WOW…yesterday was fun…today should be no exception.
#4 - We Care About Excellence
One of our core values is excellence…we believe that if it is done in God’s name…then it deserves our best effort.
Keep in mind that excellence is the core value—NOT PERFECTION! We literally screw something up every Sunday…but it is NOT because we are not trying hard.
It bothers me when a church offers a half-hearted, poor, pitiful presentation of the Gospel…and then when it totally BOMBS they blame the problem on the Holy Spirit.
Uh…if the Trinity is truly a Biblical concept…and I believe it is, then why is it that we blame “God the Holy Spirit” on things that we screw up?
As I said, we believe in excellence…that means we want to offer our very best. SO…people who can’t sing do not sing. Seriously—why do churches let people do this? I have heard, “Well, their heart is good.” And that might be true—but their voice is awful & makes me think of a cow dying in a hail storm.
We make sure our kids get the very best in (1) facilities—we do not stick them in some basement with leaking pipes and wall paper from the 1970’s and tell them to “like it or else.” But rather we provide them with an atmosphere that they can actually enjoy.
(2) People—we do not stick them with a lady so old that she personally knew seven out of the twelve apostles personally and that hates kids…NO—our volunteers LOVE kids…love working with them—and are willing to go through a federal background check to do so!
If it worth doing then it is worth doing right!
#5 - We Plan Ahead
Yep, another gimmick is that we plan ahead & do not just “wing it.” For example, yesterday we had a meeting regarding this Sunday, March 18th and Easter. We know these things are coming our way and we want to be as ready as possible.
Our kid’s area is planning their Summer Blockbuster deal that will be going on in July, actually, they have been planning it for months. You know why? Because these kids matter!!!
Some people say that you can plan so much that you plan God right out of it…I disagree. I believe the Holy Spirit works just as much in my planning and preparation time as He does when I am delivering a message on a Sunday or Wednesday. God is a planner…He is Sovereign…BUT a casual journey through Scripture can show us—He has a plan—we should as well.
#6 - We Challenge People To Commit
Let me be very clear on this—NewSpring Church has THE BEST volunteers on the planet—BAR NONE! (You will get to meet many of them for yourselves if you are planning on coming to our conference in March…we already have over 200 people registered!)
Here is the deal—I teach this all of the time, a church is NOT effective when a pastor ministers to the people. NO…a church is effective when the body ministers to the body!
Many churches simply kill their pastor…they expect that poor guy to do everything while they sit on their rear end and bark orders. Uh…where exactly is the Biblical basis for that.
I know, I know, some moron is going to e-mail me, telling me that pastors are supposed to “shepherd their flock.” AND…I agree…but leading that flock DOES NOT MEAN doing the things for them that Scripture clearly indicates that they are to be doing for one another!
Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that we are to teach the people HOW to minister—NOT to do it all. And at NewSpring we have a group of people that EMBRACE that concept…and God is using their skills every weekend to IMPACT thousands of lives for Jesus Christ.
#7 - We Have An Atmosphere Where People WANT To Bring Their Unchurched Friends
When I was growing up the LAST place you took a person who didn’t know Christ was to church! NO…you “got them saved” first and then took them to church…because, if you did the opposite it would mess them up forever.
We have taken a different approach…we have told people we are going to work as hard as we can, pray that God will move…and we want you to partner with us in getting your lost friends and family members here…AND…it works. We’ve seen nearly 300 people give their lives to Christ over the past few weeks…and the best is yet to come!!!