“Take this moment, sign and space;
take my friends around;
here among us make the place
where your love is found.”
“Take This Moment”
Music John L. Bell (b. 1949)
Several years ago, I attended an Equip conference on church growth. I’ve shared with you already about the vision to double our congregation. But this will not happen based on good intentions and wishful thinking. So, how do we help this process along?
Church Growth is not merely a numerical, but a spiritual process for each one of us. The Leadership consultant and guru, John C. Maxwell, teaches that growth happens when we value and add value to the people in our organizations. And this process begins by adding value to ourselves. One of the mottos on his leadership podcast is that they are “Adding value to leaders who multiply value to others.”
Some of the ways we might add value to each other is to be good listeners. We might add value to ourselves by growing closer to God, immersing ourselves in God’s Word, taking part in regular worship, Men’s and Women’s Fellowship, Youth Fellowship and Sunday School, Book Club, ASP, or even Coffee Hour.
When the people around us observe the discernable change for the better in the lives of UPC members, they will say, “I want whatever you have got!” Of course, the most important quality is faith, and this comes from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Cultivating our faith depends on a consistent prayer life and feeding upon the daily bread of God’s Word.
Another important quality is integrity. This is crucial for us and when the world sees that our behavior is consistent with our faith, they will see that we have integrity. So, when we invite our friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors to come and see what God is doing at UPC Flanders, they will want to come because they know that is where God is doing something, and come with a sense of expectation.
Finally, I will end with a lesson taught to us at that church growth conference. Pray for five people in your life that you would like to see come to know the Lord. Invite them along to worship. Remember, every Sunday is special, so don’t wait for the next big event. There should be a sense of urgency about our mission, for we do not want to leave it until we are too late, or the moment is past. This is God’s Kairos moment, and
His time is always now!
Pastor Cliff