The Book of Acts And the Shaping of the Church

Ever since I can remember growing up I have heard that the book of Acts is the model for the church. A lot of people say (correctly) that we are a 21st century church in a 21st century world and that means there are going to be some differences between the church we read about in Acts and the church of today. That is fair. I do think, though, that there is so much in Acts that we really do need to take notice of and emulate.

When I read Acts I read about the church away from the assembly. They are out there on a mission. They are seeking lost people and intentionally reaching them with the Gospel. They are prayerful about their direction and focus. They are relying on God in so many ways and for so many reasons. It is really pretty humbling. When I have heard people express the sentiment about us being like that church it worries me just a little bit because it is often implied that we are already there when the reality is we still have much to learn from their example.

Here are a few areas that I think they had right that are still helpful today

Mission
How much has the book of Acts shaped the one thing that stands out the most in the book of Acts? Our mission. If we are that church we read about in Acts, are we sending people out to reach lost people? I don’t mean sending checks (that is important and essential to many good works continuing). I means people…do the people who attend know they are a part of a mission, what that mission is and how they contribute to it?

Boldness/Zeal
Do we share their boldness and zeal? They took on the world. They spoke with kings. They upset the status quo and had meetings with rulers and authorities and found themselves in conversations with prominent people because what they were up to was significant enough to get them in trouble with certain groups.

Dependence on God
Do we mirror their full out dependence on God for direction? These guys trusted God. They didn’t always get it right but it always came back to what God wanted and trying to be pleasing to God through fulfilling the work He gave them to do. I am afraid there are some Christians who have learned to depend on doctrine rather than God. Again, doctrine is important, even essential but we must always remember who the doctrine points us to.

Imitation & Maturity
The point here is that being a church like that is more than form. It is about our heart. It is about our view of God. It is about our mission and our attitude. It is more than imitation. We can imitate someone else all day but it doesn’t mean a whole lot until we make it our own and grow to maturity. Strict imitation can be a real sign of immaturity and can reflect a real lack of dependence on God in favor of a dependence on form.

Ventura Church Of Christ Looking for a Young Adult Minister

A few weeks ago at the Pepperdine Lectures, I was asked by Dave Schulze from the Ventura Church of Christ if I knew of anyone who was seeking a position as a Young Adult minister. I told him I would see what I could find out. If this is something you would be interested in pursuing please let me know and I will get you Dave’s information. Email me here.

Also, thanks to these recent wordpress blog followers:

Princess Warrior of the King of Kings
The Quiet Christian
Joe Seeber
Brandemae
Laura Ann Day
Kendall Person
Michael Armstrong
Xiaoqian
Philip Johnson
Urban Wall Art
L.A. Powell
Kmo212
Jacquelyn Heasley

Worth Fighting For: Key Lessons in Reviving a Small Church in Decline

I asked Jimmy Hinton to provide insight into the turnaround process in the small church where he ministers in Somerset Pennsylvania. He graciously provided these insights, reminding us that small churches don’t have to die. They can make a return to growth but it is going to take work!

Jimmy’s thoughts…

Many people have told me over the years that it is easier to plant a church than to try and change the direction of an existing church.  This is true in many ways, but church planters are faced with a whole different set of challenges.  Many of my friends who minister at small churches are frustrated at the lack of meaningful dialogue between them and their elders/deacons.  In fact, several of them feel that they are stuck in the proverbial rut and that the elders are lording over them and, in some cases, working against them.  Another friend of mine once joked (sort of) that perhaps we should be praying to God for strategic deaths in our congregations so that His church would actually stand a chance of turning around.  Some of my friends have seriously debated whether it would be better to walk away from their small congregations and plant a new church.  So I ask the question that many ministers and church leaders are asking, “Is your small church doomed?”  If the signs point to yes, is it too late to turn it around?

