We got all five acts of worship going but something is missing.
We got church autonomy but something is missing.
We got qualified elders but something is missing.
We sing acappella but something is missing.
We teach the Bible but something is missing.
We meet on the first day of the week but something is missing.
We take weekly communion but something is missing.
We support mission work all over the world but something is missing.
We have a good preacher but something is missing.
And that something is…
How do you complete that sentence?
I have a zillion ways of filling in the blank but the problem is almost all of them are about someone else.
Here is my challenge to you. If you finish that sentence with something endemic/native to church then I challenge you to rethink that. That doesn’t mean what you filled in is wrong necessarily but I want you to change the focus of the problem.
The church is the people. You are the church. So consider for a moment rethinking “And that something is…” and think about your role in making church something more robust. Or maybe God is calling you to love an imperfect group of people who don’t do things just like you would, and that is good for you.
Maybe that something is my own healthy attitude.
Maybe it is my own participation that has lacked because I gave up on the vision or lack thereof.
Maybe it is my support and encouragement of congregational leaders.
Maybe it is my willingness to make disciples and be discipled.
How do you finish the sentence, “And that something is…”?
7 Responses
For almost a year, I’ve been having this conversation with my wife, Myself, and God. It’s so easy to point fingers. But on Easter, we realized death has to come for there to be resurrection. It’s just hard to be part of it. We truly identified how Jesus must have felt. Our small local church in a very small Texas town is down to 40 couples, most are older conservatives. Elders seem to blame preacher whom recently took another job in hospice Chaplaincy and pastoral care. The discussion to be strategic and focused on other age groups has occurred for years, but the tendency is always status quo, especially from leadership. We just don’t feel equipped nor have the persistence and influence to try to make the church a truly spiritually experience. It hurts to most all the younger couples leave. Any thoughts?
What kind of equipping would you need? This is exactly the sort of thing I want to help with and have a conversation about. Let’s talk soon if you are willing.
Matt–Are you Holy Ghost Filled and Have You Been Baptized In Jesus Name! Charles Kelly Memphis, Tenn.
Bill–Has your Church had an Experience with the Lord as Happened in Acts 2, 8, 10,19, and Acts 22:16? Has anyone there been Baptized In Jesus Name, Acts 2:38, for the Remission of Sins? Before we can tell others We must have this Experience! Jesus Said in Acts 1:8 “You Shall Receive Power After The Holy Ghost Is Come Upon You And You Shall Be Witnesses Unto Me, Unto The Uttermost Part Of The Earth!” Do you have this Power? Same Word We Find Translated Dynamite ! Oh! What Joy Unspeakable And Full Of Glory!!!Be Blessed Charles Kelly Memphis, Tenn. Visit us at http://www.hopechapelupc.cc on the web!
We’ve got procedure down and lost heart/giving spirit, because we follow what we must do vs what we can do.
I think the biggest thing missing is Jesus!
The focus on his death, burial, and resurrection!
What that truly means
How we are free by his Grace
How the Holy Spirit is a living breathing thing in
me that’s trying to guide me to greater love of others!
Yes, Jesus was always missing. You can’t just yell “death, burial, and resurrection” from the pulpit and expect that to make people into Christians. I only learned what it really meant till I went through Holy Week in the Anglican church. The cofC if they preached Jesus, and not Moses, on Easter could always get him dead but never resurrected.