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• >>Site 510, Box 15, RR 5; >>Saskatoon, SK; >>S7K 3J8, Canada; >>Email: office@lakeviewchurch.com; >>Phone: 306.374.6556

"All-Church Celebration"

Dean Angell

May 15, 2005

Read Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

That’s the description that St. Luke gives to the early church. A church with thousands of people connected to it – a church that not only changed their culture but a church that would eventually change the world.

There is a verse in the bible that sends fear into my life every time I read it, it haunts me a little.

Psalm 29:18 says this “without vision the people perish.” Another translation says “Where there is no vision – the people cast off restraint, they can’t focus, can’t reach their goals, can’t follow their dream. And I’ve seen this to be true time and time again throughout my life without vision, people lose the vitality that makes them feel truly alive, especially the church.

Let me connect that with another moment in my short little history. In February 1989 – I was sitting in a conference in Chicago, Illinois and the speaker began painting a picture of how the church is supposed to function. And he read Acts 2:42-47. And he said something along these lines, “There was once a community of Christ followers who were so totally devoted to God that their life together was ignited with the power of the Holy Spirit. In that community of faith, Christ followers loved each other with a radical kind of love. They shared life with one another, hiding nothing. They laughed and cried and prayed and sang and served together in authentic Christian community and fellowship. He went on to describe the church. He said those who had more shared freely with those who had less – and suddenly the social and economic barriers faded away. People related together in ways that bridged racial and gender gaps like never before and this community of Christ followers, this church offered those who were seeking God a vision of life that was so beautiful it took their breath away. It was so bold and dynamic and loving and attractive that they couldn’t resist it! In fact, people came every day to join this magnetic community of faith ” And when he described that Acts 2 church that day in 1989 something happened inside of me that day that I will never forget.

My heart began pounding so I thought it might come right apart within me. My mind was racing as this picture of the church began to get clearer.

I found myself overwhelmed with emotion and these huge tears rolled down my face and I remember thinking , God please let me be part of building that kind of church in Saskatoon. Make Lakeview that kind of church. And then I made a promise (22 years old) I will give my life to seeing that Acts 2 church being duplicated in Saskatoon.

Let me fast forward. I had an hour this week on the phone with Glen Teal – he was the Senior Pastor here from 1985-1995 or so and my old boss, so I called him and said, “I’m sitting at your desk and talking on your phone, and we started reminiscing a bit about Lakeview Church and it got me thinking about the incredible history we have as a community and some of the great men and women who came before us and whose shoulders we stand on as a church today. Let me tell you guys some of our history and honor some of these people.

In 1923 a woman named Sarah Radke started our church in a storefront on Broadway Avenue with 3 people attending (Sarah, the preacher, and one other person),humble beginnings . But she was woman who had a dream to see God make a difference in that 1923 fledging city called Saskatoon and she had enough guts to put action to that dream.

Well the dream grew and the church grew in size and influence and it changed locations several times over the next years– a small building on Eastlake and Main to a larger facility in Greystone Heights and finally to this present facility in 1981.

And all through those first 60 years there was a core group of highly committed leaders in this church who desired intensely to follow God with their lives and together as the church. By the time 1981 came along they were 150 – 200 strong when they built this facility and those 200 sacrificed in ways that we cannot even imagine, to see this church move forward. They gave of their time and talent and money at a level that was truly amazing.

Why? To pursue the dream of growing an Acts 2 church that could reach at least 500 people in Saskatoon that was the dream in 1981.

Well in 1985 Glen Teal became the pastor and by 1988 he lead this church to the biggest change and transition of its nearly 70 year life. Glen ushered in a New Vision – to see this church focus on a very clear mandate – and that vision was to see spiritually lost and seeking people become fully devoted followers of Jesus and this new visions in practice meant that we would never again be a church that was inward focused we would look outside and not inside as a church. That vision lead to changes in how we did

church in that our weekend services then became connecting points for seeking people and the focus of the weekend shifted to explaining the truths of Christianity at introductory levels. And with a passionate abandon – those 200 people in 1988 started “seeker services” and that meant exchanging an organ and hymn books and a fairly formal church service for guitars and drums and video screens and you know what – that vision was dead on. People bought into it, we swung the doors wide open to new people and from 1988 –1995 nearly 300 people were added to the church and their lives were transformed. And that Acts 2 church seemed just a little clearer.

Folks, whenever there is growth in the church sacrifice is needed and those people sacrificed their comfort and tradition so that we might find Jesus. They had an amazing commitment to the calling:

Those were great days in the church and there was a constant buzz about the place. And peoples lives truly were being transformed by the power of God (hundreds of them). But like I said, seldom do things move forward in the church without significant personal sacrifice and commitment.

