† †CAPITAL BAPTIST NEWS

Vol. 67 No. 1 January 2016

P R A Y E R R A L LYFranklin Graham and the Decision America

March 31, 2016 12:00 PMCapitol West Steps, 1315 10th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

From Your DOM .........................Page 2Annie Armstrong Easter Offering....Page 2VBS Clinics.................................Page 2News and Events........................Page 3“Nine Strategies That Have Helped Me Pray”......................................Page 3“Nine Surprises in Worship Services That Made Guests Return”....Page 4Church Giving.............................Page 4January - Call to Prayer Month...Page 5“How to Ignore Jesus While Accepting Christianity”..............................Page 7“20 Things A Leaders Should Never Say”........................................Page 7“Seven Great Questions for Church Leaders”.................................Page 8LEAD canceled for Spring 2016. Page 8Calendar.....................................Page 8

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Britain’s King George III wrotethe day’s activities in his diary:"July 4, 1776--Nothing hap-pened today."Nothing happened except

America was born that day. Her birth marked an epoch inhistory for the cause of human freedom. For nearly 240years, we have celebrated our independence--our ownright to do as we please in governing our own lives. What awonderful country we live in. What wonderful freedoms areoffered to us as citizens of the USA. One of those free-doms is FREEDOM OF RELIGION. We can believe or wor-ship anybody or anything we want with no one to tell usdifferently. Yet today many of our freedoms are eroding.What has happened that made millions now celebrate the"Freedom from Religion" instead of the "Freedom of Reli-gion?"

Many people are commenting on how quickly the USA ischanging and things just aren't like they use to be. Theyoften say, "We need to get America back." I too am con-cerned with the escalation of persecution towards Christi-anity, the decline in morality, and the growing number whono longer "believe in God." To think of bringing Americaback seems somewhat overwhelming, however prayer isthe key to Americas return.

"And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescueyou, and you will honor Me." Psalm 50:15 (NASB77)Certainly with the escalation of violence, protests, and hu-man trafficking (just to name a few) we are in the day oftrouble. We can take many approaches and do a sundryof things to help alleviate these problems, but nothing willever be as effective as prayer. Approaching the throne ofGod knowing that He is greater than our problems andable to do measurably more than we can imagine. Godsays in Psalm 50:15 that if we will call upon Him, He willrescue us. I believe more than ever before in our nation’shistory that our churches need to in faith call upon God.We need to seek revival in our churches. We need to praythat our churches would bring honor to God.

Franklin Graham is calling the churches across America tolive out their faith and fervently pray for our nation. He isasking our churches to unite in seeking God's face. HisDecision America Tour 2016 is rooted in 2 Chronicles7:14...

"If My people who are called by My name humblethemselves and pray, and seek My face and turn fromtheir wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, willforgive their sin, and will heal their land."

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NASB77)

On March 31st, Franklin Graham will visit California for aprayer rally at our state capitol. I encourage your church to

From Your DOMparticipate in the Decision America Tour 2016 with FranklinGraham. Here is how your church can become involved:

1) Register - Visit DecisionAmericaTour.com and sign yourchurch up to receive information and updates about the tour.

2) Pray - Lead your church to pray for revival in your state andacross the nation. Join the California Decision America Tourprayer team on line at DecisionAmericaTour.com. Start reg-ular prayer meetings to pray for your community, our nation,the tour, and opportunities to reach the lost with the Gospel.

3) Organize - Appoint a lead volunteer to assist with planningprayer meetings and coordinate your church's attendance atthe rally.

4) Participate - Bring your entire congregation to the prayerrally on March 31, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. at the Capitol WestSteps, 1315 10th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.

Much Love,Dennis

CSBC State North Clinic

February 27, 2016El Camino BaptistChurch, Sacramento9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.No Child Care Provided

SRBN VBS Clinic

April 30, 2016El Camino Baptist

Church, Sacramento9 a.m.

