I have to start by saying that this was the BEST conference I've ever been to. HANDS DOWN! I'm probably saying that because I got to hang with Matt Chandler for the few minutes that he spoke to us, but it was awesome!
We started our trip by meeting at the church on Monday evening. We wanted to make sure the church was set up for Student Group on Wednesday. After we set up, we decided to go have dinner at The Pub in Tampa.
This was my first time eating at The Pub. I have to say that I had one of the best burgers ever. Nothing beats a burger on a pretzel bun with onion straws, a fried pickle and a Caesar salad! YUM.
Then it was on to the airport. Our flight was delayed 3 hours, so we didn't leave Tampa till around 11 pm. NOT FUN!
The flight was kind of rough, and took longer than expected because of some weather issues. We finally arrived in Dallas, and started walking, and walking, and walking till we finally figured out that we had to take a bus to the rental car hub that was 20 minutes away. WEIRD.
Once we finally loaded up, we had a very difficult time leaving the airport area. Our GPS could not figure out how to get us to our destination, so we eventually took over and used our GOD GIVEN GIFT of DIRECTION that he bestows on all men.
Of course that led to another 6 circles around the airport.
We finally found the highway and headed toward our hotel. Once we arrived and checked in it was 4 am. We were all beat!
ROUND 1 OF ROOM HOPING: So we all walk up to our rooms and open the doors and in both rooms there was a staunch like none other! It smelled like something had died. Josh and I were sharing a room and the rest of the clan had a different room. We called to the guys and said, "come down and smell our room." Pastor Aaron walked in and yelled, "which one of you guys farted in here?" Well, needless to say we all went back downstairs and got new rooms.
ROUND 2 OF ROOM HOPING: This time Josh and I decided we'd keep our room, even though it still had a musty smell. However, when Nate, Aaron, and Jeffery walked into their second room, they noticed that "someone had been sleeping in their bed." They walked in and one of the bed hadn't been made from the last person who had slept in it. You could see the body indentations in the bed, so back to the front desk they went. The next room seemed to be okay, and off to bed we went.
After 4-5 hours of sleep, we awere off to the Village Church. We were all pretty excited to see it. We all love Matt Chandler and pretty much listen to his sermons weekly. As we arrive, we were all taking pictures and posting them on FB and Instagram like a bunch of geeks...kind of like what I'm doing right now.
The Village Church bought an old Albertson's and renovated it. Now, they have a bunch of campuses, but this is their main campus.
This is what it looks like when you walk in. To the left (which you can't see in this pic) is the children's wing, straight ahead another area used for children's ministry and social events like this conference, up the stairs are the offices, and to your right is the auditorium.
And here we are, and you wonder why they thought we were youth pastors...hmm...
Then the staff took us on a tour of the facility. We got to see the offices, the kids wing, and the auditorium. The Village Church auditorium is literally smaller than the Calvary Church and Countryside auditoriums.
WE ARE NOT YOUTH PASTORS!
After the tour we sat down for our sessions. We got to hear from the children's director, the middle school pastor. one of the spiritual formation pastors, Josh Patterson, and Matt Chandler. Matt spoke about how important covenant membership was for the church. He really emphasized how foundational it was to be committed to the the body of Christ through covenant.
The way it worked was you got in line and as you come up to the BBQ pit you pick out what you want, they toss it in a plate, and you pay per pound.
Yes, it was AWESOME!
After dinner we went back to the hotel for a pastors meeting to discuss what we learned that day, and what we thought were the most important principals we could use for BLDG28.
The next day The Village Church invited all of the attendees to their private once a month staff only worship service...being part of the elect has it's privileges...JK...this is how reformed guys joke, don't be offended!
So, we went in, sat down and who joins us...
...remember in middle school, when you wanted to sit at the cool table...yeah that just happened!
yes, I did take the creepy photo of Matt Chandler sitting at our table...I'll own it. It was awesome! :)
In all seriousness, those villagers know how to worship. You could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room as we lifted our voices to our sovereign savior.
Matt spoke about REST...how we all need to take a step back and rest from time to time and then get back up and go burn the midnight oil again.
After the service we broke up into groups to learn about specific strategies they put in place to create an atmosphere of discipleship at the Village, but we all had to leave early so we could make our flight.
This is the church before they moved to the Albertsons.
Back home we flew, and back to the church where we walked in and just began ministering to our students.
As you can tell, we had a great time, but what you don't see in these pictures is all the great resources that The Village Church gave us. This conference allowed us to see how a church, who has the same foundation and philosophy as BLDG28, continues to multiply, and make disciples. As pastors, we want to do all we can to make Matthew 28 a reality in Clearwater, Florida.
We are so thankful we were able to go and learn. Our heart is that BLDG28 would be a Church that makes discipleship it's DNA. Sola Christos, Sola Gratia, Soli Deo Gloria.
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