Let's Go - Expand

Dina, Tyler, and Pastor Zach talk about what it takes to keep a church healthy and growing through the Let’s Go vision campaign. From church planting and leadership development to local school partnerships and community outreach, they explore how expanding the mission means making room for more people to encounter Jesus.

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Transcript

Cold Brews And Quick Introductions

SPEAKER_04 0:04

Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the King of Kings podcast, where we dive a little bit deeper into our message series and see what we're taking Beyond Sunday. My name is Dina Newsome, and these guys I know are waiting with bated breath to see what adjective I'm gonna use to describe them. I have some energetic guests today. Let's go!

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Energy. And there's like four cold brews on the table right now to feed into the caffeination that we're feeling already.

SPEAKER_04 0:37

Go ahead, say hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Hi, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

I am Zach Zender, and it is good to be with you today. My name's Tyler Rolfson. Also good to be with you. And it should be stated that Zach doesn't even drink coffee. Like he has energy naturally.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Well, no, I do drink a pre-workout that technically has about three cups of coffee worth of caffeine.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Never mind. I stand corrected.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

But I do not well, I don't drink coffee though. Right. But you have other sources of caffeine.

SPEAKER_04 1:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

This is not natural.

SPEAKER_04 1:04

I don't know. Do they allow you to not drink coffee as a Lutheran? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

I've just I've always been kind of on the fringe, Dina.

SPEAKER_04 1:12

I was never a coffee drinker until I was like 10 years ago, even. Yeah. Then now I'm all in. Although I like a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of other stuff in it.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

If you're describing us as energetic though, Dina, you are one of the most energetic dudes.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

That means so that's a compliment from her if she recognizes the energy in us. That's right. As an energetic one herself. Skill gets skill. Absolutely. Yeah. Game recognizes game.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

That's exactly

Save Your Tooth Month Stories

SPEAKER_04 1:40

right. So you guys were in the month of May. Oh. And I don't know if you know this, but May is save your tooth month. Tooth. T-O-O-T-H tooth. That's a hard word, maybe too.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

I did not know.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

It is save your tooth month. A whole month about saving your tooth. Um, when I first saw this, I thought it was more about like the tooth fairy, like saving your tooth, but no, it's like dental hygiene, you know. So my question for you is going to the dentist, terrified, feeling terrific. Which end of the spectrum are you?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

So here's what I'll share. Um I have four genetically missing adult teeth in my mouth. And I know this is an audio platform, so it's kind of a silly thing to describe. But um I was so basically I have four teeth, two in my top, two in my bottom, that the adult teeth weren't there. So the baby teeth just stayed. And um, and then so you know, you know, pretty early on, I think when I was like six years old or whatever, the you know, the dentist takes the x-rays. They're like, yep, he's missing there, there, there, and there. And the kind of the wives' tale is that this skips generations. And so my grandpa on my dad's side, for the 80-some years of his life, those two teeth on the on the front bottom were his baby teeth his entire life. Oh in like incredible to think about. So when I was in seventh grade, it how much time do we have here for this podcast?

SPEAKER_04 3:19

We shoot for 30 to 40 minutes. So one rainy day when I was- Maybe like 10 minutes on our on teeth.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

So when I was in seventh grade, all those baby teeth were pulled. I got braces. It was also pretty chubby at the time, and I got glasses. So I did not enter into my seventh grade year with many popularity points. And so then it took two years to move the adult teeth around because they came in at different spots. And now I have um three implants. The one in the bottom is actually a one, uh, two teeth on top of one implant. Um, I had a year in there where I had fake teeth on a retainer. And so now for the better part of 20 years, I've had crowns and for these three, four teeth, depending on how you're counting it. So all that to say, I take dental health very seriously.

SPEAKER_04 4:11

Do you enjoy it?

SPEAKER_00 4:13

I mean, it's just like or it's just like I just know the level of investment that my parents have put in my mouth.

SPEAKER_04 4:20

The financial level of it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

So like we really care about your smile, Tyler. Um, so yes, getting teeth cleaned and all that sort of stuff, it's it's important. And I feel like I'm a poster child for Save Your Teeth Month.

