Sometimes it may seem hard to share our faith. Yet, that’s exactly what we’re supposed to be doing—all who are a part of the Body of Christ! Folks, there’s one more thing that we need to get right, as we look to becoming an Essential Church here in Southwest Wisconsin: our actions. Here’s what we’ve covered so far:
- We talked about getting our structure right—simplifying, if you will…
- We talked about getting our content right—going deeper into God’s word and our walk with God, maybe more than ever before…
- We talked last week about getting our attitude right—learning to be expectant in all that we do as a church, reflecting the very attitude & nature of Christ…
- And, today, the one last thing that we need to get right … is our actions; we need to learn to learn to multiply—reaching out to those who do not yet know Christ … or who’ve been disconnected from the Body of Christ, sharing our experience of faith with them…
In that way, we’ll begin to multiply and grow as God desires us to grow. Because, as you know, what is healthy … grows. And we want to be a healthy, essential church for the Kingdom of God!
Let’s move now to our scripture lesson for today and we’ll see what happens when churches get their actions right. Listen carefully, as we move to a section in Acts, Chapter 2, known as ‘Life among Believers’…
“Many miracles and wonders were being done through the apostles, and everyone was filled with awe. 44 All the believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. 45 They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed. 46 Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts, 47 praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people. And every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:43-47 (TEV)
Folks, amazing things can happen in churches when they decide to get their actions right … and begin to really live out what they say they believe! Those churches are known as Essential Churches … and that’s the kind of churches God wants right here in Southwest Wisconsin! So, what have we got to do to begin to grow like God wants us to grow? Let’s talk about that today … and let me begin with this:
Evangelism. You just say that word and people begin to react, don’t they? Some react with excitement and say things like, “That’s the Great Commission. That’s what all Christians and churches should be doing!” … while others may respond a bit more negatively, usually describing the stereotype evangelistic Christian: “Yeah, I’ve seen those types,” they say. “They try to grab you on the street and shove that religious stuff down your throat!” Have you ever heard that … or been afraid of hearing that? A variety of reactions; but, one thing is clear: people do react to that word—evangelism…
Folks, regardless of perspectives, I know 2 things to be true here: 1) Evangelism is not an option for Christians or for churches. The Great Commission is a mandate. 2) Every church that has been effective at reaching and retaining young adults is highly intentional about evangelism. No exceptions. Period.
So, what kind of a church are we going to be? Do we have a passion for reaching out to people who are without Christ? Is that what we’re known for? We better be… Folks, if we want to be an essential church for all generations in the future, we need to know this:
ESSENTIAL CHURCHES RECLAIM THE DECHURCHED. Here is one way that Essential Churches multiply—share the Good News of Jesus Christ and invite others in—and here are some things to keep in mind:
Essential Churches reclaim the dechurched and the key to reclamation is … family & friends. We began this series with some bleak statistics of what has actually been happening in the Church as a whole. But, today I want to give you some more GOOD NEWS and say this: When those same individuals, who dropped out of church between 18-22 years old, were interviewed later on (23-30 years old), it was discovered that there was a definitive pilgrimage back to the church! Nearly 2/3 of the dechurched … later became rechurched (attending church at least monthly while between 23-30 years old)!
Simply stated, one of the most receptive (ripe) fields toward multiplication in the church is the young adults who had previously dropped out! What does that tell us? We need to move toward changes in how we do church that will aid in that happening—becoming a reality… Also,
We have to come to know the power of the invitation. I’d mentioned before about family & friends; eliminating the overlapping responses of those who participated in the Essential Church study, they found that 50% of those who became rechurched … did so because of the encouragement of a friend or family member! When we lose 2/3 of our young adults between the ages of 18-22 years old (and we have), the GOOD NEWS is that we can reclaim 1/2 of those simply by the encouragement of those who are closest to them! But, I need you to realize today the power of the invitation!
