Just returned from our mission trip to Madisonville, Tennessee and Island Creek Baptist Church as they are completing a building to expand their ministry especially to children and teens.
Their pastor, a gentle giant by the name of Mike Williams, explained to me that they average about 150 on Sunday mornings, 100 people on Sunday nights and almost 200 on Wednesdays and sometimes more. I was amazed as those numbers are not the average for a church. He said they are doing whatever it takes to minister to children in their community, and in my opinion, are doing a great job in doing it. In the last 3 and a half years around 200 people have been saved through their ministries. That is awesome.
"To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some." 1 Corinthians 9:22 (NASB)
Upon sitting down at the computer last night, I read some of the blogs that I often run to for inspiration, reflection and just to see what is happening in the world of church leadership. Once again, the blogs of Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, caught me and encouraged me. In the rest of this e-devotion I am going to share some highlights from a message Mark shared at his blog (www.evotional.com):
"Our reflections came out of a diagnostic question that every church needs to ask itself: what makes us unique?
"I'm not talking in "better or worse" terms. I'm talking about originality. I just think every church with a kingdom mindset ought to celebrate it's own uniqueness and the uniqueness of other churches in their community!
"There are three core convictions that drive NCC:
C1: The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet.
C2: The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing.
C3: The church is called to compete in the middle of the marketplace.
"There are certain phrases that get repeated around NCC all the time.
"We're orthodox in belief but unorthodox in practice. Doing church in the middle of the marketplace is part of our DNA. There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. We take fun seriously!
"We have rather unique core values. A few of them include: Irrelevance is irreverence, Playing it safe is risky, Work like it depends on you & pray like it depends on God, Everything is an experiment, Expect the unexpected, Everyone is invaluable and irreplacable...
"...In some ways, church development is like child development. We're only ten years old so NCC hasn't even hit puberty yet :) I'm not sure all that we'll become. But I think it's important that we continue coming to terms with who we are and who we aren't.
MICHAEL'S NOTE: I may not agree with all that Pastor Mark says, but I am convicted and convinced that the church of our day must do whatever it takes, make a big enough bang in such a way that we get the attention of those around us and in so doing impact this culture. Whatever it takes.
Their pastor, a gentle giant by the name of Mike Williams, explained to me that they average about 150 on Sunday mornings, 100 people on Sunday nights and almost 200 on Wednesdays and sometimes more. I was amazed as those numbers are not the average for a church. He said they are doing whatever it takes to minister to children in their community, and in my opinion, are doing a great job in doing it. In the last 3 and a half years around 200 people have been saved through their ministries. That is awesome.
"To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some." 1 Corinthians 9:22 (NASB)
Upon sitting down at the computer last night, I read some of the blogs that I often run to for inspiration, reflection and just to see what is happening in the world of church leadership. Once again, the blogs of Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, caught me and encouraged me. In the rest of this e-devotion I am going to share some highlights from a message Mark shared at his blog (www.evotional.com):
"Our reflections came out of a diagnostic question that every church needs to ask itself: what makes us unique?
"I'm not talking in "better or worse" terms. I'm talking about originality. I just think every church with a kingdom mindset ought to celebrate it's own uniqueness and the uniqueness of other churches in their community!
"There are three core convictions that drive NCC:
C1: The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet.
C2: The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing.
C3: The church is called to compete in the middle of the marketplace.
"There are certain phrases that get repeated around NCC all the time.
"We're orthodox in belief but unorthodox in practice. Doing church in the middle of the marketplace is part of our DNA. There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. We take fun seriously!
"We have rather unique core values. A few of them include: Irrelevance is irreverence, Playing it safe is risky, Work like it depends on you & pray like it depends on God, Everything is an experiment, Expect the unexpected, Everyone is invaluable and irreplacable...
"...In some ways, church development is like child development. We're only ten years old so NCC hasn't even hit puberty yet :) I'm not sure all that we'll become. But I think it's important that we continue coming to terms with who we are and who we aren't.
MICHAEL'S NOTE: I may not agree with all that Pastor Mark says, but I am convicted and convinced that the church of our day must do whatever it takes, make a big enough bang in such a way that we get the attention of those around us and in so doing impact this culture. Whatever it takes.
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