People like Glen Teal - Garnet Colborne - Jerry Schroeder - Maurice Hilderman- Elizabeth Nickle – Sylvia Shepherd, Laura Beach, and

a host of others still with us gave everything to see this thing called Lakeview move forward and to see seeking people find Christ and follow him.

There are always watershed moments in the church 1988 was one of those as we gathered around a common vision. 1995-1996 there were watershed moments as well Glen Teal had resigned. and so had everyone else on staff (except for one youth pastor). Those were tenuous days – in the life of this church (storm clouds were all around) But the leadership remained steady and over the next few months after Glen left we worked lots on relationships and I think those were humbling days for us as a church.

But God was working on a new plan for us the whole time. During those months of transition God began to call me into the position and the church took what I would now call a pretty risky move in February of 1996. They asked me to lead in the Big Church.

I was 29 and an untried leader in the adult church that now had 450 people attending, well the beauty of what happened next is what most people don’t realize. I couldn’t really do the job so the leadership stepped in to hold me up. Again people like Lee Barbour and Maurice Hilderman and Chuck Armstrong, Gloria and Jerry Reimer and Neil and Elizabeth Nickel, Mark Jacobson and Daryl Schmidt and Nancy Yee and Kelly Graham and dozens more made sure I didn’t crash.

There was a lot of growth in the numbers during those next years

and a lot of activity, but what was clear was that we held tightly to the vision our church had laid out in 1988 under Glen Teal to always focus outward on spiritually seeking people and never turn inward – that we were about calling the next 100 people who wanted to find Jesus – whatever that took – we did it and from 1996 – 2005 the church grew from 450 to 1200 people every weekend and we estimate that now nearly 2000 people call this their church home . .People, this church called Lakeview – (us) we stand on the shoulders of some spiritually great people in our history who were willing to give everything for the cause of Christ and for our lives.

Folks, the reason I tell you those things is that I want to remind us of the faithfulness of God through over 80 years of history in this community of faith and to remind us of the strength of His calling on leaders

lives and to remind us again of what He has called us to. He has called us to see spiritually seeking people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ in this city. To develop a church that will reach a city for Christ and He’s called us to prepare for the next 1000 people who will very shortly become part of this faith community.

Remember I used the words watershed moments to describe our

History.

• Well 1981 was one of these when people built this facility – Big Jump
• 1988 was one of those – (seeker service)
• So was 1996 as leaders came together with me to move this forward and sustain substantial growth
• I believe 2005 is a watershed years as well in the history of this church and tonight is part of that

Tonight I want to call you to stand with the staff and ministry leaders

of this church as we take some concrete steps forward in our pursuit of becoming an Acts 2 community and I’m calling each of you to ponder whether you are willing to join the 100’s that have gone before us and have lead this church so far in the journey and commit your lives at a deeper level of calling and ownership of the vision God has called us to.

So let me get to this. In order to continue to see our church become the authentic community God wants it to be and in order to see the next 1000 seeking people find Jesus and devote their lives to follow Him during this next season in our history.

Our staff and ministry leaders have created 6 very concrete goals for us as a church and what I’d like to do tonight is call you to work with us on these goals and own this next stage of our journey together. I gotta be honest, none of these goals for this organization work without each of us owning them individually and let me say these are not just some nice thoughts we’ve thrown together.

As close as we can tell these 6 goals are what God is calling us to in the year ahead and my job is to communicate that to you as clearly as I can.

Tonight I’ll introduce them to you and as the year goes on we’ll keep talking and listening to each other and God about these…

So with God leading us here is what we hope to accomplish together in the next 11 months.

• Finding God – that 200 new people be converted to our church community by June 30 2006. To be honest during these last couple years we’ve been in a bit of a lull when it comes to inviting seekers join us and find a relationship with Christ. But folks, its really time for us to look outside again. There are now so many events in place for you to invite new people to; Moms, Youth Programs, Support recovery groups, divorce care. Next fall these will be a new fire in our creative programming team for the weekend service. We promise they will be creative and done with excellence. Use these weekends to invite people to find Christ.

People the truth is that spiritually lost and seeking people matter greatly to God and His call on us is to help them be found and to be honest that’s what this church does best so start thinking and praying about who you might invite very shortly to join us as we follow Christ. Two hundred new people connected in the year ahead.

• Maturing Goal – During this past year something started among us, it’s called Encounter. Over the next year we will have three six week semesters of Encounter. It’s a time of worship, a time of teaching, a time of community, a time of prayer. These are awesome experiences for us to deepen our faith walk together. We’re going to ask you to join us with your families and commit to attending at least one of the Encounter semesters.

There are lots of other ways to mature your faith. Classes, small groups, learning seminars. We hope you’re taking advantage of these already and we’d like you to join us at Encounter. The first semester starts in October this next fall. Let’s together step deeper into our spiritual walk with Christ.