Matt asked if I would write some of my story on how our small church made a turnaround.  Some may disagree with me but, by all definitions, a few short years ago our congregation was a dying church.  While we are not exactly splitting at the seams yet, we have recently begun to evangelize in meaningful ways and are more unified now than we have been in years.  People are genuinely excited for the Lord and new people are coming in just about weekly.  We are appointing elders and deacons this October.  I serve at the congregation that was my home church growing up, and in my 33 years of life they have not had any elders or deacons.  We are not the exception in the Northeast.  It is quite common for Churches of Christ to not have elders or deacons in this area.

I have served at Somerset for four years this June and my wife and I are as excited as the day I began.  Just as an aside, I do not claim to be an expert minister, a church doctor, or someone who has all the answers.  I simply am a servant of God who has been, and continues to be, blessed by Him.  There are several commonalities among small churches in decline, and I will offer some biblical principles that I believe, with God’s power, can turn a dying church around.  I will add that, just like a dying marriage, a dying church is worth fighting for.  Isn’t this what Paul did with the church at Corinth?  Church “divorce” should not even be on our radar.  The church is the bride of Christ, and she belongs to Him, each and every member.  We have no business hijacking her, abusing her, or dividing her up into pieces.

1. It is not your job to change people—Many church leaders carry a burden of responsibility that they were never called to carry.  We cannot change people.  If a minister accepts a position because he wants to change people, he will burn out very quickly.  Rather, he should model, instruct, and encourage Christ-like living in all that he does.  Invite others to follow your lead.  Be an ambassador for Christ (2 Cor. 5:11-21).

2. Make known your expectations—The quickest way for church leaders to find themselves at an impasse is to hide their expectations with one another and with the congregations they serve.  I let my church leaders know what I expect of them and ask them what they expect of me.  Every few months I make adjustments (as people grow and are equipped) and keep raising the bar.  My congregation knew when I was selected as their minister that gossip, personal attacks, and anonymous complaints (all things that were going on prior to my hiring) will never be tolerated by me.  Just recently, we raised the expectations on Sunday worship.  If people are assigned to serve on a given Sunday, they will be on time and they will come prepared, just as the minister is expected to come prepared to preach.  Our worship has had a complete turnaround just simply by making expectations known.

3. Absolutely no straw-man arguments—This is one that destroys churches, quickly spreads anxiety, and is downright divisive (see Titus 3:10-11).  When a minister hears, “People are saying. . .” he usually pictures a mob of angry congregants and expects the worst.  This is the intended purpose of straw-man arguments—to create a fictitious mob in order to gain leverage and intimidate.  I have a policy that there will be no anonymous complaints.  Period.  If someone wants to throw a stone, they will write their name on it or it is dropped immediately.  I once received a nasty letter in the mail criticizing my sermons.  There was no name or return address.  I threw it in the trash and never acknowledged it to anyone else.  I’ve seen ministers and church members nearly ruined by church leaders over something an anonymous person was upset about.  If someone doesn’t have the guts to go to the person who offended them, they have no business hiding behind a straw man and stirring up the Lord’s church.

4. It is the minister’s job to train, re-train and equip leaders—This is one that I have fought God on for a long time.  Preachers of small churches have enough on their plates, right?  As if preaching isn’t demanding enough, ministers of small churches often find themselves caught in the additional roles of full time shepherd, deacon, secretary, janitor, tech guru, evangelist, song leader, author of bulletin articles, counselor, coordinator of church events, leader of men’s business meetings (the name says it all!), officiant of all funerals and weddings, director of education and outreach, the interim youth minister, and the go-to guy for all other decisions, including whether or not purchasing a new stapler should be approved.  Plus the minister must find time for his family—another full time job.  The irony is that ministers are taking on all of these responsibilities precisely because they have not adequately trained others to be leaders.  Paul was doing more than just evangelizing everywhere he went.  He was mentoring, training disciples, and calling others to imitate his pattern.  Paul was equipping leaders to equip the saints.  This command to equip others has really broken down in the small church.  Acts 6:1-7, 2 Thess. 3:6-15, Romans 12:3-8, 1 Cor. 12:1-31, and Eph. 4:1-16 have become my modus operandi.  Meditate on them and find ways to put them into practice.  If a church falls apart after you leave, the signs point to a dependent church where members were not equipped to serve and lead.

