This Sunday is Easter!  And at GCC, we celebrate it in a BIG way.  After all, it’s the day set aside to celebrate the most important, most unreal, most amazing, most miraculous event in human history!

So join us at one of eight, oops – make that ELEVEN services we’re offering.  We’ve got a time that will work for you!

• Elkhart Campus:  Sunday – 9:30am and 11:30am
• University Drive Campus:  Saturday – 3:00pm, 5:00pm, 7:00pm, and 9:00pm
• Online Campus:  Sunday – 12:00pm, 6:30pm and 8:30pm

Really.  Wake up.  Get there.  Trust me…you don’t want these guys showing up at your door to get you there. :)  And you don’t want to miss celebrating what God has done for us.

If you attend GCC, chances are you already know him. On most weekends, it seems like he’s everywhere! A great leader and champion of the vision of our church, Justin Moyer serves as the Director of Connections for our Elkhart Campus.  Justin gives direction, care, and oversight to all Guest Services Teams – usher/greeters, children’s check-in, café, Campus Life, resources, and more.  And we’re thrilled he does!

Five things to describe him:

• He loves Jesus and his family.
• He loves to laugh. He does it often, and when he does – it’s contagious.
• He’s amazing with people. Everyone who knows him, loves him. For good reason.
• He sees the big picture. Justin understands that behind every email, task, schedule, need…are people. People who are loved by God and need to know Jesus.
• He can be counted on. He doesn’t make excuses, and he gets it done – usually better than asked.

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Title:  Director of Connections-Elkhart Campus

How did you first come to GCC? Why did you stay?

I was invited by my brother who didn’t even attend GCC at the time. I am here because I love being part of a church that has had the same mission for 20+ years!

Do you Twitter?

Of course – I have tweeps who loves to read my tweets!  Follow me at:  justinmoyer

What famous person do people tell you that you look like?

Our Executive Pastor, Tim Stevens, was recently asked the question:  Is GCC a multi-site church?

His answer?  No.

And I completely agree.

What?!

His response (and mine) might come as a surprise since GCC has two campuses and I serve as campus pastor for one of them.    But here’s the key:  multisite isn’t a number, it’s a mindset.

Here is Tim’s explanation to his answer:

Joy. Contagious joy.

Ask anyone who knows Todd Hollingsworth to describe him and his joy is one of the first things you’ll hear about.  Few people I know possess the consistent, influential, Jesus-centered joy that Todd does.  And his life story of being transformed by faith in Jesus is inspiring!

As Facility Set Up Director, Todd leads an incredible team of men and women who make up the White Glove and Roadies Teams for our Elkhart Campus.  They’re responsible for all the cleaning and facility set up required for every weekend service. No easy task.

And he always does it with joy.
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Title: Facility Set Up Director | GCC-Elkhart Campus

How did you first come to GCC? Why did you stay?

I was repeatedly invited by my brother. I stayed because of the messages that were so relevant to my everyday life. I stayed because I never ever felt judged or like I was less worthy than anyone else there. I believe that I am right where God intends for me to be.

Do you Twitter?

Uh…what’s Twitter?

Just HAD to post this picture of Garrett:

That’s my boy.

Don’t worry.  He doesn’t need ‘em, we didn’t buy ‘em.  Just having fun.

Crack. Me. Up.

Loves his family. Loves Jesus. Owns it. Gets it done.

Just describing Dale Ekema.

Great teaching and great arts are big values at Granger Community Church.  But neither of them are heard or received well without a great tech team making it happen.  More than just a “sound guy”, Dale leads a team of highly committed volunteers who manage our audio, video, lighting, and other various stage needs for the Elkhart Campus.  More importantly – he loves his wife and children well (and when you have eight kids, that’s a big deal!)
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Title: Technical Arts Director | GCC Elkhart Campus

How did you first come to GCC?

We had moved from Kalamazoo and were looking for a church. We decided to try GCC after an invitation of a friend that lived in Kalamazoo with us and had moved to Granger a year before we moved to Elkhart. WOW!

Why did we stay?

We were looking for a church that saw kids as being as important as the ‘big people’. We found that at Granger.

Do you Twitter?

Of course – I have tweeps who loves to read my tweets! Follow me at:  ElkhartTechDude

Favorite food?

Sweet and Sour Chicken and Rice.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Well let me think…All of them.

What’s your dream car…and why?

