Tag: Church

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What If We Joined Boats?

What if you joined our boat? Or, someone else’s boat and their crew?

While speaking at Azusa Pacific University’s chapel, Francis Chan shared that he and his family are moving to Asia, this year, to become missionaries. He said, in part:“I feel like I’ve been fishing in the same pond my whole life and now there’s, like, thousands of other fishermen at the same pond, and our lines are getting tangled and everyone’s fighting over stupid things. One guy tries some new lure and catches a fish, and we’re like, ‘he caught a fish, let’s all try his method,’ and it just feels like, what are we all doing here?”

For Francis, he feels led to go to Asia where there aren’t so many “fishermen” to share the gospel with the people in that region. I commend him for his obedience to the Great Commission, in this way. 

When I heard Francis Chan’s message, my immediate thought was, “Why not join efforts?” This might be because I have long believed that we have too many churches (yes, I know I started one), and many of those churches could and should join together. That’s why I was not shy about asking Dayspring if they were interested in merging with New Passion, and whether or not we would be “Better Together?”And, we found that we are better together. Dayspring wasn’t the first church I had talked about merging with, and it surely won’t be the last.

Together, now one family (New Passion Church), we share the same mission to lead people to become passionate followers of Jesus.

Dayspring won’t be the last church we’ll merge with because our heart is to help the local church be as effective as possible in leading people to become passionate followers of Jesus.

Francis Chan is right about many areas in the United States. There are a lot of fishermen fishing in the same ponds and in many cases their lines are getting tangled. Everyone sees the other as ‘competition’ and that shouldn’t be the case. We are family. Let’s be honest, it’s even more difficult for smaller, struggling churches. Especially when they are limited in finances, people, leaders, and facilities. It limits what ministry they can do, effectively. It’s more difficult when the ministry load is dependent on a smaller group of people who have to do everything. You can’t afford staff or quality leaders to help facilitate change and growth. Eventually, it leads to burnout and people depart for a boat they can rest on, without having to be the sole responsible person for their specific ministry. The already small, struggling church shrinks even more, until eventually it just barely exists or it has to fold.

Some churches have declined so bad they only have their life-long core group, & can’t even afford to hire a pastor.

What’s the silver bullet to change that? What’s the solution that will finally get the church over that hump, and keep it there? What’s the answer?

Some churches seek that silver bullet for years and never find it.

What if we were to untangle our lines and join our fishing crews? Our lines could be focused in specific directions to effectively catch fish, without overlapping each other. The weight of the mission wouldn’t be on just a handful of fishermen. And, there would be more resources to work with.

I am fully aware that not every church can be joined together successfully, but that shouldn’t be an excuse not to try, or to have a conversation.

I’m not the only one who believes this way. Just the other day, Eric Mason was advocating for more urban churches in Philadelphia to join forces.

I’ll tell you the biggest reasons why many churches won’t entertain this idea. Pride and Ego. It may mean having to admit failure. It may mean changing positions on the boat. It may mean giving up power. It may require giving up tradition. It may mean change. But, what could happen, if we didn’t allow pride to decide for God what He could do, when His people decide to work together for a greater purpose than the name on our boat?

If you would like to join New Passion’s boat, we would love to talk to you. But, just as importantly, if you and another church decide you want to join forces together, to become more effective, New Passion’s team would love to help assist you in that process, or to help orchestrate that process, as we have had a very successful merge with Dayspring. It’s not about New Passion Church, so however we can help you, we are willing to try.

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Cold Fries

secrets-giving-day-old-french-fries-delicious-second-life.1280x600

There’s nothing like fresh, hot, crispy, and perfectly salted, golden french fries!

I recently went to a restaurant and ordered a meal that included fries. As soon as I received my meal, I noticed my fries didn’t look fresh, hot, crispy, or golden. The whole order looked cold,  flimsy, and brown.

I touched one. It felt stale and was lukewarm at best.

I tried one. It tasted like it looked.

I tried a second, just to make sure. It was the same outcome.