5.  Make it happen—We joke that this has become my motto when people come to me with fresh ideas for ministry.  Harold Shank calls this permissive leadership.  Ministers, you should model permissive leadership to your congregations, including your elders and deacons.  When a church member comes to leaders with excitement and new ideas for serving others, the best thing they can hear is, “Make it happen.”  Most idle people, I am convinced, are currently not serving because either nobody has allowed them to serve or they haven’t been taught how.  We leaders must learn to trust, equip, and empower the saints to serve.  Children will never learn how to ride a bike if the parents always ride it for them.

6.  Create structure or it all falls apart—Churches under 100, especially if there are no appointed elders and deacons, tend to follow the strongest or most domineering personality.  Because there are not recognized shepherds and deacons, nobody really knows who the actual leaders are.  Typically, small churches easily become androcentric (male-centered) and whoever happens to show up at scheduled men’s business meetings are designated “leaders” and “decision makers.”  Small churches need to get more structured and ministers need to start recognizing giftedness among each and every one of the members.  If you see someone as a potential shepherd, let him know and start building him up.  If you see certain women who have gifts, encourage them to nurture them and serve more often.  Encourage and teach your members how to work together so that nobody is sitting on the sidelines.  Working together eventually dismantles and deflates domineering people, because the congregation no longer needs a strong personality to do the work for them.

7.  Let no one despise you and be transparent—I am mostly talking to ministers here.  If people within a congregation (including elders or deacons) are giving you unfair criticism, remind them that they hired you because they trusted you to lead.  Do not allow people to despise you.  I am hesitant to offer this advice, but if a person is relentlessly harassing you for the way you lead, offer them to take your job for one week.  This is not meant to be sarcastic.  Most people have no idea how much ministers of small churches actually do or the types of spiritual problems that they are regularly faced with.  Really offer for the criticizer to have people come to them with the kinds of things that you deal with on a daily basis and allow them to come up with the best biblical solution.  At very least offer for them to shadow you for a day and ask them for input, or perhaps type up a few case studies and then ask them how they would handle the situations.  I close with this passage:

“Command and teach these things.  Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.  Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.  Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.  Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.  Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.  Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:11-16 ESV, emphasis mine).

Lead on, and may God bless and lead your small church to bear fruit!

An Everyday Mess: Guest Post by Beth Stewart Bowers

An Everyday Mess

My friend Adam often asks the question: What is your favorite Jesus story? Every time he asks, I find it hard to narrow it down—there are so many stories that get me excited about Jesus. But, I always seem to circle back to John 4—the story of Jesus’ encounter of the woman at the well. It’s a familiar story right? Jesus finds himself at a community well in the middle of day, his disciples go off to get food, and a woman comes to get water. There is a lot to unpack in the story, but what seems certain is this woman’s life is a mess.

A couple of years ago we moved my daughter, Sophie, to her first big girl bed, and everything seemed to be going well. A few mornings later, I rolled out of bed a little later than planned. At 8:30 I still hadn’t heard Sophie, and so I got out of bed and went to her room to check on her. The sight which greeted me upon walking into her room cannot be adequately described in words. Sophie had taken a full bottle of baby powder, diaper rash cream (the thick, sticky kind), Vicks vapor rub and Vaseline, and used her new sheets, bedspread and body as her canvas. Everything, including her, was covered in a layer of gook topped with a layer of powder. Awesome.

If I wouldn’t have been so angry, I would have taken a picture. I have never been so angry with my child–I didn’t know it was possible for me to be so angry at my child! People disappoint us, even people we love the most. And I am quite sure she never meant to disappoint me. The entire rest of the day she asked me, “Mommy, are you happy?”

The truth is that the person I am when no one is watching is just as messy as a diaper cream-powder-covered 3-year-old.  I think that is why I love the story of Jesus and the woman at the well—he was willing to step into her mess, and offer her a different story. He is willing to step into my messes, and offer me a different story.