I already had one of my dream cars a Fiat Spider Convertible, had to let it go as it was hard to fit the kids.

Your first job?

I worked for my Dad for nine years. He started a not for profit second hand thrift store.

What’s one of your proudest moments?

When one of your kids say they are proud of you.

Your greatest indulgence?

Taking a nap in the afternoon after I get home from work.

What’s your biggest challenge?

Trying to figure out what all those buttons and knobs do on the audio board. Its tough when you feel like pulling your hair out, but you don’t have any.

What inspires you?

Our kids. We all need to try our hardest to do the right thing each and every moment so that we can be the best example to the kids of this world. They are always looking.

Every family, team, and organization goes through it.  Seasons where momentum is diminished, relation- ships show fatigue, focus is lost.

Recently we’ve needed to invest considerable energy into restoring health and rebuilding systems on a few teams at the Elkhart Campus.  There was a significant need to recalibrate and identify spots where the big picture had gone out of focus.

Through multiple conversations with leaders and key team players, reoccurring themes began to surface, revealing areas that had contributed to team fatigue and reduced momentum.  That led to low morale on the teams, which quickly translated into lower impact.  And the stakes are way, way too high on what we do to function that way!

What causes these seasons?  Why the lost energy, the slip in vision?

Sometimes the reasons are just “gross”.

Through this process, our inclination to fall prey to a number of “Gross Tendencies” began to emerge.  Four in particular seemed to contribute to the struggles we were experiencing on our teams.  I’ll share two of them today, the other two in a post next week.

Gross Tendency #1:  We grossly underestimate the time and complexity involved in success.

We live in a speed based world where you can be virtually anywhere on the planet in 24 hours.  Microwave this, drive thru that.  Instant message, cell phone, 3G…fast, fast, fast.  And we STILL want it faster.

Ever wonder how long it takes a plane to get off the ground?  Well if you’re talking a 747, it’s roughly 9500 feet – close to two miles!  It takes time to get something big off the ground. And consider this – in reality there are several variables that affect the exact distance it takes: weight distribution, air pressure, temperature, elevation of the runway, and more.  As a result, the pilot must be aware of the complexities and be ready to adjust to them for a successful takeoff.

The speed culture we live in skews our reality and creates an expectation that all things will happen in an instant. As a result, unrealistic expectations are shaped. The value of long-term planning and process is diminished. And it’s through process that clarity comes.  Clarity leads to the ability to define the win, which translates into…yep, success.

Launching successfully and maintaining success takes great time and process, usually more than we anticipate.

Gross Tendency #2:  We grossly underestimate the impact that consistent investments make.

It’s not just true in financial planning.

At our church our weekend services are 70 minutes.  There are 10,080 minutes in a week.  It’s easy to assume that all the good we can accomplish in those 70 minutes won’t stand a chance in the other 10,000 plus each week.  So we get tired in it, we begin to see it as simply routine, don’t see it being worth the effort.

But such an assumption would be dead wrong.  Why?  Well, spiritually speaking, what a church sets out to do doesn’t revolve around just natural things.  This is a supernatural work, where God takes what seems small and does much. (ever heard the story of Jesus taking five loaves and two fish and feeds thousands? Yowza.)

In addition, huge impact can come through relational investment over a period of time.

• 60 minutes each week with a counselor?  Relationships can be saved or restored.
• 45 minutes each week with a piano instructor?  The next great pianist can be groomed.
• 70 minutes each week with a well prepared, inspiring teacher who loves Jesus? Eternity can be changed.

Don’t grow weary.  Don’t lose sight of the power of small investments.  Behind the seemingly routine tasks, don’t miss the people and their life stories. Don’t underestimate the difference you make through relational capital, through joyfully investing into the lives of others every week.  Over time the impact can be huge.

Starting to make Spring Break plans yet?

This family has.  And it’s not what you’d expect.

Neil & Anne Batie and their great family attend GCC-Elkhart.  Anne connected with me last weekend after a service to share what their family is doing over spring break to help families in New Orleans.  Here’s the email she sent yesterday:

Spring break is getting closer and we have big plans!  Neil, Anne, Katie, Nicole and Christian are going to New Orleans with Youth For Christ.  The victims of Hurricane Katrina are now in their fifth year of recovery.  More than 80,000 families are still living in temporary housing, FEMA trailers, or community shelters.  Michiana Chain Reaction and Youth For Christ have partnered together with Urban Impact Ministries to send a team of volunteers, which we are part of, to New Orleans during Spring Break 2010 to help rebuild homes and lives in southeastern Louisiana.  Please join us in donating to help fund this outreach, it will cost each team member $400.00.

