Breakthrough ideas with Jay:  What does it look like to move from being a “church for the unchurched” to being a “church among the unchurched?” How do we activate and motivate people where they live, work, and study and play to carry their faith beyond the church into neighborhoods and workplaces? What does a shift from attractional to incarnational ministry look like? We’ve been trying to answer the question in our services for a long time, “Is God relevant?” Now, we’re saying, “How can we help folks encounter God in our midst and carry that everywhere we go?” So we’re not asking the question, “Is God relevant?” We’re asking the question, “Is God here?” How can we encounter God in that space in our public gathering?” To encounter God, those that lead and prepare all week or all month for that service have encounters with God, so it becomes an overflow expression. “Hey, what if we relied on prayer first?” It was the tip of the mission. But 30 minutes before service, we’ll gather and ask, “What do we sense God saying? What are the micro shifts for the day?” If you are not well-prepared, you would not be able to receive the last minute micro-shifts from God. When it comes to planning, if you don’t have something to deviate from, then everything’s a deviation and exhausting. What happens when God’s presence is very tangible, palpable, and folks are finding freedom? We realized that we are not used to experiencing the presence of God in such a tangible way in our services. We’re doing the work to encounter God personally, and it’s spilling over into our services. We’re trying to build this relational connection, not just with each other, but with the God that we’re serving. We’ve been hardwired to be good at this connecting with God and people and doing it all simultaneously. Praying is leadership. What if we prayed as if it’s our only resource? We’re a well-resourced church in an upper class– we’ve got plenty of ideas. But let’s pray as if it’s our only resource What we’ve tried to do is not just talk about it, but from the platform, help folks engage in a prayer practice. We’ve begun to use the stage as a place of equipping. When I’m talking to God, where can I go in my imagination? I mean, what does it look like? We are deploying people from the room on Sunday to go and live their faith the other six days of the week in the different venues God has placed them. We’ve elevated the stage to place people in spectator mode with their faith. How do we change the stage from a place to watch, into a place of encounter? We facilitate a meeting that they can carry with them. It has been amazing to help everyone get personal clarity. The church is here to help accomplish what God wants to do in your life. In the Younique process, we are helping the individual say, “Hey, how do I be a disciple that makes disciples different than the person next to me?” How do we have a person who knows how to help many folks reproduce so we can have an exponential movement? I want to activate healthy, Spirit-led reproductive leaders that lead communities that change communities. That’s what I want to get after. Are we deploying people into their calling through this Younique process by helping them find their two words and attributing all the rest of the clarity to that? We’ve taught people how to coach and disciple others. Younique happens to be a great process, a context to help folks become trainers. In 30 seconds, what if I could get to the heart of what’s going on with my neighbor? And not because they have the same language, but because I understand how to get to their core. Be a person of the Scriptures. Don’t just master them, let them master you. Be a person of prayer. Learn how to have a conversation with God until just it’s normal. Breakthrough resources in this episode: Heartland Community Church Fathered by God by John Eldredge Younique: Designing the Life that God Dreamed for You by Will Mancini Jay Cull leads as Pastor of NextGen/Missions at Heartland Community Church just outside of Kansas City, Kansas. His life calling is coaching leaders in toward breakthrough clarity to lead communities that change communities. Jay’s a former church planter, businessman turned pastor, coach and consultant.  He enjoys the outdoors, especially biking, hiking, and skiing, with his family – wife of 24 years and three adventurous children.