I recently got to speak with my friend Steve Sjogren about something that we’re both passionate about – the positive effect that Servant Evangelism can have on a church and a community.

One of the most enjoyable parts of what God has called me to do is being able to pour into other pastors and church leaders – through coaching, resources, events, books, and all of the other opportunities at our disposal.

Just observing the results and seeing how God is working in and through the leaders & churches that we work with is a powerful motivator to keep on coaching, speaking, writing and teaching.

That’s why it’s such an honor to get to speak with Steve and share with his network of leaders about something that’s made a huge impact on The Journey – Servant Evangelism!

Click Here to listen to an excerpt of my interview with Steve Sjogren at ServeCoach.com.

P.S. If you’re looking for something to do this summer to engage and make a difference in your community, sharing God’s love in practical ways, check out “Reaching Your Community Through Servant Evangelism.”

One of the best parts of being a member of the “Church Leader Insights Family” is that each month you receive the CLI Newsletter, packed with the best church leadership content I can find.

Here’s an article from Steve Mathewson that was included in this month’s newsletter (in case you missed it):

WHAT “I’M NOT BEING FED” REALLY MEANS

“When we hear people complain about not being fed, we tend to think in terms of sermon content. We wonder how people can say that when we have done our exegetical homework. … Then, when we stand up to preach, we provide solid content. … The end, however, is not content but challenge or encouragement. People want help with the escalating conflict in their marriages. People want hope to get them through difficult economic times. People want help coping with cancer. If people do not see how the gospel relates to the struggles they face, we will hear them say, ‘I’m not being fed.’” — Read More…

The Church Leader Insights Newsletter is designed to bring the best and latest thinking on Church Growth, Evangelism, Leadership and Church Planting directly to your inbox every month!

If you’re not already subscribed, you can click this link to sign up right now.

Have you bought into the idea that summer is a time for you and your church to crouch in a corner and pray for an early fall?

I doubt you’ve gone that far, but that’s essentially what thousands of churches do every summer – writing off the summer as a time when churches just don’t grow!

After listening to and believing that lie for years (and suffering the consequences), I began to try a different approach…

I’ve found in many cases that Summer can be the best time to grow your church and, at a minimum, it’s the perfect season to plant the seeds that will bring growth in the fall.

I’ve put together a Free MAXIMIZING SUMMER E-Book ($23.95 Value) just to help you and your church make the most of the Kingdom Opportunities that Summer provides.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR MAXIMIZING SUMMER E-BOOK NOW!

Can you join me tomorrow at 1:00pm EDT for a 110 minute training based on my new book – Ignite: Sparking immediate Growth In Your Church?

This “no-fluff all nuts-and-bolts” webinar is about how you can ‘DOUBLE YOUR CHURCH IN A DAY’ using a proven strategy called The Big Day.

It’s also about how you can move a church from stagnation to growth or from some growth to maximum growth.

This new webinar is based on my new book of the same title, but during this seminar, which is really more of a workshop, I’ll actually walk you through how to plan your big days and evangelism efforts for 2010 (perfect timing for Mothers Day too).

On tomorrow’s Ignite Webinar I’ll cover:

• How to DOUBLE your church in a day (it can be done)
• How to immediately raise the evangelism effectiveness of your church
• How to mobilize your congregation to reach their friends
• How to spark growth in a stalled church
• How to keep momentum year after year in a growing church
• How to excite your people, even if they’ve not been motivated in the past
• How to influence your leaders to reach out to the community
• How to plan and implement a proven BIG DAY process
• Plus much more!

There’s still time for you to sign-up and join us.  I know it will be with your time and investment.

Here’s the link to register online right now:

https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p1300

But you’ll need to register now . . . the webinar is tomorrow and we have a limited number of spots – I don’t want you to miss out.

Oh, and you only need to purchase one webinar ticket per church (you can actually share this experience with your staff or key lay leaders by gathering more than one person around your speaker phone and computer).

See you on tomorrow’s webinar!

Nelson

P.S. You can Register Now for tomorrow’s Ignite Webinar by CLICKING HERE.

I’m excited to be heading out to the Lone Star State next week for Two BIG (everything’s bigger in Texas, you know) Live Ignite Events!

Here’s the information:

The LIVE Ignite Seminar – HOUSTON
Tuesday, April 27
9:00am – 12:00 noon

Hosted By:
Crossbridge Christian Church
15415 West Road
Houston, TX 77344

The LIVE Ignite Seminar – DALLAS
Wednesday, April 28
9:00am – 12:00 noon

Hosted By:
Lake Pointe Church
701 Interstate 30
Rockwall, TX 75087

So, can you join me?

