I’ve always been intrigued by that first line in “A Tale of Two Cities.  Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair . . .”

Dickens’ description was fitting for North Monroe in 2008.  The world economic situation went into freefall and many of you were tragically affected.  I know men and women that lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the market.  Some lost their jobs.  Many fear for their security. For many of you, these are hard times.

 The economic disaster of 2008 affected the church too.  Prior to the crunch, we were planning to expand the facilities to accommodate growth.  Those plans have now been postponed and scaled back.  In some ways, this was the worst of times.  But you know, God is in tough times, just as he is in good times.  Even as the world fell apart we felt his presence and power stronger than ever.

North Monroe had another historic year in terms of ministry and reaching people for Christ.  We sent missionaries around the world.  We saw new ministries here at home blossom and grow.  We averaged over 1400 per Sunday in worship and had nearly 300 new members join the church.  God is still at work, fulfilling his purposes through us. 

I like to use this as a time to examine where we’ve been in 2008 and try to see where the spirit is leading in 2009.  Let’s start with the basic question I think every group should ask itself.  How are we doing?

       I.            How are we doing?

Baptists tend to measure the health of a church in this way: people & finances.  I don’t think this is a very good way to look at a church for a couple of reasons.  First, you might be faithful to God and successful in your service but not see large numbers of people coming in attendance.  I think a great example of this is Shane Duke, our missionary to Ukraine.  He’s done a fantastic job for four years but he hasn’t seen a great deal of growth.  He’s plowing and preparing soil that will eventually bear fruit.  If you measure him by numbers you would miss the mark entirely.

 

On the other hand, it’s possible to build a huge attendance without being faithful to the Word and truth.  If you aren’t changing lives with God’s Word then what have you really done. 

 

So people and finances aren’t a good way of answering the question, how are we doing.  But, that’s how the Baptists do it, and since  we’re Baptists, let’s look at that.

The Baptist standard

If we apply those measurements then we are doing quite well. 

In terms of people

Here’s a quick snapshot.

In 2005 we averaged 1033.  This year we averaged 1423.  So our worship attendance has seen nearly 50% growth in three years.  That’s quite good, especially in light of the fact that we aren’t growing much as an area.

This year we added 280 new members.  That’s a record.  Last year we only added 239 and we felt really good about that.  The year before we added 222.  So 280 is a huge number.   Since 2001 nearly 1400 people have united with this church. 

So if you measure us in terms of people, we are strong.

What about finances? 

Last year we raised the budget by over 370K dollars.   This year we oversubscribed the budget by more than 104K. 

Let me show you some figures.

In 2000 our total receipts were $1,258,758.  This year, our receipts were $2,578,136.  Do the math.  We took in more than twice as much this year as we did eight years ago.  $1319378 more.

The giving is actually increasing more rapidly than the attendance.   Look at this.

Not only are the new people giving, they are giving more than what we were receiving per person.  That is unless the older group is giving twice as much as it used to. 

Here is where I’m extremely encouraged.   Since October, the church gave over 711K to the building.  In fact, in the last quarter of 2008 while the nation went through the greatest economic disaster since the great depression, you gave more than 1.2 million total.  During the last 12 weeks of 08 the average Sunday offering for budget and building was 92K.

So if you apply the typical Baptist standards to our church we would be considered extremely healthy.  Arguably one of the healthiest churches in the state.

We aren’t typical Baptists.  We do not measure our church by bodies and budgets.

We’ve always felt that the people and the resources would follow faithfulness and effectiveness.  If we do what God tells us to do, there will be plenty of resources to do what He wants.  I’ve always believed that and we see it all the time. 

  We want to see people have their lives changed by the transforming message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The budget and attendance won’t tell that story.  So we need a better way to measure progress.

Let’s try to use a biblical method of evaluating how we are doing.

The Biblical Standard

There are two ways to see a church that I think we must constantly come back to.  First, we look at what Jesus told us to do.  If we are doing what He told us to do, then we are successful.  Whether there are 10 or 10,000.  Of course I think if you do what Jesus told you to do then you will have a hard time fitting people into the place.

Measure us compared to our biblical purpose

Matthew 28:19  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

When I look at this I see five core values for ministry and the church.

Core Value #1 Mission

"go therefore"

We understand that word, “go” to mean, “as you go.”  You don’t have to leave this area to be on mission, but we are always on mission. 