No Child Care Provided

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR NORTH AMERICAN MISSIONS

Church News and EventsOneLife ChurchThe church entered aDr. Who float in the Cit-rus Height's first fall pa-rade and won 1st place.Winning is fun but thecool stuff happened be-hind the scenes. Their participation was a marriage ofchurch, community , and pop culture. The float was sopopular people were taking photos with OneLife’s floatteam and float. The Tardis (the blue object in the photo) wasauctioned off. The family that won the Tradis said OneLifewas a blessing to them as they heard how teenagers,college students and adults could work together. OneLifefamily succeeded in their mission to be a blessing to theircommunity. The team captured the church's mission, usedtheir creativity, and took a risk.

New Testament Baptist ChurchThe WMU of New Testament Baptist Church will join ReadAcross Jamaica Foundation for a 10-day mission trip acrossthe island of Jamaica. They are recruiting volunteers to jointhem as they plant seeds of faith through the joy of reading.Travel dates: May 1-9, 2016. For more information contactSister Janice Wisdom, 916. 344.7229.

In Loving MemoryDebra Ellen Standridge’s earthly life was honored andremembered December 31, 2015 at Placer HeightsBaptist Church where she and her husband, PastorMark Standridge, served the Lord. Please rememberthe family, church family and friends in prayer.

missionariescelebratingtheir birthdays,an unreachedpeople group(name found daily on my website), and my local church pastors.Have a weekly prayer agenda. In addition to my daily prayer em-phases, I pray for specific needs each day:

Sunday: my churchMonday: my students in class this weekTuesday: my family members in ministryWednesday: Missionaries (North American and International)Thursday: my denominational entity leadersFriday: my seminary administration and colleaguesSaturday: for courage and alertness to be a witness for Christ nextweek

Pray with people as often as possible. If possible, begin and end ameeting in prayer. Pray with your children or grandchildren everyday. End a phone call with a prayer. Send an unexpected email tofriends, asking them for prayer concerns. If folks ask you to pray, doso immediately.End the day with prayer. If late night praying ends in your fallingasleep, keep the prayer short—but still finish the day by focusing onGod. If you’ve prayed throughout the day, a simple, “Thank You,God, for this day” is okay.What other suggestions would you add? Let’s help each other pray.By Chuck Lawless, 1/4/2016

Many believers struggle with praying consistently, and I countmyself among that number. Here are several strategies, though,that have strengthened my prayer life over the years. Maybethey’ll help you pray as we begin a new year.Begin the day with prayer. Before I get out of bed each day, Ipray three simple prayers to direct my attention to Him:“Lord, thank You for loving me today.” (John 3:16)“Lord, lead me not into temptation; deliver me from the evil onetoday.” (Matthew 6:13)“Lord, teach me to pray today.” (Luke 11:1)Pray through the day’s calendar before going to work. To behonest, I usually use my shower time to mentally review my ap-pointments and pray for each one.Pray with your spouse each day. Regardless of when this prayertakes place, make sure it happens on a daily basis. Prayer inti-macy is like no other intimacy.Learn to talk to God all day long. People who are just watchingme might wonder with whom I’m talking throughout the day. It’scool to carry on a conversation with God while driving, whilewalking across campus, or while running on the treadmill.Use “break” times for prayer. Think about it – if you use four 15-minute time slots to pray throughout the day, you’ve prayed asmuch as the “prayer warrior” who prays for an hour each day.Have a daily prayer agenda. I don’t pray for everything everyday. I do, though, pray about these specific items each day:my wife and believing family members, my non-believing family members and friends, my mentees and their families (by name),

Nine Strategies That Have Helped Me Pray

Free Bible Studies, Music, Hymnals, Children’s Books!

Free Bible Studies and Music! The Bible Studies are fromZondervan and each set includes the DVD and about 20 study guidestaught by Tom Holladay and Kay Warren. Topics include: Founda-tions: the Holy Spirit; God; Creation; Jesus; The Church; The Afterlife;The Second Coming; The Bible; Salvation; Good and Evil; Sanctifica-tion and Experiencing Christ Together series: Connecting in ChristTogether; Beginning in Christ Together; Sharing Christ Together;Growing in Christ Together; Serving Like Christ Together . All BibleStudy Materials are in great shape. Music ministry materials includeprograms, sheet music, Christmas and Easter choir material likeRedemption: The Power of the Cross-Easter choir; My Saviors Love-Easter choir; God So Loved the World-Easter choir; The Easter song-Easter choir; Hallelujah Jesus is born!-Christmas choir. For moreinformation contact Pastor Clint Bunting, Country Oaks BaptistChurch, 916-271-3704.