That night, as I tucked Sophie in bed, I sang her a song which I sing her most every day: “I love you today; I love you tomorrow. I love you as deep as the sea. I love you in joy; I love you in sorrow. You can always come home to me.” (Andrew Peterson)

I am grateful every day that Jesus offers me a different story, and I am challenged by that Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus so many years ago.  She embraced the story and shared it. She didn’t allow her mess to get in the way of sharing the story—perhaps it was her mess that made the story even more powerful.

Thank God we are living in grace. Thank God that he never gives up on us. Thank God that everyday messes can be moments in which we learn more about our own mess–and more about how to love, forgive, and live into the Jesus way.

A note from Matt:
Thanks to Beth for writing this. I am so happy that we are blessed with such godly and insightful women in our fellowship. My goal here is to highlight some of them in a way that shows their insights, their attitudes, and their wisdom.

Sunday Morning Worship Idolatry?

When Manassah became king of Israel at the age of 12, his leadership really showed his immaturity,

“He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵ In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. ⁶ He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. ⁷ He took the image he had made and put it in God’s temple” – 2 Chronicles 33:2-7

People can take something as good and holy as God’s temple and God’s temple worship and turn it to idolatry. Is it possible for people to turn worship itself into an idol? An idol is anything that we worship in place of God. Is it possible that in our worship we begin to love the songs, the beat, the trendiness of it all more than the God it is all trying to point us to? Don’t hear me saying this is a progressive issue. It can happen in conservative circles just as easily. In conservative circles, a big deal is made about the correct form of things. Is it possible for people to get so obsessed with the form that they turn the worship to the form itself instead of to God? This is not a progressive problem. This is not a conservative problem. This is a human problem. The only reason I use those words here is just to identify it in both contexts.

With churches in decline all over the place, is it possible that one of the root causes of all of this is at least hedging on making an idol out of what happens on Sunday? I am not making this as a bold declaration of condemnation. I am asking. I am asking because it is human nature to turn things into idols. If rocks and stick could be made into an idol, I have no doubt that people can turn to worship our event rather than the One the event is there to glorify. Some worship a minister or an elder or a song leader or a praise team or [fill in the blank]  and all those things are supposed to be there to get you to worship God.

Could this also be what is behind the whole “They like Jesus but not the church” problem of the last 50 years? People see a congregation obsessed with what happens on Sunday with little interest on what happens the other 6 days of the week. People see big discussions over minutia of what is appropriate in worship but then lax morality of those same people Monday-Saturday. They see a heavy emphasis on right doctrine but a very poor ethic toward others. Some have become obsessed with the body (the church) and have forgotten about the head, without which the whole things falls apart.

Could this account for our discipleship problem? With so much time, resources, money and talents tied up in making what happens on Sunday come across in a professional manner (which I am fine with, by the way how many resources do many churches have left doing things other than sing, study and preach? Yet, some think all is well because we are still having a service on Sunday, still singing a certain way, and so God must be pleased.

I am asking here, not accusing. Does this resonate with any of you at all or am I just completely missing it here? It is important that we communicate with people why we do what we do. It is important that they understand who God is and why we worship Him. If we start to see that we are giving our focus to the form over our Creator, then we have an issue. That is not to say form is unimportant…it just is not always of FIRST importance. God is of first importance and everything else must fall into place around that.

Living Inside Out: Guest Post by Adelle Gabrielson

“If thou indeed derive thy light from heaven,
then to the measure of that heaven-born light, shine…in thy place and be content.”

~William Wordsworth

Every Sunday morning, my family would go out to breakfast before church. I remember one of those Sundays in particular when my father suddenly looked up at me across the table and said:

“You’re 10 years old. It’s time you were baptized.”

I remember feeling stunned – baptism! It hadn’t come up in a while, not since I’d given up the idea that crackers and juice were an adult snack I was missing out on. I had seen other people baptized, mostly adults, and a few teenagers at camp every year. I hadn’t really considered it for myself.

But, being a girl who did as she was told, that Sunday night I was baptized by my father, before the evening worship service with as little hoopla as I could orchestrate.

