Church growth

Church growth is a mysterious God-thing. When someone owns a business, with a certain amount of expertise and marketing they should do pretty well. Applying business techniques and marketing to church life does not necessarily guarantee growth. Yet, I believe that God wants all churches to continue to grow, maintain health and reproduce. Church size isn't so much the issue as is church health and vitality. As we move forward as a church here in Encinitas, our job will be to continue to discern what God's will is for our future and well as our size. I have told people many times that I'd love to see our church become a healthy family church that people of all ages will consider attending. I've specifically never mentioned a number, because that will be up to God. I recently met with another pastor here in north county and explained our situation. He was so kind and generous. He pastors a large, well known church and said to me, "Just let me know what we can do to help, it's great to be on your team." That was the best meeting I've had so far with another pastor here. I do believe that as we all pursue the connections we already have, God will bring new people into our church. Meanwhile, I will pursue some of the help that is being offered and continue to pray that God will bring us the worship leader that is just right for our church. Let's continue to pray together that God will grow our church in His way and in His time as we do all that is humanly possible to help Him. Seeing our church grow will be a team effort between every single one of us as we trust God and seek His direction. Then when we do see some growth and change at our church we'll know that it had nothing to do with a business strategy and everything to do with God's blessings as we do our part to bring in the help we need.

Sunday's sermon

Don’t forget your first love, Revelation 2:1-7, Matthew 22:34-40

Intro….Male/Female differences
FREEZER BAGS: They are male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.

PHOTOCOPIERS: These are female, because once turned off; it takes a while to warm them up again. They are an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can also wreak havoc if you push the wrong Buttons.

TIRES: Tires are male, because they go bald easily and are often over inflated

HOT AIR BALLOONS: Also a male, because to get them to go anywhere, you have to light a fire under their…..

SPONGES: These are female, because they are soft, squeezable and retain water.

HOURGLASS: Female because, over time, all the weight shifts to the bottom.

HAMMERS: Male, because in the last 5000 years, they've hardly changed at all, and are occasionally handy to have around.

THE REMOTE CONTROL: Female. Ha! You probably thought it would be male, but consider this: It can make a man happy, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know which buttons to push, he just keeps trying

When it’s Valentines Day and we’re talking about love, it’s common to talk about human love…today I’d like to remind us of the priority of loving God.

Text: Revelation 2:1-7

Thesis: As Christians, our priorities should be God, Family, Work…
When we keep these three in order God will take care of every other area of our lives.

In this book, we see the revelation of Jesus Christ and he is the center of this entire book.
• There are 7 actual churches addressed in chap. 2-3 and these churches represent different types of churches in every generation.
• These 7 verses in chap. 2 address the church in Ephesus.
• Under Caesar Augustus, Ephesus became the capital of the Roman providence called Asia, which today is the western portion of Turkey. It was known as the “gateway to Asia.”
• God is telling John (who wrote Revelations) to write to an “angel” (a leader or elder in the church)
• These are the words of Jesus informing them of the things they are doing right and wrong as the church.

What the church in Ephesus is doing wrong:
• Vs. 4 Forgetting their first love “Yet I hold this against you…”
• “Forsaken” implies an intentional, not accidental, act.
• As a result, they have fallen and need repentance.
• If we truly love God above all else, then that will affect every decision and choice we make.
• Vs. 2, “hard work, perseverance etc.” For the Christian, this only matters if you are doing this hard work in the name of Christ, keeping him first in all you do.

What does it mean to forsake our first love?
• Let’s put it in a marriage context first, since it’s Valentine’s Day.
• The best thing I can give my children is a deep committed love for Kelley….she will always be my first love, even above the kids.
• Kelley had to gently remind me this week to say goodbye to her…
• We always shoot for the three part connection: couch time, dates and vacations.
• When we’re having “couch time” we tell the kids to go somewhere else….