Free Music, 100 Hymnals, Children’s Books, and More!Wil Nuckolls is making these items available for free January 23,2016 from 10 AM - 2 PM at 8733 Jolly Way, Fair Oaks. For moreinformation contact Wil, 916-967-8361.

Anna Street 68.00 305.00Canaan Ministries (Pole Line Road) 0.00 0.00Capital City 379.79 3,420.24Catalyst Woodland 173.24 1,114.70Christian Faith Missionary 0.00 0.00Church on Cypress (The) 379.00 4,052.00Clay City Church 0.00 0.00Colfax 0.00 0.00Cornerstone 0.00 0.00Country Oaks 166.67 1,893.37Crossway Community formerly International Family 50.00 500.00Crystal Faith Community 0.00 250.00Del Paso Union 0.00 600.00El Camino 584.59 5,491.47Elk Grove Community merged w/ FSBC Florin/Redeemed 0.00 100.00Emmanuel 106.28 1,392.00Emmanuel Korean 30.00 300.00Evangelical Baptist Ukrainian - Spring of Life 50.00 500.00Fairvale 105.43 1,441.26Family Bible Fellowship 80.00 400.00Fellowship Church at Granite Bay 100.00 800.00FBC, Del Paso Heights 0.00 709.00FBC, Elverta 405.30 5,330.55FBC, Fair Oaks 416.66 4,166.61FBC, Lincoln 146.90 1,242.88FBC, North Highlands 1,363.80 9,339.06FBC, Orangevale 0.00 3,975.00FBC, Rancho Cordova 300.00 1,650.00FBC, Winters 285.40 3,322.08First Slavic Evangelical 0.00 0.00For His Glory 0.00 245.00Fourteenth Ave. 200.00 1,900.00FSBC Rio Linda 0.00 1,864.47Grace Missionary 0.00 0.00Grace Romanian 0.00 0.00Gracepoint 500.00 2,000.00Great Harvest 0.00 0.00Greater Hill Zion 0.00 0.00Hillsdale 100.00 1,000.00Iglesia Bautista de Los Hechos 20.00 40.00Iglesia Bautista el Faro 0.00 513.43Iglesia Bautista la Red 0.00 180.00Iglesia Bautista Northgate 0.00 300.00Iglesia Bautista Princeipe Paz 0.00 0.00Iglesia Bautista Rey de Reyes 54.80 465.89Jericho Tree 133.52 133.52Jesus Family Worship 0.00 0.00Korean Community Fellowship (Pole Line Road) 0.00 0.00Laguna Chinese 300.00 3,000.00Legacy-disbanded 0.00 691.80Lifepoint Christian Fellowship 50.00 390.00Light of Salvation 0.00 296.44Living Faith Church 0.00 136.21Living Hope Christian merged w/ Elk Grove 0.00 300.00Macedonia Baptist Church 100.00 500.00Madison Avenue 136.67 973.06Mision Hispana (El Camino) 0.00 0.00Mt. Pilgrim 0.00 0.00Mt. Pleasant 250.00 1,000.83Natomas 40.71 781.74New Direction 0.00 0.00New Home Missionary 0.00 300.00New Hope Baptist, Sacramento 0.00 812.50New Hope Community 50.00 500.00New Love Ministries 100.00 1,000.00New Pleasant Grove 0.00 0.00New Seasons of West Sacramento 0.00 375.00New St. Bethel 0.00 0.00New Testament 0.00 0.00Oakside 200.00 1,800.00OneLife Church 286.14 4,199.09Paradise Missionary 0.00 0.00Placer Heights 0.00 1,272.05Pole Line Road, Davis 132.87 1,619.32Pollock Pines Community Church 300.00 900.00Redeemed Community - formerly FSBC Florin 0.00 1,212.87Resurrection Ukrainian 0.00 0.00Romanian Speranta 0.00 0.00Roseville Baptist 0.00 2,386.28Russian Baptist Church, West Sacramento 50.00 450.00Russian-Ukrainian Baptist Church 0.00 350.00Sacramento Korean 167.00 1,603.00Saransthan Sacramento Fellowship 0.00 0.00Seven Stars 0.00 0.00Shalom La Israel 0.00 0.00Signal Heights 75.60 1,024.58Slavic Baptist Church "Bethel" 0.00 0.00Solid Rock Missionary Baptist 0.00 0.00St. James 320.25 1,077.25St. John’s 0.00 0.00St. Mark Missionary 0.00 0.00St. Matthew 0.00 150.00St. Paul 0.00 500.00Temple 0.00 0.00True Light Missionary Baptist 0.00 0.00Twenty-Fourth Street 0.00 0.00Twin Oaks 75.00 300.00Upper Room 0.00 0.00Vietnamese Hope 0.00 0.00West Sacramento Baptist formerly FSBC West Sacramento 0.00 242.59Woodland United Fellowship 0.00 1,970.83Total 8,833.62 93,052.97