• Caring – This really gets me going. Our Care Ministry is under a reorganizing as Jacqui Acree has moved to another ministry opportunity in Kelowna B.C. So we thought, why sit around and see what happens, lets keep focused on Care Ministry. So during the fall you can expect some very clear communication coming to you about the dozens of opportunities available for you to connect in and participate in our Care Ministries department. There is a spot for everyone in Care Ministry and if you want to make a difference in peoples lives, this is a great place to start. Care Ministry month is coming up in November. Come and join us as a thousand of us make a difference in thousands of lives in this city… Awesome!
• Equipping – A significant part of this church’s mission is to equip you folks very well to serve others in the ministry of the church. Gloria Reimer has lead most of the pioneering work and teaching among us on this. Well, we need to see this expand greatly over the next year. We are expecting 1000 new people over the next 3-4 years to join this church. To make that become a reality we need 200 more first time volunteers to get plugged into ministry this year. And it helps to think about it like this; 20 different ministries adding 10volunteers to each one – 200! The strength in this church is in the people who serve. So if that’s you – sign up and see if you know somebody else – sign them up to! Communication will be coming in the fall about how you can connect as a volunteer.
• Operational - Folks, this is a really big deal. Simply put – a growing church takes money. More money than ever before and we anticipate to cover the costs of growing this church in the next few years. It will take 100 additional families this year giving financially to support the ministries of this church as we move forward. I gotta tell you, this is not a time to shrink back from this responsibility and commitment that we all share. If that’s you them sign up. Folks, I gotta be honest, most people think someone else is taking care of giving the money. Well it’s not true – you are, and you are, and you are and if you’re not, it’s not happening! Here’s what I really believe – I believe God wants to change this city spiritually through his church. And we hold back his plans when we don’t give. So we’ve got to get better at this money thing. There is so much God wants to do, so, what’s our goal? The goal is 100 additional families giving financially at new levels in the year ahead.
• Chapter 6 – Wow!~ What can I say about chapter 6? It has just taken a lot of leadership energy and focus to keep this thing on the road. We actually started the facility this week! You should get fired up! Folks, there is no question that we need this facility to reach the next 1000 people. God wants us to and my bet is none of you would ever think that the next 1000 folks will fit in here.

But we’re a ways away from being done chapter 6. So we’re calling you to help us finish as much of that facility as we can and as quickly as we can. You’ll be hearing about the completion of our Capital Fundraising Campaign in late August and September of this year and I won’t hide it from you – it will take a significant effort and a substantial commitment financially to finish chapter 6. But we’ve got to do it! The next 1000 seeking people are depending on us to finish it.

A couple quick items connected to chapter 6 :

• Look for info coming up. We are going to have an official sod turning ceremony and prayer time connected with our Annual Membership meeting on June 8 and we’ll get the particulars to you.
• Also, this facility was sold to a land developer – P.R. Development. I need to tell you that Ellen Ramai has been very good to you. Since P.R. Development purchased this building, Rock of Ages Lutheran Church has approached P.R. Developments and has purchased this building from them. So Rock of Ages will be moving into this facility. Awesome group of people – God has been in it! Folks, keep praying for our facility planning team. Critical decisions need to be made as they build and they need wisdom beyond what we have. Then in the fall when we talk with you about raising more money, open your hearts and minds and wallet to what God is asking us to finish.

So there is our focus for the year ahead. And I need to tell you that this is not an easy undertaking. This is HUGE and really its’ pretty aggressive. But we believe God is calling us to it. We have a great staff to lead us and they are highly committed to these 6 goals. Pray for them – they sacrifice so much.

This church, people, is an amazing thing. God has called us together from every corner of this city and from every background and part you can imagine. He’s called us to follow him with all of our hearts and then he’s specifically called this church to something unique; to focus outside. He has called us to give away the church to seeking people and we have openly agreed that everything we call Lakeview Church is not just ours, but it belongs to the next 1000 people in this city who need to find Christ.

So here’s the challenge : We must not lose that edge. We must not lose the vision that spiritually lost and seeking people matter to God and that Jesus gave his life for the whole world, not just for 1000 of us.

We can’t step back from the vision He’s called us to because eternity hangs in the balance for 1000’s of people in this city and in this province.

Folks, what God is doing here is no small thing and I really believe it will take the commitment of all of us – focused commitment to see His plans for our city move forward.

I need to be honest with you – this is a confession time. I just haven’t been as focused as I need to be on leading this church in the past 18 months or so. And for that I need to say I’m sorry and I need to ask for you forgiveness. And then I need to tell you that I’m back!! From wherever I was, I’m back. God has re-ignited a fire for his church way down deep in my heart and I love you people. You need to hear that I’m in this 100% and that I have renewed my commitment. I’m all in and I’m asking you to join with me and your leaders and lets get at this thing.

We’re going to do baptism next and as you see these people and listen to their hearts know that God is at work among us.