Outreach

The theme of this fall at our church is outreach.  Praise the Lord for three ladies who came to know Christ as their Savior at our Ladies Luncheon.  Our hearts were challenged as Brent Gellos and Mike Taylor spoke to us during our Outreach Conference.

Last Sunday, we had a 10 year old girl accept Christ in the morning service.  What is obvious is that God is still willing to save.  It's up to his people to share the gospel.  Join us as we organize to reach our community for Christ.

The next evangelistic event that we are working on is our Christmas play The Other Wise Man directed Ray Gibbs.  The whole church is coming together to form the cast, build the set, and stage the event on December 6-8.

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 Resurrection Sunday

This Sunday is one of the days out of the year that folks go to church.  Our church will celebrate the day with several different activities meant to remind us of the significance of the resurrection.  Some of our members will meet early for a sunrise service, we will have a special treasure hunt for the kids, and we will observe the Lord's Supper.  In the evening service, we will enjoy a dramatic presentation. 

For those who are believers, we worship together on Sunday's because of the resurrection.  There is a sense in which every Sunday is special.  The early church gathered on the first day of the week. This Sunday is special, but every Sunday is special.  If people come to church on a special day, we will be happy to share the truth of Jesus with them. If folks come just because it is a special day, to satisfy their consciences, they will be missing the real meaning of the resurrection.

As you celebrate Easter this year, make sure that the resurrection is what it is all about.  Next Sunday, make still all about the resurrection.  If Christ be not raised from the dead, our faith is in vain.

Now It Happened Like This

The book of Matthew begins the Christmas story by saying, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise."  We understand that phrase "was on this wise" to mean, "it happened like this."  What a comfort to know that God was in control of all the "this."  An additional comfort is knowing that He still is.

At this Christmas season, take time to look for God's hand at work. As it relates to the "things" of Jesus, they all happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. As it relates to us, if we know the Savior, He is working all "things" together for our good to conform us to His image.

The story of Jesus has now been told for over two thousand years.  It happened like this...  Our stories will be told for years to come.  Don't wait for the history books to write it down, recognize the hand of God at work.  He knew what He was doing with the "things" of His Son, and He knows what He is doing with you.

Christian Camp

Our young people just returned from a great week of camp at The Wilds in North Carolina. Praise the Lord for the decisions that were made. One young man in our group accepted Christ as his Savior. Camp is a unique environment where peer pressure is minimized, outside influences from the world are eliminated, and God's word is elevated. Our teens have benefited from the week every time we go. This year, we had the opportunity to hear Pastor Jim Schettler who pastored the Campus Church at PCC for many years. I am glad that my own children got a chance to hear the man that had such a great influence in my life while I was in college. His messages were full of energy and connected with the young people. Pray for our teens that they will continue in the decisions that they made. Praise the Lord for those who gave so that our youth could go to camp. Camp is an investment in the future of our church. As it relates to The Wilds, I wish that I could take every adult in the church. Perhaps we can get new sponsors to go every year. Perhaps we can talk folks into going to different conferences throughout the year. One thing is for sure, The Wilds is a special place.

Making Church Essential in 2012

January is about over.  The church has selected new officers for the coming year. We have seen our attendance on Sunday mornings go above 140 for the last four weeks in a row.  God is blessing the people known as Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church.

Our goal is to make church essential to the lives of our people this year.  When I talk about church, attendance is not really the main issue.  It is important, but church is much more than attendance.  May God help us to be the people that He wants us to be this year.  As we meet each other's needs and develop relationships for fellowship and ministry, the church becomes essential to our lives.

Recently, I read a statement about making the church essential that caught my eye.  The statement went something like this.  "It ought to be harder to leave a church than it is to join one."  In general, it is easy to leave a church.  Our hope is that we can develop a culture, through discipleship that keeps track of and supports our members.  We must get better at meeting the needs of the body of Christ.

As life changes and life stages change, we must grow in our knowledge of people.  The old adage says, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."  We do care.  Now we need to do a better job of showing it.  Can you think of any ways to demonstrate your care for the body of Christ?  Let's demonstrate that the church (people) is essential (can't live without it) this year.

Passionate People Welcome Here

I am in the process of learning how to understand and accept passionate people. In fact, I intend to do everything in my power to welcome passionate people to our church. God save us from those who don't care about something. As we continue our growth, we are seeking to develop a church culture that values passion.