I was disappointed at the order of fries I was given and my immediate thoughts were, “I’m not going to enjoy these fries.” And, “I better eat them quickly before they get completely cold.” I even looked through them to see if I could pick out the “best” looking fries and just eat those.

I was going to settle for mediocre.

I had my reasons: I didn’t want to be “that” customer….the complaining customer. I didn’t want them thinking I let my own fries get cold, but then expected them to give me a fresh order (although this was less than 2 minutes after receiving the fries), I didn’t want to have to wait longer to receive new fries. I had reasons to settle and probably could have come up with even more excuses….reasons to settle for the poor quality.

Nicki and I used to watch Hell’s Kitchen on Fox. On the show two teams of chefs competed against each other; each chef hoping to win the championship as the top overall chef. Eventually the contestants were dismissed from the show if they were the weak link on the losing team. I noticed something small within the show that has significant value. The Master Chef, Gordon Ramsey, would typically be the last eyes on the plates leaving the kitchen. If the plate didn’t reflect the quality he expected from a high scale restaurant, he rejected it and made the team start over on that dish. It would set the team back in their competition, but it also taught a valuable lesson, one my dad taught me growing up, “Do the job right the first time!”

While it’s easy to point out that the restaurant allowed poor quality food to leave their kitchen; or point out that the poor quality reflects their standards for what they allow to represent them as an organization. I have to equally look at myself and own up to how easily I was willing to settle for mediocre. I paid for something, but was going to accept less than what I paid for. Instead of expecting high quality I was going to settle for poor quality.

As a leader, I know there are times I have settled for mediocrity and allowed my church or other work teams to do the same; it’s something that I have to actively fight against.

Everyone is not willing to settle for mediocre, even if we are. If you’re the leader of an organization, any organization, this should be a sobering reality. Just because you’re willing to settle for mediocrity doesn’t mean your customer, client, or congregant is willing to settle, or will settle.

[tweetthis]Everyone is not willing to settle for mediocre, even if we are.[/tweetthis]

Why do leaders settle for serving people cold fries?

Why do leaders allow medicority? Why are we okay with our organization & those who represent our organization offering poor quality and less than our best?

Here are a few reasons why we settle and what we need to avoid:

  1. Convenience:

It’s much easier on the front-end to ignore the cold, brown fries. “Maybe the customer won’t notice or won’t care. It’s easier to serve what’s in front of me than do a little bit of extra work to give my customer the best!”

  • Hopefully they’ll settle for our mediocre children’s environment
  • Hopefully they won’t run into one of our unfriendly, cold employees or volunteers
  • Hopefully they won’t mind the bad & out-of-tune music
  • Hopefully they won’t care our products are cheap, but overpriced
  • Hopefully they will ignore our clutter and disorganization

It’s more convenient to serve cold fries than it is to take 3-minutes to cook a fresh order. It’s a gamble, but you come out on top if the customer doesn’t complain, right? But, if you gamble and lose and the customer isn’t willing to settle, it still requires the same amount of work on the back-end to make things right, but only after the customer’s perception of you and your organization takes a negative hit.

It’s convenient and easier to overlook areas of weakness, poor quality, tension, and mediocrity  that needs addressing or correcting on the front-end, but when those things aren’t accepted by those you’re trying to reach, you won’t just have to make up ground to correct the problem, you’ll have to make up ground to restore the negative perception and reputation of your organization (and those who represent it).

The bigger issue isn’t a willingness to settle for mediocrity to hopefully save a few minutes of work on the front-end. It’s never just one incident that causes your team a few minutes of time and effort. The bigger issue is the culture and values of the organization. These are never one time issues; these issues reflect what the organization and its leaders are willing to accept and tolerate. It reflects what your company or church values. Where the organization must spend the most time and effort on the front-end is not cooking fresh, hot fries. They must invest the most time and effort instilling the organization’s values. If the organization values excellence and desires a culture of excellence where each team member offers God and their people (clients/customers/etc) their very best, it will require inconvenience on the front-end to teach and train their team to reflect those values in even the most mundane, daily routines.

Don’t compromise for the sake of convenience! The cost to your organization’s reputation is more than you may be willing to pay.

