Who wants their church to grow?

Would you like to see more new and non-Christians come to your church? We asked Leon Evans from Lifecentral Church, Halesowen, to share some insights into how we can take the first steps towards making our churches irresistible places.

 

I’ve often asked churches this question: ‘Who wants their church to grow by reaching unchurched people?’ All the hands up, then comes the killer question: ‘Who would be willing to change some things you do in order for this to happen?’

At this point not so many hands go up. Why?

One reason is we’ve been suckered into believing things that aren’t true; like we’d need to change what we believe or dumb it down – absolutely not! So what does it mean?

Every church has a model or strategy of how they do church. And your model is perfectly suited for getting the results you are currently getting! So if you’re happy with the results, do nothing...but I think many of us are not happy; we long to see our churches grow by reaching unchurched people. It’s possible, but it’s not easy.

Over the last few years at Lifecentral Church, Halesowen, we have been on that journey. It’s meant digging deep into the Bible to see how Jesus communicated. It’s meant looking at our language and approach, our environments and the way we welcome people from the car park to the coffee at the end. One of the key game changers for us was the phrase, ‘assume they are in the room’. What would be the implications in our churches if every week we assumed guests were there, even your non-Christian friend or family member?

In Acts 15 the early church was debating what they should change or not change as new people were coming to faith. With remarkable clarity James listens to all the arguments, then says these powerful words: ‘And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God’ (Acts 15:19 NLT). 

2,000 years later, let’s search our hearts and ask if we are, maybe unintentionally, making it difficult for people to turn to God, or if we are willing to do whatever it takes to reach people that Jesus left heaven to reach and calls us to do the same.

It’s not easy...but it’s possible!

 

 

Leon Evans is the senior pastor of Lifecentral Church in Halesowen, and a passionate communicator, speaking at many churches in the UK and across the world.

Tune in to UCB’s new podcast about making your church irresistible, with Leon Evans and Duncan Banks. Listen anytime via UCB Player.

 

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