SPEAKER_04 4:34

Like I could be a mascot. I had no idea the background here.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

The value that you get by tuning in to the Beyond Sunday podcast.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

I'm telling you across all topics.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

You are a walking scientific dental miracle. It's amazing. I I I wouldn't put myself on either spectrum. Uh I yeah, my my dentist is terrific. He's a member here at King of Kings, Dr. Greg Taroshan. If you're looking for a great dentist, I would I would suggest him. Uh, but the last time I went in, I'm a chronic guy of like I tell other people what to do and don't do it myself. That's called an imposter. And uh so I tell people that you should floss your teeth. That's what successful people do. I don't floss my teeth. And so lately I've been going in and then I've just been saying, like, typically, like, oh, do I lie? And the last few years I've more matured and I just go in and say at the front, hey, I've not been flossing. So the last time I went in, uh, Dr. Terosin was down a couple of assistants. And so he, the dentist, actually cleaned my teeth for the first time ever. And he made me feel uh the the law, the guilt that I needed to feel. The weight of the law. The weight of the law. From it's one thing when you get it from an assistant, but it's when your dentist is telling you, like, dude, you got issues. Um, so you need to floss or water pick. And so I I'm sitting here, a changed man.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Um, because this morning, this morning, hours ago, I water picked my mouth. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Wow. Once was lost, now found was blind, but now you see.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

I'm saving my teeth this month. And it's all thanks to Dr. Taroshian.

unknown 6:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

I do think it's fun when they ask you questions when um when they're sticking stuff down your mouth. Where are you going to what's your summer plants?

SPEAKER_04 6:26

And they understand it.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

I don't know. So did I hear you right? You're using the the water pick? Is that what it is?

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Yeah, I went water pick. I still don't floss. So part I got out of flossing. I had a retainer on my bottom teeth for like 30 years. It was, it just got off two years ago. And and so it's really hard to, it was really hard to floss. And so I just gave up. And uh, yeah, but the water pick is better for me.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

And do you do you have a flossing water pick?

SPEAKER_04 6:51

Do not I do not water pick. I do not floss. I was always a bad flosser. I would totally lie to my dentist and tell them that I didn't floss.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

When you're bleeding, you're not gonna be able to do it.

SPEAKER_04 7:02

Yes, yeah, I've been flossing. But like I probably seven or eight years ago, the hygienist recommended these little plastic picks. And I wish I could tell you the brand. Now I just buy them by sight. I don't know the brand anymore. And they have little things that stick out on them, but they're plastic on a stick. This I will do. This I will before I go to bed. Um exactly like Google images or no, not the ones with the string. They're just the stick. They're like they're those have floss in them. He's here on his computer looking up. Anyways, they're like little skinny plastic toothpicks that work like floss. This I will sit in front of the TV and do in the morning. Yep, like those. And then there's another brand I get, but those work too.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Um Are we taking advertisers for the Beyond Sunday podcast? Because we've already talked about Dr. Terosion's dental space and this the water pig.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Listen to this floss picks with a stick, often called dental floss picks or disposable flossers, combine a taut length of dental floss with a pointed pick handle used to dislodge food and massage gums.

SPEAKER_04 8:06

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

I love a good massage. Maybe I'm going, maybe I'm going hand.

SPEAKER_04 8:10

Changed my dentist life because I did not get shamed every time I went anymore.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:14

Yeah. I'm terrified of the dentist. Shamed.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Oh, I thought you said chained. I was like, wow.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

My dentist is serious. He's an old school man.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Knowing Dina and how she entross this podcast, her entire life is just going through the thesaurus of adjectives.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

And the I don't know if you know but category.

SPEAKER_04 8:36

Um, okay, I'm terrified of the dentist, though. I hate it. Even when I know, like I am terrified. I am get so anxious for my appointments. I don't want to go. I'm great about scheduling my kids, taking them in, but I have white knuckles the whole time I'm there. Even when no one's in the room and I'm waiting, I'm white knuckled on the chair.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah. So I will say that when I get my x-rays done, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go back on my answer. I'm terrified in those days because they stick those things in there. I've got like the worst gag reflex, and I feel like a little child like, okay, just hang in there. It's lovely in the seconds and like they give me a sucker at the end.

SPEAKER_04 9:15

But that one didn't take. Hold on one more minute.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

The one that it's like, oh, please get this over with. So when that happens, I'll go terrified. And I don't know, like I love Dr. Great guy, but like, does any is that enjoyable for anybody?

SPEAKER_04 9:31

My daughter. You've got to be some kind of sick twisted person. No, my daughter loves to go to the dentist. Call her sick or twisted. She loves it. She looks forward to it. She would schedule it more times a year if insurance would pay for it.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 9:44

Loves it.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

I know, I know this topic's going way longer than you want to do, Dina.

SPEAKER_04 9:48

But this actually We're nine minutes and 45 seconds in.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Save your teeth people. Um, the dentist that are the pediatric dentist we had in Connecticut for those four years, I was so impressed. She was she was a good dentist, that sort of thing, but she went over and above in making it such a fun experience for the kids. They would walk away, not just with like the toothbrush and and a thing of toothpaste, a small thing of toothpaste, but she just had just a bunch of like plastic trinkets and toys and stickers. And so then, like Pastor Greg always talks about like people love getting gifts. It is so true. Kids love getting gifts. And so they'd be coming home like with needing both hands to cut and hold their gifts from the dentist. And so then you just associate, oh yeah, if I go to the dentist, I walk away with super fun things. Associate positive feelings. There's something about that with what we do in the church, all that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_04 10:40

It's lovely.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

This episode sponsored by Oral B. It's May. How's your teeth? Save your teeth, Oral B.