  1. Lack of Awareness:

Who likes having to be the complaining customer? No one I know. Sometimes people won’t tell you about their experience with your organization. We don’t always hear the complaints or the concerns verbalized to us so we can make the necessary changes. When your organization settles for mediocre, there’s a chance people won’t give you feedback about it. They won’t bring the cold, flimsy fries to your attention, but they will definitely express their displeasure. They will definitely remember their experience and they will either approve or disapprove of that experience with their feet. They’ll either approve by returning to your church or business, or they will disapprove by finding a place that doesn’t settle for poor quality, especially when it’s in your power to fix it.

The question we have to ask ourselves is, “Am I even aware of the quality my organization offers people?” My fries didn’t become cold, flimsy, and brown when they touched my table. The cook could have paid attention & noticed their condition. The lady who brought the food to my table could have paid attention and noticed the poor quality. Both of these employees could have been empowered to see a problem and be proactive to fix it. Either one of them could have said, “That doesn’t reflect our standards and it doesn’t represent the quality our restaurant promises our customers, let me fix that before it gets to the customer!” Instead the cold, brown fries passed through two sets of eyes from people who were okay with mediocrity.

We can’t rely on our customers to tell us where we are settling for mediocrity. We have to be aware of our own organization and we have to be proactive to fix what needs fixing.

What do you see in your organization? Can you see the areas where you or your team is settling for mediocrity? Do you see the areas where you have challenges? Or, are you so ingrained and familiar with your surroundings that you’re oblivious to the things that need improvement? After a while, brown fries look like fries; cold fries look like fries; flimsy fries look like fries, you can’t see the difference. Problems, challenges, and tensions are forgotten because they’ve always been there and they’re familiar now. If you’re having a hard time seeing what your organization is serving, try asking your customers for feedback. Ask a trusted friend from outside the organization to pay a visit with fresh eyes and an outsiders perspective to give you honest and constructive feedback. Don’t overlook what you offer people or you may find they overlook your organization.

[tweetthis]Don’t overlook what you offer people or you may find they overlook your organization[/tweetthis]

  1. Calm over Turbulence: 

Nicki and I went on our very first cruise for our 10th anniversary. Since I had never been on a cruise I didn’t know what to expect. After boarding the ship, we sat out on the top deck when suddenly I realized we were no longer at the dock and had moved quite a distance from where we boarded. The boat was so smooth I couldn’t even tell it was moving. That calmness didn’t last long. It seemed as soon as we lost sight of land the waters got more turbulent and the ship no longer moved peacefully. The boat rocked and we could feel it!

We heard several experienced cruisers say the waters were abnormally rough. Let’s be honest, no one likes being on a ship in the middle of the ocean when it’s rocking in rough waters. No one likes to be on an airplane 30,000 feet in the air during rough turbulence. As much as I would have preferred calm waters, we learned it was necessary to go through some turbulence to get to the crystal clear tropical beaches of the Bahamas, St.Thomas, and St. Maarten.

It may be more convenient and comfortable to not rock the boat so you can stay in calm waters, but that’s not always possible. As leaders, we have to keep our destination in mind and play the long game. Where are we trying to get as an organization? To get our organization and team to our desired destination, we may have to go through turbulent waters to get there. We have to be willing to address issues that are preventing us from getting to our destination. We may have to be willing to tackle tension, strengthen weaknesses, and confront conflict to get our organization to the place where its serving quality rather than mediocrity.

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]To get our organization and team to our desired destination, we may have to go through turbulent waters to get there[/tweetthis]

You may be a mid-level team member with little to no authority, but if you know the ship’s destination and you see an iceberg in the way, you have to be willing to alert the right people to the iceberg, or no one gets to the desired destination. Eventually you all go down on a sinking ship.

You can’t always get to where you’re going by staying in calm waters. You may have to take a risk by telling the manager that the fries are flimsy and cold. It may rock the boat for some, but in the end everyone gets to the same destination, if they can navigate through the necessary rough waters, together.

