Awaken Event: Day One

Erwin’s Session on Leadership: Most of our churches aren’t led by the ones who lead but the ones who were there first. We have bounded sets rather than centered sets which affirm the leadership giftedness inside of people and free them to serve. Some churches have just figured out how to lead, but now we need to create environments that create leaders. Too few of our churches know how to raise up the next generation of leaders. We need to reclaim a leadership culture! Too often future leaders leave the church because they aren’t given the space to serve and grow.

Nancy Ortberg on Leadership: What is at the center of leadership? Hope
Hope is the strong belief that the future can be better than the present. Isaiah 40 – those who hope in the Lord renew their strength.
We need to infuse our organization with hope. Move away from the celebrity culture and towards a culture which values the giftedness of each person.

Mark Batterson on Leadership: Too often we stop creating the future and start repeating the past. We stop doing ministry out of creativity but out of memory. Faith is the willingness to look foolish. God seems to use the people willing to look foolish the most. R.T. Kendall “The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday.”

John Crosby and Kurt Vickman: It is possible to create room for different styles and different people within the same community like at Christ Presbyterian and the Upper Room (a church within a church), yet there are definite challenges which require humility.

Bill Hybels: Ownership of a vision means a willingness to die for that vision. “I would rather be a part of the local church with its’ struggles and failures than a success in business because the local church brings hope to the world.”

Wayne Cordeiro: When it comes to people struggling with issues in their lives, know when to draw a line and when to build a bridge. It’s all depends on how the person is responding.