Tulsa Soul Winning Workshop March 23, 2013 Developing An Outward Focus in the Small Church

Warning Signs of An Inwardly Obsessed Church (from Thom Rainer) Worship wars Too Many Meetings Facility focus Program driven Inwardly focused budget Inordinate demands for pastoral care Attitudes of entitlement Greater concern about change than the gospel Anger and hostility Evangelistic apathy

Assessing the Situation Where does the Preacher spend his time? hours on study (4 lessons a week) visiting with church members 5 - planning, clerical 3-5 – personal devotion and prayer 2-3 – Church related meetings What does this indicate is most important to the church?

Developing an Outward Focus for the Small Church First things First What’s your Vision and Mission? Vision – Paint a picture. What do we want to be and what do we want to look like? Mission – Draw a map. What are going to do to get us there? No Vision = No Leadership! Without a vision to lead and move towards, you are left with people walking in circles and a few bosses doing crisis management.

Sample Vision Statements “While on this side of heaven, we want to: Look Up to Jesus for our inspiration and guidance, Bow Down in worship with gratitude for His mighty work of salvation, and Reach Out to each other and to those who do not yet know Him.” “To be a faithful church of Christ called by God and empowered by His Spirit for the purpose of taking His Gospel to the world.” “The vision for the Church of Christ in __________ is to become one family anointed by God to honor Him in holy worship and in holy service. We are to become a congregation set apart from the world for a life of service in the Kingdom.”

Connecting the Vision & the Church Problem is that these Vision Statements don’t match the sample numbers and what’s happening in our churches! It’s not time for a Paradigm Shift – It’s time for a completely new Paradigm!

“Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium.” - Paul Harvey

Simple Assessment of the Problem We are held hostage by our egocentric and ethnocentric attitudes that have been created by a combination of (1) our worship of tradition and (2) the infiltration of culture into the Church. Egocentric: regarding self as the center of all things; having little or no regard for interests, beliefs or attitudes of others. Ethnocentric: the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture or ethnic group. This does not demonstrate a lack of concern for others; simply too much concern for ourselves.

Where does this leave us? 1. Blow it all up and start over. 2. Leave. 3. Follow Ephesians 4:1-6 and teach and lead through it.

The Practical Accept that ministry strategies are just that – strategies that are contextual. In the small church, this is the first and most difficult hurdle to overcome. Understand the demographics and what works with the different generations. Who are you trying to reach? What is that demographic going to be receptive to? 55+ have made their decision on faith and religion. Most of our churches have been built and grown by this group, for this group are looking for community, belonging and something greater than themselves are skeptical of organized religion but long for the presence of God in their lives.

The Practical At your leadership meetings talk about the measurables (money and time) and what the numbers demonstrate about our priorities. Be intentional about setting aside “church” time to go out into the community for service and sharing the Gospel; AND create opportunities for people to share their experiences during the next worship time. This communicates very loudly to the community that you care. And it communicates very loudly to the church that service and evangelism is an equal part of doing church.

The Practical Don’t try to do too much. Pick 2-3 ministries and focus on those by being intentional about planning time for it, sharing experiences and over-celebrating the blessings. Spend regular and planned time as a church in prayer focusing on Luke 10:2. Leadership team must be out front, leading by example and sharing their experiences.