Restoration Church Launched - 9.9.12

Yesterday, my family and the Brown family drove to Greensboro, NC to help launch a new church plant. Joey & Nicole Baynes, along with a team of nearly 40 people have been laying the groundwork for Restoration Church for almost a year. They have been meeting for Bible studies in homes, praying, visiting, planning, seeking God's direction, and hosting preview services. The core group consists of families have relocated, some in Greensboro who feel led to help, and some who are newly saved and ready to reach others.

The excitement on launch day was amazing! They really had it together and God blessed their efforts with over 280 people attending the service, and 3 making decisions for salvation! It is exciting to see a solid church starting and to have had a part in helping them. Restoration Church is receiving support from various church planting organizations; and our church supports two of them. I pray that EBC continues to see these success stories and will continue to help start new churches!

For more info about Restoration Church visit www.restorationgso.com

Vision Sunday 2012 - Giving Away the Ministry!

Last Sunday was our annual Vision Sunday. Each year, I set aside a Sunday in January to challenge the church regarding the things God would have us to do throughout the upcoming year. This year was a little different. While in other years we have talked about doing things, this year we talked about becoming the people that God wants us to be. We talked about becoming fully devoted followers, who are passionately pursuing Christ and training others to serve Him.

At EBC, we are very good at programs and events. I know we are good, because others in our area have and continue to try to replicate what we are doing. I remember one man several years ago at a Chamber meeting stating, "I'm so tired of hearing about 'how Emmanuel does it' in our church Board meetings." Another lady, who is not even affiliated with EBC said, "What Emmanuel has done has been so effective that another church in town trying to do the same things, but without the same success." Just this week, a pastor from another city told me, "We want to be in our city what Emmanuel is in Hartsville." I was humbled by these statements, but also proud to hear others acknowledging that our people do "things" well.

This year, we don't want to focus on the things. Instead, we want to focus on developing leaders and training others to do ministry. One of my goals this year is to give away the ministry. I confessed to our members that I've allowed myself to be drawn into the "stuff" that keeps pastors busy, but also keeps the prayer time and pulpit from being strong. You'll remember the disciples felt the same pull in Mark 6 and it led to the selection of deacons. The disciples appointed the Deacons to take care of the tasks assigned them, so the disciples could focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word. Our goal at EBC this year is to recruit a lay-leader and a team of volunteers for every ministry in our church! Those teams will meet monthly to plan, prepare, and pray for the ministry God has given them.

On Sunday night, we met with our ministry leaders to continue our vision discussion and strategy to accomplish it. People seemed very excited and one lady shouted out, "He finally got it." Yes... I finally got it. I realized that I can't do it all myself. Our church is growing, my opportunities and circle of influence are increasing, and I either have to release some things or our ministry will be stifled. To steal a quote from the corporate world, "I can't work on the business, while I'm working in the business." This same thing rings true for each of our pastors, so our goal this year is to "give away the ministry" by equipping the saints. Funny, it sounds similar to what Jethro told Moses, Paul told the Ephesians, etc. Maybe I really finally got it, and if so... God is getting ready to do some really BIG things!

Church Unity Results in God's Presence & Blessing

You've probably heard the old story about the little boy who was sick and stayed home from church on the Sunday of the annual Easter program. Upon returning from the service, his brother stated," You should have been there... Jesus showed up today." The little boy was so disappointed and proclaimed loudly, "I had to miss the one Sunday that Jesus showed up at our church." Well, let me ask you, when was the last time God showed up at your church?

Emmanuel is so blessed to see people being saved, baptized, and added to our church on a regular basis; but that wasn't always the case. Just as Aachan's sin spoiled the blessing for an entire nation, sin among our staff stifled our growth at one point. Just as division between Jews and Gentiles split divided the early church, we, too, have experienced division and discord. Just as Judas refused to buy into Jesus, we've had some refuse to buy into our efforts to share Christ. Some of the difficulties have moved out of town, some now bless other churches, and some continue to bless us; but others have selected to put aside the conflict and reconcile with God and others. PRAISE THE LORD!

I personally believe that God desires to work in every church, but He can't; because of the lack of unity! This Peacemaker series has helped us to celebrate our differences, agree to disagree (agreeably), focus on Christ, and renew our vision. It has taught us how to resolve conflict. It's brought a sweet, sweet spirit into our church family and we know that it's the Spirit of the Lord! Our prayer is that God will help us continue in unity, strive to live peaceably, and unite in our passion to share Christ, and reach a lost world.

Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful work you are doing at Emmanuel! Please dwell among us and use us to impact eternity!