SPEAKER_04 10:53

I'm telling you. Save your tooth month. Who knew, right? This is I never had heard this before.

SPEAKER_03 10:59

Yeah, never. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 11:00

Maybe it was May when they would come. When you guys were in school, did they come and give you the little blue tablets or purple tablets to chew so you could see the tartar on your teeth and everybody walked around the rest of the day with nasty teeth? I don't remember that. You don't remember that? I hated that. I also hated that.

unknown 11:17

All right.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Thank you for joining us. Uh we'll be back next week.

SPEAKER_04 11:25

Uh actually, we're taking next week off. People are gonna think it was because we didn't have a sponsor or we we we lost all of our listeners, all 13 of them. I actually had someone come up to me at church today, this last Sunday, and say, Did you do you really only have 13 listeners?

SPEAKER_01 11:44

On a good week, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:45

We don't. We have more. We think. Stick

Why Expansion Matters Right Now

SPEAKER_04 11:50

with us, folks. It gets better. All right. So we are in week three of our Let's Go series. Pastor Greg Griffith has taken us through this, and this week was about expand. We did um now I can't even remember. Strengthen, sustain, and expand. Um, so what are you taking beyond Sunday from this week's message?

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Yeah, this was this was a tremendous series. And like there, there are a lot of things that we can try to accomplish in a message, but I there I think there are times in the season of a church where we take a step back and we say, why are we doing what we're doing? Like, and from God's word and from where we sense God's leading us and the things that he has done. And it is like it to have a moment. Um, maybe, maybe you guys have heard this phrase before, I know Zach has, but like by definition, vision is leaky, meaning that you could cast a great vision on day one, but that that does not mean that like the sense of momentum and joy and excitement and energy behind that vision is going to sustain. So you have to, you have to reinforce and you have to remind you you have to say, hey, this vision is happening. And what I just appreciated about these three weeks, but especially this past week, is like, thank you, Lord, that you are on the move, that you've invited us into it. And so it's like, yeah, let's go. Let's do this thing, let's keep going.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Yeah, I I love all sustaining, strengthening, and expanding, but expanding is the one where I get the most jazzed up about because cool, we're we are sustained, we are strengthened. Let's go, let's go. So, and that's by the way, the name of the series. Let's go. And so I think, yeah, it's so what I'm taking beyond Sunday is the fact that church planting is still the number one strategy for a church to reach new people. And multi-site, the way we're doing it is a new strategy in the last 25 to 30 years, and new to us at King of Kings the last two, three years. And and and statistically, the most successful uh of the versions of church planting. So we need I've always thought we need all types of church planting, but uh what a what a church is reaching out and expanding and opening up new campuses, like that's a beautiful thing. More people hear about Jesus and getting to hear and see stories uh, I think from some of our campuses is really exciting because it it reminds us why we're doing what we're doing. And I do think we need that at King of Kings because this is still new for us. And so as many times as we can talk about the why behind expanding, that we're not doing this for the sake of King of Kings' name or any person's name or any ministry's name. We're doing this because God's put uh an amazing gospel into our lives, has rescued us and has called us not only as individuals to be witnesses in evangelizing, but corporately, collectively to pool our resources, talents, and gifts together so that more communities, more churches, more people can know who he is. So that's what I'm taking beyond Sunday is that it's been a joy to be a part of the last few years and seeing campuses two and three. And Lord let it be that in the coming years we would see four, five, six, seven. I'm sounding like the Braun. Not seven, not eight, not nine, but ten campuses at King of Kings.

SPEAKER_04 15:05

Amen. Um, I liked that at one point um Greg was talking about specifically the pastor shortage, but some of the the struggles with our um church. And he said, this is our problem. It's I think it's so easy when you find a church that you love to sit in your comfortable little bubble and show up and consume every Sunday and forget that if you don't do anything, you mean your church, doesn't do anything, that bubble is just gonna slowly dissipate because everyone's gonna die off or move away or whatever. Um, that you have to be constantly telling people um about Christ in order to engage them, not just in your local church, but Big C church also. Um, and so I just the the idea of taking ownership of this is a problem and what are we doing about it? And hey, here, here's what we're doing about it. Boom, boom, boom. You know, this is what we're trying. And it may work wonders and we may fall on our faces, but we're willing to try and then we'll get up and try something else. And I like that um vulnerability and dedication uh about that. All

Church Planting And Multi-Site Momentum

SPEAKER_04 16:20

right, can you talk about the concept of connecting to your world and how that has been fulfilled through our local outreach in neighborhoods and in schools?