2015 YTDOCTOBER OCTOBERSRBN CHURCH

CONTRIBUTIONS

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Nine Surprises in Worship ServicesThat Made Guests Return

In a recent Twitter survey, I askedrespondents to share with me asingular event that impressedthem in a church worship service.In fact, most of the respondentssaid they were “delighted” or “sur-prised,” and that the one eventmade them desire to return to thechurch.

I am appreciative for all the responses. A pattern developed around ninefactors. Here are some representative quotes around each of the issues:

“Someone had an umbrella waiting for me in inclement weather.” Thiscomment was made for both snowy and rainy weather. Some of the re-spondents indicated that someone actually stayed next to them so theywould not slip or fall.

“A member actually invited me to lunch.” I admit I was surprised by the fre-quency of this response. This invitation had a huge impact on guests.

“The kids area had leaders who were friendly and helpful.” This issue wasobviously highly important to young families. I realize more than ever youkeep or lose young families at the point you check the kids in or take themto a class.

“There was a time of meaningful prayer.” I continue to be gratefullyamazed at how important prayer is to guests. They love the times of quietwhen people are asked to pray silently. They also love guided prayers.

“Someone walked us where we were supposed to go.” Every place in achurch facility is unknown to a first time guest. They love greeters stayingwith them and taking the fear of the unknown away.

“There was genuine friendliness outside of the stand and greet time.” Ihave come to the conclusion that church members tend to like the standand greet time more than guests do. In fact, most guests see the standand greet time as artificial, especially if members are not friendly outsidethat time.

“People followed up with my prayer requests the next day.” Many church-es have places on guest cards for prayer requests. If leaders in the churchemphasize that people will pray for the guests, many are likely to completethe card. The guests are really impressed if they hear from someone thenext day.

“I loved having the opportunity to speak with the pastor.” In some church-es, this conversation took place in a reception room after the service. Inother churches, the pastor called or wrote a personal email that was obvi-ously not a form email. Guests really love hearing from the pastor.

“I received a gift at the end of the service.” Many guests love receiving agift for their visit. Their favorite gifts are freshly baked cookies or freshlybaked bread. But any gift is appreciated.

Keep in mind, those who responded to our survey noted only one of thesenine surprises that caused them to return. They considered any of theseefforts above and beyond what they expected.

By Thom S. Rainer www.thomrainer.com, 12/21/2015

Page 5From the SRBN Staff

Prioritizing Prayer for Families, Communities, Churches, Nation and World.

PrayerLink leaders joined in calling churches to begin the year with an emphasis on prayerand reaching the lost during the month-long SBC Call to Prayer. The effort will help congre-gations focus on prayer in several key sets of relationships, seeking ways to engage thosewithout Christ.

The 2016 SBC Call to Prayer highlights five areas of prayer, to correspond with January’sfive Sundays.

· My Family. Select a family member who is unchurched or without Christ andpray that they would come to faith in Christ.

· My Community. Select a friend, neighbor, or colleague and pray that they wouldcome to faith in Christ.

· My Church. Select a specific area of ministry in your church, such as a smallgroup or age-graded ministry, and ask the Lord to use it to engage the lost withthe Gospel.

