October 2008
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Pastor's Note
September 2008
Have you ever bought a book because the title caught your attention? I thought so. Here's a few titles that I found interesting:
- To Dream Again
- Becoming a Contagious Christian
- Unleashing the Church
- Get Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same Direction
- In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day
I have never met a pastor who did not dream of getting everyone in his boat to row in the same direction in order to unleash the church that the members might become contagious Christians. But many times facing opportunities seem like you are in pit with a lion on a snowy day.
So, to borrow a familiar phrase from a famous speech, "I Have a Dream..." I dream that we will become contagious Christians who are unleashed in the sense that we can get out of the fortress and into ministry as we row in the same direction. Another book title that actually speaks to the strategy for experiencing this dream is: Revitalizing the Sunday Morning Dinosaur by Ken Hemphill.
Hemphill's opening sentence in his book is: "The Sunday School is the finest integrated church growth tool on the market today!" His bold declaration has elicited varying responses from amusement, to disbelief, to outright scorn, to enthusiastic endorsement. I find myself these days in the category of endorsement. Sunday School is not a dinosaur. The word dinosaur makes us think of something extinct. Sunday School is NOT out-of-date. It is most relevant. I'm of the opinion that if our Sunday School grows our church will grow. If our Sunday School is involved in ministry, our church will be involved in ministry. If our Sunday School is involved in missions, our church will be involved in ministry and missions. If our Sunday School is relational, our church will be relational. If our Sunday School fulfills the "one another" passages of the Bible, the church will be "praying for one another, encouraging one another, bearing one another's burdens, loving one another, etc.
Are you involved in Sunday School? If the answer is "yes," let me commend you for your involvement and urge you to reach out to others. If the answer is "no," let me encourage you to get started. Now is the time! There has never been a better time than the present. It is not my desire to grow a church for the sake of growing a church. My dream involves growing people to be like Jesus that they might experience His fulfilment and joy in their lives.
The longer I serve as a pastor in a local church the more clearly I see that we need each other. All of us have needs, hurts, disappointment, etc. God has created us to be interdependent, not independent. But, we will never feel that we can depend on one another nor minister to one another unless we get to know one another. There is no better place to connect with one another than in Sunday School.
Many times you have heard me say that I would like for the word to get out in this community that Jesus is at First Baptist Church. People have heard that Jesus cares, but often they don't know that the church cares. I want them to know that because of Him we also care. I want us to be contagious for Jesus. Don't you? Someone has said that the biggest deterrent to growth in most churches is lack of confidence in God's supernatural power to grow His church. It is true that we are obsessed with our own responsibility to find resources for growth. When our natural resources seem limited, our vision shrinks and we accept mediocrity. I know there have been numerous times that I have done that very thing. But by God grace, I refuse to do it again! Ephesians 3:20 says, "He will do exceedingly, abundantly above what we ask or think." We can't grow the church, but God can! We don't have the resources, but He does!
Our desire is to "share Jesus with Moody and beyond." Obviously, the source of that statement is Jesus, Himself. He said, "Go make disciples...baptize them...teach them." I think Sunday School will help us fulfill His command to evangelize, assimilate and disciple people for Him. I am counting on you to be present IN SUNDAY SCHOOL on Sunday, September 7 at 9 a.m. There's a place for you.
I love you and I am grateful for you.
Bro. David