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Dr. Matt Powell

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JULY: INVEST & REST

July 2, 2018 by Matt Leave a Comment

July is the most important month of the year for me. The reason behind its
importance is an odd clashing of competing motivations. First, I seek the Lord
earnestly in the process of planning the coming ministry year. Second, I take
two weeks of vacation to rest with my family.

Every June the ministry staff gets away for 24 hours to evaluate the past year
and look forward to the coming ministry year. We work through the big
opportunities to be placed on the calendar. We evaluate the previous year’s
endeavors, helping us shape the objectives that should be tweaked, cut, or
added. This retreat provides me with the nuts and bolts I need to do my planning
over the first two weeks in July.



Invest

The first two weeks of July are very intense. Within that two weeks, I am
pleading with the Lord for direction in regards to sermons for the following 12
months. Moving from series planning down to each individual week and the central
scripture of that week, I work to populate a spreadsheet that guides the next
year.

How hard can it be, right? The best comparison I have to offer is a Rubik’s
Cube. The process consists of taking many pieces and moving them around in order
to solve the puzzle of unity and progression across the ministry year. The
greatest challenge is often arriving, through much time in prayer, at a
destination of confidence with each sermon, event, and opportunity that is
placed on the calendar. The natural ebb and flow of our local community, our
ministry events, and my personal rhythms create a mess of pieces. Prayerfully,
those pieces are eventually arranged into something that will propel us into our
next season of growth as His local church.

Rest

If I am able to solve the Rubik’s Cube within the first two weeks, then I take
two weeks of vacation to spend with my family. Working in ministry ushers many
seasons of 6 or 7 day work weeks. The “holidays” that many people enjoy on the
calendar are still work days for me and even our staff sometimes. Every week
that ends on a Sunday is one that brings the gracious blessing of preparing a
sermon bathed in prayer and built upon God’s Word. In order to shepherd my
family well and not make ministry the mistress of my home, I have to be very
intentional about resting and spending time with my family.

We usually try to find an economical way to leave the area as a family to enjoy
some time together. Also, there is some time spent on my job description of
husband, daddy, and friend. These short days are always priceless moments spent
as the chaos of the Fall ministry and family calendar is imminent.

Would you pray?

Whether it is just this very moment as you are reading this post or sometime
over these days, I would love to have your prayers. Pray with me as I seek the
Lord’s guidance in ministry and sermon planning. Ask that His voice would be
loud and clear in my heart and mind. Also, pray that every minute we have as a
family returns bountiful investments.

Matt Powell serves as teaching pastor at Crossings Community Church, a body of
believers whose mission is to engage, equip, and empower homes for gospel
transformation in Katy, TX.

Filed Under: Uncategorized


CHURCH PLANTING: 5 MORE THINGS…

June 13, 2018 by Matt Leave a Comment

I wish there were only 5 things I wish I would’ve been told as a new church
planting team. I could probably list hundreds but I’m only going to share 5
more. What follows are the last 5 of the 10 things I wish we would’ve known as a
church planting team. If you missed the first 5, you can find them HERE.




RELATIONSHIPS MUST BE SCALABLE.

The culture created on a planting team often foster strong relationships. You
will spend a significant amount of time together in the early days. However, as
God moves people toward His vision for this new church there will be new people
to love and disciple. After all, that is what you are praying toward.
Relationships within the team must be scalable to sustain the spreading of
discipleship responsibilities. This is a beautiful thing and yet something that
is often difficult for a team who has created a rhythm of spending considerable
time praying together and developing deep community. Build relationships that
can withstand the transition of on-boarding new people.


CHURCH PLANTING IS ALL HANDS ON DECK, BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF ALL HANDS.

The demands of planting are undeniable. The planting team must serve in many
areas of the church. But, the journey must still be one of spiritual growth and
not burnout. A steady flow of communication with the team, and especially the
planting pastor, is vital to the ongoing spiritual health of the core and the
church.


TAKE INITIATIVE AND TALK ABOUT IT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

The planting team must own the vision. Take the initiative to serve the vision
with the gifts and passions God has given. Don’t wait on a planting pastor to
assign you a task. Be willing to step out in areas of need. But, never step out
before you talk about your desires with the planter and the team. Maverick team
members can fracture the health of your infant church.


YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.

You are stepping on new ground. You don’t even know what questions to ask if you
have no idea what lies ahead. Seek the wisdom of those who have traveled the
path upon which you now embark. Receive their wisdom as experience-tested
wisdom.


