I love Vols. UT Vols. And OneLife Vols. Maybe to be culturally relevant we should start doing the V-O-L-S cheer from UT football games on Sundays, too.

Ok, that would be dorky.

But I love our OneLife volunteers so much that I wouldn’t put it past me!

This past week reminded me of what an incredible group of people we have who call OneLife Church home. And it reminded me that our church understands that church isn’t about “me” and what “I can get out of it”. As we gear up to move to the Jubilee Center in just two weeks, we needed to take some time to get all of our volunteers on the same page. So we hosted two training nights where each team met. All we asked is for each volunteer to pick a night. And they did!

More than 120 adults came to one of these training nights. That blows my mind! You took a night of your week, rushed over after work, took your kids home late, etc. And I don’t take that lightly. So from the bottom of my heart – Thank You!

OneLife wouldn’t be where it is without people sacrificing to make it happen. My prayer is that as a result of the Jubilee Volunteer Training we are all more on the same page and ready to make this transition with a bang.

I can’t wait! And I love our Vols who make it happen.

This is the most exciting season I’ve ever experienced in the past two years of OneLife Church. The energy and excitement we’ve experienced as we build toward transitioning to the Jubilee Banquet Facility have been phenomenal.

While we can’t plan a move of God, we sure can be prepared for one to happen! And that’s what we want to do. So we are asking all OneLife volunteers or anyone who wants to become a volunteer to not miss the following dates. Put them on your calendar and make sure you are there! Because if we are going to experience a move of God, we need to get ready for it.

September 11 and 13, 6:30 p.m. – We are asking all volunteers to pick one of these two nights to attend Jubilee Volunteer Training. With a new facility comes new set up, tear down, and volunteer roles. Come meet with your team at the new facility and learn everything you’ll need to know as we make this move. Help us plan by signing up online here! Childcare is provided both nights.

September 27, 6:30 p.m. – Open House and Night of Worship. Come check out the new facility just like it will be every Sunday! We’ll also have a time of worship led by the OneLife Band, prayer time to dedicate the new facility to God, and communion. Every OneLifer will want to be there! We’ll also ask teams to meet in their respective areas at the conclusion of the evening to learn more about how their areas are set up and help tear down.

September 29, 5:30 p.m. – You can call it a “dress rehearsal” or a “dry run” but this will be our last shot to get ready for the Grand Opening! Dinner will be provided when you arrive, and we are asking all volunteers to come practice setting up your area with your team so we can be ready for the big day.

October 2, 9:30 and 11 a.m. - Grand Opening! We’ll need all hands on deck as this is sure to be our biggest day of the year, welcoming hundreds of people to our new home. This will also be the first day of our new service times – 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Don’t miss a single minute of this awesome time at OneLife! For more information about the move, visit www.onelifeknox.com/move.

Yesterday we took 30 OneLifers to an annual one-day conference at NewSpring Church called Unleash. It is a conference for church leaders and volunteers to learn and be encouraged from this church, which started 11 years ago in a small town and now has more than 10,000 in attendance each week!

This church and their pastor have been HUGE helps in getting OneLife started so I was pumped to take such an awesome group of OneLifers to check it out. I took some notes from the two amazing main sessions taught by Perry Noble and the breakout session for Senior Pastors, also led by him. Here’s what I learned, got reminded or was pumped up to hear:

• “You can’t water down the Gospel! It’s the GOSPEL! Jesus told stories. Did he water it down?”
• “Social justice without Jesus is social injustice. People don’t need a blanket they need JESUS.”
• “The church doesn’t have an agenda. It has a Savior! God’s not green. Kermit is!”
• “So-called mature people aren’t mature. Here’s what I’ve learned. Mature people give up their rights first.”
• “Two questions parents want to know about their kids at church – Did you have fun? What did you learn? Set up your kids ministries for that!”
• “If you make a pros and cons list to make decisions, you’ll never make a God-sized decision. The cons will always outweigh the pros!”
• “Pastor, if your church isn’t on fire for Jesus…look in the mirror.”
• “When you step out to do God’s vision, people won’t see the whole picture and they’ll think you’re crazy!”
• “Church staff and leaders – you can always submit to Godly authority and trust that the end result will be ok.”
• “You must care more for staff and volunteers for who the are than for what they do.”
• “Too many staff in the Church want to be known instead of being used! They want to be discovered more than they want to be developed!”
• “A good leader asks ‘Do I get to do that?’ instad of ‘Do I have to do that?’”
• “Staff and volunteers can take a cue from Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14:7. Tell your leader/pastor ‘Do all you have in mind. I am with you heart and soul.’”

