A Shift In Vision (Part 3)
Ok - this will be my last post on Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson’s book Comeback Churches. In this post, we look at three faith factors necessary for a comeback church:
- Renewed belief in jesus Christ and the mission of the church: Missional leaders and churches are ones that are thinking and acting like missionaries. Comeback leaders helped their churches grow to love the lost. Most churches love their traditions more than they love the lost.
- Renewed attitude for servanthood: Comeback churches led people to care more about their communitites than their preferences.
- More strategic prayer effort: Comeback churches are praying churches.
While I think GPC could emphasize prayer more, if you read my first post on this, you know that #1 holds the key to it all, in my opinion. Changing our focus, or shifting our vision to become a church who’s number one priority is winning the lost (right here in our own community) is the most important catalyst to being a comeback church. I was talking earlier this week to a good friend as we were sharing some links to articles about worship leaders and worship preferences. He said (very truthfully) that the Christian life doesn’t have to be so complicated - it is mostly about loving other people. I couldn’t agree more - Love the Lord and love others as much as yourself. If you do those two things, you are going to see the urgency of reaching out to a lost world. Because what better way is there of loving others than showing them where they can find salvation? May God bring us to that point.
One final interesting tidbit from the book about worship styles: comeback churches valued worship. Almost all comeback churches identified their mood of worship as celebrative and orderly (96% and 95%, respectively) with a significant emphasis on being informal and contemporary (81% and 69%). Churches often rediscovered their passion for God and His mission by examining their worship. When we create a God-centered and culturally appropriate worship service, it helps us begin the process of seeking God for other changes that need to take place. The vast majority of American churches are not contemporary; the majority in this study would seem to be, and that should make us take notice.
