The following is an excerpt from this year's State of the Church Address that I give each year in January. Just prior to this, I shared with the congregation the demographic stats of our Ministry Community. Our church is a 3 year old church plant from a result of a breaking away from a large 1800+ size congregation. We have a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with a large base of people. In recent studies, it shows that nearly 67% of the population of our Ministry Community does not attend at any time or regularly any worship service. That represents nearly 120,000 people. People that matter to God, and therefore they matter to us. Please read through this, and share your thoughts with me. I do covet your prayers as we, Life in Christ Fellowship, proceed on this incredible journey.
I realize that this information may not be of importance or seem of any value to some individuals, but each of these numbers represent people, people who are loved by God and matter deeply to Him. By realizing the make-up of our “MINISTRY COMMUNITY”, it will assist us in progressing forward in the development of the ministries of our church.
(Share the Dream … Build the Team, Donald W. Morgan)
Numbers Count
“… many – say, “Numbers don’t count,” or “I’m not interested in numbers.” Really?
Numbers are not just numbers – they signify people and presumably we who are in service of Jesus Christ care about people. Presumably we care about their welfare, well being, and how the gospel might bless their lives. We care if people are being neglected or turned off by the church.
If we would study the most vital, dynamic and growing churches, we will discover that where there is numerical growth, there usually is spiritual growth. Those who dispute this haven’t looked closely and let themselves off too easily, excusing their apathy.
Often times, as more and more people come into the life of the church, they bring new vitality to the life of faith together. Not complacent, not satisfied with the things they used to be, they bring a dynamic that pushes the church forward toward greater faithfulness and spiritual growth. The more that are added to the flock, the higher the commitment of the church as a whole. Thus resulting in moving from being a low-commitment church to being a high-commitment church. In a word, the increasing quantity brings increasing quality. (Then the cycle begins; the higher the quality results in a higher quantity).
Rick Warren, in his book, The Purpose Driven Church, reminds us that we are called to be faithful and fruitful – not one or the other, but both. “God wants our church to be both faithful and fruitful. One without the other is only half of the equation. Numerical results are not justification for being unfaithful to the message, but neither can we use faithfulness as an excuse for being ineffective.”
Let me illustrate is this way. Picture with me, a quickly rising river. The crops and property around the banks of the river are in danger of being over run and being destroyed. The only chance for the survival is for dirt to be pushed up to the banks and piled high to prevent the water from causing the damage. So we jump to the scene and duty. I grab a tablespoon, one of you grab a shovel and yet another mounts onto the seat of a bulldozer. We three start moving dirt as fervently and aggressively as possible with the tool we have chosen. Let me ask this question. Who is being more faithful to the movement of the dirt to prevent the overflowing of the river? Is it I the one with the tablespoon, the one with the shovel or the one with the bulldozer? In all reality, we all three are equally faithful. However we are not equal to being fruitful. While there are demands presented that require faithfulness, there is also a call to be wise so to be fruitful.
So at times in the midst of being faithful, there is a call to evaluate are we being fruitful. If we are not being fruitful, then the right thing to do is to stop just being faithful, and look for ways to be fruitful and then employ them into action. To become fruitful in the application of faithfulness, the question to ask is, “What is the fruit that we desire see produced as a result of the faithfulness?” And, “Is what we are being faithful to, going to produce the fruit?”
“Somewhere, sometime, we need to come to grips with the Lord’s clear and compelling statement to Peter, and I believe, to you and me, as recorded in Matthew 16:18: “On this rock I will build my church.” Surely He was interested in His church growing and reaching more and more people. Surely He envisioned his movement as an ever-expanding reality by which more and more lives might be touched and transformed. How then can we, as followers of Christ, be content with a dormant, less than effective situation for the cause of Christ? How can we as disciples, dismiss ineffectiveness as of no consequence?
Somewhere, sometime, it’s important to come to grips with our Lord’s final and absolute command to His disciples, as recorded in Mathew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples.” He didn’t say, “Recycle the saints” or “Simply care for those who are already there,” although he surely did call us to feed His sheep. No, Jesus said, “Make disciples.” Be fishers of men, women and children – not – keepers of the aquarium. He has called us to be engaged in the mission.
The mission comes down to you and me. What do we regard as important? What do we believe is the nature of our calling as a church? What is the will of God for his church, Life in Christ Fellowship? And are we in His will? If we don’t believe our congregation is called to be effective, dynamic, and growing for the kingdom – neither faithfulness nor fruitfulness will happen – count on it!