OneLifers, God wants to do something fresh at our church and we have some big dreams. Are you with me heart and soul?! I hope so. I can’t do it without you.

Hey Volunteers…if you were at Unleash, what did I leave out? What did you learn? How were you challenged and encouraged?

I kind of pride myself on not being one of those guys that tries to be all athletic and act like I know every little detail of what a coach should do in a given scenario because I played pee-wee football in first grade. In fact, when it comes to being athletic I’m pretty much, well, terrible.

But…there have been a few glorious moments of exception. First was my lone year on my school’s swim team as a senior in high school. That’s right, I was district champion in the backstroke.

BAM!

The other was intramural flag football at UT. Believe it or not, I actually got pretty good at defense. And there was one reason for it. I knew my position on the field. When one of the wanna-be-jock coaches told me what to do, I did it and nothing else. It paid off! I got more sacks and “tackles” than just about anybody on our team. Not because I was most athletic, but because I knew my position on the field and focused on being the best I could in that role.

This same concept is what we focus on as a church. OneLife is a team sport! We can’t do it with just a pastor and a staff. So everyone who ends up being a part of our church MUST know their position on the field if we are going to win! And our win is far more important than a swim meet or flag football game.

Our win is seeing lives changed and a community transformed. It takes people who are gifted in teaching and leading, to be sure. But they can’t do it alone! It also takes people gifted in hospitality, encouragement, prayer, generosity, service, faith, wisdom, administration, and on and on the list goes. It takes all of us. It takes YOU!

But it takes you knowing your position on the field so you can focus on that and do it with every fiber in your being. And when we all do that, we WILL make a difference in this community. It WILL leave a mark on the lives of many. And we WILL use our one life to make a difference.

So don’t sit back and let the talking heads on a stage do all the heavy lifting. Because reality is, they simply can’t and won’t. Discover your position on the field, get out of the bleachers, and get in the game! There’s a place for you on the field. It’s your job to be the best you can at it and help our team to claim the victory.

Do something about it today. Start by answering this question honestly: “What is my position on the field?”

Two years ago the University of Tennessee football team had reached a tough spot. Phillip Fulmer, coach for 16 years, had experienced an unbelievable career including a national championship, two SEC championships, and was within a stone’s throw of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history. But his program was struggling. Struggling badly. And thus, he was fired in the middle of the season.

The very next game was against a sub-par Wyoming team that should have presented no problem. The verdict? An embarrassing loss, on homecoming, that sent the team to its second losing record in three years. Why did this terrible loss happen? I think the answer is simple.

Trust in leadership was shot.

Any organization will be all but done for if there is no trust in leadership. For a church, it is even more important. The staff and especially the pastor must be trusted or you can guarantee the momentum will be lost. As a result, we aggressively defend our leadership and unity at OneLife.

The dream of reaching people who are far from God is too real and too urgent to do anything else. If someone doesn’t trust our leadership, that is totally fine. We will help them find a church where they can. Not because our way is the right way. But because our way is our way that God has clearly given.

I count myself as one of the most blessed people I know because I am surrounded by a staff and church that does in fact trust its leadership. This month is Pastor Appreciation Month and I have been blown away – to the point of tears – nearly every day this week as another card, another gift, another hand written note has shown up. It has reminded me of the unusual unity our church is experiencing. OneLife, we must protect that. Trust me. Trust our staff. And let’s watch God do some amazing things in our city.