Month: September 2014

Hope for Revitalization

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Many people look around at the American church landscape and find much to be discouraged about. When 3,500 – 4,000 churches close their doors every year, finding glimmers of hope can be difficult.

If that’s true, why would I even begin to devote myself to helping dying churches recover? Why am I so passionate, so hopeful for churches throughout this country and beyond?

One truth: We are the church of the LIVING God (1 Timothy 3:15).

As Dr. Harry Reeder points out, this truth comes in the midst of what is practically Paul’s manual on church revitalization. Considering the difficulties of this ministry, Paul gives Timothy this great truth in order to ground his hope for the task at hand. While the church is undergoing trials and attacks from Satan in the form of false teachers, Timothy can rest in the fact that God is alive and well.

Praise God, we have this hope as well!

Jesus Christ is the sure foundation for the Church, and he rose from the dead to rule eternally over this world and specifically his Church. His faithfulness remains true, His power remains infinite, and His grace remains abundant.

We have hope as we seek to revitalize dying churches not because of good strategies (although, these are needed), but because God is living and active. May we find hope in our LIVING God and trust that as we lead our churches to abide in Him, our churches shall live as well.

Apathetic Attendance or Passionate Participation?

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Every Sunday dead people attend worship in churches all over our country. Many do this for years—even decades. Attendance at church is easy. Anyone can check that box off.

What’s not easy is passionately participating in Sunday worship.

As I discussed earlier this week, worship with the whole church is a gracious gift of God in our lives. He values it so much that Hebrews 10:24-25 urges us not to neglect meeting together and passionately participating in each other’s lives.

But so many things get in the way of that. Our plans for Saturday night keep us out too late to even be halfway awake for worship the next morning, or our Sunday afternoon plans have us distracted during and immediately after the service. Other times we find ourselves in a really tough season of life: those times when suffering and despair seem to consume us, and nothing about our spiritual lives is easy especially trying to worship. Finally, some weeks busyness consumes our personal time with the Lord, and we spend the first half of worship just trying to reengage spiritually.

How can we passionately participate with our church on a regular basis with so many potential obstacles?

Here’s my three suggestions:

1. Plan
Passionately prioritize worship with your church family, and then plan your weekend accordingly. Failing to plan our weekends so that we are rested and focused for worship on Sundays will hinder us from receiving the full richness of God’s gift for us. So I encourage you to spend time planning your Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons in such a way that you are rested and focused to not only receive the blessing of corporate worship, but also give your presence and service to others.

2. Pray
No matter what season of life you are in, Satan is seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. Apart from relying upon God to deliver us from the evil one, we will fall to his attacks. May we regularly pray that God would protect us from the evil one and prepare our hearts for passionate participation in worship. Also, let’s pray the same for those leading us each week.

3. Prime
Finally, prime the pump. In other words, read the passage of Scripture being preached before it’s preached. The more familiar we are with the text, the better prepared we will be to engage in active listening to the preacher and ultimately the Holy Spirit.

Let’s not simply attend worship, but may we passionately participate for the fame of Jesus and the good of the church.

I Need the Church and the Church Needs Me

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As another football season gets underway, and millions of fans around the nation are excited about the season ahead, at least one lesson from football seems appropriate—I better get this out of the way now since in just a couple of weeks my team, the Kentucky Wildcats, will likely have me longing for basketball season.

What makes a great football team? Talent? Physical prowess? Coaching? Practice? Game time intangibles?

Sure, all those play a significant role, but one facet of great teams that often gets overlooked are the meetings. During the week, teams converge together for film sessions and analysis. Great teams won’t simply watch film, but the coaches engage everyone in an interactive process of encouragement, accountability, and vision renewal. As film is reviewed, players aren’t simply passive recipients of coaches’ praise and criticism, but they also provide encouragement and accountability for their teammates as well. No matter the outcome of last week’s game, vision is renewed and mutually recommitted to. Apart from these meetings, the team would ultimately end up in disarray.

The same is true for the church. The game of life is played seven days each week, but we come together at least once each week for an interactive process of encouragement, accountability, and vision renewal. Sunday worship is not meant to be a passive event, but rather, an opportunity to passionately participate in the life of the church. Corporate worship is an opportunity for refreshment, assessment, and realignment. Without this time, our churches will waste away from lack of direction or spiritual famine.

This week, we are considering Hebrews 10:24-25.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Three vital aspects of passionately participating in Sunday worship:

1. Encouragement – Our meeting together must include actively encouraging one another. Many football teams recognize success through stickers that go on the helmet for certain accomplishments. Now, I’m not suggesting we use stickers like we did back in our childhood Sunday Schools. But I am saying, we need to know what we are aiming for and celebrate those things. Primarily, we are aiming to develop “love and good works,” so as we see those in the lives of our brothers and sisters, we should praise them. For, as is often said, we will become what we celebrate.

2. Accountability – On the flip side of encouragement is accountability. When love and good works are absent or lacking in our lives, we need others to point this out, remind us of the grace of the gospel, and challenge us to pursue them once again for the fame of Jesus. We must know each other well, and boldly love one another in this way. In addition, both accountability and encouragement will likely include praying with and for each other.

3. Vision Renewal – Lastly, we are to renew our vision of “the Day drawing near.” The Day is the coming of Jesus. So as we gather, not only our leaders, but also each one of us should be engaged in pointing each other back to Him. He is our strength, His Word is our guide, and His fame is our goal. We must intentionally keep these things in front of one another through our conversations.

In conclusion, my church’s member covenant—our commitment to one another—begins with a significant truth: “I need the church, and the church needs me.” May we remember that truth, and let it drive us to passionately participate in our worship gatherings through encouragement, accountability, and vision renewal.