Sunday Reflections
11/12/07 11:05 AM
Sundays are so long and mentally draining, lately
I'm finding it hard to "reflect" until Monday. We
closed out our "Simple Church" series yesterday. To
me, this was more than just another series. It was
an opportunity for me as the Pastor of Coastal to
realign us with God's vision for our church.
Although I've learned that as a leader you never
stop casting vision, this series has been all about
vision.
I've said some hard things during this series - about who we are and who we're not. Jesus said a lot of hard things. When He did, typically, the crowds thinned out. But for those who stayed and were sold out to the vision, it was the ride of a lifetime and they changed the world! That's where we are now. We're clarifying and communicating who we are as a church. We've been pruning a bit (although that's ongoing), but now we're starting to see the growth.
We actually had someone Sunday, right before our worship service began (gotta love that timing), tell Janet that they were leaving the church. They didn't like some things going on here and since "Chris says, 'If you don't like it, you can leave,'" they were leaving. Well, let me clarify a bit. I've never said, "If you don't like something here - leave." What I have said, over and over, is if you aren't willing to do anything and everything it takes to reach out to people who don't know Jesus, you're in the wrong church. And yes, if you're not on board with the vision of this church, then leave. This is who we are and we make no apologies for it. The stakes are too high to quibble over unimportant things. I will not waste my time doing that. As a matter of fact, I expect that there always will be "things" you might not like. We can't please everyone and won't try. We all have different personal preferences - likes and dislikes. Believe it or not, there will be and are things I don't like about our church! But you know what? None of it matters. I'm serious. I am willing to set all that aside to reach people for Jesus. Styles and even strategies will come and go, but what will not change is our commitment to share and experience LIFE - to reach this city for Jesus!
Recently, I pulled out something I wrote in 1989 when I was a senior at Atlanta Christian College, before we moved to Charleston to plant our church. I was 21 years old when I wrote it. It was titled, "Plans and Goals." In it I detailed our vision - the church God was calling me to plant. I wrote about an outwardly focused church, a church willing to do whatever it takes to reach the lost. I dreamed of a church of Small Groups. I dreamed of an army of volunteers and leaders. And at 21 I could already see a church of 2,000 people. Now, my timing was off a bit. Styles and strategies have come and gone. But the vision God gave me for Coastal has never changed. If anything, it is burning with a passion like never before. And on the bottom of a sheet of paper I wrote this statement, "Because there's more to LIFE!"
We need people who will focus on one thing, who are sold out to one thing, and are willing leave everything else that doesn't really matter behind. And the one thing that really matters at Coastal is Jesus, and making Him known to this world! Join us in that Vision! It will be the ride of a lifetime and in the process we'll change the world one life at a time!
I've said some hard things during this series - about who we are and who we're not. Jesus said a lot of hard things. When He did, typically, the crowds thinned out. But for those who stayed and were sold out to the vision, it was the ride of a lifetime and they changed the world! That's where we are now. We're clarifying and communicating who we are as a church. We've been pruning a bit (although that's ongoing), but now we're starting to see the growth.
We actually had someone Sunday, right before our worship service began (gotta love that timing), tell Janet that they were leaving the church. They didn't like some things going on here and since "Chris says, 'If you don't like it, you can leave,'" they were leaving. Well, let me clarify a bit. I've never said, "If you don't like something here - leave." What I have said, over and over, is if you aren't willing to do anything and everything it takes to reach out to people who don't know Jesus, you're in the wrong church. And yes, if you're not on board with the vision of this church, then leave. This is who we are and we make no apologies for it. The stakes are too high to quibble over unimportant things. I will not waste my time doing that. As a matter of fact, I expect that there always will be "things" you might not like. We can't please everyone and won't try. We all have different personal preferences - likes and dislikes. Believe it or not, there will be and are things I don't like about our church! But you know what? None of it matters. I'm serious. I am willing to set all that aside to reach people for Jesus. Styles and even strategies will come and go, but what will not change is our commitment to share and experience LIFE - to reach this city for Jesus!
Recently, I pulled out something I wrote in 1989 when I was a senior at Atlanta Christian College, before we moved to Charleston to plant our church. I was 21 years old when I wrote it. It was titled, "Plans and Goals." In it I detailed our vision - the church God was calling me to plant. I wrote about an outwardly focused church, a church willing to do whatever it takes to reach the lost. I dreamed of a church of Small Groups. I dreamed of an army of volunteers and leaders. And at 21 I could already see a church of 2,000 people. Now, my timing was off a bit. Styles and strategies have come and gone. But the vision God gave me for Coastal has never changed. If anything, it is burning with a passion like never before. And on the bottom of a sheet of paper I wrote this statement, "Because there's more to LIFE!"
We need people who will focus on one thing, who are sold out to one thing, and are willing leave everything else that doesn't really matter behind. And the one thing that really matters at Coastal is Jesus, and making Him known to this world! Join us in that Vision! It will be the ride of a lifetime and in the process we'll change the world one life at a time!
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