I’m Steve Lawes
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Utilizing a process we call “Virtual Church Consulting” we work with you through a series of steps to help pinpoint problems and offer solutions. This all online church consulting method is effective and affordable.
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Internet Impact
Your website is the “digital foyer” for the church. It is the first impression for almost everyone that visits your church.
Community Statistics
Demographic information is helpful in getting an overview of what is happening in your community.
Church Marketing
Church marketing is a tool to help people who are in need of what your church offers to be able to connect with you.
Effective Outreach Ideas
An outreach strategy is a specific set of tactics intended to ultimately attract new people to your church.
Meet Steve Lawes
Steve Lawes is a Certified Church Consultant. He has been the lead Pastor of Keys Vineyard Church in Big Pine Key since 1992. He has a Bachelors Degree in Bible and Theology from Berean University and Masters and PhD Degrees from Atlantic Coast Theological Seminary. He lead the Cuba Missions Team for Vineyard Missions from 1995-2005 and traveled to Cuba more than twenty times helping to plant churches and build up local leaders. He served as the South Florida Area Leader for the Association of Vineyard Churches for ten years. He also founded the Jesus Moment Bible Institute and Seminary in 2014 which has a student enrollment of over 2000. He has written three devotional books, Daily Psalt Intake, Daily Sage Intake and Daily Strength Training which are now out of print but are currently available as free e-books.
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Recent Posts from Church Consultant
Fruit of the Spirit – Self-Control
Self-control and living lives that please God are our discussion points for today. In this series on the Fruit of the Spirit we have talked about the different aspects of the fruit of the spirit that Paul lists for us Galatians 5:22-23.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
In verses 19-21 of Galatians 5 Paul describes people that are out of control.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
In this last message of the series we are going to look at self-control and the difference between the believer who has learned to yield their lives to the Holy Spirit and those who are still trying to live as the center of the story.
The Greek root for the word self-control means “to get a hold of ” or “to get a grip on”.
Real self-control is Holy Spirit produced fruit in us. We must come to the realization that it is not something we can do in our own strength. If we believe that somehow we are the source of our self-control we will take the credit for it rather than giving the glory to God.
We also need to understand that while this Holy Spirit provided self-control is a gift, we are still required to open it and live it out in order to experience it.
We want Jesus to get glory. We want to control ourselves in the power supplied by Holy Spirit.
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
And we must always be thankful as we remember that every step forward in self-control is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We need to live lives that are pleasing to God. This type of living is not possible without God’s help. We need to know that He is with us and for us. That He loves and forgives us. That when we mess up He will forgive us and empower us by His spirit to do the next right thing.
1 Thessalonians 4:1 (NIV)
1 Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.
Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
In today’s climate the idea of being a gentle person might be hard to imagine. Our current culture is anything but gentle and the prevailing idea is that gentle people will get pushed around and walked over.
What is Gentleness?
The dictionary defines the word as: mild, moderate, soft, and delicate. The word in the Greek is often translated as meekness.
There is something we need to understand when we speak of gentleness or meekness. Meekness is not weakness, in fact the Greeks used this word to describe strong animals that were brought under control.
There are only two individuals in the Bible who are described by this word, Jesus (three times) in Matthew 11:29; Matthew 21:5; and in 2 Corinthians 10:1, and in the Old Testament, Moses in Numbers 12:3 is described as meek.
I love this. Both Moses and Jesus were rescuers. They were part of God’s plan to set us free from slavery and bondage. These gentle men were in no way pushovers. Jesus invites us to live this life of gentleness with Him.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
He says, “Come unto me, all you weary and burdened and I will give you rest. The Lord invites you and me to walk alongside him, literally, to yoke up with him, and he’ll teach us this gentleness.
How is gentleness expressed in our lives?
It happens as we yield to Holy Spirit. We yield our personalities. We yield our words. We yield our expectations. As we do, we allow the Holy Spirit produced fruit of gentleness to be activated in our day to day lives.
Gentleness comes from a life committed to yielding to the Holy Spirit. True gentleness is power and strength that’s been brought under God’s control. Gentle people have been transformed by the surprising message of God’s grace, and they delight in showing that grace to others.
Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.
Fruit of the Spirit – Faithfulness
Galatians 5:22 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Faithfulness is believing that God is who He says He is and that He is completely trustworthy despite the trials we face in life. Faithfulness means that we trust what God says in the Bible, we trust He work out everything for good, and we trust that our situation on earth is nothing compared to the hope we have when everything is made new. This type of faithfulness is made possible in us by Holy Spirit. The Spirit makes us faithful and all of this is possible because God is faithful.
God is Faithful
We can see God’s faithfulness in the order and constancy of nature. There is a design to things.
Psalm 119:138 (NIV)
138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy.
We can see His faithfulness in the way He keeps His Word and His promises.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)
3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
How is faithfulness expressed?
It is first expressed in our faithfulness to Him. He has done so much for us, He has been so faithful to us, our response should be to be faithful to Him.
Being faithful to Him means that we must follow Him daily.
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
We need to be spending time in the Word and in prayer being open to the leading of Holy Spirit.
Our faithfulness is also expressed in how we act towards others.
Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Ultimately, faithfulness gets us back to loving God and loving others, which Jesus has told us is what really matters.
Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.
Testimonials
“Steve and his team at Keys Vineyard Church have built a church that has done an inspiring job reaching their community. Steve is a treasure trove of experience and has continued to prioritize learning and growth throughout his more than 30 years of ministry in a way few pastors have. You’ll get a lot out of connecting with him!”
“I watched first hand as Steve experienced the devastation of hurricane Irma in his town of Big Pine Key, Florida. The town was destroyed, the church building rendered unusable and the staff impacted personally. I watched a leader rise to the need of his community and minister in a situation that not very many could. He has a powerful voice of experience and wisdom earned the hard way.”
“Steve Lawes is a valuable coach/ mentor. I’ve watched Steve over the last thirty years build a substantial outward focused church with disciples who do what Jesus did. He has inspired leaders of churches with simple/tested ideas to develop leaders and grow churches.
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“Steve Lawes is an outstanding coach. He is authentic, creative, and personable. He has more cutting edge ideas than any pastor I know in regard to evangelism and meeting the needs of people in his community.”
Interested in Becoming a Church Consultant?
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One of the greatest questions Jesus asked was “Do You Want to Get Well?”
I t would seem that the answer was obvious. But getting well for the man who had been not well for a very long time meant that he would have to do something different. It is not easy to change, but it always starts with a first step.
Take that first step now by sceduling your no obligation, free thirty (30) minute Zoom meeting with us today. You have nothing to lose and it may be your first step to a new and healthy way of doing and being the church.
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