YOUR LEGACY WILL OUTLAST YOUR RESIDENCY.

The vision may begin with you but it will not end with you. Rejoice in knowing
our sovereign God will use your investment long after He takes you into new
seasons of life. Your time here is bigger than your imagination will ever reach.
You are an ambassador for His Kingdom through the vision of your local church.
Your legacy is not dependent upon how long you are present nor even how long the
church exists. Rejoice in the fruit He will bring!

I love church planting and I love that Crossings Community is all about planting
churches. Every planting journey is unique and I pray that my 12+ years may have
produced some wisdom that will encourage those praying for planters, those
planting churches, and those discerning the call toward planting.

Matt Powell serves as teaching pastor at Crossings Community Church, a body of
believers whose mission is to engage, equip, and empower homes for gospel
transformation in Katy, TX.

Filed Under: Uncategorized


CHURCH PLANTING: 5 THINGS I WISH WE WOULD’VE KNOWN…

June 5, 2018 by Matt Leave a Comment

If I could turn back time (Do you hear Cher singing too?) there are a few things
I wish someone would’ve told our core church planting team. There are actually
ten things but for the sake of shorter attention spans, we’ll break them into
two parts.



GOD HAS JUST AS MUCH PLANNED FOR TODAY AS HE DOES FOR TOMORROW.

Longing and excitement for the days ahead characterize the hearts of those who
are planting. We were so excited about what the future might bring we forgot God
was working in the here and now. He wants to prepare you for tomorrow. He does
that work of preparation today. Fight the temptation to long for the days ahead
at the expense of His presence and work at this very moment.

UNSPOKEN EXPECTATIONS ARE WATERED SEEDS OF FUTURE DISASTER.

Vision is exciting and it fuels the passion of planters and their teams. But,
vision is a preferable future, not a guaranteed future. As vision is cast it
creates various images in the minds of those involved in planting. Those images
of expectations will never match perfectly with reality. The more planters and
planting teams can openly discuss their expectations, the better those
expectations can be prepared for meeting the realities of ministry as a new
church.

CREATING A CULTURE IS IMMENSELY EASIER THAN CHANGING A CULTURE.

Creating a new church with new people in a new place is exhilarating. Create a
culture of experimentation where there is always permission to try something
new. Leverage the early days of being ritual-free and be intentional about
creating a culture that represents the vision God has given.

SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE.

If someone would have shared this truth with me 12 years ago, it would have had
a significant impact on my personal ministry as a church planter. Whether you
have 15 or 500 people gathering at this new church during your launch year, it
does not determine your success. Be confident in what God has called you to do
and be found faithfully obedient to that calling, then you will find success.
Remember, we serve His definition of success and not that of the world.

IT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.

The church planting discussion is full of voices these days. There are so many
good things to hear and know as a planter or a planting team. One huge
temptation is to hear the cautions and respond dismissively, “That will never
happen to us.” It may happen to you. Some of those truths will definitely happen
to you and some of them may be the things you would never expect. Ask God to
form your expectations by His wisdom instead of your self-derived desires.

The final 5 coming in the next post…

Matt Powell serves as teaching pastor at Crossings Community Church, a body of
believers whose mission is to engage, equip, and empower homes for gospel
transformation in Katy, TX.

Filed Under: Pastoral Living


FORTITUDE

April 30, 2018 by Matt Leave a Comment

This is a guest post written by Jenny Isaminger.  Jenny has been married to
Grant for 11 years and has two wonderful children, Ellie (5) and Jack (2).  The
Isamingers have been members of Crossings Community Church for 3 years.

The post-it note has been stuck to my fridge for almost 2 years. Our pastor,
Matt Powell, preached a sermon on Mother’s Day in 2016. The passage was from
Hebrews and Matt honed in on the word Fortitude: mental & emotional strength
that enables courage and steadfastness in the face of adversity.

I am the definition of a suburban housewife. A work-at-home-mom of 2, in a
two-story house with a pool and a dog and 2 fish whose tank needs to be cleaned
desperately. I’m homeroom mom and I spend my days working and carting these kids
around to dance and swim lessons and checking homework folders. My life is not
hard.

