After each of the past 3 Sundays, I'm still amazed just by the fact The Overflow is actually a church. God has already accomplished so much, and once again this past Sunday, He brought new faces, familiar faces, but most importantly, His Spirit was moving through our worship experience in a powerful way, and He was working in people's lives.
As we begin to take some intentional steps toward getting more people involved with our church, I'm so excited to see what God is doing. We'll have at least 65-70 people at our "Get to Know The Overflow" lunch next Sunday, and if you are reading this post, we'd love to have you join us. This means our current team of volunteers could actually double in some capacity. I'm pumped about the way God is stirring in people's lives as He shows them how He can accomplish great things through them.
RECAP
Part 2 of our series, "Confessions of an Imperfect Church," was one of those messages that I knew we needed to share early on in the life of our church. However, it was not an easy message for me to deliver. I love the church, and I'm so thankful for the churches and pastors who have done so much for me and my family, but generally speaking, the church in America is for the most part, not being faithful to the teachings of Scripture when it comes to church. Over half of all churches in America won't baptize a single person this year. 85% of our churches are either stagnant or declining. Therefore, we addressed this struggle and tried to cast vision for how we believe the church should function according to the Bible.
Worship set was...
-Our God is Greater (Chris Tomlin)
-All Because of Jesus (Steve Fee)
-Stronger (Hillsong)
-You Alone Can Rescue (Matt Redman)
-Christ is Risen (Matt Maher)
Message...
You can watch the video of the message and read the weekly devotional thoughts on our website by Tuesday afternoon.
Confessions of an Imperfect Church #2
CONFESSION: We've elevated the pastor and been too dependent on his position.
Proverbs 14:4
Ephesians 4:11-16
We have been uniquely empowered by Jesus to be encouragers of expansion within His church
-Most people wouldn't openly say the church is too dependent on the pastor, but the way many of our churches operate reveals that the pastor is too much of the focus and usually the main source of ministry.
-The church is capable of being the most powerful and influential movement on the planet because it is empowered by the Creator of the Universe. However, in America, the church has almost become powerless because we're trusting and depending more on our pastors than we are Jesus.
-As a pastor (and really just for any follower of Christ), the Bible says my priorities and purposes are as follows in this order...
1-To God: I must love Him with all I have because He has saved me and given me something no one else ever could, not simply because I'm a pastor.
2-To Family: If I try to be everything to everybody every time they call upon me, I'll eventually become a nobody to my family. Therefore, I must spend quality, uninterrupted time with my family, and I must empower the church to not be overly dependent on me. So what if there's an emergency? Then I'll be there because as Christians we are supposed to be there for each other, but I won't simply show up as the "pastor."
3-To Church: Pastors aren't called to manage the church or keep things in order. They aren't there to simply keep the unity either. Pastors are to equip and train the people to get involved in the work of the ministry, and sometimes this means they have to take a stand, break the unity, and lead with faith in accordance to Scripture. Pastors don't have to option to stand on the sidelines.
-We find unity in the Giver of our gifts. Each person has been uniquely gifted and put together by God, and the church will only be at its strongest when each person, not just the pastor, is doing their part.
-When we row the boat together, God's influence will expand through our church and city. We must all strive to be encouragers of God's calling for the church. If we're all focused on rowing the boat, there will be little opportunity to rock the boat.
-You should embrace our vision over our methods. We probably won't be using the same methods in 10 years that we are using today, so if you connect with The Overflow, please do so because God is calling you to get involved in our vision of leading people towards Christ with overflowing love!
-I also shared our perspective on students in the church. You can see that online or read it here: http://theoverflowknox.com/fam_students.html
COMMITMENT: We'll strive to uniquely involve each person in the ministry that takes place in our church.
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