You can mail a check to
Youth For Christ
174 State St
Elkhart, IN 46515

Please put Batie New Orleans in the memo. Youth For Christ will send a tax receipt to anyone who donates no matter what the amount is.

Can you help the Batie family in this effort?  Do it.  They’re giving up spring break to do this – let’s help make it happen.

When we’re born, we don’t CHOOSE who is in our family.  We don’t choose our dad, our mom, or our sibling if we have them.  No one takes our vote.  Our opinion and influence doesn’t shape these decisions.  I’m not saying we don’t love them – for the record I love my dad, my mom, and brothers! – we just don’t CHOOSE the people who will make up our family. 

HOWEVER, we do influence and shape the TYPE of family we will be.  Collectively, each person contributes to the overall family culture – how we’ll function, communicate, handle conflict, what level of love and loyalty we’ll express, how we’ll celebrate our differences or be turned off by them, and so on.  Through it all, we will be a family.  And we’ll shape what kind of family we will be.

For those who join into a local gathering of believers, we don’t CHOOSE who will be part of a particular church. We can invite and influence others and pray they’ll be receptive to the gospel of Jesus, but in reality a gathering of believers includes people we ultimately have no say in.  I’m not saying we don’t love them!  We just don’t CHOOSE the people who will make up our spiritual “family”.

HOWEVER, we do influence and shape the TYPE of family we will be.

For the past several months I’ve been logging thoughts in a journal on the type of gathering I want to belong to – my spiritual family. This past Sunday night at The Gathering I shared these thoughts and the type of community I dream for us as an expression of Granger Community Church in Elkhart.  We aren’t just a campus of GCC; we ARE GCC.  We don’t just mirror a campus – we carry a mission. We are the Church.

Let’s Be The Church.

• A place where we come to treasure Jesus above all other things, people, or desires.  Knowing Him is our greatest pursuit.
• A place where frequent conversations take place that are centered around spiritual things, where all are personally encouraged to fall deeper in love with Jesus.
• A place where all are accepted and relationships are cultivated.  Where love traverses differences and all are embraced no matter who they are, where they’ve been, or what they’ve done.
• A place where people know and are known in such a way that we sense each others needs – be it relational, emotional, spiritual, financial, or physical – and attempt to meet those needs whenever we’re able.
• A place where people believe in what God is doing in such a way that they give their best – generously, sacrificially, and joyfully.  A place where our best abilities, resources, time, energy, and influence are used to help others know Jesus and grow in Jesus.

Let’s choose to Be the Church.

• A place where people want to participate, not just observe.
• Where people come early and stay late.
• Where people come with anticipation and expectation.
• Where all people – regardless of tenure or perceived maturity – are regularly making significant decisions to move forward in their faith.
• A place led by gifted, godly men and women who are not just strategic thinkers or idea generators but spiritual leaders.  Spiritual leaders who lead with joy, who pray for those they lead regularly, who love those they lead evidently, who love Jesus and his church obviously, and who model authenticity and faith as they too take next steps in their walk with Christ.
• A place where the honor, glory, fame of the Father God is the driving force behind all we do.
• A place filled with people possessing an audacious faith to change the world around them in this generation.

Be the Church.

• A place where stories are told – frequently:  stories of broken lives being restored and made whole, stories of marriages that were fractured being healed, stories of addictions being overcome, stories of people who had lost all hope not only finding hope but sharing that hope with others.  Stories of casual, even calloused followers of Jesus becoming white hot once again with passion and purpose.  Stories of miracles – of hearts healed, of bodies healed.  For my kids to grow up in a place where they see and experience miracles.  A place where these stories and more permeate our daily conversations.
• A place where these stories are told – not only in our conversations – but in conversations throughout the community around us.  People talk about it, they sense it, they see it, they’re drawn to it, and they themselves become part of the story.
• A place experiencing transformation and joy in a way that only God can author; only God can orchestrate, only God can take credit for it.  I have no interest in being a part of something man-made, or emotion-driven, or guilt-driven – but Spirit driving.  A place that is undeniably His place filled with His people who are filled with Him.  And this can only happen when we choose to Be the Church.

Be the Church.