Almost eleven years ago I first began working for Mars Hill Church and the entire staff totaled five people. In fact, I was the first intern ever to serve at Mars Hill Church, and we officed out of a tiny two-bedroom apartment that sat above a small Indian grocery store in the U-District. The staff of Mars Hill Church is a different story today, with over 120 of us spread across ten locations in two states. Suffice to say, it’s a bit harder to get everyone together on a regular basis. This week however we made it happen. Tuesday and Wednesday the Ballard campus hosted our first ever "staff conference." It was a quick thirty hours for the purpose of building relationships, casting vision for the future, challenging our motives for serving, and regrouping around our singular mission: spreading the gospel of Jesus. Pastor Mark Driscoll shared the big vision—where we’re going as a church and seventeen obstacles and opportunities we should expect along the way. Pastor Dave Bruskas reminded us that we’re not here to build a career; we’re building a community that worships Jesus. Pastor Tim Beltz offered a sobering application of Jesus’ parable of the talents (Mt 25:14–30) and its implications on building a gospel legacy. Pastor Tim Smith and Pastor Joel Brown led us in a time of singing, and as a staff we recounted the abundant evidences of God’s grace and mercy to our church. A lot is going to come out of this week, but I pray that the greatest benefit will be a renewed sense of mission, urgency, love, and gratitude throughout the church, with our staff leading the way by humble example. If you know someone on staff at Mars Hill Church, I encourage you to ask them about what Jesus showed them this week. I’ll post more of these lessons in the days and weeks to come here on the blog. Find Pastor Jamie on Twitter and Facebook.