I was ten years old, in fifth grade, and I always wanted to do the right thing. If my dad said this was the right thing, then it must have been the right thing. I loved God. I wanted to be saved.

I did as I was told.

I remember feeling somewhat saintly that night falling asleep, and dreamt horrible dreams of the sins I would soon commit, destroying my perfect, sinless, saintly self and woke up the next day bereft and confused.

Following Christ in the act of baptism did nothing to prevent me from sin. From missing the mark and messing up. Over and over and over again.

I thought somehow that baptism would make me more holy, sin-free and saintly. I would be less tempted, guileless and free. I come from a long line of female perfectionists, good girls who were great at keeping up appearances and worrying about what the neighbors might think.

Yet sin seemed to find me, no matter how good I was, or how well I followed the rules.

I came to realize that despite my best efforts, sin remains. As much a part of me as my gender and humanity. Parenthood and perhaps simply age have helped me realize that being perfect was never the objective. The true objective is equally simple as impossible.

Be like Jesus.

Does that mean be perfect? Spotless? Sinless? Worldly perfection is an exhausting task master. In a million ways I will never be enough…daily I am faced with my imperfection as a parent, a wife, a daughter, a friend. There is always more that could be done, greater heights to which I should aspire, and always, always, someone better with whom to compare myself.

I will never be enough.

Rather than striving (and failing) for perfection, maybe I just ought to be striving to be like Jesus.

A man who made Himself nothing.

Be like Jesus.

A servant.

Who didn’t follow all the rules.

Who questioned tradition, social mores and legalism.

He got angry when anger was justified.

He wept when grief was called for.

Most of all, he loved the broken, beat-up and bewildered.

Most of all, he loved the ones who could never be enough.

Be like Jesus.

Living in such a way that the Light, that heaven-born light, shines from the inside out.

And so I tread onward, trying to live with the inside on the outside. Allowing the cracks to be exposed. Setting aside the unattainable and simply being me – in all of my brokenness and flaws.

The cracks are how the Light gets through, and being perfect isn’t my job. It’s His.

 

About Adelle:

Writer, speaker, and wife to her first love, Adelle is a former marketing executive turned boy-mom of two. Adelle speaks and writes about fearless, authentic living, and blogs weekly on her website www.AdelleGabrielson.com. For more, follow Adelle on Facebook or Twitter: @ReadyGoGetSet

I received the blessing of meeting Adelle at the Pepperdine Lectures last week. Be sure to have a look at more of her writing at the above links. Thanks Adelle for taking the time to write this. I am sure it will impact many.

A Minister’s Take On Church Steps Outreach (Part 3) by Jimmy Hinton

This is Jimmy Hinton’s third and final blog on how the Church Steps Outreach has been working for their congregation. I am so encouraged by this! Thanks Jimmy for passing this along. Praise God that He is up to some mighty things when it comes to reaching the lost!

In the two previous blogs, I laid down some of the guiding principles and theology behind what we do for our Church Steps Outreach.  This final blog will lay down some specifics for what a typical week looks like. I called Matt last fall to ask specific questions about how they do their steps outreach.  He did give some specifics, but told me that one size doesn’t fit all.  For example, Pennsylvania’s culture is different than Florida’s.  St. Petersburg’s population is 245,000.  Somerset’s is almost 7,000.  You get the picture.  We ended up keeping the same 5 steps that Matt laid out in previous blogs (Attract, Welcome, Relationships, Transformation, and Integrate).  We also use the same template that Matt uses at his congregation for our Wednesday nights (see link below under #2), but with minor adjustments.  For example, instead of a 20 minute devotional, we do 30 minutes, with the remaining 30 minutes working through the template.

Because we are a rural church, Wednesday attendance has always suffered.  Before beginning Steps, our average Sunday attendance was just over 70 and our Wednesday attendance hovered around 20.  Since 20 people were present on Wednesdays, we began with all of them.  I took adequate time to explain what each of the 5 steps were, then had everyone sign up to minister in one group.  Several asked me where I felt they would serve best.  I emphasized that people should pray about it and only sign up for a group where they would best be using their gifts.  In other words, they shouldn’t sign up for a group just because it looked like that group needed more warm bodies.  We all worked together to organize us 20 into the best group possible for each of us.