As a consumer, I didn’t settle for mediocre. I requested fresh fries. My new order was fresh, hot, and delicious! The restaurant recovered and corrected the problem. We don’t always get this opportunity. As a leader, put the work in up front and make sure your team knows your organization’s values and culture so you don’t settle for mediocre.

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A Lesson from Granny’s House

HouseAs far back as I can remember, up to 16 years old, my parents took my siblings and me to Granny’s house to visit her. Boy was it was an event! We weren’t the only ones who made frequent, weekly visits to Granny’s; it was very, very, very rare that we’d be on one of our weekly visits, typically on a Friday or Saturday night, and my cousins not be there with my aunts and uncles. We didn’t have to wait for family reunions to see each other we practically grew up with each other. I learned many valuable lessons at Granny’s house, like what peer pressure and bullying looks like: My older cousins (primarily females) dressed me in girl’s clothes, put Lee Press On Nails [nostalgia] on me, put balloons up my shirt, and made me perform singing/dancing acts with them for my Granny and our parents. I am so thankful to God there was no such thing as social media or smartphones in those days, and yes, I’m still in therapy!

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]My older cousins dressed me in girl clothes, put Lee Press On Nails on me, put balloons up my shirt & made me perform[/tweetthis]

My Granny had a room she called “K-Mart” (K-Mart was the Wal-Mart of the early 80’s). She would find all sorts of “Blue Light Specials” [more nostalgia] throughout the year and would save them for Christmas gifts. Sometimes she’d surprise us and open K-Mart so we could get a toy to play with while we were at the house. More times than I can count my dad gave us a lecture on the way to Granny’s house, “Don’t ask your Granny for anything!” “Yes sir!” We would reply! It seemed so easy when it was only dad, but then you get to the house and all of those older, mean cousins pressure and threaten you, and it’s suddenly not so easy to just obey dad. Somehow I was always the chosen cousin ambassador sent out by the female majority ruled board of cousins to ask Granny if she would open K-Mart. It worked most of the time and all of the cousins would get a toy and everyone got to play with theirs; except me! I was typically standing in the corner for disobeying my dad and asking Granny to open K-Mart.

[tweetthis remove_url=”true”]I was the chosen ambassador cousin sent by the female majority ruled board of cousins to ask Granny if she would open K-Mart[/tweetthis]

I loved going to my Granny’s house and I miss having the opportunity. I didn’t love going because of her version of K-Mart. I loved going to simply be with and visit with my Granny. The bonus was being able to share so much life with my aunts, uncles and cousins; after all we were family and Granny was the reason. Granny’s life was rough; her husband, my grandpa and my mom’s dad was an alcoholic, womanizer, and abuser. My Granny’s health was not the best and we all knew that even at a young age, so we simply cherished being with her. Sure, as a child, I didn’t really have a choice whether I wanted to go to her house or not, but that didn’t matter, I WANTED to go. I never heard my siblings or cousins complain about having to be at Granny’s house. We loved it and I believe we cherished it.

[tweetthis remove_url=”true”]All the cousins got a toy & everyone got to play with theirs, except me! I was typically standing in the corner[/tweetthis]

As a pastor, my desire is for the church to be like going to Granny’s house. I desire to see Christians grow so in love with Jesus that being with him in his house is a joy and not a burden; where we want to visit with him. We had no obligation to be at Granny’s house so often; we wanted to be there. I spent several spring breaks out of school helping her clean out her refrigerator and doing work around the house that she was not physically able to do. I believe my parents consistently keeping me around Granny helped me develop my own love and affection for her where I wanted to serve her in any way that I could.I believe the same goes for us as Christian parents; the more we expose our children to being in the presence of Jesus, the more they will develop their own relationship with him and grow in their love and affection for him.

