October 6, 2022 – Does Your Church Need a Doctor?

“There are certain metrics and issues physicians check when we go to the doctor. They want to check our blood pressure and temperature. They do blood tests to see if there are any warning signs. They are looking for symptoms that might indicate real problems exist. After working with churches for 30 years, I too look for symptoms that might point to greater concerns. The symptoms are not necessarily the problem; they simply provide warnings or cautions of potential issues. While there are many potential symptoms of a sick church, I have found 10 to be consistently common. These 10 are not listed in any particular order:

1. Declining worship attendance. Surprisingly, the majority of church leaders do not monitor worship attendance. I advise leaders to compare each month’s average worship attendance to the same month of previous years.

2. Decline in frequency of attendance of church members. This symptom is the number one explanation for attendance decline in most churches. Members are not as committed as they once were. Their waning love for their church is reflected in their declining frequency in worship attendance.

3. Lack of joy and vibrancy in the worship service. Obviously, this symptom is subjective. It is still, however, very important. Most people can sense when a worship service is vibrant, lukewarm or dead.

4. Little evangelistic fruit. As a general rule, a healthy church will reach at least one non-Christian for every 20 in worship attendance. A church with a worship attendance of 200, for example, should see at least 10 new Christians a year.

5. Low community impact. In my consultations, I attempt to find clear indicators that a church is making a difference in its respective community. I ask both church leaders and community members for clear examples and indicators.

6. More meetings than ministry. A sick church will meet about what they should do rather than do it. Some churches have more committees than conversions.

7. Acrimonious business meetings. Christians can and do disagree. Sick churches have meetings where the disagreements reflect obvious bitterness and anger.

8. Very few guests in worship services. A vibrant church will attract guests. A sick church will not.

9. Worship wars. Yes, they still exist in many churches. Those wars are indicators of an inward focus by the members.

10. Unrealistic expectations of pastoral care. Sick churches view pastors and other staff as hired hands to do all of the work of ministry. Healthy churches view pastors as equippers for the members to do most of the ministry.

None of these symptoms are good, but churches do go through periods where they demonstrate a few of them. The key is to recognize the symptoms and respond early and quickly.”

(Anatomy of a Sick Church—10 Symptoms to Watch)
By Thom Rainer

Pastor Dave

October 5, 2022 — Jesus is the Light

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
Psalm 91:1-8

“The psalmist understood the connection between fear and darkness, but he also knew that God is greater than those fears. He wrote, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness” (Ps. 91:5-6). Neither terrors of night nor evil in the darkness need to drive us to fear. We have a God who sent His Son, the Light of the World (John 8:12).” “Our Daily Bread” devotion for July 6, 2015

Several years ago there was an internet sensation that came in the form of a dress. A woman had posted a picture of a dress she had purchased for an upcoming wedding, and instantly it caused some confusion, if not some intense arguments. Some people, when they looked at the dress, well they see it as white with gold stripes. Others see the dress as blue with black stripes. Why, so many people argued, did we not all see the dress the same? How could this be? In one afternoon, as I read an article about the dress and this interesting phenomenon, one moment I saw the dress as blue and black, and the next, it looked white and gold. The inconsistency suggests that the dress is a new type of perceptual phenomenon previously unknown to scientists.

The answer to this conundrum seems to come in the discovery of a new problem — the brain’s color-processing mechanisms which may vary from one person to the next and can depend on prior experiences. And after more studies, it was also determined that the dress can look differently in the context of shade versus direct sunlight. In other words, more light changes things.

This is true with the light of Christ. The more we live in the light of Christ, the more our lives are changed — changed for the better. If we stay away from the light of Christ, then our lives are changed for the worse, not the better. But when we live in the light of Christ, then we can see how things are supposed to be — and then do something about it.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, help me to live into your light – the light that shatters all of the darkness of this world. Amen.

Pastor Dave