 Wednesday Nights:

1. 30 minute devotional—The devotional is always rooted in scriptures about evangelism and the church’s response to new converts.  We began with 1 Corinthians 12-14 and are now going through Acts.  This is really helping us all develop a healthy theology of evangelism and the examples laid out in Acts are giving us courage and confidence to model the behavior of the first Christians.

2. 30 minute template—Don’t let the word template scare you.  I probably prefer the word “structure” over template but either way, the point is that you are consistent each week.  You can see a copy of Matt’s template here: http://mattdabbs.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/churchstepsclasstemplate.pdf  We do everything the same except the times have been adjusted.  In 3 months, the only thing we have changed at this point are the time adjustments.  This structure is so important because it allows everyone to communicate and celebrate what blessings have been going on throughout the week, where new visitors are in their journey, and who has/has not been contacted throughout the week.

3.  How do we keep it all together?–Communication, communication, communication.  As I mentioned before, e-mails are a lifeline for us.  I’ve created distribution lists for each of the 5 groups in my e-mail contacts.  They are always kept current as we add people to each group.  I remind each of the 5 groups almost weekly how important each of their ministries are and offer them encouragement (usually through a mass e-mail to all 5 groups at once).  I took a lot of time this week and, for the first time, e-mailed each of the 5 groups a separate e-mail with some reflections and suggestions to fine-tune their specific ministry.  Then I emphasized the need for each of the 5 groups to have weekly contact within their own group so that they know who (of the new people) they are responsible for.  We have tried to not let one week go without having some sort of contact with our new people.  Until they are fully integrated into the church, they will need very consistent contact with their new church family.

4.  Not just a way to get new people—Everything we do is deeply, I mean deeply, rooted in God’s commission for us to reach a lost and dying world with the Good News of Jesus Christ.  If people are doing this to pad their numbers at church, new people will see through them immediately and run.  We are all being driven by a love for God and a love of neighbor.  We reach people because we love them and care about them, not because we want to grow the church.  Though there is a structure in place, we must never lose sight that we are doing this because we genuinely love people, want them to join our family, and want to spend eternity with them.  We reach everyone the same regardless of social-economic status.  We have no target demographic.  We have no agenda.  We simply call others to join us in blessing people, teaching them, and joining together as the body of Christ in response, to further grow, equip, and mature.

A Minister’s Take On Church Steps Outreach (Part 2) by Jimmy Hinton

More from Jimmy Hinton on how they have implemented Church Steps Outreach in Pennsylvania!

Hopefully my previous blog brought some encouragement to ministers of small congregations who may feel stuck in a rut or who are just trying to be more evangelistic.  Just to share a little more background—I’ve always believed (and still do!) what 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches, namely that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”  But I have learned that there is far more than just preaching scripture, and it demands real action from everyone in the church.  Sermons alone don’t cut it.  Let’s be real.  How many ministers put every ounce of energy, prayer, and time into sermons, wake up early Sunday morning to pray over their notes, spend time in prayer specifically asking God to prepare hearts, then they deliver the Word with every ounce of raw energy they have left, hoping that the sermon will finally be the holy grail of all sermons?  You know, the one that kick starts your anemic congregation into spiritual fruit-producing action?  The sermon resonates.  You can see it on their faces.  Finally!  A breakthrough!  You get the high fives as people exit the building.  Wheels are turning and ideas are renewed.  Then next Sunday the same tired eyes look toward you longing for another zinger to get them through the week.  You soon realize that you are tired, your elders and deacons (if you have any) are tired, and even the pew potatoes are tired.  What inevitably happens when people are tired, bored, and frustrated?  That’s right. . . church fight!!

