This weekend at C3 Church we will wrap up “So You’re Dead… Now What?” by looking at “Heaven”. The reality is nobody wants to go to hell, but most people really aren’t that excited about heaven. Could it be more than we think? Is the reality of heaven and what we’ll experience there beyond what we know? Don’t miss this Sunday as we experience “Heaven.”
Last week we talked about a subject that Jesus talked about more than heaven, communion, and baptism combined - the subject of hell. In light of it’s reality - who are you inviting to C3 this weekend? We’ve got two days to care enough about people to simply invite them to come and check out C3 - church in a way they won’t believe! Let’s invest and invite because so much is at stake!
I’m still recovering from being blown away yesterday @ C3 Church. To think that just over a year ago we launched at Regal Cinemas and it that time hundreds of people have become Christ-followers. It really blows my mind… and, we’re just getting started. Sunday we wrapped up “Right Where YOU Are” and we hit a record attendance of 843!
This weekend we’ll launch a brand new series, “So You’re Dead… Now What?”. The afterlife is cloaked in mystery. What happens moments after we die? What is Heaven really like? What about Hell? And does what we do in this world really matter in the next? Join us as we uncover the life-altering answers to these questions in the series “So You’re Dead…Now What?” April 19, 26 and May 3. Don’t miss it… and invite people like crazy!
Today and Tomorrow I will wrap up the things that I think will guarantee failure in planting, transitioning or leading a church.
You will fail if you are:
5. Unwilling To Make The Hard Calls
It’s the bottom line - you have to make decisions. As the leader this isn’t something you can hand over to a committee (there are a ton of churches trying that and they are dying… or dead and don’t know it). To make wise decisions you have to have input from people you trust, but ultimately it comes down to you. Hard calls are hard… they are suppose to be. If the hard calls ever become easy you’ve lost your love and passion for people. But, no matter how hard they are you’ve got to make them. Calls like - someone on your staff that’s just not performing… even though you may be good friends you’ve got to make the call. Someone who’s no longer able to do the job - perhaps the church/vision has grown beyond their capacity to perform. If you can find another role they would excel in then move them, if not you’ve got to let them go. Or perhaps you’re faced with a shrinking personnel budget in a struggling economy. You can’t ignore reality… the personnel budget is only so big and you have to adapt. Families are having to adjust, business are and the church is no exception - the alternative would be to no longer exist and that’s not the vision God called you to. Other hard calls may be in volunteers - for example you need friendly people people as your first impressions/connection at your gatherings. You may have someone who loves you and loves Jesus but doesn’t naturally connect well with others… move them!
6. Coasting
I’ve seen it and done it, maybe you have too. Those moments when you reach a place in ministry that you feel relatively “successful.” The place where you used to think “if I ever get there I will have finally arrived” - maybe for you it’s a certain attendance, or number of salvation’s in a year, or budget amount. When you get “there” the temptation will be to stop doing what got you “there” and begin to… coast. The slippery slide to comfortability in ministry kills growing churches. Jesus didn’t call you to be comfortable - he called you to take risks… he did. Keep pushing, keep reaching, keep learning… it’s the only way to keep growing. You’ve communicated for years so now you can do it with your eyes close. You don’t require the study you used to have to put it. You can now walk out with little preparation and deliver at a level that you’re “okay” with. Stop - the moment you flow like that you begin to lose your edge. When your edge is gone your passion slides. When you lose your passion you lose the very thing that God is using to attract others to your ministry. You can’t pursue vision coasting.
Some days are just like this, filled with challenges. It’s all good, but sometimes it can begin to be overwhelming. Just like many, I’m in what seems to be a season of having to make some tough decisions. I made one today… really tough. Over the next couple weeks I have to make more - even tougher.
Then came the reality check. As I was driving into my neighborhood this afternoon there was a swarm of law enforcement officers, helicopters, etc. I stopped to speak with one of the deputies and learned that a neighbor had reached a breaking point. Apparently in serious depression she left the house to go into the woods to… Now they are trying to find her.
I still don’t know exactly what’s happening and it’s too early to know how this will unfold. I do know she has a little baby that loves her and needs her. I also know that no matter what she’s feeling there’s hope… she just doesn’t feel that right now.
It puts my decisions in perspective - it could be so much more difficult. Would you please take just a moment right now to pray for this family and for the Mom to be safe… and feel hope.
I’m thinking about Sunday. I feel so intense about the message for this weekend. So many people flow through life just taking whatever comes, almost lifelessly. Just moving from one year to the next. Just existing. The very idea of creating the life God intends us to live is so foreign to so many.
One of the most profound statements of Jesus was “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Yet so often “life to the full” seems like a pipe dream for many. We think somehow that life is going to just drop out of the sky one day, somehow it will just happen. Then, as we grow older and it doesn’t, we tell ourselves it was just some kind of spiritual talk with a deeper meaning… somehow Jesus didn’t really mean what he said. But, what if he did? What if we were to stop waiting and begin creating?
If it were all up to God wouldn’t every Christ-follower automatically have this “life to the full?” Of course, apart from him it won’t happen, but in our love relationship with God, loving him back is our part. I believe God is more ready to create that life in us than we are to receive it. What if while we’ve been waiting… he’s been waiting? What if God has already done everything necessary for us to experience this life and he’s waiting on us to step into it?
How do we do that… this Sunday at C3 Church we will begin the journey of creating, and we’ll never be the same. This Sunday we will take the first step as we “Create”!