But if we have the will to see our church grow, to help it become dynamic, and if we see ourselves called, not only to have a will, but also to be in the will of God, then our congregation can become dynamic. IT CAN! In short, where there is a will there is a way, and when we are in the will of God the way will be open.”
I realize that this information may not be of importance or seem of any value to some individuals, but each of these numbers represent people, people who are loved by God and matter deeply to Him. By realizing the make-up of our “MINISTRY COMMUNITY”, it will assist us in progressing forward in the development of the ministries of our church.
(Share the Dream … Build the Team, Donald W. Morgan)
Numbers Count
“… many – say, “Numbers don’t count,” or “I’m not interested in numbers.” Really?
Numbers are not just numbers – they signify people and presumably we who are in service of Jesus Christ care about people. Presumably we care about their welfare, well being, and how the gospel might bless their lives. We care if people are being neglected or turned off by the church.
If we would study the most vital, dynamic and growing churches, we will discover that where there is numerical growth, there usually is spiritual growth. Those who dispute this haven’t looked closely and let themselves off too easily, excusing their apathy.
Often times, as more and more people come into the life of the church, they bring new vitality to the life of faith together. Not complacent, not satisfied with the things they used to be, they bring a dynamic that pushes the church forward toward greater faithfulness and spiritual growth. The more that are added to the flock, the higher the commitment of the church as a whole. Thus resulting in moving from being a low-commitment church to being a high-commitment church. In a word, the increasing quantity brings increasing quality. (Then the cycle begins; the higher the quality results in a higher quantity).
Rick Warren, in his book, The Purpose Driven Church, reminds us that we are called to be faithful and fruitful – not one or the other, but both. “God wants our church to be both faithful and fruitful. One without the other is only half of the equation. Numerical results are not justification for being unfaithful to the message, but neither can we use faithfulness as an excuse for being ineffective.”
Let me illustrate is this way. Picture with me, a quickly rising river. The crops and property around the banks of the river are in danger of being over run and being destroyed. The only chance for the survival is for dirt to be pushed up to the banks and piled high to prevent the water from causing the damage. So we jump to the scene and duty. I grab a tablespoon, one of you grab a shovel and yet another mounts onto the seat of a bulldozer. We three start moving dirt as fervently and aggressively as possible with the tool we have chosen. Let me ask this question. Who is being more faithful to the movement of the dirt to prevent the overflowing of the river? Is it I the one with the tablespoon, the one with the shovel or the one with the bulldozer? In all reality, we all three are equally faithful. However we are not equal to being fruitful. While there are demands presented that require faithfulness, there is also a call to be wise so to be fruitful.
So at times in the midst of being faithful, there is a call to evaluate are we being fruitful. If we are not being fruitful, then the right thing to do is to stop just being faithful, and look for ways to be fruitful and then employ them into action. To become fruitful in the application of faithfulness, the question to ask is, “What is the fruit that we desire see produced as a result of the faithfulness?” And, “Is what we are being faithful to, going to produce the fruit?”
“Somewhere, sometime, we need to come to grips with the Lord’s clear and compelling statement to Peter, and I believe, to you and me, as recorded in Matthew 16:18: “On this rock I will build my church.” Surely He was interested in His church growing and reaching more and more people. Surely He envisioned his movement as an ever-expanding reality by which more and more lives might be touched and transformed. How then can we, as followers of Christ, be content with a dormant, less than effective situation for the cause of Christ? How can we as disciples, dismiss ineffectiveness as of no consequence?
Somewhere, sometime, it’s important to come to grips with our Lord’s final and absolute command to His disciples, as recorded in Mathew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples.” He didn’t say, “Recycle the saints” or “Simply care for those who are already there,” although he surely did call us to feed His sheep. No, Jesus said, “Make disciples.” Be fishers of men, women and children – not – keepers of the aquarium. He has called us to be engaged in the mission.
The mission comes down to you and me. What do we regard as important? What do we believe is the nature of our calling as a church? What is the will of God for his church, Life in Christ Fellowship? And are we in His will? If we don’t believe our congregation is called to be effective, dynamic, and growing for the kingdom – neither faithfulness nor fruitfulness will happen – count on it!
But if we have the will to see our church grow, to help it become dynamic, and if we see ourselves called, not only to have a will, but also to be in the will of God, then our congregation can become dynamic. IT CAN! In short, where there is a will there is a way, and when we are in the will of God the way will be open.”
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