Here’s what I’ll be teaching you:

• How to DOUBLE your church in a day (it can be done)
• How to immediately raise the evangelism effectiveness of your church
• How to mobilize your congregation to reach their friends
• How to spark growth in a stalled church
• How to keep momentum year after year in a growing church
• How to excite your people, even if they’ve not been motivated in the past
• How to influence your leaders to reach out to the community
• How to plan and implement a proven BIG DAY process
• And much more . . .

To Register now (hurry – there are only a few seats left at each venue):

Click Here for the Houston Event on Tuesday

Click Here for the Dallas Event on Wednesday

I hope to see you there!

I got an email recently from Freddy Villarreal, Tele-Coaching Participant and Lead Pastor of Freedom Life Church in Virginia, about how their local news (and then CNN) ran a story about the Desperate Sex Lives sermon series they did in February.  Here’s the video:

Freddy – great job representing your church and the Church on-camera!

I’m not a fan of doing things with the sole purpose of gaining publicity – that’s the wrong motivation (and a recipe for disaster, too).

However, there are so many pure, God-honoring reasons to teach on what the Bible says about tough topics like sex and money that you’d be missing out (and quite possibly disobedient) not to.

Everyone is talking about it… why should the church remain silent?  After all, we can teach them God’s plan – and He created sex in the first place!

P.S. If you’re interested in teaching the “Desperate Sex Lives” Sermon Series at your church, CLICK HERE.

One of the greatest benefits of using technology to equip church leaders is that distances that were insurmountable just a few years ago are crossed instantaneously today via the internet.

The Church Leader Insights Family has been growing more and more internationally over the last couple of years.

It’s exciting to see how the systems and principles that we teach are being used to make a Kingdom impact far beyond North America.

I received an email earlier this week from Edward Wells, Tele-Coaching Participant and Senior Pastor of Church Alive (if you don’t read German, you might use Google Translate to view Edward’s site) in Switzerland, sharing his Easter Postcard.

Check it out:

Will you join me in praying for God to move in a mighty way in all of our churches this Easter – all over the world?

I’m praying that this Easter will be an example of what God will do when we cooperate with Him to go all out to reach the people of our communities for Jesus!

P.S. Are you ready to help your Easter guests become a part of your church, long-term?

Today and tomorrow only, you can order my bestselling resource, The Assimilation Seminar for $27.00 Off – Click here to Download Your Copy Immediately.

One of the best parts of being a member of the “Church Leader Insights Family” is that each month you receive the CLI Newsletter, packed with the best church leadership content I can find.

Here’s an article from Steven Furtick that was included in this month’s newsletter (in case you missed it):

COUNT WHAT COUNTS

“Here’s the distinction: it’s good to be concerned with numbers.  But we’ve got to be concerned about the right numbers…for the right reasons.  We’ve got to make sure we’re measuring ministry numbers to measure our effectiveness and enlarge the Kingdom of God…not simply to placate our ego…I want to count what counts.  It matters to me how many people show up for a worship experience.  But it also matters to me how many of those same people are plugged into community and embracing Christ-centered generosity.  It matters to me how much money we take in.  But it also matters to me…” Read the full article here…

The Church Leader Insights Newsletter is designed to bring the best and latest thinking on Church Growth, Evangelism, Leadership and Church Planting directly to your inbox every month!

If you’re not already subscribed, you can click this link to sign up right now.

A number of you have already let me know how my new book Ignite has helped you and your church.

That’s always encouraging to me, so keep ‘em coming! Feel free to use the “Ask Nelson” button on the right side of this blog to send me your story.

One such email that I recently received from Clark Frailey, member of the CLI family and Pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.

He took what he learned from Ignite and created a PDF Whitepaper to share with his Leadership Team, then he gave me permission to share that document with you here.

This document takes the Big Day principles from Ignite and applies them to their church’s four Big Days.  It’s a great example of one way to create excitement and buy-in in your leadership team.

Download your copy here:
Coffee Creek 2010 Big Days Strategy (PDF)

Thanks so much for your feedback Clark and especially for sharing your hard work with us!  Keep up the good work!

P.S. To learn even more about developing a local church strategy for each of your church’s systems, including Evangelism, check out The Strategy Seminar.

Thanks so much to all of you who joined me last week for the Maximizing Easter 2010 Webinars!

I mentioned that I’d share some sample invitation tools that we have used at The Journey, so here they are (right-click and choose “Save As…” to download now):

2009 Samples:

• Easter Mailer #1 – Front (PDF)
• Easter Mailer #1 – Back (PDF)
• Easter Mailer #2 – Front (JPG)
• Easter Mailer #2 – Back (JPG)
• Easter Tent Fold Card – Outside (PDF)
• Easter Tent Fold Card – Inside (PDF)

2010 Samples:

• Easter Ticket (PDF)
• Easter Tent Fold Card (PDF)

P.S. For more information on how to make the most of Easter (and ALL of your church’s Big Days), check out The Ignite Seminar.