SPEAKER_00 16:28

I mean, we can, but I also know that you can. Yes. Because Dina, you are the I'll take this. Yes. Yeah, I want to share. So so I'm sorry, I want you to share. So in your the hat that one of the what did we say? We do we say 19 or 18 hats that you've been wearing?

SPEAKER_04 16:43

Uh you know, I don't know. It depends how you're counting. 27. I don't.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

But when you're wearing that Millard Associate Director hat, you've been connecting with Disney Elementary here. And so I'd love to hear how that's how that's played out and some of the impact and influence that God has worked through Disney.

SPEAKER_04 17:00

Here's what I tell people when they ask about our school partnerships um, that Dr. Pepper and a Che Stick can build a bridge. And I say that to ask to invite more comments, because what do you mean by that? Um, one of the things that we do when we connect with our school partners is we do what's called snack cart. And the campus director and associate director for right here for Millard, it is Seth and I. We go to Disney Elementary once a month, almost. Some months we tackle a different project. So it's almost um most of the months of the school year, and we literally take a cart filled with snacks and sodas and um energy drinks and just some type, some junk food, some healthy food, and we walk around and we knock on the door of each classroom and we say snack heart, and the teachers get so excited. The students get excited too, and every time they're like, Can I have one when you become a teacher? That's always our answer. When you become a teacher, but I want to work at Disney one day. Um, but some of the things a teacher will come over and pick up a Dr. Pepper and a cheese stick, and we have made their day. And I feel like in schools specifically, it is very easy to feel isolated and alone. And you are spending that whole day in that classroom sometimes feeling like you're walking uphill with whatever struggles your kids are going through or whatever tasks you're trying to accomplish. And here's somebody that's coming and saying, Hey, good job. Here's a cookie. And how, who doesn't love that? You know, just a little treat. Um, and we do it again and again and again. And I think that's the sticking part. Um, when uh Lara Ray, who kind of started this partnership, was like one of the first hands-on people with it, um, she said that the principal turned to her one day and just said, you keep coming back, you keep showing up. And that's what we do. And and so this Dr. Pepper and a cheese stick can build a bridge. And do all of those teachers go to church or are we telling them about Jesus? No, we're bringing them a beef jerky and an Alani. But um, they know that King of Kings loves them and they know that King of Kings loves their community. And so when one of their friends says, Hey, do you go to church or what church do you go to? They're gonna say, Oh my gosh, let me tell you about King of Kings, even if it's not their home church. Um, and I think that's how you make waves in your community through that word of mouth and those partnerships. Um, we hosted their Disney's musical um here in the spring that they do every other year. And we lay out the red carpet for those kids. We have free concessions. The students that are in the musical spend the whole day here. We feed them lunch, they hang out in one of our spaces, we kind of love on them. The thanks that we got for that. This was my first year in this role getting to do that part. The thanks that we got for that was amazing and overwhelming. The number of parents that just came through the doors that night and said, Thank you for doing this. This is such a different venue than it would be in the school gym. Um, and so those are a couple of the little things that I we are just making a positive impact

Dr Pepper Bridges At Disney

SPEAKER_04 20:15

on our world. We're connecting to them through a relationship with a cheese stick and a Dr. Pepper.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

You know, the the the when we were figuring this out in Fremont, we Christy and I kept stumbling over what to call it because the language of partnership implies this like, well, here's what I'll do for you, and then here's what I expect you to do for me. And and and so we're like, we we really don't even we we don't we don't want that because there's no expectation of what you do for us. It's like this is just one way that we're we're saying this is what God has asked us to do to be a blessing. And it's and if and it is just us us to you. Um and so for for us in in Fremont, Howard Elementary School, um, one, there were a number of voices that had told us you'll never get into the public schools in Fremont. Churches have tried, it's too hard, it's there's too much red tape, they won't let they won't, you won't ever get in. And like, man, the Lord works wonders. Pray, work in, operate in faith, take, take the next right step. And and so in the fall, it really was just kind of one step at a time with Christy, our associate director, kind of leading the way. And then eventually we had had a meeting with the principal at Howard and we kind of said what we were looking at. She's like, So you guys just want to like show up every now and again and like give our teachers things? We're like, Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_04 21:40

That's exactly it.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

And so now this is so fun, especially recording this week. So we're recording here on a Tuesday, two days from now, Thursday. Uh Fremont Public Schools is out, and so uh Thursday is like a teacher, what's it called? Like a work day. Yeah, like cleaning up the classrooms and stuff. And so um we have a team from Fremont that's gonna be going to Howard, prepare we're going to fire up three outdoor pizza ovens. Zach knows where one of those came from. And we're going to make or we're going to make personal pizzas for every single teacher and staff.

