Obviously, God builds the church, but He uses people to build it. What kind of people does God use to build a great church? As a pastor, I have noticed some trends among church people who help move the church forward. The following is a list of characteristics of those type of people. Not everyone will have every quality, but it’s the combination of each of them in people that builds a great church.

Great church people:

1. Support the pastor and the church.

1 Corinthians 16:10‑11 When Timothy comes, treat him with respect. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. Don’t let anyone despise him.

A pastor is always looking for someone he can feel is his friend. Great church people are that friend.

2. Are encouragers in the church.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Great church people are a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. They look for ways to help, invite their friends and neighbors, and help without having their arms twisted.

3. Don’t think everything is about them!

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.”

Did you know everything may not go your way? Great church people are willing to allow the best to be done for the church even when it goes against their own desires.

4. Think outside the walls of the church. They think external not internal.

Acts 1:8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me every where‑‑in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

If we are not careful, our churches could be hard to tell apart from a Country Club. Great church people think of those not yet in a church!

5. Maintain a friendly church.

2 John 6 Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

Great church people make sure visitors never stand around long with no one to talk to. They are welcoming and friendly to everyone.

6. Believe and love God’s Word.

Joshua 1:8 Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.

Great church people let the Bible guide them.

7. Grow in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.

Great church people pray more than worry.

8. Build on faith.

Hebrews 10:38 And a righteous person will live by faith.

Great church people are willing to walk by faith as God leads, even through the most challenging times.

9. Put God’s will first.

Mark 3:35 “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Great church people put God’s will ahead of every other agenda.

10. Enjoy meeting with God regularly.

Amos 4:12 says, “Prepare to meet your God,”

Great church people look expectantly for opportunities to worship God and experience Him with other believers.

I’m so thankful to be in a church with so many who make this list easy to write.

What would you add to this list?

Edgy in worship is a relative term.

 When we planted our church three years ago we were considered “edgy” in our worship style.  Now three years later we aren’t all that edgy.

It has been interesting over the last few months to hear dialogue from people who think we are too fast or too slow or too whatever.   Hearing these discussions provides proof that our church of 3 years faces some of the same challenges of a traditional church when it comes to styles of worship. You can’t please everyone.  (Some days as a pastor, honestly, you wonder if you can please anyone.)  Thankfully we can make decisions rather quickly, so as we sense a need to change we can. 

One of the questions in my thoughts these days is what is next in the area of change needed in our worship planning.  I certainly think the church needs to always be thinking, dreaming and planning for the next phase of our ministry and we need to be ready before or at least as changes occur in society.  I’m not talking just about the music, but the whole service.  If everything changes and if change today is occurring rapidly in our society, what kind of changes will we need to make in the coming months and years to continue to reach people for Christ?  If the Apple iPhone is already undergoing changes after their short history in the cell phone market, how much more must we as presenters of the Kingdom of God be willing to change and adapt to change quickly?  Again, these are just questions.  I usually live my life with more questions than I have answers.  

Every week we send first time visitors a questionnaire to tell us about the experience they had visiting.  We receive many wonderful comments, and a few suggestions, but the most repeated praise of what we do is the welcoming spirit of our people.  Your friendliness and love towards others is evident when they walk in our doors.  Sometimes it is humbling to know their greatest impression of us was not the music or the message, but the people they encountered, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Grace Community Church has grown mostly by people who cared enough to care for others.  If we ever lose that somehow I think we will lose our soul as a church. 

Will you do me a favor?  Will you help us do this even more? Sometimes we grow comfortable in our seats and fail to do what we need to do. (That statement is probably true about a lot of other areas in our life as well.)  This Sunday and every Sunday will you do two things?  1) Consider who you can invite to join you at Grace this week; and, 2) Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know and make the people around you feel welcome and at home.   

(As a side note from personal experience: Don’t assume it is their first visit, because they may have been there all along.  You just may not have met them yet.) 

Thanks for giving us a reputation as a friendly place where people are loved.  There is no better way to begin to introduce people to the love of Christ than to let them know they are loved by us.   

Lt. Col. Randal Nelson assumed the command of the Group Support Battalion today.  The ceremony was held at Gabriel Field, 3200 Block of Indiana at Ft. Campbell, KY.  If that sounds official, it’s because it is.

Randy, as we know him, and Celeste are in our community group that meets each Wednesday night.  Cheryl and I have grown to love them.  They are great people.  Randy is a great soldier.  Today our group was invited to be his guests as he assumed a new position with the military.  I found myself fighting tears of patriotism as I watched the ceremony.  Standing before me were some of the bravest men and women in our country.   Of course they represent the thousands of others, many who are currently separated from their families, who defend my right to do what I do each day. 

When I think of the persecution of believers around the world I am ever more thankful to be in a country where liberty is defended at any cost.  Sunday I’m preaching on Esther, a Biblical character who was willing to put her life on the line for the cost of freedom.  Today I saw a visual reminder that people do that every day.   

God bless our troops and their families. 

A week from Sunday I’m speaking on Esther. It’s a great book and has always been one of my favorites. Over the last few days of reading the book again I’ve been in a quandary. There’s 10 chapters of good stuff so how will I fit it all into a 30 minute message? I decided it was impossible; yet people need to know the principles taught in this book.

So we decided to do an experiment. Everyday next week on the Grace website (http://www.gcomchurch.com/) there will be a blog with a reading assignment of two chapters in the book of Esther followed by some questions that will hopefully help us discover the important Biblical principles in this book.

If 20 people accept the challenge I’ll consider it a win, but imagine what could happen if 100′s of our people decided to discipline themselves for one week to read an entire book of the Bible. Will it change the world? Probably not. Could it change a few people’s hearts? Quite possibly.

If it works, who knows, we might try it or something similar again. Let me know how you feel about this and if it adds value to your life.

In the meantime, you can always find my daily devotions at http://www.mustardseedministry.com/.

Check out this. I don’t know how they found us, but I’m glad they did. Kudos to our guy Tony Hill (NO YOU CAN’T HAVE HIS CONTACT INFO!) for putting together a mega-sweet site.

We are listed as one of the 50 best church sites:
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/best-church-websites/

How can a church do ministry without the web these days?

I’m also encouraging our staff to use this list to learn from other churches!

I’ve been encouraged to blog many times. I even created a blog one time. I don’t remember where. I’m going to try again. I seem to have a lot of thoughts lately. We’ll see.