· My Nation. Select an elected national leader or a Send North America city andpray for the salvation of the leader or the church planting efforts in that area.

· My World. Select an unreached people group and pray that the Gospel would be advanced among these people.

Congregational Prayer ideas for the Month of January 2016January 3Ask members of your congregation to write down the names of unchurched and lost family members on a note card and bring them tothe front of the worship center and place them before the Lord. As they bow in prayer, have a church member pray aloud for their sal-vation.

Alternatively, create a prayer list of first names and pray for them at a mid-week prayer service for the lost.

January 10Introduce the CrossRoads Prayer Evangelism ministry (see sample at SBC.net/inallthingspray). Encourage church members to listnames of up to five friends and begin tracking their prayer, care, and sharing with those friends.

Use the facing page on the form to solicit names mentioned in Sunday school or small group. Covenant to pray as a group for theirsalvation.

January 17In the church bulletin or worship guide, print the names and dates of the church’s planned evangelistic emphases for the next sixmonths—things like VBS, revival services, or special music programs.

Lead the church to pray for these planned events by name during the pastoral prayer time on Sunday morning. Pray also for the con-tinued health and unity of the church.

January 24Read 1 Timothy 2:1–6 aloud during the morning worship service. Ask the congregation to intercede for the nation during this presiden-tial election year. Mention the names of elected officials during the pastoral prayer.

Pray for the Lord to multiply your church’s reach by calling out of your congregation some who will serve as pastors and church plant-ers.

January 31During the pastoral prayer, pray for the International Mission Board during this time of organizational reset. Ask the Lord to give IMBtrustees and leaders divine wisdom and guidance as they challenge Southern Baptists to be on mission with God.

Ask the Lord to give grace and mercy to missionaries who are transitioning from the field to new doors of ministry in the United States.

IN ALL THINGS PRAY2 Chronicles 7:14

MY FAMILYMY COMMUNITY

MY CHURCHMY COUNTRY

MY WORLD

JANUARY - CALL TO PRAYER MONTH

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Jesus was straightforward with his mis-sion when he left. And he gave us theSpirit to accomplish it. He didn’t mincewords; he didn’t hide it in the book ofNumbers (knowing most of us wouldn’tdare read that). He was and is clear onour mission: Go therefore and make dis-ciples of all nations.

If it is that clear, why do we ignore Jesusand pursue other things so far down thelist of “to-dos”?

Bottom line: we don’t know how to makea disciple and/or we ignore how Jesusmade disciples.

I haven’t written an article in a longwhile. I’ve been honestly rethinking ev-erything I know about the missional“movement” and asking why aren’t weseeing more missional communitychurches multiplying missional communi-ties to saturate a city?

To ask this question though, I couldn’tjust point fingers. I had to ask this of my-self. I have multiplied missional communi-ties and trained many leaders to do so,but the number of disciples made nowmaking disciples is embarrassingly low inmy life.

However, I have found a way to surroundmyself with some pretty smart dudes thatdon’t mind me ranting and being honestabout the missional community move-ment and my own lack of disciple mak-ing. But, now, I think I’ve figured out inmy head and heart why this is and amstarting the process of working it out withmy hands.

THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

Think about that saying for a second.How stupid. Why would anyone put thecart before the horse? The reality is thatmost don’t know that is what they havedone, because (I hope) they wouldn’tpurposely put a cart before the horse. Iknow I didn’t, but that is exactly what I didfor the past 8 years in this missional life.

For me, the cart was multiplication. Forothers it could be a church building, achurch service, prayer groups, budgets,people showing up to an event or somesort of service, etc.

would see who his Dad truly was.

They knew they could say whatever theydesired to Jesus. He was with them, oneof them and desired the best for them.They didn’t feel like a tool to be used or aproject to be converted. They felt theywere a person to be loved. A person tobe believed in. A person to be discipled.A person to be more like Jesus, so theycould taste and see that the Lord is good.

BREAKFAST WITH A BEARD

As I was downloading some of this infor-mation with a good friend of mine, ZacGandara, over breakfast, he started todrop some knowledge on my head.

