NOTES FROM STEVENS:
* Used Desperate Housewives clip from last month. (Great clips)
* Reality #1- Churches are not making an impact. In a lot of cases, churches are the problem.
* Reasons people are turned off by churches (from UnChristian and Barna): hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, homophobic, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. Perceive church life as irrelevant, have bad memories of bad personal experiences with churches, feel unwelcome.
* We’re doing great with the churched, but we are not getting the job done with unchurched and dechurched.
* Reality #2 Spiritual interest is growing in culture.
* People recognize need to develop inner life, but they don’t see the church as able to help it.
* As a church, a lot of times we are asking questions that no one is asking.
* John 1:14 “Christ became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” (MSG)
* Christ used the signs and symbols of day to reach people.
* Christ would watch our movies, surf internet, use pop culture, use music lyrics, to reach people today
* How can we leverage the culture in church to reach people?
* What’s an example of a biblical basis for using culture to impact people? Acts 17:10-33
* Paul used the culture around him to teach them about Christ!
* He quoted two different poets, an idol in the town,
* BIG IDEA: Leverage the culture or risk losing your impact.
* Celebrate what God is doing in the community in the here and now, rather than constantly talking about the past.
* Too often we don’t like asking questions. Typically, our churches aren’t a place to answer questions most of the time. We focus too much on just providing answers.

NOTES FROM ANTONUCCI:
* When he started reading the Bible, he saw that there was a time and place mentioned when Jesus was talked about, so there was a lot of evidence of Christ.
* Vince’s father was on America’s Most Wanted!
* MAIN QUESTION: How’s it possible that he lived 20 years in America and never hear about Jesus?
* There are churches all across America exploding with growth, but they’re growing by adding people that are already Christians.
* If we’re honest, we are reaching people…we’re not reaching lost people!
* Challenge: You would seek and save God’s lost children. You will do whatever it takes and do anything outside of sin to accomplish this. That is where God’s heart is.
* Told story of his son being
Jeremiah 4- God shows his heart for the lost. Verse 19- Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. Verse 22: My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children.
* Matthew 11- Come to me all who are weary and burdened.
* Jesus’ heart beats for the same
* Matthew 9- Jesus saw the crowds and had compassion on them. “Compassion” basically means his heart was ripped out. He was compassionate because they were like children without a father. He wanted to send workers.
* We have the honor of being the answer to Jesus’ prayer that
* We are often content with seeking and “saving” the saved.
* Romans 15:20-21
* Does it make your heart beat fast to seek the lost?
* What breaks your heart?
* Are you going to the places lost people go?
* Are you using the kind of bait attracts them?
* Are you making sure you have the right hook to keep them?
* Do the most messed up people in your town want to hang out with you?
* If we’re not close to people, we’re far from God.

NOTES FROM BATTERSON:
* The farther away from home you are, the more of an expert you are.
* The longer I do ministry and lead, the more I covet the favor of God.
* Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
* Passage comparing distance between God’s thoughts to the expanse of universe
* If you were to drive to sun at 65 mph, 24 hours a day, it would take 163 years to get here. The sun warms us in 8 minutes.
* Your best thought on your best day is about 13.2 billion light years short of God’s thoughts for you.
* Systematic theology an oxymoron?
* The moment we think we have God figured out, we lose the spiritual curiosity to seek Him for eternity.
* Our best theories will probably
* 1 Corinthians 8:2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
* Your dreams are too small
* We confess our sin all the time, but when was the last time you confessed that your dreams are too small?
* The office is where I go to get nothing done anymore (Amen)
* You need to leave cell phone somewhere, no meetings, no appointments and get with God. He will begin to reveal dreams that were deep inside.
* One of great dangers we face: We stop doing ministry out of imagination and we start doing it my memory. We mimic those around us. Memory will overtake imagination, but God’s dream for us is that imagination would begin to overtake memory.
* Great ideas always come from a dream that starts from God.
* If you don’t have any holy discontent in your life, go on a mission trip.
* Rather have one God idea than thousands of good ideas.
* Their team will take an “imagination day” and go out to dream.
* We need to believe that God wants to tell His story through us.
* In first century, people didn’t travel more than a 35 mile radius in their lifetime. Jesus said to take Gospel to the ENTIRE world.
* Jesus is Lord and Savior, but He is a dreamer!