SPEAKER_03 22:12

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

And I talked with Brittany, the principal there yesterday. And I was like, is there any way we could do this in your kitchen? It turns out kitchens are built to be have food made in them. And she's like, oh totally. We're out of school. That's not a problem. And so um yeah and the and like why are we doing it? One, it the it's so fun. When you guys go to Disney with you and Seth, like it's just a blast. It's so fun.

SPEAKER_04 22:38

Seth has one classroom that has kind of adopted him this year and they give him a book assignment. They get he takes a book from their classroom each month and then has to read it and come back with a book report.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 22:50

Don't take that as a he stays he stays in that classroom while I do a whole wing by myself.

unknown 22:57

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

There is a bullet point in our job descriptions all other duties as assigned by fifth grade books grade book reports.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Wow. You didn't read the fine print um but yeah Dina you mentioned the I don't know the the payoff the benefit that sort of thing I think it's just one of those things where if we do what God has asked us to do, there will be blessings that return to us. But we're never doing it just for that reason. Right. We're doing it because the Lord is good, has been so good and generous to us. We want to serve our community in a way that the community notices. And um and then yeah if that means that more more people come to VBS or teachers get connected or we develop a positive reputation in the community, praise God. But in the end it's like we're doing this because God's asked us to um and it and it's so so so worth it.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Yeah and I don't need to add much except that's exactly what I saw in both of you talking about it now. It's like it kind of is a partnership Tyler because you're while you're not expecting to get anything from them like I just see joy, smiles, fulfillment, happiness and a sense of like this feels right. And so that's maybe not a tangible thing, but it's something you're certainly receiving from the students and the teachers at those schools. So it's really neat when we do what God's called us to do because we end up helping others and we actually end up feeling pretty good about this this this feels right. And there's a lot of people that don't have that feeling in life that once you get it, it's like I want more of that.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:37

That's good. So how can we ensure

Fremont Finds A Way Into Schools

SPEAKER_04 24:40

that when we plant new churches they are both identifiable by King of Kings DNA and adaptable to our local communities.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Well I think we that's a lot of what our staff talks about is how how do we how do we not make it completely identical but at the same time people know this is a King of Kings church. So it's it should be identifiable. And so we're we're constantly in those conversations right now and and I think for us it it what what makes multi-site work is when there's a strong central vision or a central team but there's a a depth of community that each campus has in their community. And so that's the challenge is the strong central vision and team likely has I think we've kind of identified five or six things that are more identical that probably ah this is this is just King of Kings DNA. So if you're a King of Kings church you know you'll see it I'll name a few of them and then obviously we're these are all always in conversation but like if you look at our branding it's identical across campuses it's the same central team. If you look at our our systems our procedures our HR our back end like all that's the same at all of them. That's part of the beauty of multi-site is you can have a strong central team because I and you know another would be our messages most of them 90% are streamed as long as the internet works right um they're they're streamed and so it's the same message one message. And so some those are some of the ways that we are identical but then there's other ways where we're we're we're going to have a little more variety but I've been a part of a church network prior that you know had a vision to plant new new churches and and was kind of tied by a few things but very loosely and um and so I can speak kind of from experience of knowing what it's like to be at different types of churches. And what I really appreciate about this type of ministry is you know when you just and I and I again I think we need all types but when you just plant a church whether you're sent by a church or whether you're raising funds or just figuring out yourself like you are autonomous. And there's a beauty in autonomy for people. But with that beauty also comes cool, you've got to figure out the business side of it. You've got to figure out the constitution, the bylaws, you've got to get a board of directors you've got to have a treasurer you got to have this you got to have that you've got to have HR you got to have and there's just so much to it. You got to communicate you've got to be the pastor and the student minister and the kids leader and uh you've got to click slides on Sunday before you go up to preach and because you're the you're you're the church planner. That's who you are. And so like there's nothing wrong with that. There's a beauty in that but it's different. And that's where I think I'm hoping that this strategy that again is not completely just ours. There's many churches that do multi-site strategy but where it where it's effective is when there's a strong central team that supports campus work, that there's enough identical things that then cool, we can have open hands with some of the ways we do this because at the end of the day, Tyler and Fremont I trust you to pasture your people and to know what's best for your community. And so it doesn't need to look exactly like it looks in Millard or even in Northwest Omaha when we're a little different type of people than you have out in Fremont. And so anyway there's that wiggle room but that's always man lots of conversations so many conversations.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Are you saying that the people of Fremont are morally and physically superior to the people is that what I heard here's what I will say I love the people of Fremont at King of Kings.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