The priority of relationship needs to be the same thing with God. We need to aside specific time, remove distractions and base decisions on what God would be pleased with.
• To be a Christian is to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul and mind. (Matt. 22:34-40…)
• As vs. 5 says, “do the things you did at first”, go back to the “puppy love” stage… Ephesians 1:15-16
• I know it’s not always easy to put God first, our flesh and human desires get in the way…
• Again, another “romance” example…dating a non-Christian…

Consequences of forsaking our first love?
• In marriage it will lead to divorce…Kel’s dad telling me what not to do…he was married to his job…
• With our faith, it will lead to our usefulness being removed….”remove your lampstand from its place.”
• It will also mean a broken relationship with God. Fellowship vs. relationship…(fellowship can be broken, and restored, relationship will always be there)
• It will mean our faith will become cold, mechanical, meaningless.

What the church in Ephesus is doing right: (7 things every church should be doing)
• Hard work, perseverance,
• Not tolerate wickedness
• Root out falseness in the church leadership ( v. 2b)
• Endured hardships for the name of Jesus
• Not grown weary. (This church had remained faithful for over 40 years since its founding.)
• Vs. 7, listening to God, overcoming and gaining “the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in paradise” (heaven) with God.
• Detesting the practices of those who are not followers of Jesus….vs. 6b, Nicolaitians, followers of Nicolas, apparently a sect that advocated too much freedom in matters of Christian conduct (free love)…sounds like the summer of ’69, San Francisco…

God has strong words for these types of practices, vs. 6 “hate and hate”
• Hating the practices, not the people.
• God is a jealous God and sets the standard high in regards to our love and devotion to Him.

So, today on Valentine’s, let’s reexamine our priorities. Who do we really love? Who should we love first? God, Family, Work…
• Matthew 22:34-40
• The Pharisees (extremely devoted to very limited parts of the law) are trying to trick Jesus and he makes it real simple for them.
• This is a very important passage. Jesus literally sums up all of the Law and the Prophets.
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind
• Love your neighbor as yourself.
• He quotes from Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18.
• By fulfilling these two commands, a person keeps all others.
• They summarize the ten commandments and the other OT moral laws.

Conclusion:
I’ve been able to do a lot of weddings…3 in the next 3 months…I feel like I have something to say now after 22 years of marriage….
• Like in marriage, if the dad and mom love each other, it covers just about everything else..
• Pre-marital counseling with young couple…”things I wish you would do more often”…it’s the basics that couples are always dealing with, quality time, clean up the house, compromise etc.
• Sometimes in our Christian lives we get caught up in all the details, when God is asking us to remember our first love, to keep God first in our lives.

Conclusion:
My God, I love You; not because
I hope for heaven someday,
Or because those who don’t love you
Are lost eternally.
You, O my Jesus, did embrace me
Upon the cross
For me did bear the nails, and spear,
And manifold disgrace,
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
Yea, death itself; and all for me
Who was thine enemy.
Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ,
Should I not love You well?
Not for the sake of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell;
Not from the hope of gaining anything,
Not seeking a reward;
But as You have loved me,
O ever-loving Lord.
So would I love You, dearest Lord,
And in Thy praise will sing;
Solely because You are my God,
My most loving King.

Francis Xavier, 1506-1552

I've been a fan of The Police since my college days. Stewart Copeland has always been one of my favorite drummers. I am currently reading his autobiography, "Strange things happen" and found an interesting quote regarding one of his first gigs as a drummer. When I read this I thought of many implications and applications for the church to think about. Let me know what you think.

"A thousand voices echo up the stone arches that frame the ancient stained glass windows. Floodlit from the outside, these twelfth-century images of obscure piety combine with the soaring hymns to sear the art receptors in my adolescent brain. There is nothing more beautiful than music. All of the magnificent architecture that towers overhead is just a vessel for the sound that sweeps through me. In fact the sound forgives the overall creepiness of the church experience. All afternoon while I set up my drums amid the school orchestra and wait for the Christmas service to begin, that guilt of alienation creeps around me, pervading the cold damp air. Few places are chillier than an English church without its congregation. The cold stone statues are impassive, but they know I am apostate."

Giving back to God

Here's my sermon notes from Sunday. Hopefully these thoughts on tithing and giving are a review for most of you.