VBS "On-the-Go"

Vacation Bible School brings back many wonderful memories of games, crafts, fun, and especially the snacks! Funny to me how VBSseems to have changed through the years, as churches began using standardized curriculum and parents began using VBS as free childcare by putting their kids in a different VBS each week. Have we somehow lost the true meaning of VBS? Has it in effect become simply a CBS, or "Children's Babysitting Service?"

I am so proud of our Children's Pastor, who last year had a vision to take VBS to the children who might never get to go. Rather than inviting parents to bring their children to one more church, we took VBS to the children whose parents may be working, others whose parents would not bring them, and some whose parents could not bring them. We took VBS into various apartment complexes, and even the local Boys & Girls Club. We saw over 30 children accept Christ!

This concept of VBS was not only good for the children, but also GREAT for our adult and teen workers, as well as, our church's children who also attended in this setting. It took our people out of their comfort zone, exposed them to things they were not familiar with, and allowed them to hear stories that broke their hearts and gave them a small glimpse into the lives of these children.

Within the church, we too often use attendance numbers as our measure of success; but with this style VBS success was measured by souls saved, tears shed, hugs distributed, and lives changed... mostly the lives of our church members. I extend a heartfelt 'THANK YOU" to everyone who made this possible through donations, teaching, serving, prayer, financial support, and more! Pastor David, THANK YOU for your vision to reach children beyond our walls! Managers and Directors, thank you for allowing us minister to the children in your community! God, please give us this opportunity again next year!

Ministry Pornography

I heard an interesting term a few weeks ago -- "Ministry Pornography." Four members of our Ministry Team attended the Refuel Conference at Thomas Road Baptist Church and during one of the messages, Ed Stetzer, VP of Research and Ministry Development for LifeWay Christian Resources, used that term. He defined "Ministry Pornography" as pastors lusting after ministries that they will never have, nor lead.

Sadly, Ed was right. As young (and older) pastors look at the mega-churches in America, there is a desire to have a church like it. There becomes a dissatisfaction with the place to which God has called, and there is a desire to have something supposedly bigger and better. Ministry pornography can have the same devastating effects as real pornography -- the pastor starts lusting after a larger ministry, and he loses sight of the beautiful work that God has already given him.

The cure for ministry pornography is appreciation for the work God has given you; devotion to your congregation, and the realization that size doesn't matter in the work of the Lord. Some of the most faithful ministers I know are serving in small churches. So pastors, stop lusting for a larger work, and keep laying up treasures in heaven as you faithfully serve the people and work that God has entrusted to you!

Fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium.

This is a great blog post by Pastor Steven Furtick. I encourage all of our church members to read it, meditate on it, then catch this vision for Emmanuel.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stevenfurtick/~3/kxBCbA95d1w/

Vision Sunday / Ministry Fair - 1.23.11

This past Sunday was our annual Vision Sunday! Rather than going through the annual calendar highlights for the year, discussing "data," and setting numerical goals; I tried instead to cast a vision that was very simple. It included terms like, "Back to Basics," "Making Disciples," "Impacting Eternity," and "Saved to Serve." Churches are filled with spectators and we are striving this year to increase our number of participants, to help people grow in their faith, and to build a body of believers that is more than just a headcount on Sunday mornings.

This past year, we removed all of our attendance numbers from our Sunday bulletins. Our attendance has been strong and growing, but too many churches focus on the numbers. Go to the average pastors' meeting and all you hear is "How many does your church run on Sunday?" As the old saying goes, "Figures lie and liars figure." Rather than focus on attendance, I'd rather focus on the 62 who were saved in our services in 2010, the 48 who followed in baptism, the 54 new members, and the 483 who were saved through outreach events and discipled by EBC and other local churches. That may not sound like much to a mega church in a metropolitan city, but in a town of 8,000 people with over 100+ churches... we praise God for what He is doing at EBC!

Our Sunday morning service went a total of 50 minutes, then we dismissed to our annual Ministry Fair. Over 40+ booths were setup to generally represent the ministries of our church. As our teens and adults walked through the Ministry Fair and signed-up to serve, over 364 volunteer positions were filled for 2011. THAT WAS EXCITING! We allotted 45 minutes for the Ministry Fair, but people lingered for over an hour. We actually had to encourage them to leave and go pickup their children. I left encouraged and people left excited about serving Jesus.

How does a church measure success?

We recently surveyed our congregation regarding how they defined success in a church. The question received a wide variety of responses. Most of our members gave the same responses I would expect to hear in most churches. Most gage their success by attendance numbers. So, consider the following:

- If a church grows from 200 to 1,000; but all their growth comes by members transferring from other churches... are they successful?