For the Essential Church study, more than 300 unchurched persons were asked: “If a Christian friend or family member invited you to a church function now, how likely would you be to attend?” Look at these amazing responses:
Very likely 31%
Somewhat likely 51%
Not likely at all 18%
The respondents here were mostly the never churched, not the dechurched we’ve been talking about today. 8 out of 10 responded that they’d be at least somewhat likely to attend church if invited. Nearly 1/3 said that they’d be very likely to attend. Folks, let this encourage you in the work that we have to do! None of us like’s getting ‘shot down’ when we put an invitation out there; what we may not realize is that it won’t happen as often as we think! People want to be part of an Essential Church! Finally, know that…
Life events are key opportunities to get missing generations to return. Let me put it this way: people are more receptive to make changes in their lives when they experience a significant life event!
A young man named Thomas was 24 years old when he made the decision to return back to the church. He’d married his high school sweetheart 2 years earlier, and now she was pregnant with their first child. Thomas never really got mad at the church. When he went to college, he just stopped attending. His wife had gently encouraged him to return to church after they’d married, but the announcement of her pregnancy was the deciding factor… Both Thomas and his wife returned to church shortly before the child was born. And the really GOOD NEWS is that they’ve been active in the church ever since (1979)!
Now, I need you to know this: The Thomas in this story is none other than Thom Rainer, the co-author of Essential Church. The child born to the Rainers was Sam, the other co-author of Essential Church. Folks, not only do they do their research—and do it well—to the Glory of God, but they know about what they are talking about… (And, I dare say that we have others who have been dropouts in the past who are a part of our congregation even today!) What we’ve been talking about for the past several weeks is ‘essential’ to the future of our church… Finally, let me mention this, as it has to do with multiplication:
ESSENTIAL CHURCHES ALSO CLAIM THE UNCHURCHED. There were some fascinating similarities amongst all of the churches in this study that were determined to be Essential Churches:
- First, these churches had intentional efforts to retain those who were in church—taking seriously Jesus’ mandate to make disciples; they all worked hard at that…
- Second, these Essential Churches also directed their efforts toward reclaiming those who’d dropped out of their churches at earlier dates—not only their own church but other churches as well (dechurched ð rechurched)…
- Finally, another similarity between these Essential Churches was this: They made incredible efforts to reach the lost and the unchurched in our world!
Over the past 6+ years here in Dodgeville, I’ve enjoyed getting to know the other pastors here in town. In particular, Pastor Brian Rudesill and I seem to be two peas in a pod when it comes to church purpose. Between the two of us, we’ve determined that there are at least 4-5,000 unchurched people in Iowa County alone … which is at least a couple of thousand for each of our churches. Folks, that’s enough to keep us busy from here on out, isn’t it?
So, we’ve got to place at least part of our focus on claiming the unchurched in our area, as we learn what it means to ‘get our actions right’ and multiply as the Body of Christ known as the Dodgeville UMC. And, one last thing I want to mention, as we wrap up today…
Doctrine really matters … when it comes to churches that know how to multiply! Folks, research has proven that those who are unchurched are most attracted to churches that hold high views of Scripture and have in-depth teaching when it comes to biblical matters! For those who were previously unchurched, it was found:
- They were interested in learning about doctrine…
- They were attracted to biblically conservative, evangelical churches that were uncompromising in their beliefs…
As Jesus would say, “For those who have ears, listen…”
If there was a single word that would describe Essential Churches, it would be … intentional. Essential Churches are intentional about:
- Simplifying their structure—making it easy for everyone to know what they’re all about and how they’re going to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ!
- Deepening their content—moving Christians to a deeper walk with Christ through deeper teaching of God’s Word…
- Moving to an attitude of expectancy—being expectant of all who claim this as their Body of Christ, just as Jesus’ had expectations for all who follow him (becoming a ‘covenant people’)…
- Multiplying the Body of Christ—intentionally reaching out to the dechurched AND the unchurched of our communities…
Essential Churches are multiplying churches because they are constantly seeking to look and to reach beyond themselves. In other words, when we become a follower of Jesus Christ, life is no longer about us; it’s about Christ and his purposes: Simplify. Deepen. Expect. Multiply. Those are the characteristics of an Essential Church—the church God is calling us to be right here in Southwest Wisconsin … and beyond!