Monthly Archives: February 2014

Small Groups: Bridge to the Unchurched

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I’ve noticed that our church’s celebration services typically sees two types of first time guests.

One type of guest is the one who walks about three steps into our atrium and stops dead in his tracks. He stands there looking at everything going on around him. He isn’t just taking it all in; he is debating whether or not to run away! You can almost read his thoughts as he stands there. “What have I gotten myself into? Will I find anyone in this crowd that I know? If not, will I meet anyone that I like? Is there anyone here like me?” Assuming he makes it into the sanctuary, any differences in the worship style from his past leave him feeling unsure of what’s going on. Nobody likes that feeling.

The other type of guest is the one who got invited to one of our community groups first. After several weeks of making friends in a small group setting, he decides to accept the group’s no-pressure invitation to attend a worship service with them. As he enters the atrium, he is surrounded by people he knows and trusts.  They have prepared him for what he is going to see. He has been assured that he won’t be put on the spot by anyone nor pressured to speak publically, give money or do anything he doesn’t want to do. He walks in like he owns the place.  He thoroughly enjoys the experience and can’t stop talking about what he heard and saw while they have lunch together afterward.

The next time the first type of guest gets invited to church by a neighbor or co-worker he replies, “Thanks, but I’ve been to church. That ain’t for me.” The next time the second type of guest is invited he says, “Sure! I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen this weekend!”

Does your church have small groups? Are they inviting unchurched people to their gatherings? If they are–once trust is formed–are they bringing those folks to your worship services? Small groups and worship services, working in concert, are a powerful partnership for the transformation of lives in Christ.

The early church understood that partnership. Acts 2 tells us they met in large public gatherings and smaller groups in homes. They became a movement that changed the world!

 

Transitions

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Change is hard. We hate it. We often resist it until it is forced on us by circumstances. Can I get an amen?

jim kim pic (2)Here’s a question to ponder: Could it be that the main reason we hate change is because we resist it? What if we saw change as God transitioning us from one place of blessing to another and embraced it instead?

I’m not saying transitions are painless. In the 70’s, Kim and I pastored a small town church. One day, I was called to an unscheduled meeting of the deacon board that started with them saying, “We want you to resign and go away without stirring a fuss.”

Did I choose that change? No! Was it painful? Yes! But Kim and I learned something important in that experience. When God calls you to change something, change it! If you don’t embrace His call when He calls, He will often turn up the heat until you listen. For us, we had known for some years that God was calling us to international missions. We didn’t know when. We hadn’t really been praying fervently for the answer. That painful change became the catalyst that made when clear!

We absolutely loved our years in the Philippines. We still have deep, life-long friendships there.  But in time, we knew the national church was ready to continue without a resident missionary. We knew change was coming again. This time we prayed constantly, “Lord, tell us when. We will go!” We didn’t resist the coming change, we embraced it!

The next 24 years were amazing. God blessed in more ways than we could ever dreamed. Tens of thousands of unchurched people came to Western Branch Community Church. Thousands of them found a fresh start with Jesus at the center. As the church grew, change was inevitable. Some of the changes were painful, but each change we embraced moved the church to a higher place of effectiveness and influence in our world. Last year was the strongest of all. We saw more baptisms than anytime in our history; we received  more new members than anytime; average attendance and giving reached record highs. We’d be crazy to leave that, right? Not if you understand the nature of transitions with God.

Transitions don’t always make sense to the natural eye. Sometimes God doesn’t want them to. He wants you to trust Him.

In January, I stepped down as Senior Pastor of Community Church. Kim stepped down from her role as Creative Arts Director. We started a new adventure—that of helping pastors and churches restore the dynamics of the original Acts 2 church in their world through the Acts 2 Network (www.acts2network.org).

I won’t pretend the transition has been easy. In some ways, it has been the most emotional of our lives. But we’ve learned over the years that we can trust God with transitions. I can honestly say, Kim and I can hardly wait to see what God is going to do in the days ahead!

Embrace change. Don’t resist it. Don’t hate it. It may simply be God transitioning you from one level of blessing to the next one! If 43 years with Jesus has taught us anything it is, “God can be trusted in the transitions!” Trust him—see where He takes you.