- If the church attendance drops by hundreds in one week, but on that Sunday someone is saved... is that success?

- If a church doesn't grow at all for 10 years, but during that time 2 dozen people commit their lives to serve God in a vocational capacity... is that success?

There are a thousand scenarios and just as many opinions; BUT there is a very simple way to measure success. Stop and ask, "Is your church making disciples?" Are people being saved, baptized, growing, and going? Is the church developing fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ? Simply seeing people saved, but never growing any further, is certainly NOT success; neither is growth by stealing people from other congregations. Success is developing disciples who can disciple others.

EBC will soon be implementing a new process for developing disciples. It includes the following four steps: Share, Connect, Serve, and Disciple. We realize that every member is at one of these stages and their needs differ at each stage. At the first stage, the person needs Christ for salvation or needs to return to a right relationship with the Lord. At the second stage, they need to connect with the church and other believers by attending services, Sunday School, special classes, building friendships, etc. At the third stage, members begin to minister to others. Level three people no longer hold the mentality of "what's in it for me," but instead ask, "what can I do for others?" Finally, those in stage four will begin to reproduce themselves in others by making disciples.

So, success can be measured by moving people through the process of developing disciples, resulting in -- disciples of Jesus Christ, who are discipling others. So, which one of the four levels are you at in the process? ... Okay... now go back and answer that question honestly. :-)

Why Do You Attend The Church You Do?

Let me continue to challenge your thinking as it pertains to "nursery" style churches and "Army" building churches...

Tomorrow morning, people across our nation will attend church services. Some of them are already dreading it. I know this, because I hear people in our "culturally Christian" community constantly berating their church, pastor, deacons, choir members, other churches, etc. I talk with pastors in our community (and in other states) who are broken hearted because of the infantile behavior within their congregations. People know the Scriptures, but fail to apply them. These pastors feel like babysitters, rather than spiritual leaders. Sadly, this appears to the be the norm, rather than the exception.

Such common behavior prompts me to ask a few questions:
1) Is berating other believers helping or hurting the cause of Christ?
2) Do "Christians" understand that their negative comments may keep some from salvation?
3) Do people who gossip, sow discord, and divide the body; really think they can also worship?
4) Do those who attend churches as martyrs, really think that is a spiritual act of service?
5) Would we allow on a sports team, what we allow in the local church?

Some people in our area do crazy (and sinful) things under the guise of being 'spiritual.' The majority of believers simply laugh at them and call them crazy, but my heart breaks as they play the game of religion and worship the god of self. They are harming the body of Christ and such behavior certainly does not please a holy God.

So tomorrow morning, evaluate "why" you attend the church you do. If your answer begins with "God," then you're probably in the right place and probably for the right reason. If God led you to that church, and is using you to encourage others, exercise your spiritual gifts, lead some to Christ, and bring others to spiritual maturity; then stay put and keep serving Him!

On the other hand, if your answer contains the words "I," "my," "me," "mine," or anything similar... you only have a couple of options:
1) Repent of your self-centeredness, and rejoin your team.
2) Go find a church where they will worship you, appreciate you, sing your favorite songs, and avoid preaching against your sins. Hey... they might even let you choose the service start times, set the thermostats, and give less in the offering.

Remember: Setting up a nursery is all about keeping the infants comfortable; but building an army is hard work, it's uncomfortable, and it focuses on the needs of others. So... what type of church are you looking for?

The Church: Spiritual Nursery or Army?

I was recently reading a book and came across this question, "Is the purpose of the church to create a spiritual nursery, or a spiritual army?" That's a great question and how a church answers it will determine its philosophy of ministry.

For example, the "nursery" philosophy looks inward, focuses on comfort, and is characterized by convenience. These spiritual infants scream when their personal needs are not met, and bicker constantly among themselves. Believers in "nursery" churches say soul winning is important, but they never lead a person to Christ. They say prayer is important, but they don't show up for prayer meetings. They fail to see their own spiritual needs, but can clearly point out the faults of others. They are probably very religious, but full of hypocrisy. They hope everyone else is hearing the message the pastor is preaching, but don't think it applies to them. The pastor of a "nursery" church is expected to make every hospital visit and be available at every member's beckoned call. His time is consumed with wiping noses, cleaning up messes, correcting those who are too immature to practice personal discipline. etc. Is this really why God established His Church... to pacify spiritual infants?