I cherished my time with my Granny and my hope for Christians is that we cherish our time with Christ. I’ve heard some say, “I don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian or to worship God!” I agree we don’t have to attend a church building to worship God, but I would disagree that we can neglect meeting with the whole church family and be a healthy, Christ-honoring Christian. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” As Christians we can’t just say I’m going to meet only with Christ and I’m good. In that way, you’re only visiting with part of the body, not the whole thing. When we gather as a church, we are one body, joining together to enjoy Christ and each other. Just as my family gathered together to enjoy the presence of my Granny, that’s what the church is called to do as a family, gather to enjoy the presence of Jesus, together! It shouldn’t be out of obligation or duty, but upon knowing who Christ is and what he has done for us, our hearts should long to be with him, to enjoy him. In the same way we are called to enjoy our family and share life with them in the context of the church gathering; after all, together we all make the body whole!

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]We can’t just say I’m going to only meet w/Christ…you’re only visiting w/part of the body, not the whole thing[/tweetthis]

I’ve experienced the pressure of obligatory church attendance. I’ve heard many pastors butcher Hebrews 10:25. They paraphrase it by saying, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together!” I always thought that was the complete verse until I got older and studied it for myself. But they would say things like, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together….Now be here Sunday night and Wednesday night and be sure to be here Tuesday for this program and Thursday for another program, and our special dinner on Saturday….forsake not the assembling!” I had one pastor who told us to plan our vacations around Sunday so we didn’t forsake the assembling! Let me correct this poor handling of this scripture. Do I believe we should be faithful attendees to church? Absolutely! Do I believe it should be out of pressure or obligation? Absolutely not! I also don’t believe the church should feel as if they can over program their church and expect families to be at every program and when they don’t show up to every program, guilt them with a portion of a verse that says, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together….” If you’re attending church out of obligation, you’re attending for someone else and not out of your own admiration, worship, and joy for Jesus. I desire that Christians get to the place where they want to visit with Jesus and the whole church family

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]I’ve experienced the pressure of obligatory church attendance; I’ve heard many pastors butcher Hebrews 10:25[/tweetthis]

Hebrews 10:25, should actually be read as Hebrews 10:19-25 ESV, but for my post vs 24-25 will suffice: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” What is the writer encouraging? He is encouraging a committed, consistent, and faithful gathering together to worship Jesus as a church family. The practice then was, as it is now, to meet together the first day of the week (Sunday) for a church service. The first day of the week has been set aside since the resurrection as a day of rest and worship. Does this mean you cannot miss a service? No. It doesn’t say that. It says “as is the habit of some.” The keyword is “habit“. There were some Christians as this was being written (and Christians today are the same way) that were not in the habit or had gotten out of the habit of meeting together for worship consistently; but it went further than just gathering together to worship; this is spelled out for us in verse 24-25 when he says, “let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works” “encouraging one another” as the last day draws near. I desire to see Christians want to gather together first to enjoy the presence of Jesus, because he is worthy and deserving of our love, affection, and attention. Your desire to be with Jesus will only grow out of your love for Jesus; your love for Jesus will only grow by spending time with him and discovering more of who he is.  But I desire so much more for Christians. I desire that they would want to gather together because we are family and our gathering is not just about us, but rather it’s about our brothers and sisters in Christ who need our spurring on to love and good works and who need our encouragement. In return, we need their spurring on to love and good works, as well as their encouragement. Just as our love for Christ will grow the more we are in his presence, our love for one another will grow the more we are in each others’ presence.

I loved my Granny, so I wanted to be with her. I wanted to be with my aunts, uncles, and cousins as well. I love Jesus and I want to weekly visit with him, as well as with my brothers and sisters in Christ. If you’re a veteran Christian who gets this, my encouragement would be to stick with it and don’t lose heart, don’t get out of the habit. If you’re a newer Christian who maybe attends your church once-a-month or once every three weeks, or less, my encouragement to you would be to start developing a habit of visiting with Jesus and your Christian family consistently and not to neglect this gathering together. You’ll fall deeper in love with Jesus the more you’re in his presence. You’ll grow deeper in your understanding of Jesus and you’ll grow in your faith. The deeper you fall in love with Jesus the more you’ll fall in love with your Christian family; it’s like a domino effect, one leads to the other.

[tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true”]My desire for Christians is that we grow in love with Jesus so much that being w/him in his house isn’t a burden….[/tweetthis]

Join the Conversation….What encouragement do you get from consistently meeting with Jesus and your church family?