We must maintain a commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ.  We understand that the emphasis is not on going somewhere else, but as we go we are to fulfill Christ mission.  It starts here, but it is also global in scope. 

I look at our church and I think we are trying to live this out.  We had over 30 college students go to mission and ministry here in the states and around the world.  We give to support work in this country and around the world.  We had a group of ladies go to Croatia to support the missionaries there.  You heard from them.  Our college ministry went on mission to Honduras.  The Ukraine groups went to the camps.  We also had individuals go to Honduras and Ukraine and another to Brazil.  So our involvement was truly global and I see us continuing that in the coming year.

One great story came out of the college ministry.  A young man came to Christ, but he was Hindu.  His family told him that if he became a Christian they would disown him and cut off his funds for college.  He did the right thing and embraced the faith.  We heard about it and the church stepped up and helped provide for his college expenses.  These things are happening all the time.

Core Value #2  Maturity

"make disciples"

Our goal is to bring every person to maturity in Christ.

We must maintain a commitment to growing believers into mature followers of Jesus Christ.  This is why bodies in the building are not the measure of success for a church.  We have to ask, “What are we doing with all these bodies?”  Are people challenged to grow?  Are they growing?  Are their lives being changed?

Again, this is the best of times and then again, maybe not.  Discipleship is a critical component for us and I’m concerned about it.  We’ll talk more about this in a minute.

Core Value #3  Multiplication

"of all nations"

One thing I sometimes hear is, OK, we can’t take care of everyone so let’s stop growing.  That’s not an option.  There are still too many lost people out there.  Let’s do a better job of caring.

Core Value #4 Message

 “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

We must maintain commitment to the message of Jesus Christ. (The Bible).  Are we doing that?  I think we are.  We are trying to preach and teach the message in a way that people will understand it.  This is true up and down the scale.

Core Value #5 Methods

“lo I am with you always"

We must maintain a commitment to use methods that are effective at reaching this generation.  Jesus was deliberately ambiguous. The situation dictates the method. The message never changes but the methods must constantly change.

This is a strong suit for this church.  How many different times and ways have we changed the services.  You continue to adapt and adjust. The message never changes but methods must constantly change.

During the economic meltdown we had to scrap our plans for a new worship center and say, “OK God, what else we can do?”  We started working on the video remote service.  Early indications are that this will be huge.  We think we might have a method of worship that is easily reproduced and allows us to expand in ways we never thought we could do.  This morning we had 135 people in a focus group.  We haven’t even launched it and the room is nearly full. 

How are we doing?  I think we are intentionally trying to carry out the great commission.   North Monroe is still committed to her purpose.   Now let’s see how we compare to the biblical model.

Measure us against our biblical model

Let’s go to Acts 2.

Acts 2.  42 ¶  They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.43  Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

44  And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;45  and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.46  Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,47  praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

We see five characteristics of a healthy church:

1.     Discipleship

2.     Fellowship

3.     Ministry

4.     Worship

5.     Evangelism

 

The degree that a church models this reflects how healthy we are as a body. 

Discipleship

Here’s where we are not doing so well. 

Life groups are critical.  If you just come to worship  then 1) nobody knows when you miss.  2) nobody knows when you have a crisis.  This is a church of 1500 now.  We have 8 ministers.  There is no way 8 pastors can care for all those people.  Life groups become the vehicle of care. 

The numbers tell the story.  Let me show you what I’m seeing.

The gap between worship attendance and life group attendance is continuing to widen.  Today, there are more than 500 people that attend worship but not life group. Some of this is good.  We need more attenders than disciples because that means we have more to reach.  When I came here in 2001 virtually everyone that attended worship attended life groups.  We were root bound in our relationships.  So some of this means we are reaching out to the community. 

But the gap is too wide.  The percentage is too large.  We’re comfortable with about a 70% difference.  Today its closer to 68%. 

We don’t want to make converts, we want to make fully devoted followers.  We want those who attend to get committed and ultimately become members of the core leadership.  Life groups are the key to this.

Why is this happening?

 The attraction of anonymity.

Large churches are easier to hide in.  Some people really like that.  Last week we had 330 in the balcony during the 11:00 service.  I’m not sure how many it is rated to hold.