We’ve both learned a lot through our re-lationships with 3DM. Zach drew the fa-miliar triangle with UP, IN, and OUT listedat the points:

He told me, the following:

Seth, you will never have issues makingfriends with outsiders. You naturally havemany relationships with many who arenot yet believers. You will naturally havethe “in” relationships found in communitywith like minded people who desire tomake disciples . . . but what I don’t hearfrom your mouth is much of Jesus orDad. Because you are so focused on theOUT portion of the triangle, you have re-ally started to ignore the most importantpart of the triangle and the one that Je-sus focused on primarily: the UP relation-ship with Dad. When that part is missing,true discipleship will not happen. Some-thing is happening because you’ll alwayshave many relationships, but the goodnews will not be at the center of theserelationships. If that is missing . . . so isdiscipleship.

He then went on to show me the life ofJesus and how Jesus continually concen-trated on his relationship with Dad (whichinformed his identity as God’s Son),which then informed his relationshipswith his disciples and the world.

Nailed it.

When we focus on our identity in Christ(the “Up” relationship), the “In” and “Out”will be informed and formed by the gos-pel . . . the good news. If our “In” and

Let me focus on my cart. Multiplication.Like most of the things listed above, mul-tiplication is healthy and a good thing . . .but it’s not the ultimate thing.

With discipleship you will get multiplica-tion, but just because you multiply doesn’tmean you necessarily get discipleship.

If the focus is on multiplication, we will dowhatever we must to raise up new lead-ers and send them out. The focus be-comes on what they do, instead of whothey are andwhat they believe. This is ahuge distinction for discipleship.

Training and our lives becomes: “Howcan I quickly give information to someoneso that they can go do this themselves?”instead of “How can I disciple people sothat they are bringing every area of lifeunder the Lordship of Jesus and go toshow off how great our Dad is?”

What’s even more crazy is when we putthe mindset of multiplication first. Whenthat happens the one thing that will reallyirritate you is when people don’t get it, orwhen they question things. When multipli-cation is made ultimate what happenswhen major, deep issues that are lordingover people’s lives come up that needyou to stop and take time to workthrough?

In reality, when multiplication (and manyother things) become our primary priority,then people aren’t seen as the Imago Dei,but a tool that helps you “win.” When it’snot primarily, discipleship gets in the way.Some discipleship may still happen, butbecomes shallow instead of deep and lifetransforming submitting every area of lifeto the Good News.

I believe this is exactly why we see Peterand the other disciples saying some verystupid things while living with Jesus. Je-sus desired discipleship over all otherthings, knowing this is exactly how others

HOW TO IGNORE JESUS WHILE ACCEPTING CHRISTIANITY

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“Out” relationships are informed by our“Up” relationship then discipleship will flowout of that.

JESUS’ DISCIPLING CULTURE

Jesus wanted to fill the world with disci-ples who would show off his Dad in heav-en. He did this by gathering twelve of theweirdest people he could have. Notice thathe didn’t gather the smartest people, theones with the most competency, but hegathered those that would actually followhim. He gathered the ones that wouldshow up (a whole book could be written onthis).

What did he do with those twelve? Helived with them for three years before heever released them on their own to multi-ply. Jesus knew that if multiplication wasgoing to happen that would be like theoriginal group, he would have to go deepwith a few, instead of shallow with a lot.

To go deep with a few, Jesus knew theonly way this was going to happen was tolive life with his disciples and to teachthem holistically where the gospel washitting every area of their lives. In es-sence, Jesus knew he’d have to teachthem head knowledge, heart knowledge,and hand knowledge . . . they’d have toknow what Jesus was teaching, believe inwhat Jesus was teaching, and do whatJesus was teaching.

Jesus refused to put anything ahead ofdiscipleship. He wanted those twelve mento have full access to him so they couldsee what he required of them. This meantthese men were allowed into Jesus life ata very deep level, every day, and com-pletely unchained.

We see this was happening because of

how comfortable these men became withJesus. They yelled at Jesus on the boatwhen the winds and waves came. Petersaid many things that got him in trouble.James and John asked their mom to make

sure they could sit next Jesus in heaven. Icould go on.

Why do we see this? Because they werebeing discipled and when this happens allour muck and crap comes to the surfacewhere the good news needs to be appliedso we believe the good news and its powerto set us free instead of being chained andenslaved to sin and guilt and shame.

