at least that is what I was shooting for), but it doesn’t reflect someone who wants to be taken seriously by international investors.  This means you’ll be noticing some changes in the Perrin Ministries website as well.

Halle

Ich wollte euch einfach mitteilen wie es heute gelaufen ist! Wir haben uns nämlich eine Halle angeschaut, die für Watermark in Erwägung kommt...die Halle hat einen großen Raum, drei kleinere Büroräume und eine kleine Teeküche. Die Miete ist verhältnismäßig günstig und die Halle ist verfügbar. Andererseits muss noch einiges an Arbeit hineingesteckt werden, bevor wir einziehen könnten. Wenn wir uns aber für diese Halle entscheiden, müssten wir nicht unserer ganze Ausstattung und Technik jede Woche mitbringen. Das wäre nämlich der Fall, wenn wir eine andere Halle oder Gebäude mieten würden. Natürlich ist das ganze noch nicht unter Dach und Fach...der Immobilienmakler muss noch mit dem Besitzer sprechen. Aber es ist ein Schritt in die richtige Richtung.

Bitte betet weiter für Weisheit und Gunst bezüglich Gottes Willen für einen Versammlungsort. Außerdem bauen wir unseren Verein (e.V.) auf. Darüber werden wir euch natürlich auch weiter informieren. Unsere Website (http://watermarkfreiburg.de) ist online, wird aber immer wieder bearbeitet bzw. verändert. Zurzeit liegt der Fokus der Website auf der Spendensammlung in den USA, deshalb gibt es viele Informationen über uns. Wir werden bald damit anfangen die Informationen zu verändern, so dass sie auf die Menschen abgestimmt sind, die wir erreichen wollen!

The search for a building

I wanted to let you know about how things went today. We looked at a warehouse that might work for Watermark... it has a big main room, three side rooms and a small kitchen. It’s low-priced and it’s available. Having said that, it also will need some work done to it before we can move in. But if we end up with this building, we won’t have to move our equipment in and out each week as we would if we rented a Hall or something like that. It’s definitely not a finished deal… the realtor still needs to talk with the owner. But it’s a step in the right direction.

Please continue to pray for wisdom and favor as we seek God’s will for a meeting place. We are also setting up our e.V. We will keep you updated as things progress. Our website (http://watermarkfreiburg.de) is working, but we still have to change some things. At this point it’s focused on raising fund from the US so there’s a lot of information about us. We’ll start changing it soon to better attract the crowd we’re trying to reach.