On the other hand, the church that sees itself in the business of building a spiritual army is just the opposite. The "army" style church is united and knows its God-given purpose is to train soldiers. The "army" style church looks outward, and realizes the urgency of their search and rescue mission. It builds the troops by identifying prospective soldiers then recruiting, training, and motivating them for service. Each soldier knows his duty, engages in the battle, and disregards his own comfort. There is no time to sit in worship of the past or to relax and watch the officers perform. Those in the "army" style church realize they are in a war and they desperately need each other. The pastor of an "army" style church focuses on the objective, provides direction, trains the trainers, motivates the troops, and leads them into battle for the souls of men and to defeat the enemy.

Our church leaders agreed that EBC must focus our efforts on building a spiritual army for our Lord. We are engaged in spiritual warfare, not childcare. Our anthem is "Onward Christian Soldiers." The Apostle Paul told us to put on our armor. Matthew 28:19-20 records our marching orders and from Acts 1:8, we have derived our four year plan. We are marching into battle! Can we count on you?

Staff Retreat

Following our Deacon retreat, our pastoral staff (and their spouses) spent time away on Monday - Wednesday. It is amazing how much more can be accomplished by getting away from our normal environments. It was also nice to interact with each other outside the parameters of the normal church "business."

Our pastors discussed the church survey questions, and covered many of the same topics the deacons did. We used the deacons' input to launch the conversations to the next level. It was a good level-set for all of us and reassured that we are all aiming at the same targets. It also reminded us of how necessary it is to repeat some basic items to our congregation for the sake of maintaining unity. The church is a "team" and all of the coaches and players must clearly understand the objectives and have the same goals in mind.

Much of our discussion, evaluation, and planning focused on our:
Mission - Exalt the Lord, Equip Believers, and Evangelize the World.
Purpose - To make disciples, who can disciple others
Process - Share, Connect, Serve, Disciple

Other discussion focused on our goals, dreams, target group, service formats, outreach opportunities, what makes EBC distinct, needs in our community that no church is addressing, strategic planning committee, and more! So, buckle your seat belt and hang on; because there are some exciting days ahead for Emmanuel Baptist Church!

Deacon retreat

This past weekend, the deacons and I did something that we have talked about for a long time.... we left town and spent time talking, planning, and praying. There is nothing like getting away from the daily grind, turning off the TV, and just focusing on spiritual things. We have some godly men and I value their insights pertaining to our church and its ministries.

Since January, we had been surveying our people by inserting questions into our weekly bulletins. Our desire was to solicit the church's input, regarding various aspects of our church and its ministries. We are currently developing our 3, 5, and 10 year plans for EBC, and wanted our congregation's input.

Before we could discuss plans for the future, we needed to do an honest assessment of where we are as a church. What are our strengths, weaknesses, goals, and vision? Do we have a clearly defined purpose? Do we have a clearly defined target? What have we done well? What can we do better? How do we measure success?

This process of evaluation and assessment provided topics for deep thought and lengthy conversations. It also fostered some great ideas and an opportunity to refocus on what we are trying to accomplish as a church. The bottom-line... this was time well spent with the godly leaders God has raised up in our church, and all agreed we need to make this an annual event.

Vision Sunday Revelations

Prov. 29:18 states, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." I've also heard it said that "Where there is no vision, the people will find another parrish." Vision is the ability to see what God wants to do through our church. It is our mission possible, should we choose to accept it. If we decline, we simply become another dead church satisfied with status quo.

In preparing the message for our Vision Sunday, several truths were revealed to me:

• The economy has hit us HARD! In 2008-2009, we lost 170 people due mostly to deaths, out of state relocations. That was 28% of our church and we are in a small community.
• God brought us 130 new members in the past two years and we have gained over 100 of the 170 that we lost.
• Over 200 people were saved through EBC's efforts last year!
• Our offerings have remained strong.
• God blessed us beyond what we can humanly explain. Our debt has decreased by $800,000, our missions giving has increased annually, and our school enrollment continues to grow -- even during a recession!

So, what does all of that have to do with "vision?" EVERYTHING! It was as though God said look what I've been doing while you were worrying about a few disgruntled people. (If they leave... I'll replace them.) Look what I've been doing while you've been worrying about the budget. (I've given you more than you even realized.) Look what I've been doing while you were worrying about the school enrollment. (I've been bringing new students in monthly.) Look what I (God) have been doing! Remember, it's My church and I promised to build it.

WOW! I felt as though God was telling me to go refill my squirt guns and resume my position in the assault against hell! I hadn't had that feeling in quite a while. It was as though God said, "Here's My vision... Catch it!" I caught it... He's working... and I've joined Him!

What about you? Are you ready to refill your squirt guns? God is working... let's join Him!