 Space problem

We can’t grow because we don’t have room to grow.  We stopped growing about the time we ran out of space.  New people need new groups.  When you are new, it’s hard to walk into a room filled with people that already know each other.  This is why new units always grow.  Everyone is new and they are eager to expand.  So space becomes very limiting.

 Intentionality

Sometimes we forget what we are doing and it is simply something we’ve always done.  So we need to rethink our strategy. 

I have some ideas on this that I want to share.  But let me say, that if I have any serious concerns for this church this is it.  Our small groups are not keeping pace with the growth.  Without a vibrant small group ministry you cannot build long-term stability.  Small groups are where ministry happens.  It’s where fellowship happens.  It’s where evangelism and discipleship occurs.  Yes, some of that happens in big church.  But not the ministry.  Not the caring.

Fellowship

In some ways we are still strong here, but I think the church is changing and it’s not always for the better.  I think there are many who no longer feel connected as friends. 

Again, this is a matter of better small groups.  Every group needs a fellowship leader.  Someone that plans the fun.  Groups that play together stay together.  I think we need something like a church ski trip or a beach trip.  Something that groups do together.

Ministry

I will say that we have come a long way.  The deacons and the singles are really showing us the way here.  In some ways they have opened my eyes to even greater needs.

We need to address the life crisis issues

As I prepared this I know of three families that are about to split up.  Half a dozen children involved. That’s this week.  I know of addiction problems, gambling addiction, drug addiction. 

We need to build groups to address this.  We need groups to help strengthen families in crisis, and we need groups that will strengthen and encourage our singles.  Divorce recovery was a powerful program.  The deacon ministry did this amazing thing at Christmas to say, “I love you to our widows and single moms.” 

We need skilled professionals to do counseling and ministry care.  I’m talking with personnel about the need for a counseling ministry that would include family and groups.  These aren’t discipleship groups.  These are ministry groups.

Another area of ministry that needs more focus is the men’s groups.  Our women are strong and active, and I appreciate the work PeeWee and JR Fix have done.  But we need more men’s groups meeting.

Worship

This is an area that I think we are doing well with.  We aren’t perfect, but we need to continue to develop and grow.

Evangelism

I’ve always considered this the Achilles heel of NMBC.  Last year we baptized 65.  Not that great.  But you know, we are careful not to try to pressure people to make decisions that they aren’t ready to make.  We never run programs to scare people or get the baptism numbers up.  So while we could be doing much more and need to do more, I think what we do is done with character.

I do appreciate the fact that we try to build authentic converts and we don’t just go after baptisms.

   II.            How can we do it better

This is the other question every church and every organization should ask.  OK, we’re doing good, how can we do better?

Two big areas that I would like to see us improve in the coming year.

 We must improve and expand our life groups

Create space

We will watch the resources through mid February.  I think that by the middle of that month will should know whether to start the Children’s building.  Again, this will not only allow us more room for kids, but it frees up lots of space for adults.

Be more creative

We need to listen to core value 5 and ask, “What could we do that we’ve been unwilling to do?”  Home groups are a possible option.  One of the things might be to consider home groups on Sunday nights with a scaled down large service.  We are wondering how to get more people interested in discipleship even beyond the traditional Life Group model.  This might be a way. 

Be more intentional

We need our leaders to work at making contacts so that nobody slips through the cracks. Every group needs an outreach leader.  Every group needs a fellowship coordinator.  When people miss two times they need to get a call. 

Have more fun

I know it sounds trite, but if your group isn’t having a fellowship away from this church at least once a month then you might not really know each other.

We must address the ministry group issue

I would like to see us move toward a ministry that will meet needs through a variety of ways.  Counseling, crisis, proactive family development.  All of that.

We will watch the resources, but in the coming year, if finances allow it, I would like to see the church look at the possibility of hiring a pastor with specialization in counseling and crisis.  This position would also deal with the singles and divorce care.

We must continue to expand worship through multiple venues

We will continue to develop this as a model.  If the chapel fills, we will open the gym.  When that fills, we will go to the student center.

This will require major involvement in technology.  The time will come in the near future when we have to have a full time media person.  We are already working our guy to death.

This will also involve more parking.  If you have 1500 here at 11:00 then you need to park about 700 cars.  The new road and parking are of highest priority.  So we will progress with those. 

Best of times and worst of times.  Yes, there’s always both.  But I see us continuing to follow the will of God and the future looks very bright for the ministry of NMBC.