JerelLaw.com

Extended Letdown

That's a pretty ominous post title, huh? What I mean is - we have extended the Letdown series an additional week. Clark felt - and I agreed - that we needed one more week to talk through how exactly we get past the disappointments in our lives. Honestly, it felt a little like we glossed over it during week 1. So - we're digging in deep this Sunday to discover what it is that we actually need to DO when we are let down.

And that's going to be hard.

Because it starts and ends with one thing - one huge biblical concept that is really hard for us, but really important if we want to move on to a life of blessing, joy, and grace.

Think I'm going to tell you what that is HERE? Nah - just come on Sunday, it will become really clear really quickly.

Rattling the Cage

OK, so Sunday I rattled some cages a bit. We had a vision day type of Sunday, a pause from the series-focus we usually have, to give us a chance to tell some stories about what God is doing, and for me to share where we've been and where God is going. And also what the roadblocks are that would keep us from God's best.

With some of the stuff I said, I have no doubt that I ticked some people off.

I also am even more sure that there are some people that left Sunday more fired up than ever for reaching people in our community with the gospel.

I am learning along the way what it means to be a pastor. One of the realities is this - you can't always be pastor AND friend. There are going to be hard words at times that need to be said. Calling the church to commitment is hard. Being the body of Christ is hard. Not everyone who heard what even JESUS had to say followed Him! That is a wild thought.

Regardless of where you landed, I am convinced that God is crystallizing our vision and mission in our church, in people's hearts, and re-energizing us for the next leg of the journey.

I, for one, am re-doubling my commitment to seeing that vision become a reality. And no one is above it - not me, not anyone else in the church.

Once we get that, as ministry leaders, ministry partners, volunteers - THEN we start to roll. Because it's then that we realize that the vision we have is God-given - not man-made. And therefore contains power, fueled by the Holy Spirit.

I believe our best days are ahead - and it's going to be a wild ride.

Who?

I've been posed with the question recently - "WHO are we trying to reach?"

Our church claims a mission to connect disconnected people into a growing, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. But just saying "disconnected" is not enough. Who is it that we want to reach?

Let's start by saying who we are NOT trying to reach.....the already-convinced. There are plenty of churches around doing a fine job of that. We're not into re-shuffling the deck. We are not into "stealing sheep", as some pastors like to say.

(The 'already-convinced' people we want are the ones who GET the mission and want to impact the Kingdom and reach the disconnected....iow not pew-sitters)

So let me put some words around who I believe we are CALLED to reach:
-the bald-headed leather-wearing biker guy riding his Harley down the street
-the aimless twenty-something with no purpose, just looking for the next thrill in life
-the family man blindly climbing the corporate ladder aggressively, and not looking back
-the skeptic who doesn't believe, or give a rip about, God

As a church we HAVE TO work hard at capturing those people's attention. It's easier to attract the already-convinced.

It's harder to connect with the disconnected.

But we're NOT called to the easy, comfortable road. We're also not called to worry about who we're going to KEEP.

We're not going to focus on KEEPING people, we're going to focus on REACHING people. (by the way, if we do a good job of reaching people and connecting them, we'll also do a good job of retaining them)

Just felt the need to say that. I'll be saying that out loud this Sunday during our one-day vision day called "Stories".

We're GOING to be that kind of church. And we're not going to settle for less than that.

2 Things That Get In The Way

I got to take a mini-retreat last week, time to get away for prayer and connecting with God. It's something I try to do regularly, building in some deeper times in order to listen better and be more receptive to what the Lord is saying. It was great, I went to Crowder Mountain and hung out for a half-day, hiking, praying, journaling.

Two things that I came away with that I feel like will stop me in my tracks, and will stop the church in its tracks, if I am not careful:

1 - PRIDE
2 - FEAR

Pride - causes me to try to be someone that I am not; to try to be the church that we're not; to be competitive with other churches when I need to just be called

Fear - fear gets in the way of what God wants to do - fear of failure, of losing people, of not pleasing everyone, etc etc - I'm just like a lot of people, I can make decisions based on fear and not faith. But that wrecks any kind of power that God wants to show through my life.

These two things can wreck you personally and wreck your ministry to people.

So, church, how are we doing when it comes to pride? Are you more worried about what people will think of you than you are about following God's call on your life?

And what about fear? How are you making decisions these days? Are you playing it safe, because you're scared to take the risk, start the business, plant the church, have the conversation, etc? Or are you listening, and then stepping out in faith?