But there are weeks that feel like everything is a fight. Getting in and out of
the car is an olympic event with a toddler (I would win the Bronze Medal in Car
Seat Wrangling. Bronze because points would be deducted for my tone of voice.
The Rule Book says you have to sound like Snow White and I sound like a Purple
Minion.) Having good communication in marriage is not something that comes
easily. Taking care of a household while also struggling through all the
external stressors flying at you is difficult. When you’re burdened and weighted
down by family members with cancer – it feels especially deflating when you’re
notified by someone in your household that they have no clean socks.

Motherhood is taking care of everyone and everything inside your home while also
taking on the challenges and trials of everyone and everything outside of your
home.

This is why I have the word Fortitude on my refrigerator. Matt reminded us in
that sermon to not grow weary of living a life that glorifies God. Do not be
crushed by the pressures. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He was
strong yesterday, He is strong today and He will be strong forever.

You know who wasn’t strong yesterday? Me.

You know what isn’t strong today? Me.



You know how long I probably won’t be strong? Forever.

But you know – God hasn’t placed the expectation on me to be strong enough. He
pursues me in my weakness! Hebrews Chapter 13 says “It is good for the heart to
be strengthened by grace.”  His grace is surrounding me, strengthening me,
pursuing me in my weakness.

He didn’t create me to get everything done on my own, based on my own strength.
I am strengthened by the grace found in Him.

So I pray for fortitude – for that mental and emotional strength found in Him
that enables courage and steadfastness in the face of adversity.

Even when that adversity is nothing more than the fact that my kids only get
sick the day of an incredibly important event or trip.

Do you have a place where you put things in your home to remind you to change
your perspective?

Crossings Community Church is a body of believers whose mission is to engage,
equip, and empower homes for gospel transformation in Katy, TX.

Filed Under: Suburbia, Uncategorized


ONE CHURCH, MULTIPLE LOCATIONS?

March 27, 2018 by Matt Leave a Comment

There are many churches here in our Houston area and even here in our immediate
West Houston neighborhood. Although many, there are still not enough. There are
two primary distinguishing factors among our churches, theological distinctions
and ministry philosophy distinctions.

Where there is theological/doctrinal unity amidst churches, distinctions then
exist within the way each church approaches it’s unique pursuit of making
disciples. One phrase that has emerged in recent years to describe this pursuit
among churches is the phrase “One Church, Multiple Locations”.

This is a tag line used to communicate a church’s commitment to remain unified
in vision, mission, and values while gathering in multiple locations (sometimes
referred to as campuses). Sometimes these churches are all led by one preaching
pastor via video, while other times the majority of the sermons are given by a
unique campus pastor. These churches are making disciples and changing lives in
amazing ways. My goal is not to critique that strategy for ministry but rather
to define our distinctive difference from them so that we, as a body, can grow
in unity in this journey together.

We at Crossings have committed ourselves to a simple approach to ministry. Being
a “Simple Church” is a category written about broadly in ministry. Sometimes
this terminology is only used to speak of a value for small group ministry. It
is a term used to describe churches that have committed themselves toward a
singular path of discipleship, like small groups, in comparison to the shotgun
style approach to ministry events. Although it does that for us, it also goes
much farther. Our simple ministry strategy leads to a laser focus in everything
that we do whether we are talking about small group ministry, men’s or women’s
ministry, children’s and family ministry, or global and local missions.



[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized


WHAT ARE WE? GROWTH ORIENTED.

February 6, 2017 by Matt Leave a Comment

This one may be a bit odd for you for several reasons.  Over the years I have
heard countless different responses as people have spoken about their thoughts
regarding church growth.  Before I share a few of those responses with you, I’d
like to make a very important foundational statement.

When we talk about growth we can talk about it in regards to both breadth and
depth.  Depth is rarely questioned but I want to state it clearly.  We strive in
everything that we do at Crossings Community Church to see growth in the
spiritual depth of our homes.  However, that is not the growth I’m talking about
with this post… I’m talking about breadth today.



[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized


WHAT ARE WE? EXPOSITORY.

January 23, 2017 by Matt Leave a Comment

We naturally categorize experiences in our lives. When you meet someone new and
tell someone else about that person you will have already placed some labels and
categories on them. It may be simple adjectives or broad stroke generalizations,
but either it helps you communicate and helps your listener understand.

This need carries over into our various church experiences as well. Therefore,
denomination labels can be helpful for people visiting a new church. Before they
ever walk in the door of a denominational church they have some set
expectations. So, when I tell people that we at Crossings Community are a
non-denominational Bible church it throws them for a loop. They often do not
have nicely manicured categories with set expectations to apply to my response.