Through 3DM Launch, I’ve learned fourstages of leadership development.I do you watchI do you helpYou do I helpYou do I watchYou can also use the MAWL methodModelAssistWatchLeave

Here’s the big difference between us andJesus. Jesus was willing to spend threeyears of life with the few in stages 1 and 2.He knew if he did when the disciples weresent out they’d look a lot like him instead ofa muddy image of the original.

We want to hurry through the first two stag-es so we can send out more people, or wewant to spend all our time in stage 1 so thatwe become a functional savior for peopleand they are never released.

David Rhodes showed me that if you look inthe book of Acts you notice something pret-ty awesome. Look at what the dispcles aredoing. They are preaching, taking care ofthe poor, praying, healing, being family, andsuffering. What you’ll notice is when youcover up who is actually doing it you’d as-sume it’s Jesus. The “copy” or the multipli-cation that happened, looks almost identicalto the original.

Why? Because Jesus actually discipleddeep with a few, instead of shoveling infor-mation down the throat of many.By Seth McBee. He is the adopted son of God,husband of one wife, and father of three. He’s agraduate of Seattle Pacific University with a fi-nance degree. By trade. Seth is an investmentportfolio manager, serving as President of McBeeAdvisors, Inc. He is also a MCleader/trainer/coach and executive team memberof the GCM Collective. He is also the artist andco-author of the wildly popular (and free!) eBook,Be The Church: Discipleship & Mission MadeSimple. Twitter: @sdmcbee.Reprinted from http://gcdiscipleship.com/how-to-ignore-jesus-while-accepting-your-christianity/

20 Things A LeaderShould Never SayJeff Henderson often says, “Leadershipcomes with a microphone.” This is becausethere comes a time in every leader’s lifewhen they must stand up and say, “Followme!” Therefore, good communication skillsare critical to a leader’s success.

Conversely, there are also things leaderscan say which results in negative momen-tum, erodes trust and influence, and derailsa leader’s success.

The following are 20 Things A LeaderShould Never Say:

“I am the leader (boss).” – If you have to tellpeople you are the leader, you are not.

“Get out of the way. I’ll do it myself.”

“I don’t need filters on my computer.”

“Influence is overrated. It’s all about titlesand position.”

“There’s no need for my wife to know this.”

“I’ve never regretted any mistake I’ve madebecause it’s made me the person I am to-day.”

“I’m a self-made man (or woman).”

“I was wrong BUT….”

“There is no need to prepare. I’ll wing it.”

“God wants me to be happy.”

“I was just kidding.”

“Every man for himself.”

“There’s no ‘I’ in team but there’s no ‘U’ ei-ther.”

“I’m tired of everyone else getting credit.”

“It’s not my fault. It’s theirs.”

“Failure is final.”

“I don’t care if they like me as long as theyrespect me.”

“By any means necessary.”

“There’s no time to celebrate.”

“Leadership is overrated.”

***Bonus*** – Any public humor at someoneelse’s expense.

Have you ever said any of these?

By Brian Dodd

Reprinted from 12/27/2015,www.briandoddonleadership.com.

CALENDAR

Sacramento Region Baptist Network

5056 Sunrise BoulevardSuite B-3, Fair OaksCA 95628-4943Office Hours:Monday-Thursday7:30am-4:00pmTele: 916.863.5426Fax: 916.863.5428sasbc@sacbaptist.orgwww.sacbaptist.org

www.facebook.com/sacbaptist.org

Dennis Fredricks,Executive Director of Missions

Deborah Everhart,Office Manager

Bethany Bohrer,Collegiate MissionaryMSC, NAMBBethanyBohrer@sacbaptist.org

Adoption: Sierra Forever Families916.368.5114; www.Sierraff.org

Human Trafficking: Grace Network916.850.0846; info@thegracenenetwork.orgPO Box 15131, Sacramento

Church-Based PartnershipEvangelism Projects:International Commission916.784.2372, www.ic-world.orgShort-Term Mission Trips:April 14-25, 2016; Zambie (Petauke)July 8-17, 2016; Tanzania (Mbozi)September 22-October 3, 2016; Congo (Ibutango)

