Church Growth
Getting Your Church to get it
In the process of any change in any church, you will meet with friction (at best) or hostility (at worse). All people have their own needs, desires, and experiences. And, all people need real love. In this final part, we will look at what can help smooth the process of change.
In the process of any change in any church, you will meet with friction (at best) or hostility (at worse). All people have their own needs, desires, and experiences. And, all people need real love. In this final part, we will look at what can help smooth the process of change.
What a Loving Vibrant Church is Like
To be a loving church, we need to grasp the incompressible idea that each of us is deeply loved. Yes, this means you and me, he and she, that guy and that lady. Yes, even those whom you find it impossible to love. All loved by God. We are made by love, and we are made to love! So, this should be easy, right?
To be a loving church, we need to grasp the incompressible idea that each of us is deeply loved. Yes, this means you and me, he and she, that guy and that lady. Yes, even those whom you find it impossible to love. All loved by God. We are made by love, and we are made to love! So, this should be easy, right?
Love is the model we are to use to show God's love to the world!
The plan to build a loving church is simple. Build up your faith by the Word and spiritual disciplines; then, commit ourselves to building each other up, also. Look at the example given us by the Early Church in Acts 2: 44-45. "All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need." That is the formula! We are to be together, helping one another.
The plan to build a loving church is simple. Build up your faith by the Word and spiritual disciplines; then, commit ourselves to building each other up, also. Look at the example given us by the Early Church in Acts 2: 44-45. "All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need." That is the formula! We are to be together, helping one another.
God's love must be our model for life. It must flow into us by who Christ is, and in return flow out of us to those around us. God's love is the ultimate power for the Christian and the Church.
One of the big signs of an unhealthy church is when the teaching centers on one aspect of truth or one aspect of love, but the two are not taught together, as the Bible calls us to do.
In the Church, love is never to give up. Imagine what this mindset could do for your church!
How many of us have ever ventured into a church that was filled with unkindness, where we were ignored or even mistreated?
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love... The Church Growth movement has made major contributions to the Church over the years. It has also given us some major problems! Some church growth thinking that has done the opposite to the church. This thinking has caused churches to...
