The Kingdom Celebration Challenge Event

At the conclusion of A 40 Day Experience: EKG, The Heartbeat of God study, or the 40 Day EKG study plus a study of TheActs 1:8 Challenge  by Nate Adams, churches should consider acting on what they have been taught by holding a Kingdom Celebration Challenge.

The purpose of the Kingdom Celebration Challenge is to:

1. Guide the local congregation to celebrate their kingdom values, think strategically about advancing God’s kingdom, and make specific plans to serve God as His people.
2. Lead the church to acknowledge  that the Acts 1:8 kingdom commission was given by the resurrected Lord to the local church and thus each church must plan strategically and simultaneously with all 4 quadrants in mind.
3. Further illustrate the need for developing and funding kingdom partners in each of the 4 quadrants.

The 40 Day Experience EKG planning team should work with the pastor and leaders to choose the leaders for each of the 4 strategic kingdom advance teams. Other church teams or committees, such as evangelism or missions, could staff or be absorbed into these new teams, for the event comes from the same kingdom commission such committees are created to serve. Each team should then have 3-5 more team members enlisted or appointed to help them. The Jerusalem team (explanation following) will probably be the largest and will probably continue to work most closely with the pastor. Ideally, the teams will become permanent after facilitating the Kingdom Celebration Challenge.

This event should be planned for a large area such as a church gym or fellowship hall. It should be church-wide in scope and involve food, whether a meal or light refreshments. The inspirational theme for the event comes from the scope of the Great Commission given by Jesus in Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 HCSB).

3 Months Prior

Preparation should begin as planning to launch the 40 Day EKG study is begun. Consult the church calendar and leadership in order to choose the date and place for the Kingdom Celebration Challenge. The space chosen should be divisible into four distinct sections or quadrants of the room.

Create 4 kingdom teams representing the congregation’s current:

Local ministry impact (Jerusalem Team)

State or regional ministry impact (Judea Team)

National or continental ministry impact (Samaria Team)

Global ministry impact (Ends of the Earth Team)

The task of each team is to illustrate or represent visually how the congregation impacts the assigned area of ministry and missions and answer these four questions:

1. Who is our Jerusalem (Judea, Samaria, ends of the Earth)?
2. Who are our Jerusalem (Judea, Samaria, ends of the Earth) partners?
3. What are we doing now and why?
4. What remains to be done?

When the teams consider their ministry partners, they should consider other congregations of their denomination as well as people, ministries and churches of like faith and practice with whom to pray and work. As the partner list takes shape, consider collecting electronic addresses to expedite contacts and collaboration in prayer and service.

2 Months Prior

All teams should invite and seek commitments from any special guest and request any documents, and data or studies. Place orders for special materials such the Acts 1:8 witnessing bracelets or other items needed for their displays. Assign individuals to collect and decorate each team’s area of the Celebration Challenge event. Choices of food items, music, program appearances, and decorations for the event should be coordinated by the 4 event team leaders. Solicit data, brochures, display items and other materials needed for the event.

1 Month Prior

Take stock of what has been done by each team. Agree on set-up and clean up schedules and assignments. Make a final report to the EKG Planning Team. Begin the collection of requested materials. Make follow up contacts for any items that have not already arrived.

Contact the prayer team that has been praying for the 40 Day Experience study of EKG and ask them to pray specifically for the preparations and impact of the Kingdom Celebration Challenge Event.

1 Week Prior

Confirm all invitees, food and decorating commitments, orders for materials, and the schedule for set up and clean up.

The Four Quadrant Teams

Jerusalem Team

Plan to design one section of the event location to look like Jerusalem or your local community. The key, however, is not on the elaborate nature of the decoration but on showing how the congregation is meeting their kingdom assignment to represent God’s presence in their community or city.

The team should do a demographic study gathering information from census sources, the local chamber of commerce, and local ministerial or church associations. With information in hand, the team next determines and illustrates how the congregation serves  each segments of the population. Possibilities to consider are Sunday school, vacation Bible school, senior adults, families, children, language or ethnic groups different from the  general congregation, the homeless, evangelism, counseling, etc… This is the celebration element. Refreshment ideas for this section of the room could be inspired by local products or favorites.

 Next, to develop  a strategic plan to reach the congregation’s Jerusalem, the team should ask and help the congregation answer the four questions of “Who?” and “What?”

Question 1 requires that the church, corporately, and the members, individually, think strategically about who they know in Jerusalem that must be reached with the good news of the Kingdom.