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What Christians Can Learn from James Harrison

james-harrison-participation-trophyJames Harrison, Outside Linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, made news this past week when he posted on his Instagram account a photo of two Participation Trophies his sons were given for their involvement in the Next Level Athletics Program. Harrison added a lengthy statement explaining his refusal to allow his sons to be given something they didn’t earn. “While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy,” Harrison said.

I admire James Harrison for teaching his young sons this valuable lesson and truth for their life.

I believe this same principle is missed in the American Christian Church, and I think we too can learn a lesson from Mr. Harrison. I think many times we believe we’ve accomplished something or we’ve earned something because we carry the title of “Christian” around. It’s like our very own club we belong to. I’ve often heard the term, “Country Club” used to describe churches and Christian groups.

Christians Aren’t Give Participation Trophies

When we get to Heaven, God’s not going to reward us for simply being. He’s not going to lavish awards and trophies on us because we participated in simply being a Christian, or because we were a part of the Christian club. We’ve earned nothing extra just by placing our faith in Jesus for salvation. Without merit, we’ve gained life in Jesus and if that wasn’t enough we were gifted an eternity with God in Heaven, but we gain no trophies for just being; we’re entitled to nothing more.

Our Rewards are Earned

trophy

Christianity isn’t about finding a church you love so you can sit and soak in all that’s happening around you. 1 Corinthians 3 tells us Jesus is our foundation; He’s the starting point for the new life we’ve been given and whatever we use this new life for will be tested. Paul said, “….on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward“ (1 Corinthians 3:11-14 NLT). Jesus speaks with a sense of urgency as he boldly proclaims, “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds” (Revelation 22:12 NLT). As Jesus was calling people to take up their cross and follow Him, if they desired to be His disciple, He told them, “For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:24-27 HCSB). We don’t earn our salvation, but we do earn our rewards after salvation.

[tweetthis]Christianity isn’t about finding a church you love so you can sit & soak in all that’s happening around you[/tweetthis]

As if Jesus wasn’t enough. As if God’s undeserved grace, mercy, and forgiveness wasn’t enough. As if an eternal home in heaven wasn’t enough. God goes even further and promises to reward us for the deeds we perform in this new life we have in Christ! But, notice, in every instance we are promised rewards there is a condition given; our rewards will be given solely based on the deeds we do within this new life, based on what we build on the foundation of Jesus.

So, what are you building? What are your deeds? What kind of rewards can you expect from Jesus when He returns?

God doesn’t give participation trophies, but He does reward us for what we’ve earned.

Are you connected with a church, but find yourself disconnected and not involved? Find out how you can plug in within the church or the community so you can start building on the foundation you have in Jesus. Are you one of my people from New Passion, but you haven’t plugged in and you’re not building anything on the life you have in Jesus? Don’t delay, register online to start serving right now. God wants to reward you, but you have to earn it!

[tweetthis]God doesn’t give participation trophies, but He does reward us for what we’ve earned.[/tweetthis]

Join the conversation: What are some helpful ways to move people from simply being a Christian to doing good works in the world as a Christian? In what areas do you need to improve yourself?

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Creating a Great Church, Together (Part 1)

Old Church

Over the next several weeks, I am going to share some thoughts and challenges on how we can create a great church, together, at New Passion. I hope you’ll tune in each week.

The first step to creating a great church is to ARRIVE EARLY.

Notice, I didn’t say arrive on time. Typically, if we aim to arrive “on time” we set ourselves up to arrive late, especially if we face traffic issues or other complications along the way. It may seem elementary to ask people to arrive early, but here are some reasons why it’s important:

1. Glory not Guilt: We don’t aim to just be on time with anything of importance. When I go to Athens to see the Dawgs play, I don’t aim to just arrive on time. I want to get into the stadium, find my seat, go to the bathroom, purchase refreshments and be ready for the kickoff. I’m excited to be there and I don’t want to miss anything.  If I aim to just get there on time, something can happen and cause me to miss a portion of the game. When Nicki and I recently went to see Expendables 3, we didn’t aim to just arrive on time, just as we don’t with any other movie. If we arrive in the theater as the movie is starting that means we’ve missed the previews, we’re going to end up in a horrible seat and once again, something could happen to make us late and we’d miss a portion of the movie. There’s no way I’m missing a second of Stallone on the big screen! I like to get to the theater, get my seat, go to the restroom, and catch all of the previews for upcoming movies. I am sure some of us try to arrive just on time to work, but some like to get in the building, get settled and clock-in without having to rush, risking a late clock-in….that could eventually cost you your job.

