Introduction
Q. What do you spouse people picture in their minds when we mention Porter Free Will Baptist Church?
• For the unchurched, they may envision a tan brick building which sits on a hill behind Gampps’ BP.
• For the Christian community, they may envision the people that utilize that building for worship.
The Body of Christ is the Church. The local church is the instrument that Christ ordained to reach individuals and help them grow into His likeness.
Q. What is the mission of the church? What is the mission of Porter Free Will Baptist Church?
• Matthew 28: 18-20 spells it out pretty clearly (also Acts 1:8)…
o Teach/preach
o Disciple
o Baptize
• What is the bottom line? What should we be striving for as an end-result?
“To present every individual mature in Christ.”
• I am certain beyond any doubt that our church family has been richly blessed.
• God has smiled upon us over and over again.
• We have benefited from His activity in our church, and we must know that.
• We have been blessed with new faces:
o Families
o Individuals
• We have been blessed with new ministries:
o Young Ladies Mentoring
o College Age Fellowship
• We have been blessed with new facilities. I don’t know if we will ever realize the greatness of the manner in which God gave us our Fellowship Center.
o It is used for:
1. Sunday School, weekly
2. Youth Meetings, weekly
3. Open Gym, weekly
4. Young Ladies Mentoring, weekly
5. College Age Fellowship activities (as needed)
6. Porter Women Active for Christ, monthly
7. On and on...
o According to our insurance, it is a building that is valued at over $500,000, and we spent less than $35,000 in the construction of it. The Lord chose to bless us with a building that we couldn’t otherwise manage to build.
o God has chosen to bless what is happening here! And my earnest prayer is that I can stay out of the way, and let Him lead us.
I hope I am conveying my heart adequately to you… you see, I have felt for some time that we were “on the brink” of a “God-thing.”
• The building is a God-thing.
• The new faces and families that we have been blessed with is a “God-thing”.
• But I am talking about something bigger. I really believe that the Lord wants to bless us in big ways. I have a burden for real growth here. And, don’t take this wrong, but I am not just talking about “trading sheep.” We have been blessed with families from others churches, that have chosen to make Porter their home church. I say PTL for that! We are delighted! But GREAT COMMISSION growth is growth that can only occur through reaching men, women, boys and girls – who are not yet saved – and bringing them to Jesus.
o An Acts 1:8 church begins in their back yard to reach those who are not being reached.
o So, how do we do that?
• Preparation: we MUST prepare for their coming. If we really want to reach them, and bring them, where are we going to put them?
o Church Growth Experts have done research, and it has been determined that a church will reach 70 – 85% of the seating capacity, and then it will do one of two things:
1. Grow – this is only accomplished by approaching the growth in a PRO-active way. Churches that are willing to accommodate the guests will retain them. This many times requires building for the growth.
2. Taper –off, and eventually decline. Churches that tend to ignore the need will eventually peak, then after some period of time, maybe a generation, will decline.
• Prayer: we NEED to be praying that the Lord will help us to be aware of the growth potential, and pursue it. We should always be in an attitude of prayer that the Lord will help us to be sensitive to His leadership.
• Partnerships: We should welcome the IDEA of growth in our Worship services, Sunday School, Student & Children’s Ministries, and every other means of outreach. MEETINGS…
I really believe that, with the Lord’s help and through His grace, we are doing many things well.
Q. Can we do some things better? Certainly!
Q. Should we do some things better? Certainly!
1 Corinthians 14:40, “Let all things be done *decently and in order.” * with excellence
Colossians 3:23-24, “And whatsoever ye do, do it *heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” *from the soul
Q. What are those things that need doing better? Hopefully we can determine that together.
Introduce SURVEY. In your mailboxes beginning tomorrow…
Elaborate on the survey itself… is not worded so as to produce certain answers. It is worded so as to cause us to consider the mission “outside the box.” Because “the box can sometimes be comfortable.”
Complaint #1. It is Long. It depends on what you are comparing it to. Compared to a credit card application you get in the mail, it IS long.
Compared to signing a series of forms and statements when you invest in a new home, it is short.
Complete the survey knowing that you are making an investment in the future of your church.
Complaint #2. It is Unnecessary. No, actually I believe it is very necessary. I have prayed long and hard over this idea for some time. I had compiled the initial survey, and asked others who had done this to send me copies of theirs. I lay awake at nights praying and rationalizing the whole thing. I asked the Lord for direction. I sought advice from Neil. He looked at the survey, and agreed to have someone at FWBIM to take a look (someone who compiled surveys for the corporate world prior to going on staff at IM). He said it is a good survey. I really believe that this is the next obvious step, as we pursue God’s purpose for our church. If we are to move forward, we must assess where we are at this point in time. As your pastor, I need your help in determining what our vision is RIGHT NOW, so that we can sharpen our focus TOMORROW.
Complaint #3. My opinion is not significant. FALSE. I have sent out 126 surveys to our “regulars” over the age of 13, whether they are believer or unbeliever, member or non-member. I WANT to know:
• what you think,
• how you feel,
• what you need.
The only way to know is for you to fill it out and turn it in. Anonymously.
Q. Does the Devil want this? NO. You would not believe the week I have had, as I have prepared, printed, folded, addressed, and mailed these survey. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. It has been taxing. But it is worth the investment of time and energy.
WHY? Because if it helps us to hone our edge or to sharpen our vision, we will become more effective in reaching our community.
To present every individual mature in Christ.
When the surveys are all in, I will look over them and share the results with the board. This survey will better enable us to focus on our mission. It is my prayer that we can assess what things we are doing right, and what things need done better.
Finally, pray for me. Things are not always as good as they seem. Satan is working, and he would love to distract us. This survey is a counter attack on his design. How effective are we in our Jerusalem? As we zero-in on our mission to reach our community, he will surely be there to oppose us. But we can have confidence, because, “Greater is He who is in [us] than he who is in the world.”
Prayer