If I ever want to feel good about myself I told Tyler this the other week because I went to all three campuses on one Sunday and I said you know what nobody makes me feel as good about myself than the people of Fremont I love the Fremont church campus. But I didn't say anything else about being what did you say? Physically and morally superior? Yeah that's those are Tyler's words what he said by the way I'm not the only one that says that about we don't but if you want to feel good about yourself and want to be around but that's a piece of it though that let's we're joking about it but let's be real like all of our campuses I'm hoping get to a place of the friendliness of the Fremont campus. We have a lot to learn from what they're doing. How are you like that? What what what what is what is it about you that makes me feel makes people feel so welcomed from the beginning and and so that's the beauty also of a multi-site campus where you have multiple campuses that aren't identical is you can actually then learn something from each campus that then makes the other campuses better.

unknown 29:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Well we experienced that with uh something even as small as when Seth and Dina debuted high top tables at the back of the worship center. And so that was what back in like February and you were just like let's just let's just try it. And it worked really well there. And so without it taking too much of our like staff conversation time eventually kind of got to the point of like well can we try this at each of the campuses and so now in Fremont it's been three weeks and Christy and I even earlier today we were talking about like man maybe we can find a way to get slightly bigger tables in there and then we can go from 12 to 18. You know it's it's in the end it's kind of small potatoes but the um the the chance to be a blessing to one another and to support one another as we're doing ministry together. The one thing I'll say with this, because of the for those of you that know the Fremont story like it was steps of faith and walking together um and and really unlikely right that that we got to this point. And so yes it's it's great for the people of Fremont that were reaching for the sake of the gospel but the the kingdom momentum that's generated by new campuses is a benefit and a blessing to the entire church. And so that's where it's like it is a win win win uh for for um for Millard and and for Northwest and then and then Fremont's going to be in the same spot once we get to campus four of like man we can't wait to see and hear those testimonies of what's coming out of campus four and campus five and campus six. That we all just feel like we're a part of what God is doing and we can we can taste it and we can see it and then celebrate together. Goodness next month we're going to be having back to back to back baptism Sundays on the heels of VBS Dina is going to just be VB are you going to be VBSed out? Nope or no oh my gosh I would do VBS six months out of the year if I could but to to be able to but to be able to say you know celebrate the the lives that are transformed at at Millard this past week and then at Fremont this past week and then at Northwest this last week um and to be move moving forward together there's a mutual reinforcement of vision that is

Keeping King Of Kings DNA

SPEAKER_00 31:40

catalytic as um as God's moving.

SPEAKER_04 31:43

I had a greeter come up to me this was just a couple Sundays ago maybe the first week of our Let's Go series um and she had just recently watched the um Fremont story on the Red Letter podcast that we kind of which if you scroll back brought to you by Red Letter Disciple a podcast on YouTube by a pastor. Would you like to become a sponsor? If you scroll up we have linked it in our Beyond Sunday stuff. So it's it's under the but the Beyond Sunday um umbrella also but she had listened to that and she came to me and said I've never been to Fremont. I probably will never go to that campus for anything but I feel a part of something because of what my church has done because I made a commitment to let's go and I know that that's part of our campus expansion and I prayed for Fremont when this was on the table. And so I feel like I have contributed to this like she had a personal stake in it even though she knows no one from Fremont does not go there, you know, and doesn't even intend to go visit there. Like that she just took I just thought that was really cool. Like you said we're in it together. Okay so what aspects of this mission to expand are particularly challenging and how can we overcome these obstacles together?

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Well the the first thing that strikes me is that like the devil is real. I've I've I've said this a few times the last couple days like we never want to overestimate what the devil's doing but like we also don't want to under underestimate either. And so like if God is on the move Satan doesn't like that. And so there there's always going to be an aspect of um Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter two that we never want to be we we're not unaware of the schemes of the enemy and that's the right posture to be is like we're we're we're we're aware of what Satan might want to do here. We're not going to give him too much attention certainly not going to give him credit we're going to be aware and we're gonna and we're gonna remind ourselves that Jesus is victorious and his kingdom um Satan's power has been vanquished. And and so to be able to recognize that as an obstacle and then also like sometimes sometimes because we're flaky sinners we can get in our own way. And uh and so thinking about you know whether it's um whether it's uh comparison or whether it is uh kind of lacking kind of the the uh the faith to see what God might be doing or um if uh if the devil plants seeds of division or anything like that like again we want to be aware of those things so that we can be united together in moving forward in faith.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Yeah so my uh my oldest son graduated this last congratulations Nathan and and so it is natural and good for him to move on to the next stage of life if the Zender family wants to expand we need to let him go and to do his thing and maybe one day in the future not like right away but in the future you know how that goes and we're excited for him and it's really emotional and really painful and totally the right thing. And I think the same is true with like this model is we are like three campuses. We are divided and so there are literally like different places people could worship and there are friends that no longer see each other on Sunday mornings that because they're at northwest Omaha and another is still at Millard or maybe there's a new connection at Fremont and and so there's we're we're more we're we're more divided because we're multiplied and that's a and that's an obstacle it's a challenge and so the question is is that challenge worth reaching more people for Jesus and it is being a Christian being a disciple and being a church that is truly doing what God's called you to do is not easy. It requires sacrifice and I just am so grateful for the King of Kings family that has sacrificed not just financially, which was a lot of what let's go is about is let's raise the funds to keep strengthening sustaining and expanding that's a sacrifice too but there's also a sacrifice of this is going to look different and we're gonna be more divided technically and yet or maybe dispersed yeah and yet it's healthy.

