Have you ever come across one of those "get rich quick" schemes?  It's hard not to...  Some "expert" offering a sure-fire way to become a millionaire overnight.  Or how about those motivational speakers that make you think you can be or have anything, just by visualizing it?

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There is no shortage of maps to success.  There are however a relative handful of people who achieve it.  Our dog-eat-dog world of get ahead no matter who you hurt sees most people living in the doghouse. 

 

And, since a lot of these people go to church, the same is often true at places of worship.  A huge business exists to ensure the success of your church.  Consultants, business models, advertising strategies, marketing ideas...  There may be a time and place for these.  But success in the house of God is not grown by human means in the first place.

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Jesus is the founder of the church.  And church wouldn't be a thing if it were not for God willing it so and the Holy Spirit filling it.  Last week we celebrated Pentecost Sunday.  It's the stuff of Acts chapter 2: Followers of Jesus, "all together in one accord," obediently waiting for the "Promise of the Father" (Acts 2:1; Lk. 24:39), when the Holy Spirit rushes in and endues them with power.  Flames of fire appear over them.  The Gospel is preached.  Thousands respond in repentance & baptism.  And, from that day, as verse 42 explains: 

"they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."

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"Leveraging the power of custom-made apps for maximizing parishioner giving" wasn't offered in a break-out session that day for folks looking to boost their church's bottom line.  Effective brand strategy wasn't what the gift of tongues made known.  Not even close.  So why did so many respond?  What made the church grow like it had been dosed with superdupersurefirefailsafe fertilizer??  The same thing that grows it today and everyday around the world: the work of the Holy Spirit.  

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Over the next several weeks, we're going to walk a path of discovery, learning what makes a healthy church.  Specifically, I want to look at the operation of Spiritual gifts given by God to empower the body of Christ to fulfill its mission: that the world may know and believe Jesus is the Christ!

 

Yes, there is more to healthy church operation than Spiritual gifts.  But we have to start somewhere.  And there is a ton of misinformation and bad perspective out there regarding the gifts.  I pray that you will join us for this journey of discovery, and that God will use this discussion to build His church. 

 

You know the best thing about letting God build the church His way?  It's that the key to success is built-in to our DNA.  A healthy church is automatically a successful church in the metric that matters most: Kingdom effectiveness, aka: God's will done on earth as it is in heaven.  Even the gates of hell can't prevail against it.  How's that for a sure-fire thing?!

 

Blessings on your journey,

 

Pastor Brett  

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