The idea goes something like this. We start new ministries and try to talk people into participating because it is a good thing to do. After a while, it's like pulling teeth to keep people involved. They need someone to come along and use a bicycle pump to pump up their tire so they can go again. The cycle repeats over and over again. The result is frustration on the part of everyone involved. The need for constant pep talks demonstrates that their hearts are not in the activity.

Our new strategy is to figure out who our people are (What is your passion?) and match them with spiritual activity that is consistent with their gifts and passions. I don't have a desire to increase our participation and service each week by just 20-30%. My goal is to get as close to 100% participation in any given week as possible. (Every member serves God in a tangible way every week). God's people need to know what it is like to successfully serve Him on purpose each week. The satisfaction that comes from pleasing God is achievable by the whole church. To the extent that we can help those who have never purposefully served God on a regular basis see God use them in an area that they already enjoy, we can develop their appetite to be involved in other spiritual activities.

We need to be honest in our expectations and our communication about them. There are more ways to serve God each week than just going on door-to-door visitation, soul-winning, and bus visitation. Though these activities are commendable and a great way to put the command of the great commission into practice, I question the wisdom of acting like this is the first step toward maturity or even the ultimate step of maturity. Serving God has to be a way of life, and it has to be something that can be done no matter where one is or what one's skills or abilities are. Relationship with God is essential. Let's start by helping folks literally take the logical next step. Start where you are. The most important spiritual step that you can take today is the next one.

As to passionate people, passion is not the answer to every problem. In fact, it can create problems in the church. Passionate people don't always get along with other passionate people. Passionate people don't get why others don't share their passion. It takes work to work with passionate people. What is the solution to helping those with passion get along with others, it's the same as the solution to helping those who are not currently serving the Lord. Discipleship.

May God give us a passion to serve Him! Passionate people are welcome here.

Leaders as Servants

The time has come for us look at the way we do ministry.  Leading as a servant is not a new idea.  Books have been written that extoll the virtues of serving the people we lead.  Just about every pastor has read an article or attended a conference promoting servant leadership.  The words almost don’t even mean what the say anymore – we are used to them.  Sometimes, familiarity with a concept keeps us from practicing it.  There is no excitement in it.  Nothing new here.

Others in ministry aren’t convinced that the model works.  To be sure, it doesn’t work for them.  “I’m the leader; now follow me.” Much of the traditional, old-time fundamental movement functioned under this model.  It almost seems as if everyone in the organization or church existed for the benefit of the leader’s ministry. Certainly, there are many casualties that have been left in the wake of this kind of ministry.

To be fair, not every fundamental leader was cruel or egotistical.  Many men served with grace and dignity.  Those whose ministries were patterned after Christ avoided the excess of the caricature.  The fault lies not in conservative theology and practice but in the frailty of humanity. If I get in the way, it’s not Christ.  Ego and a desire for power have no place in the leadership of God’s people.

The approach that we should follow sounds like this, “I exist to serve the people of God.”  Don’t be confused.  This is not an argument to undermine the necessity of leadership.  It is a call to take leadership to the next level. One of the problems with the “old model” is that individuals viewed themselves as serving people by taking them somewhere.  The servant model of leadership would recognize that as backward thinking.

A servant leader helps people go where they need to go and do what they need to do.  The emphasis is on those being served not on those being led.  What’s the difference?  For one, it is an issue of development.  One could use the word discipleship.  Too many leaders are busy developing followers.  Ultimately, the goal is not to produce followers who do not think for themselves.  Servant leadership does not develop a ministry where the leader is essential to the future of the church.  Instead, it produces mature followers of Christ who do not need another leader to draw them close to Christ.

Don’t misunderstand me, God has a special role for the pastor in the life of the believer.  One’s style and method of leadership practiced in grace does not take away from spiritual authority.  What is enhanced is the opportunity to see people take the next step in their spiritual lives.

The emphasis of servant leadership is on serving and not being served.  The life of a servant leader is one of sacrifice and placing another before one’s self. The leader truly is seeking the best for those in his care.  Best is not defined by crossing t’s and doting i's the same way.  Best is defined by assisting people to take the next step in their spiritual lives.  Best takes time. Best comes in small increments. Best is messy.

Sounds like work!