I don’t say these things to make you feel guilty. I have found guilt is a poor motivator. I can motivate with guilt until that guilt wears off and then the old behavior returns. I challenge you to arrive early for God’s GLORY. If we arrive early to those things that we value, that we’ve invested in, and that we don’t want to miss, why would we want to give God anything less than what we have given our favorite sports team? Regal Theaters? Or, your place of employment? Paul said, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV) I don’t want to miss anything that we do on Sundays at New Passion. I don’t want to give God less than I give my job, my favorite teams, or my favorite actor; none of those people or things provided my salvation like God did through Jesus. One of the ways that we create a great church, together, is by arriving early. God is not glorified when we are slack, he is glorified when we give him our best and give him our all. David said, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory….” (Psalm 115:1 ESV)

2.For the Community of Faith, not Yourself: It would be easy to share all of the benefits that you gain by committing to arrive to church early, but to be straight forward with you, as Christians we are not called to live our lives for ourselves, but rather we are called to do good to our faith community. Rick Warren opened his famous book, The Purpose Driven Life, with this life-altering statement, “It’s not about you!” Paul said, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

“Everyone”: It’s disheartening to guests and to new families, who have only been to New Passion a few times to look around and see an empty auditorium when the service starts. By being early, you have the opportunity to be in your seat when the service starts, but you also have the opportunity to connect with those new guests and families when they’re sitting in seats all alone. This is just one way that we have the opportunity to do good to everyone, simply by arriving to church early.

“Household of Faith”: Our band works hard to provide a service that is uplifting to our hearts as we sing and worship our Savior and God, together. The band has a weekly practice where they take time out of their personal schedules to rehears the Sunday set list and learn new songs; they arrive early (7am) on Sundays to set up the stage, the tech booth and to rehearse the songs before the service starts (10:30am). The band does this to provide quality music during that portion of our worship service…and if you ask me, they do an amazing job. HOWEVER, it is extremely difficult to sing and lead worship to an empty room or a room with just guests, who don’t know the songs we sing and therefore stand silently. By arriving to church early, you have the opportunity to be there with the first strum of Jonothan’s guitar, you get to help fill the room with worship, as your voice fills the air, you get to help make guests feel comfortable in a full room and you make it easier on the band to actually have people to lead and sing with. You arriving early and participating is vitally important to the worship service. The band is not there to sing FOR us, they are there to lead us, so they can sing WITH us.

Another way you do good to the household of faith, by arriving early, is that you enable other people to enjoy the entire service. If you arrive at 10:30 (when church starts), or even at 10:35, the Guest Services team does not have the liberty to go into the auditorium because 1) we want everyone to receive a warm welcome, but 2) if you have children, they will need assistance getting checked in. By arriving early, you serve your church family by helping them get ministered to through the music portion of our service.

One final way that you do good to the household of faith, by arriving early, is that you do not cause disruptions to the PassionKidz environments, or to the adult service. It can be a major disruption when a large number of people are dropping children off in the Grove and the Ridge, after they have already started, as well it causes disruptions to the adults when a large number of people are walking in late and looking for seats.

If we want guests to be excited about what’s happening at New Passion, that excitement has to first flow through and be seen in us. Let’s work together to create an environment that is God glorifying, where we do good towards our community and the household of faith.

Let’s make a commitment, together, to arrive early and be in place to start the service powerfully each week! Instead of thinking of church starting at 10:30 a.m., think of it starting at 10 a.m., after all, each of us are the church, so “church” begins as soon as you walk through the door.