I’ve seen fights break out in small churches that, when investigated, began out of sheer boredom.  Kids do this all the time.  Lock 2 or 3 kids in a room with no toys for an hour, tell them to sit still, and see what happens.  A lot of church sickness is rooted in unfocused leadership combined with boredom and ending in frustration.  Unfocused leadership usually results from a failure of us ministers to properly equip, teach, and train the saints, and boredom because, more often than not, ministers at small churches either don’t show others how to help or leaders don’t allow them to.  I’ve seen a lot of burned out ministers of small churches claim that they do most of the work and that many of their members are lazy.  I don’t believe this to be the case at all.  How many Christians show up to church and say, “Let’s see how little I can contribute to these chumps!”?  I’ve found that the majority of people are begging leaders to let them serve and the leaders don’t know how (or seem to have the time to) show them how to serve.  So. . . what have I learned in the last few years that are guiding principles which can help a church become evangelistic?

1.  Structure is vital—Most small churches I’ve been to are warm and genuinely welcome and care for visitors.  But once a visitor has come in the door a few times, the regular members are usually not attentive to their needs anymore and let them slip through the cracks.  Through our Steps Outreach, we have given members specific ministries that are all tied in to directing, guiding, teaching, and discipling our visitors.  No longer do visitors come in and 3 months down the road wonder if anyone even still notices them.  We are now working on a plan to assimilate our new people into the church and give each one of them a clear purpose.

2.  Community is vital—Paul tells us that the church is Christ’s body and that every single member is valued and must work in conjunction with every other member.  Luke tells us that the church “had everything in common.”  Both Paul and Jesus offer warnings against idle members.  If we read it in the Bible, why don’t we practice it?  We must genuinely believe in every single member, faults and all, and believe that they are capable of (and should be) working just the same as the next person beside them.

3.  Communication is vital—In the last 3 months e-mail has become a lifeline, and so has our discussion time on Wednesday evenings.  With almost 30 new visitors, we have a lot to keep track of.  We try to know what the needs of our visitors are—what works for them, what doesn’t, who’s ready for Bible studies, and who isn’t.  As communication breaks down, so does the ministry.

4.  The biblical cycle of Blessing-Gospel message-Church response-Further blessing is vital—Acts 3 & 4 are this cycle in action!  Peter and John heal a crippled man at the Temple (blessing).  That man publicly rejoices in the Lord.  Peter preaches the Gospel to the attentive crowd and 5,000 men believe as a result.  Peter and John are arrested and released.  They return to their church and pray.  The church responds by being one in mind and sharing possessions.  And so the cycle repeats: “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33 NIV).  Interestingly, our new people have taken the lead in attracting others to Jesus and inviting them to church!  We are there to bless them and reach them with the Gospel message.  The church is responding in healthy ways, which further blesses others.

5.  Peace is Vital—Believe me when I say that not all agree on method.  We don’t argue about this, we celebrate it.  To be honest, I was quite nervous even suggesting that we change the structure of Wednesday evenings.  We are pretty traditional and have never, to my knowledge, changed the structure of Wednesday evenings in our 113 year history until February of this year.  We communicated it well and let people know that if they disagreed with the way we do something, they needed to offer suggestions rather than attacks.  Peace has been a welcomed friend and has allowed us to grow and mature.

More tomorrow on what this all looks like in action.

From Matt:

This is so encouraging to me to learn from Jimmy’s structure here. I love innovation and transformation. In sharing this, Jimmy is helping me refine our process too! One of the things we are considering is making this a regular part of our small group ministry (1 Sunday night each month, all groups would work through this process). Thanks Jimmy for taking the lead, bringing about change and dealing with people in loving ways. Praise God for the results He is bringing to your congregation!

A Minister’s Take On Church Steps Outreach (Part 1) by Jimmy Hinton

I minister at the Somerset Church of Christ in Somerset, PA.  The question was brought to me around Thanksgiving 2012—“Could you teach a class on evangelism?”  This was a great topic to teach because in 2012 I preached the entire year on the Great Commission.  Yet, despite the polite pats on my shoulder week after week and the frequent “What a powerful and motivating sermon,” the numbers were beyond troubling—not one single new person was added to our small church in 2012.  Either God had abandoned his church of 75 or we had fallen in love with the idea of evangelism but didn’t know how to actually evangelize (myself included).  Something needed to change or we were one generation away from joining the ranks of the numerous Churches of Christ in the Northeast who are closing their doors for good.

