We all have choices in life. Some choices lead us into good times, while others will lead us into bad times. And considering that we are free to make whichever choice we want, we should be very careful and use much wisdom, because most choices, good or bad, have far reaching consequences that we might not be able to see beforehand.
When I was a child, I had what was considered an ‘over-active imagination.’ It wasn’t mischievous, but it did get me into hot water on occasion. I remember when I was about eight or nine years old, and I was in my classroom at school. It was a spelling class, and I was as bored as bored can be in that class. It was one of those classes that was a ‘no-brainer’, and so it left me with plenty of opportunity to let my mind run wild.
One day, I was sitting in my seat, which was by the window. I looked out and saw the fields across the street. Instantly, I was on a horse, riding across that field and trying to track down the outlaw who robbed the bank. That is the kind of imagination I had. Whenever I got bored, it turned itself on, and then I was somebody else, somewhere else, doing something else. And in reality, I had much more fun in my imagination that I had most of the time in real life.
I think that was because I was in full control of what happened to me. At my age today, I don’t daydream like I used to, and I don’t even dream as much as I used to. Something else I have noticed is that when I dream at night, they are not as intense or vivid as they used to be when I was younger. But I still enjoy my dreams. Maybe one reason is that I dream in a world that gives me what I want; a world that caters to me. And everyone loves to be given good things, don’t we?
But things are not always like that in the real world. Sometimes, we either don’t have any control, or at least not full control, over what the world offers us. That sounds like we are pretty much helpless, but that is not the case. You may not have control over what the world offers you, but you have absolute control over what you accept from it.
So let us be very wise in what we choose to hold onto in the world, and be very aware as to whether it hinders our faithful walk with Jesus or not.
Have you ever wondered if our services could be different? I don’t know if all of you fully realize that CrossRoads is going through a major change at the present. A change, if done right, that will enhance this church for years to come, or a change, if done wrong, that could even cause us to have to close our doors.
Take our Sunday morning music, for instance. Dave has been willing to step up and give us something we have not had before; a worship leader. But until now, he has had no opportunity to practice with the rest of the praise team. Once they are able to get together and practice, I think we will all rejoice in their ability to bring us all kinds of songs to the people of this church – the older hymns, the songs we have been used to singing, and even newer songs that will help us praise the Lord.
Nearly everything we do is being scrutinized to see if change, or if a change in focus is necessary. Why are we doing this? We must do this to accommodate the new growth we have recently experienced, and the expected growth that we have been praying for. And as we grow, we must ensure that everybody gets fed as much as possible while they are here. All it will take is our willingness to have a heart of give and take.
Just like a tree. When a tree is a young sapling, it bends in the wind. That flexibility actually helps it to be stronger, so that when it reaches maturity as a tree, it will be able to withstand the storms. If it cannot bend as a sapling, then when it is a big tree, it will snap like a twig the first time a hard wind blows.
For those of you who have not had the opportunity of being in an actively growing church, it might seem a bit uncomfortable to you at first. But if we keep in prayer, and truly rely on God, not only will we get through it, we will be blessed as we travel this adventure.
For those of you have been in a church that values growth, you already understand that choices must be made: Not so that individuals can be comfortable in the church, but so that everyone has enough of what they need to worship Jesus in the church. And when the church body cares enough for others to make sure that happens, the church and everyone in it wins.
But we find ourselves at a unique point in time regarding our church. We are at a time when everyone in the church can have a say-so as far as what they would like in the church. You can tell us what you would like to add, change, or drop in the format of our services. Of course, you must be very specific.
What an adventure we are on! God has blessed us with new horizon after new horizon. He has blessed us with more people. He has even blessed us by having those new people in our church become our friends, and our spiritual brothers and sisters.
He has also blessed us by giving us more children and they are a major focus in this church. They will be the next Christian leaders, whether it be here at CrossRoads or wherever they end up in their adult life. And to make sure they are able to function properly as Christian leaders in the future, they need a proper foundation now in Jesus Christ. That is our job; giving them that today so they can put it to use tomorrow.
And it is now our duty to God to keep this church growing. Some people do not want the church to grow, because then it gets too big and they would be uncomfortable.
I don’t think for one moment that we are going to see CrossRoads get so large that we don’t know enough people in the church. And God doesn’t play tricks. If we keep a heart of worship, and focus in prayer on Jesus, He will never let this church be an uncomfortable place to worship.
I think God will bless us in many ways as long as each person in here is willing to extend their hand of welcome to new people coming in, and every single person here is called to shake the hand and offer a sincere welcome to each new person you see!
As I have said before, do not attempt to greet a new person and then expect them to listen to your life history, because at that point, they don’t care about you much. All they want is to see if they will be comfortable enough here to come back to us. So, greet them and be brief.