SPEAKER_04 36:26

Anyway I like that Greg said we will do nothing short of anything short of sin to grow the church to reach people for Jesus is that yeah because it is hard sometimes. Okay so with this looming pastor shortage that Greg kind of talked about what innovative strategies can churches like ours implement to fill the gap?

Obstacles Division And Spiritual Pushback

SPEAKER_01 36:50

Over to you Zach brought to you by uh I I'm very passionate about pastoral formation in our church body and I've said a lot on my YouTube channel regarding this. And so I I do think that we have to be proactive about raising up leaders that can become pastors and and and so I yeah I think so what what can strategies can churches like ours I I think we are. I I think we're doing what we need to do for those that want to get involved in the denominational stuff um that you know we have a pastoral shortage Greg talked about that. The math isn't adding up there's tons of retirements coming up we're 6,000 pastors right now and in the next 15 years with retirements we'll be closer to 3000 to 3500 and we have 5500 churches right now. Thousand of them are vacant already as we as we as we speak. Many of them are dual parish meaning a pastor is serving both. And so that could be serving you know in our context if people don't dual parish might mean it might mean that and this was the case that a pastor was serving in West Point and also the the vacancy pastor was serving in the Fremont campus before it became a campus of ours and he was literally driving to both on Sunday back and forth in order to make it happen. So anyway the numbers aren't adding up so what what can we do? What are we doing? I think we're we're uh embarking on a as a pioneer in our church body in the multi-site movement to show that we can replicate things that you can use online in a powerful way to get a message across and we've been big proponents of well as well of distance education and trying to get a hearing for more online education and contextual learning. And so we'll see where it goes. But I I I would say I don't know that the average person needs to do a lot with pastoral shortage. I'd love to talk with you if you care about it. But from a church I don't know that there's many there's one other church I can think of that is pushing and knocking on this issue as much as we are in our whole church body. And so what can we do? We can keep knocking on the door keep saying we want to create more churches we want a church body that can accommodate growth and not just manage decline and and we want to think ahead and think forward and that's what I think King King's place is is like to continue to think forward and to be positive and optimistic and hopeful that the gospel is still alive and that many more churches can come.

SPEAKER_00 39:26

Yeah the only thing I'd add to that is um scripture tells us that God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble. And so um as we especially as we're relating to others in our church body like we we want to always be in a posture of humility and never be like oh well we've we've figured it out and why aren't you that sort of thing. And so remaining teachable remaining humble um but then also not being so like like overly modest that we're not willing to tell the testimonies and share the story of what God has done and why we're doing what we're doing. And so there's there's a balance there. And so to be able to say this is a model of how God can can multiply ministry and there's a lot of other great ways of doing it too. And we are celebrating alongside of our our brother pastors from all districts and and all worship styles and whether it's single parish or dual parish or in this case a kind of innovative multi-site model that like we're not going to pretend is perfect because there is no model that is perfect. But can can the Lord work through it? Well early evidence says yeah he definitely can and I look back my Fremont campus like sorry it's not mine it's the Lord's the Fremont campus where I serve like gosh we've had what 20, 25 baptisms since last November praise God.

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Yes. And and for those that literally would love to talk about that more I would love to talk to anybody about that. But I would look at Tyler here as like we're we're helping with this hoping to help with this and that he's right now in the distance education program called SP Specific Ministry Pastor and we're really grateful to have him and look at what God's done and you know the sad news in our denomination is that six months after Tyler was admitted into the program they're putting new restrictions that say a person in an SP has to be 40 years older or more. And so a lot of us are banging the drums saying why like does it that doesn't make sense and you would eliminate stories like Fremont if you take people like Tyler out of the situation. And so again it's a it's a big prayer point for those like please pray about it. Like it's a it is the yeah it is the the convention for our denomination is coming up this year in in July and it is the number one issue when you look at overtures and resolutions and all that stuff that most people don't care about and is really boring. 90 of the 360 overtures are about pastoral formation. And so it is the hot topic right now in our in our church body and I think our voice as King of Kings is an important one in that my mom used to say I can't pray about problems I don't know exist.