I am going to create this series of short posts which will connect some words,
ideas, and labels to our identity to help outsiders and newcomers understand who
we are while giving our church body some language that will be helpful. The
first label is EXPOSITORY. We at Crossings Community Church are a church that
values and practices expository preaching every single Sunday.


[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized


SIX WAYS TO ACTIVELY LISTEN TO A SERMON

January 16, 2017 by Matt Leave a Comment

It is an incredibly interesting point of view when I look out across the various
faces each Sunday morning. All of the caricatures are in place. There is Mr.
Head Tilt who is communicating with that squinty eye pushed forward and slight
head tilt that says he is closely examining and evaluating every single word
(usually a male). There is Mr. or Mrs. Head Nod who is vivaciously spurring me
on through their aggressive nodding with each provided point of observation or
application.

Mr. Rubber Neck is a small minority but usually represented. He, and it usually
is a he, has a singular focus for the morning and that focus is for no one to
see that he is taking 10-20 second naps throughout the sermon. In his effort to
conceal himself he overcompensates his course correction by violently popping
his head back up from his momentary slumber. Madam Transcription is fascinating
to see as she is frantically transcribing every word, and hardly every looking
up, into her notebook where she religiously keeps her lifetime of sermon notes.
Last and my personal favorite is The Testifier. This is individual who lets me
know I am preaching truth and encourages me to continue through their vocal
affirmations and encouragements which seem to spring out of their faces as an
involuntary burst of excitement. Every preacher needs his Testifiers!

We all listen and engage with a sermon in different ways. I’d like to suggest 6
ways that might help you engage more deeply.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized


HOW SHOULD WE PREPARE FOR WORSHIP?

January 2, 2017 by Matt Leave a Comment

Sunday is often the craziest morning of the week as we gather our family
together and rush out the door in the hopes of making it to church on time. 
This series of events has us arriving on Sunday frustrated and often in the
middle of a marital tiff which was sparked by the craziness of the morning. 
Unfortunately, that makes it too easy for us to begin our Sunday morning worship
experience with a critical and distracted heart.

The conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman are helpful for us in
this conversation.  Jesus says, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is
seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24 ESV)

His words are not limited to Sundays.  He is speaking about living a life of
worship. However, that life of worship has everything to do with our Sundays. 
When we understand that God is pursuing worshippers and we apply that to what we
read in Hebrews 10, our understanding of the importance of the Sunday gathering
is elevated.  The author of Hebrews says, let us consider how to stir up one
another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit
of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day
drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV)

A life of worship has everything to do with our Sundays

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized


ACTS 29: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR CROSSINGS? (PART 2)

December 15, 2016 by Matt 1 Comment

Hopefully you read in Part 1 that we at Crossings Community Church have joined
the Acts 29 Network. Acts 29 is a diverse, global family of church-planting
churches. It is a network which seeks to equip and support churches who are
committed to planting churches. Acts 29 desires to be a network known for 4
things: (1) planting churches that plant churches, (2) pursuing holiness and
humility, (3) being a radically diverse and global community, and (4) praying
for conversions through evangelism.

Acts 29 has five theologically driven core values: (1) gospel centrality in all
of life, (2) the sovereignty of God in saving sinners, (3) the work of the Holy
Spirit for life and ministry, (4) the equality of male and female and the
principal of male servant leadership, and (5) the local church as God’s primary
mission strategy.

These principles and values have been driving forces for us at Crossings since
our inception. Therefore, thankfully we find immediate brotherhood amidst the
churches banding together to pursue Kingdom growth in the Acts 29 Network. Yes,
I know… I still have not answered your question.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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ABOUT ME

I am a Christ-follower, husband, father, friend, and pastor who loves watching
baseball, playing volleyball with my daughters, training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
with my son, and spending quantity time with my bride. Read More…

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RECENT COMMENTS

 * Matt on Ghost Man: The Absent Husband & Dad
 * C on Ghost Man: The Absent Husband & Dad
 * Joel S on Acts 29: What Does It Mean for Crossings? (Part 2)
 * Matt Powell on My Tattoo Story
 * Kelly Couch on My Tattoo Story
 * Michelle Perzan on Can Growth Be Uncomfortable?
 * Emily on Can Growth Be Uncomfortable?
 * Matt Powell on Marriage Fun
 * Joel S on Marriage Fun
 * Devin Dabney on Consumed by Distraction

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