🌱Seed 😐Neutral 🟡Consideration 📘BookNotes
The Big Idea
Jeff Cloeter – Christ Memorial Lutheran Church, St. Louis
CNH District Convention – May 15-17, 2025
Sacramento, CA
“Muscles to Flex”
Muscles to Flex – I’ll name Seven of them, a good Biblical number.
Pioneering Muscle
You are on the frontier. I am in St. Louis. What you are experiencing now, we will in the years to come. I’m a learner. I love to learn from you. I’ve been intentionally doing that for over ten years.
Relational Muscle
“Earn the right to be heard” (a Young Life phrase). Relational Capital. How are we earning the right to be heard? – Acts 2:47 – 1 Timothy 3:2,7 – In our day the challenge is to move from “positional authority” to “relational authority”
Collaborative Muscle
Selfless – mutual – multi-congregational. No room to compare and compete. What is first step to collaborate? – John 17 – We are each other. We are one another.
Apprenticeship Muscle
Joshua (with Moses). Timothy (with Paul). Whether Pastor, Elder, Christian businessperson, etc. Always asking: “Who’s next?” Actively looking and mentoring. – Event in St. Louis, September 17-19 “Loved & Sent” – will be a “collaborative sent” lovedsent.org
Naming Muscle
Honest Reality and Hopeful Response. What is it? Can you imagine? … “Weaponized Nostalgia” … What are we doing wrong that we can’t regain the past? Have we messed up? Not like it used to be. Inadequate. Please remember: Jesus is still the Senior Pastor of the Church. He’s perfectly suited.
Sacrificial Muscle
Do you know John Daly, the golfer? He doesn’t look like a golfer. He once said … “You can pull a muscle. So, I’m fat—you can’t pull fat.” He loves McDonalds. Sometimes we get flabby. Lazy. Spoiled. We depend more on our own resources and less on the Spirit. Would you crawl across broken glass for the Gospel?
Pentecostal Muscle
Now don’t get all excited about what I call this next muscle: “Pentecostal” – not like you might think of that word. Rather, Pentecost – as in day of. PRAYER BEFORE Planning. SPIRIT OVER Strategy. Story about meeting with a foreign-born people-group in St. Louis talking planning and strategy. We batted things around for quite some time. Finally, someone said, “Pastor, do you think maybe we should pray about this?” (What a novel idea!) “Yes, I think we should.” I closed my eyes and folded my hands and began a prayer … then I paused … I opened my eyes a bit, and each of them were literally down on their knees. I got down on mine, too. We were there on our knees on the floor for thirty-five minutes. I learned something that day. PRAYER BEFORE Planning. SPIRIT OVER Strategy. Psalm 85 – “Revive us again, O Lord!” Great is our challenge. Greater is our Savior.
Conclusion
We are the Bridge, the Hinge between generations. Ask people questions: What do you think might reach your kids? Your grandkids? Name reality. You may not like young people today (their dress, their devices, …). Think: What questions did I have as a youth? Not seeing young people in a certain setting, we asked them in another, “Why not plugged in?” Research has shown that kids tend to stick with a church if five adults (other than their parents) know their name. You succeed in the Army by joining forces.