If we don’t grow, we will never be fully doing our job by reaching others for Christ like we are called to. And if we don’t grow, we will never have our own building. Now that being said, as we grow, we must make sure we grow the right way for the right reasons.
1. SEEING THE NEED TO GROW
I believe that most of you can picture our need for growing this church, and the need to readjust some things as we grow so that people have their needs met. We must stop this tendency we have of always stopping and then turning back to make sure our past is really following us. We have to let go of the past and keep going forward towards God.
God warned us about doing that in:
GENESIS 19:26
‘Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.’
What is the practical application we can find in that verse today? Once you make a decision to go with Jesus, do not turn back to the world you left. If the world you left means more to you than looking forward to what is going to happen with Jesus, then He will not let you go with Him.
In case you haven’t heard the simple message tonight, here it is again.
God has given us many different choices and He has given us complete freedom to choose the choices we want, whether they are good or bad. We will be blessed by making the right (or righteous) choices, and we will suffer the consequences of our bad choices. As far as our church, we are entering a time when we must make some choices about the future of our church.
Jesus wants His church to grow so that more people can use it as a place to worship with other believers. He wants this church to grow so that more people grow to maturity in the word, through teaching and preaching. And He wants this church to grow so that we can reach more and more people for His kingdom as time goes by.
But again, as we grow, we must be able to furnish you with what you really need to grow in knowledge, and to learn about the Lord Jesus. And yes, to some extent, we must make sure you are comfortable in what you receive in CrossRoads.
And that is what we are interested in tonight; hearing your thoughts and desires.
Let me quickly tell you where we are now. And then we can go from there. And this will be a free-flowing, unstructured conversation among the church body.
We began this church with under 20 people. We got as many of you involved as possible for two reasons. First, I could not do everything myself. And secondly, the more people are involved in the church, the more likely they will make that church their home church.
As we grew to 30 people, we had to make some slight adjustments. We had to buy a refrigerator, we had to buy more chairs, and we even had to rearrange the chairs to make room for the growth. And some people didn’t like those changes. They would have chosen to stay as we were because it was a comfortable church. Again, I’d like to use the analogy of a recliner.
We come to church as our escape from this satanic world. We like to relax and enjoy our time here. And that is wonderful. After a hard day’s work, we like to come home and relax in our recliners, too, don’t we? It is comfortable and we find rest there.
But whether it is in our recliner at home, or whether it is in our church, when we are resting and comfortable, we are not being productive. And that is one thing God wants us to be – productive for increasing His kingdom.
As we grew to 40 and then 50, we again made necessary changes. We even had to find a new place to hold church so everyone would fit. And guess what? Several people didn’t want to make the move because they were comfortable at the old milk barn. But those same people are now are very happy here.
Finally, we started averaging in the high 50’s and sometimes going into the 60’s. And we find that there are new problems we did not anticipate. This sanctuary will only hold 70. When we get to a regular of 66 in our worship service, we must decide whether we need to move for more space, or split services. To be honest, moving is something I do not look forward to, but I think it might be the most necessary. Let me explain.
Even if we could split services for church, we do not have the classroom space to handle that many more children without splitting them also. And to be able to split them, we would have to have twice as many teachers and twice as many substitutes to handle the new set of classes. There is no way we can keep up with that kind of need.
So, we need to all go into prayer and stay in prayer for God’s will be done at CrossRoads, but that He also gives us a share of discernment and wisdom so that we understand His will and know how to best do it at the proper time.
Now, this brings us up pretty much to where we are now. We have live music rather than the prerecorded CDs we had used before, and we are in the process of rearranging our classes so we can give the youth everything they need to grow properly in Christ.
And that reminds me … if any of you would like to help out by being a Sunday school teacher, teacher’s aid, or even a substitute teacher, please see me, Toni, Rudy, Terra, Dave or Lynn, who are all trying to work together to make the Youth Ministry even better than it is now.
So, considering what we have, why don’t you share with me as to which things you would like for us to keep in our services, and which parts would you rather us not have?
This verse is often quoted as to what God wants for us as individual Christians, and it is His desire that we have a hope and future, but it is also His great desire to see His church have these also.
JEREMIAH 29:11
’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord , ’plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
Our options have been given to us and they are fairly clear. And our future will be shaped, in part, by the decisions we make tonight. Now matter how stuck we might be in the past, holding on to what is dear and comfortable, we are at a moment in this church’s history where we will form its future.
The question is, what will we choose and how will those choices affect our future?
(Open up to congregational input. * - keep in mind that you, as the pastor, need to get together with your leadership team afterward and go over everyone’s suggestions, trimming them down the accepted ones and the discarded ones. And then lovingly implement those suggestions you have accepted.)
CLOSE IN PRAYER