Giving back to God
Acts 5:1-11

Mention money or tithing in church…new people, “Oh it just figures”,
regulars, “I’ll just endure this…”

I purposely titled the sermon “Giving back to God” because…
Thesis: A godly attitude towards giving goes way beyond just our money. Everything we own belongs to God and we need to give all we have freely back to him.

This morning we’re going to look at one of the more interesting stories in the Bible from…
Acts 5:1-11
I chose this text because it’s easy for all of us to do this with the things we own, hang onto things too tight and keep too much for ourselves.
We get to thinking, “It’s my time, my car, my surfboard, my money, my kids, my house, my boat, my food…
It’s easy to want to keep it all to ourselves, isn’t it?
We review the “sharing lesson” in our house all the time…
We are born selfish and have to constantly break that habit.
Sometimes it feels good to hang on to our stuff tight.
We need to be reminded to have a loose grip on our possessions, so when God does take things back it doesn’t hurt so bad.
And God does take things back…from the trivial to irreplaceable.
The problem Ananias and Sapphira had was not that they didn’t sell their property, or even the fact that they keep part of the proceeds from the sale…but in lying in how much they had received. They wanted to keep it all to themselves.
This was an issue of dishonesty and greed.

Peter even reminds them in vs. 4, that at one point, this property was theirs, and after they sold it they had a chunk of money…these are the times God gives us to reflect on his goodness in our lives.
Am I being a good steward or caretaker of what I presently own?
Their sin was lying to God and the church saying they gave the whole amount, but holding back a portion for themselves and then trying to make themselves appear more generous than they really were.
Dishonesty and greed are bad enough by themselves, but when it happens publically in the church it looks double bad.
Then the dreaded “hypocrisy” word is used.
When a well-know leader in the church is caught stealing from the church or being dishonest in any way, that often does more damage for the cause of Jesus than almost anything else.
Lying to God will always get us in more trouble than lying to man.
Acts 5:4b, “You have not lied to men but to God.”
We can fool other people, but not God.

When it comes to giving back to God, we shouldn’t be wrestling with “Do I give from my gross or net, do I give 8%, 10%, 12% etc. etc.”
When we get selfish with our possessions, thinking we actually own them, then we “testing the Spirit of the Lord” as Sapphira did in vs. 9.
This story should cause “great fear to seize the whole church.”

Where did we get the concept of giving 10% of our income?
Leviticus 27:30, “A tithe or tenth of all you produce belongs to the Lord, it is holy to the Lord.”
However, if we were to tithe according to Biblical Old Testament standards it would be closer to 30%.

There were three tithes in the OT…
The first, called the Lord’s tithe… 10% of the harvest that went to support the priests and Levites since they were given no inheritance of land. (Numbers 18:21)

The 2nd tithe was on the remaining 90% that the people consumed themselves each year at the Feast of Tabernacles in a nationwide celebration of God’s provision. (Deut. 14:22-27) It was called the Festival tithe.

The 3rd tithe was the tithe for the poor. It was given every third year to help the poor and indigent. (Deut 14:28-29) One for the Levites, one for the people and one for the poor.

10% is a suggestion, a starting point.

2 Cor. 8:1-7, 9:6-8 9
God wants our giving (of all things) to be intentional, voluntary and cheerful, regular and proportional.

Intentional
• II Cor. 9:7a Plan ahead, know what you need to give that week or month.
• This helps us avoid the “Oh here comes the plate, I should probably throw something in” mentality like we saw in the opening video.

Voluntary and cheerful
• II Cor. 9: 6-8
• Giving our stuff back to God and his use should never be done out of guilt or coercion, God doesn’t need our stuff, he just wants our heart.
• God wants to teach us the joy of not being owned by our possessions or money.

Regular
• Not just because you were reminded of it today, so I’ll get serious about for a few months.
• Giving our stuff away needs to be a habit, a discipline. 1 Cor. 16:2

Proportional
• At different times in our lives, we can give more than others.
• Sometimes a little can mean just as much.

Conclusion: VIDEO “Hallelujah giving”