SPEAKER_04 42:16

Yep and so that's what my challenge to our listeners now you know this is happening, pray. Yeah you you may not be able to influence the the pastoral formation path that our district has. However you can pray for God's will to be done. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

And part of me like with something like this is like yes we need as much prayer as we can get but it's also one of those like you have most of the people that are in these positions are pastors that are fighting with one another and so it's a little bit like mom and dad are fighting and how much do the kids need to know. And it's like yeah we are we're fighting and it's hard.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:54

So now that you know pray and if you want to know more I I'm happy to talk with anyone on that. Yeah.

Pastor Shortage And Leader Formation

SPEAKER_04 43:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

So why is the revitalization of local congregations not just important but imperative in today's context kind of as we highlighted with the current state of many churches yeah it's it's interesting because a revitalization means that a church is kind of on its way to it's kind of in its last last breath of a life cycle and then they come in new new life it's revitalized um and and so there there is something to be said about like like the the physical property sort of thing and not that the Lord would be tied to that and a story of legacy that sort of deal but I just I just like I don't want to lose ground. I don't want I don't want the kingdom of God to lose ground. And so for for churches to to say if our option is close or revitalize, well let's look at revitalizing um so that not just for our own sake so We feel good about our church, but for the sake of our community, for the sake of these public schools that are being supported, and for the sake of those that they don't even know that they need Jesus yet, but but they're gonna come and receive the gospel and be baptized. Like the mission is too important to say, well, maybe maybe we just close. Like let's let's have some hope in what the Lord can do in breathing new life.

SPEAKER_01 44:23

And it is like the gospel on a on a organizational if you if you will, because it it is what God does. And so to tell stories and be a part of a story of what's going on in Fremont gives hope. And that's how God works. He works many times through a little and turns into a lot. He works with a remnant. Um there's ups and there's downs, but praise God, when he's in the story, like he's gonna, he's gonna turn it for good. So to me, I think it's so important that we see that and are a part of that because it gives us hope as individuals when we see an organization can do, then I can do that too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:06

I think that the local church are really the hands and feet of Christ. And that's it's very easy to, oh, I worship online, or you know, I'm in this group Bible study that meets, you know, once every six months or once every other month or something. But when you are attending church and going through life with the same people, hopefully week after week, that is when you can impact your community and when those people become your community. Um, and you can do much more together. And so I think it's

Revitalising Local Churches With Hope

SPEAKER_04 45:35

important not to overlook the idea of the local church there. All right, final takeaways from this message and this series as a whole.

unknown 45:44

What do you got?

SPEAKER_00 45:45

I'm just peeking over at your your notes here, Dina, but you have that Isaiah chapter six, verse eight verse there. And uh just like like the way the Lord says, Who will who will go for us? And then for Isaiah to stand up, raise his hand, said, Here I am, send me. Like, may that be our posture, Lord.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

Yeah. And I I'm being here for the 18 months that we've been a part of the Let's Go campaign and being contributors to that as well financially. Uh it's it's been really sweet to see God at work. And it just every time I need confidence or I get worried about the future, or I think about what should the church and will the church be, I can just look back and now I've got 18 more months of history of looking back, of remember that story, remember that story, remember that story. And I just love that we we we've been building stories, more stories, that as we go forward we can share with one another. And I think that's so important to tell stories. That's one of the biggest takeaways from the series I have is told Pastor Greg this morning that I thought the strength of the whole series was the stories and the statistics that he got from people of our church. And I just love that we have more of those because it anytime I have doubt about anything, it's like, no, I can see a God that doesn't just show up in the old testament or in the new testament, but a God who's still showing up today. And so, yeah, that gives me faith to move forward. So let's go.

unknown 47:17

Amen.

SPEAKER_04 47:18

I like Greg said at one point that this that the heart behind Let's Go is not a program, it's not a strategy, it's about a relationship and one relationship at a time. Um, and so I love that, just connecting people in Christ. All right. So Beyond Sunday is taking a week off next week. We will be back in two weeks. I know your heart.

SPEAKER_01 47:39

Just when we're getting all the momentum.

SPEAKER_04 47:41

We're gonna lose two listeners in that week.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

Can we talk 12 more minutes about teeth to hit the full hour?

SPEAKER_04 47:48

Well, we could, but how many people will tune out?

SPEAKER_01 47:52

I do need to read our final sponsor. Is that cool? Can we do that now? Yep. Uh-huh. I'm ready. Can you do an upbeat music bed for me?

SPEAKER_02 48:00

No.

SPEAKER_01 48:01

This episode of the Beyond Sunday podcast has been brought to you by

Final Takeaways And Sponsor Sendoff

SPEAKER_01 48:05

Oral B flosspics because sometimes the sermon hits deep and sometimes the popcorn kernel does too. Join us each week as we go beyond the message. Answer real questions and help you follow Jesus in everyday life. The Beyond Sunday podcast. Faith that sticks with you longer than the food in your teeth.