4/28/19

"We want you here" or do we?

I was at LifeWay books (going out of business) in Burnsville. I was looking for something we could use in SALT at work. I found Thom Rainer's collection of books that are pointed and pithy about being a healthy church.  Got me thinking instead of giving the book, provide testimonials from actual churchgoers multiple times per week.
Healthy things grow, unhealthy things atrophy and die. Atrophy is guaranteed without intentional intervention (https://trustedge.com/)
Thom's resources: http://churchanswers.com/special/, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rainer-on-leadership/id638894745, talks about dying church is inward focused rather than outward focused. Questions to answer:

  • Why are we not growing?
  • Do we really understand our community?
  • Is our congregation spiritually healthy?
  • Can our leaders get us there?
Things to communicate:
1. Why we want YOU here
 - To experience the love of Christ (How do we experience the love of Christ in this community? How do we think you could experience this love? Are our traditions hindering sincere love (shake hands, "bless you", "Peace with you also")? Do new people see religious non-sense in our fellowship, preaching or praying?
 - We want to meet your needs (What are your needs? How does our culture look to identify the needs in our community? Do we pray, "give me eyes, Lord"? Do your needs get met with our services? Why or why not?
 - We want YOU to make a positive difference (How do we involve the congregation in ministry? How does the congregation add a positive difference in this place? How do we measure this positive change? How does accountability take place?)
 - We want to get to know you. (How do people get to know each other here? How do I go from unknown to known? How can outsiders share themselves with this church? What do we do when getting to know YOU results in a genuine "we don't like you" attitude (either by the first impression or in the context of a small group).
 - We like you. (why? because God commands us to love unconditionally, even a stranger, even an enemy. The real question to ask is How do we show we like a newcomer? How is our welcome perceived from the outside? How do we share our lives and experience with people we like? Do we really do this with that stranger who comes in alone or with someone else?

2. What to expect from this place (not perfect people)
 - Acceptance and non-judgment rather than discomfort and condemnation. How does our church feel like a place of judgment and condemnation? How could we give a more constructive comparison without compromising truth in scripture? How does my connection with longtime friends hinder the acceptance of new friends? 
 - Grace (Romans 3:23,24) we all fall short but God's grace brings redemption that is in Jesus Christ. How do we dispense God's grace to others? How do communicate this expectation to our congregation? How do we practice "redemptive discipline"? 

3. Why we want to get to know YOU
 - We find YOU interesting. How did you come to this place at this time? How do we find out where you are in your spiritual journey? What happens when we get to know you? How do we follow up and make real connections? How can someone join a small group?
 - To discover commonality. How do we feel when we meet others like us? How does one discover the things we have in common?  How does a person start to get to know others who have something in common (men's group, family, or struggle)?
 - YOU have so much to offer, Your light brings praise to God. How does sharing in the good news of a person life bring praise to our hearts? How does a person get to share their on-going testimony of God's intervention in their life? 
 - New friends, new possibilities. How does knowing someone's talent open the door for something new? How do we get to know peoples talent, desire and bring that out in the open? 

4. What makes this family grow strong
 - Someone intervened in our lives and we've committed to doing the same for others. Matthew 25:34-46
How? 
 - We've been adopted by God our Father. How can we be strong for those who need a father?
 - We model ourselves after His Son Jesus Christ. How can we sacrifice our lives in a life-giving way Romans 12:1-2? 

 - We trust the promises found in the Bible. How do we demonstrate this trust? 
 - We gather in One Spirit, united by love. How does this really play out in our church? 


5. Getting to know the One who made us
 - Bible, changed lives, worship, answered prayer

6. How YOU make a difference with US
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