Question 2 helps the church to recognize the need to cooperate with other kingdom partners to fulfill their Jerusalem responsibility.

Question 3 allows the pastor and the Jerusalem team to show why the church is structured as it is today. This functions as an apologetic for the strategy and budget of the church.

Question 4 enables the church to dream and plan for the future and to ensure that the plans are connected to kingdom priorities. 

Challenge the church to ask themselves, “Are we organized to reach Jerusalem?” Highlight particular needs in the community such as age groups, the homeless, unwed mothers, various people groups. Lead the congregation to think creatively about what could be done. The team’s goal is to get the congregation to ask themselves how to improve their strategy to reach “Jerusalem.” Remember, no one church can reach all of Jerusalem. Who are/could be your kingdom ministry partners in reaching and serving your congregation’s Jerusalem? What remains to be done in your community? Your kingdom partners should be invited to provide resources or personnel to help you present the strategy for reaching Jerusalem.

 Judea Team

Another section of the event room should reflect the church’s state or regional ministry impact. This encompasses anything ministry related outside the local community. Disaster relief, benevolence, free medical clinics, home or church construction projects, or any other form of ministry that requires the congregation to reach beyond its community. With the four key questions in mind, the team could start by researching and asking how their congregation combines efforts with others to broaden ministry impact and accomplish things they could not do because otherwise due to logistics or size. Look for or engage like-minded congregations. Your kingdom partners should be invited to provide resources or personnel to help you present the strategy for reaching your Judea.

Evaluate congregational goals, calendars, giving patterns and budgets to see how combining with other churches could accomplish some shared goals. This assessment and a projection for increasing levels of involvement should also be illustrated to the congregation.

This could be an important perspective builder in an educational moment. Congregations could see themselves as part of larger bodies and review ways to participate out of their strengths and then ask, “what else can we do?” This part of the room could dispense small packets of toiletries, such as toothbrushes, tissues, and handcleaner as symbols of ministry actions.

Samaria Team

This team explores and illustrates the congregation’s commitment to reach their continent for Christ. With the four key questions in mind, the team should look first at needs in their part of the world. Then the team should consider their congregation’s non-local mission budget and its partnership with larger bodies, such as their denominational mission organization(s). Your kingdom partners should be invited to provide resources or personnel to help you present the strategy for reaching  your Samaria.

The team can use decorations, food, and items that represent the distant regions of their continent. This team should help lead the congregation to ask and answer the questions, Are we giving enough? Are there mission trips we could take to add our gifts of time and hands-on involvement? Churches should call their a mission group they are affiliated with and request materials or a missionary to be present or both. Packets of seed could be given out to symbolize planting churches or sowing the truth of the gospel throughout the continent.

Ends of the Earth Team

“What are we doing to reach the world?” is the question the Ends of the Earth team asks and answers. This team draws attention to the scriptural mandate to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. This team will also produce the opportunity to ask, What remains to be done?  What does our congregation’s budget reflect concerning our commitment to reach the nations? Who are our ministry partners? What mission trips could we take? What missionaries do we know? What more can we do?

Churches can turn to their denominational international mission organizations or mission organizations they support. These are a congregation’s best source for information and possible resources such as brochures or even mission personnel to speak or visit the EKG Celebration Challenge. International foods, world music, recordings of hymns, praise songs, and prayer requests from other countries can help to create a mindset that requires church’s to think strategically about their kingdom strategy and the direct correlation between mission strategies, prayer, and budget. 

For some churches an evaluation of their mission giving and following the investment being made by mission organizations will help convey what their giving accomplishes. In some cases, such as with Southern Baptists, their giving enables their denomination to assist churches to  fulfill the Acts 1:8 kingdom vision. The work of the Ends of the Earth team can create a ideal opportunity for the local church to contact and ask for materials from their kingdom ministry partners. Your kingdom partners should be invited to provide resources or personnel to help you present the strategy for reaching the ends of the earth. By contacting their association, state, national and international organizations, local congregations tap into new outlets for reaching the ends of the earth.

The JJSE Bracelet

The JJSE braclet has been designed to help the local church keep the Acts 1:8 ever before the members of the church. It is inscribed with 1:3 and 1:8 which refer to those respective texts in the book of Acts. The letters JJSE, standing for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Ends of the Earth are in bold on the top of the bracelet. The bracelet is first of all a prayer reminder for the lost in each quadrant and for the partners in each quadrant. It may also provide many witnessing opportunities. It could be distributed at the Kingdom Celebration Challenge as individuals are asked to sign the EKG covenant card included on the CD-ROM of your church kit.