A few weeks ago we held a formal dinner in East Baltimore. This dinner was held for invited guests -local neighbors- who had previously expressed an interest in our ministry.

This dinner was a powerful moment for me as I observed our team go over the top for strangers in a different part of town.  Led by our Children’s Ministry Director (and my assistant), Ashley Ritter, the team donned white button-up shirts and black slacks.  Each team member came straight from their jobs around the city.  One of our team members works in Washington D.C. so her drive took over an hour to get to this mid-week dinner.

The Dinner:

Ashley and her team did an outstanding job.  With food from an award-winning restaurant in the city, and glass place settings, the setup was professional and complete.

Classical music played as our guests arrived, orders were placed, and beverages brought out.  In that moment I knew we took the right posture. We didn’t have to verbalize our intent, we had created an environment to demonstrate it.  The love was obvious and evident.  God was in the house. God’s love was in the hands and hearts of the servers and that love was felt by our guests.

I spoke for a few minutes during dinner from Philippians 2:1-11.  That passage is our heartbeat as we serve our city.

At the conclusion of the evening we found that nearly everyone attending agreed to help us launch the church in some way. Approximately 90% of our guests -via written survey- said they would like to attend a bible study.

I’m not suggesting that we’re going to have a mega-church in East Baltimore anytime soon. I am saying that the vision we have to build a church in two drastically different communities can work.  We’ve already proven a lot of ‘experts’ wrong.  I’d love to see more people lose their title and pick up a waiter’s towel.  The Kingdom of God could use a lot more practitioners and a lot less prognosticators.

I believe American Christianity would look differently if suburban ministries focused on directly impacting our nation’s cities. The reality is that our Captivate family got as much or more from serving as those who were being served.

Funny how that works huh?

A few years ago, and in a previous ministry, I had a view about church planting that is rather arrogant and pervasive among church planters.  I prayed that God wouldn’t send Christians to our church.  My reasoning was that most of the time Christians can bring some of the biggest headaches. This remains true but I have taken a different (read: more wise) approach to my prayer life.

When I returned home to Baltimore a little over two years ago I was taken back by the drastic difference just 4 hours can make (the driving distance between Va Beach and Baltimore).  What I found here in Maryland was that there were far fewer healthy Christian churches.  The ability to find an evangelical and Gospel-centered church around here is very difficult. There are some but very few.  This new context allowed me to see the arrogance and error of my ways.

I began to pray for God to send co-laborers.  I began to pray for God to send missionaries.  I began to ask God to send us those people who are burdened for the Gospel to take hold in our region like never before.

The men you see above are two of the answers to my new pattern of prayer. Ed and Maurice were not drawn to Captivate by slick marketing or by cheap flattery.  Neither received special attention from me and they were never begged to keep returning.  What both of these men have expressed to me is that they are attracted to the mission and vision of our church. Both of these men want to be used by God in the years to come and both have a sense that Captivate could be that church to call out their potential and release them into this world for God’s glory.

I have stopped praying for God to keep the Christians away.  I’ve started to pray for God to send the called. He has answered my prayer above and beyond what I could ask.  While we are privileged to have seen 93 salvations during our Worship Experiences in the last 13 months, we have seen God send some great missionaries as well.

Please pray for me to lead our church well by calling out potential in men like Ed and Maurice as no Pastor in their lives before. Please pray that God would burden others who call on His name to join us as we unfold this vision into reality.  I’ve been so blessed on this ride.  I pray we are wise as we continue to build momentum into our preferred future.

If you’re planting a church I encourage you to reach people with the Gospel AND pray  Matthew 9:38 over your ministry regularly. The common bond that draws people to your church should be Jesus and His redemptive mission.  No matter if they meet you because they recently received the gospel or recently felt compelled to help you share it,  your focus should remain on that common bond, the Gospel.

Looking at that picture above you see a lot of differences.  (We’ve forgiven Maurice for being a Steelers fan- and we continue to pray for him)  What you can not see on the outside is what God is doing on the inside.  These men have a new common bond through the Gospel of Christ and we are thankful that He sent them our way to be on mission together.

What is the glue that keeps people connected to your church?

Last October before we launched Captivate Church we were privileged to have Larry Brey of Elevation Church visit us for a few days and teach our team some key principles.  One of the greatest impressions left on us was the necessity for honor in our generation. Much has been made about what that word actually means in the life of a church.  Larry spent time with our team and invited them to consider honoring our guests by providing them with an excellent experience, personal attention and answering every question they have even before they ask. When you look at honor in that sense, everything we do displays a thoughtful desire to honor our guests or it does not.

Within the last few months we took the ball a little further down the field (for ourselves).  Elevation has amazing VIP teams. They are teams that are there specifically for the benefit of those who would visit the church on any given day.  We’ve adopted the VIP team concept and God has given us a great group of men and women who are taking this charge seriously.

One of the best things about our church right now are the ladies and gentleman who will greet you at your car door to offer a hand, open the main doors to our building, assist you at our breakfast area, serve as your personal concierge through the children’s check-in process and help you find a great seat in our auditorium.

Every person who walks into our service is a VIP. Before they know Christ they are a Very Important Person because they are made in the image of God and they are someone for whom Christ died.  Once they know Christ as Savior they become a Very Important Priest, a partner in the Gospel ministry.  Our church will never grow on the backs of a few superstars.

We will only reach our city when people are seen as VIPs, no matter their connection to our Savior.

I’m so honored to Pastor these people.  They are demonstrating Philippians 2 type of love every single week and they’re making a difference in eternity because of their willingness to serve.

Do you have a VIP team?  What touches are unique to your church that we should all learn from?