Music & Conference Ministry:The Rawleigh Ministry916.368.5114 www.rawleighministries.com

SRBNSRBN PARTNERS serving with churches loving the world

Page 8

January 2016 4 Retired Pastors & Wives Luncheon,

1:00PM, Hometown Buffet, 7028 Sunrise Blvd,Citrus Heights . (1st Mon. Monthly)

5 Pastors’ and Staff Lunch, 12:00-2:00PM,The Church on Cypress -Brown Bag.(1st Tues. monthly).+

19 Executive Board Meeting, 7PM, SRBNOffice. Next meetings: 3/22, 5/17, 7/19, 9/20, 9/27

29-31 iFit Winter for Middle School Grades,Camp Alta. campalta.org

30 Church Music Workshop North, TrinityBaptist Church, Livermore. csbc.com

February 201612-13 Missions Conference, Golden Gate

Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley.19-21 Winter Youth Retreat, Jenness Park.22 LEAD - Leadership Conference, Sacra-

mento. Spring LEAD is canceled.27 State VBS Clinic North, 9AM-2:30PM,El

Camino Baptist Church.

March 20166-13 Week of Prayer for North American

Missions and the Annie ArmstrongEaster Offering.

April 201615-16 Tapestry (Women’s Mission Confer-

ence), Sierra Baptist Church, Visalia.30 SRBN VBS Clinic, 9AM,El Camino Baptist Church.

May 201620-22 Minister’s Wives Retreat, Jenness

Park. www.csbc.com

June 201614-15 Southern Baptist Convention, St.

Louis, MO20-25 Youth STRAM Camp, Cisco Grove

Campground.

July 201610-13 Kids Camp (Grades 4-6). campalta.org14-16 Kids Camp (Grades 1-3). campalta.org

October 201620 SRBN Annual Celebration25-26 California Southern Baptist Conven-

tion, St. Louis, MO

Seven Great Questions For Church LeadersOur pastor preached on Phi-lippians 2:1-4 recently. As hetalked about serving, thesequestions hit me personally.

1. Will I serve without be-ing recognized?I’ve been guilty of servingfor the recognition I mightget. Whenever I do, I feel soiled, likemy soul is dirty. Lord, forgive me forthis. Let me serve for Your recogni-tion alone.

2. Will I serve though I might be dis-honored?Should I serve when the people Iserve actually strike out at me?That’s crazy! But wait a minute. Isn’tthis exactly what Christ did? Didn’tthe people He came to serve attackand belittle Him? Lord, help me tohave Christ’s attitude about serving.

3. Will I regard others as more im-portant than I am?I set out to do this, agreeing in mymind that others are more important.But when I act, I so often wind uptaking care of my own interests. Ifothers are more important, then myactions should reflect that.

4. Will I serve even if it’s not in myown personal interest?Most of the time I decide how andwhen to serve based on personaldesires. I usually only serve where Ifeel comfortable and in control. Istay away from serving in ways I amnot good at. But what if God showsme a need in an area where I am

not particularly equipped?His will, or mine?

5. Will I serve when itonly benefits the one(s) Iam serving?What if my service is all aone-way street, and it nev-er comes back to me?

What if I get no pat on the back, no‘honorable mention?’ Is the knowl-edge that I’m following Christ’s ex-ample enough for me?

6. Will I preserve the harmony of thechurch in the way that I serve?Some people serve yet leave a wakeof muttering, complaining, and agitat-ing behind them. They drop littleseeds of discord by saying “Thiscould have been done so much bet-ter” or “We did this so much betterlast year.” Lord, don’t let me do that.

7. Does my church service elevatethe value of all the church’s minis-tries, or just the one I love?When true servants work in thechurch, there is benefit not only toone area, but also to the church atlarge. Just as the first deacons wait-ed tables, yet the whole church grew,a true servant makes the whole bodyfunction better. A true servantdoesn’t serve in a spirit of competi-tion, lifting one ministry but draggingdown others.

Lord, let me serve as purely as Youserved Your Father.By Mark Jones on Dec 17, 2015,mrmarksclassroom.com

Spring LEAD 2016has been canceled.