This was going to be our ticket, a class on evangelism!  Then I came across Matt Dabbs’ blog series on their Steps Outreach Ministry.  One line struck me, (paraphrasing) “Isn’t Bible study our answer to everything?”  Instead of teaching about evangelism, Matt had a vision for doing evangelism.  This was my “aha” moment.  A lifetime of “survival mode” church mentality flashed before my very eyes.  I’ve been part of small churches my whole life.  In my 33 years, I can only recall witnessing roughly 40 baptisms and I know of several of those who have left the church.  How did we get to this point?  80% of the Churches of Christ are 100 members or less, yet we ministers are failing to equip the saints to evangelize a lost and dying world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have a deep love for small rural churches and am quite familiar with them—familiar enough to know that most of the ones I’ve visited or have ministered at are wrestling with their own survival.  Many small churches have leaders who are worn out and members (including leaders) who simply do not know how to reach the lost.  It’s not that they don’t care, it’s that they’ve never been taught by example.

Something had to change.  I presented the idea of Steps Outreach to our tiny, tired Wednesday night group.  We fleshed it out for a couple of months and in February of this year, decided to implement it.  In 3 months, we more than doubled our Wednesday attendance, we’ve had close to 30 new local visitors with the majority of those having made us their church home, we had 4 baptisms this week, we have more demand for Bible studies than we have people to lead them, we have 4 new people who don’t read or write and who have never before found a church to accept them (one of those 4 was baptized last night!), and our boost in Sunday attendance has given worship a more meaningful direction and purpose for everyone who assembles.

There will be a follow up blog or two about how we actually do Wednesday nights.  At the advice of my friend Matt, it is quite simple.  Boiled down, we simply share our faith in Jesus with others.  We love them.  We welcome them.  We teach them.  And we make disciples of Jesus.  That means everyone who comes in is intentionally cared for and assimilated into the Lord’s church.  They all have a purpose.  This takes time, but we are working to equip our new people just the same as our regular members.  God can and will transform the small rural church if we allow Him to.  To the frustrated minister and the worn out leaders of our small churches, I offer you this message: there is hope through Jesus Christ.  Be willing to re-examine the way you do ministry and listen to God’s calling for you.  Cast the Bible’s vision to reach a lost and dying world on your congregation and invite them to join you.  Offer clear structure, direction and guidance, be flexible, and allow yourselves to be taught by members of the church as well as your new people.  As in the case of our dear sister who was immersed on Wednesday, they have a lot to offer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhWz4e6Zf5I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EZ61jePRTU

A note about Jimmy
I am proud to call Jimmy Hinton my friend. He and I first met at Harding University and again in graduate school at Harding School of Theology. Several months ago Jimmy and I were able to catch up and have a conversation about evangelism that was so encouraging to me. Since then, Jimmy has sent me several updates that have been a joy to me to read as God is bringing the increase in their congregation! Thanks Jimmy for writing such a powerful article on the way God is able to use us if we just make ourselves available!

Tomorrow Morning’s Post is One You Will Want to Read

A friend of mine is doing two guest posts. One will be posted in the morning and I have to tell you that I was moved by what he has to say. His name is Jimmy Hinton. Jimmy is a minister at a small church in Pennsylvania. Over the last several months Jimmy got inspired to start a movement in his congregation toward reaching the lost. God has been working through that congregation to reach lost people. I really wanted to post it today. Instead, I will get you ready to read what he wrote. His post sprang out of a few outreach ideas we have been implementing here in St. Pete (Church Steps), so I passed his post on to our members who are a part of that ministry, thinking it would encourage them in their work. One dear sister wrote me back saying she read it with tears in her eyes because of God’s faithfulness. So I am looking forward to posting Jimmy’s post in the morning and look forward to hearing any thoughts or reactions you guys might have about what God is doing there.

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