Education is so very important to the life of any organization. What’s coming up next? Why do we do what we do? What can I do to add to the life of the church? All very important questions that can be answered through the process of education. The challenge of educating a growing church is that there are new folks coming all the time who need to get up to speed. One of the “latest and greatest” ways to meet this challenge is to make the educational information easily accessed through the web. Our blog serves us well as a place to put information so people can get to it at their own pace. So with that in mind, this is the first entry in what will be an effort to educate the people of Crossroads Church and get some answers to those important questions.
Click on the "Read More" button for the rest of the post...What’s coming up next? Now that’s a question that only our Lord can answer, but we should make our plans based on what we see Him doing now. This year we have seen our Sunday morning attendance increase substantially. How exciting to see our building filled with people enjoying the Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness that we enjoy as followers of Christ! But what are we going to do when there are no more empty seats? Should we close the doors when we reach a certain number of folks at the Crossroads? Of course not, but things are going to have to be different. One thing that has worked for many churches that have faced this challenge is to start a second service. This would allow us to double our seating capacity without the expense of a new building. Yes this approach comes with some drawbacks: we would not be able to ALL worship together as one body, we will need double the amount of workers in our children’s ministry, we will need more coffee and doughnuts, etc. But consider what happens if we don’t make changes, we will limit the extent of what God is doing at Crossroads.
As God continues to add to our church, each of us needs to consider the changes that God wants us to embrace. We will have to attend church with only half the members of our fellowship. We will have to step up and take on responsibilities that previously were handled by others. We will have to seek out ways to “connect” with folks in smaller more intimate settings so that the “smallness” that we enjoy now can remain (you spell that s-m-a-l-l-g-r-o-u-p-s). These changes will not be easy! But they will be worth it! God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Our future as a church is full of hope! Hope that more and more people will come to the Crossroads and find Christ as their Lord and Savior; hope that God will continue to use Crossroads as a place where people can “connect” with friends who are loved by God and seek to share that love with the people around them; and hope that we as a church will respond to the plans God has for us by giving our very best effort in His service.
Only God knows exactly when these changes will become necessary, but I am praying now that God will prepare your heart for the role that He wants for you in the next step that we take as a church. I ask you to pray as well that God will supply His unfailing wisdom and direction as we seek to take that step exactly where and when He wants us to.
There’s more to share, but that will be coming in future posts. Do you have a question or comment about this post?, just click on the word comments below to bring up a comment box.
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