In a post earlier this week I said that NewSpring has decided to focus our attention on six things. Several people have asked what those six things are & so here goes…
#1 - The Weekend Service
Like it or not—EVERYTHING revolves around the weekend service. If the weekend is NOT good then every area of ministry that the church does will suffer because…well…people won’t show up.
SO—we go all out for the weekend. It is our OBSESSION to make sure that Sunday is the best it can be in every area…and here is why. We know that this Sunday there is going to be someone in our church who is hostile towards God and doesn’t really like church all that much…and we want to try our best to communicate to them that Jesus Christ is REAL and RELEVANT.
We are passionate about teaching Scripture—but doing so in a way that is creative—and that people understand. SO…a ton of our focus goes on the weekend…and it always will! This is where we see the majority of evangelism take place in our church!
#2 - Children’s Ministry
We brought in a consultant back in 2001 and in 2002…and he said the same thing both years he came, “Guys, if you want to grow a great church then you have got to reach kids…and to reach kids you have GOT to spend money on them!”
He was right!
We are dedicated to doing children’s ministry in a way that most parents DID NOT receive when we were growing up. We want the kids to know who Jesus is…and so we have poured resources into this area to make sure that when kids come to church—THEY LOVE IT!
Let me be clear on this—our children’s ministry gets the best of everything…and they always will. Those kids are NOT our future—they are our present!!! They matter to God—right now…and we refuse to bring them into the sanctuary and bore the heck out of them!!!
Trust me…the children’s staff here at NewSpring Church is incredible…and they have a passion to connect kids to Christ!
#3 - Youth Ministry
To piggy back on the kid’s thing…we are also into doing student ministry well. AND…just like the kid’s ministry…we want our youth group to have the absolute best! (In fact—around 16% of our budget goes directly towards youth and children’s ministry!)
I went to the beach with our teenagers last year & fell in love with youth ministry all over again. Our teens are awesome!!! AND our youth staff is the best in the world! I think it is only a matter of time until we are reaching thousands!!!
(In September we will be launching a campaign to raise money for a youth and children’s facility…and it is going to be SWEET!)
#4 - Discipleship
There are SO many opinions about discipleship…and most of them frustrate the heck out of me. If you look in Scripture a disciple is someone who spent time with Jesus. THAT’S IT!
Too many churches put people into a room, teach them all to think alike…and call that discipleship. We refuse to do that crap. SO…how do we disciple?
- Through the weekend—it is our goal every weekend to teach people something they did not know or remind them of something they had forgotten…that’s discipleship
- Through volunteering—you CAN NOT say you are a fully functioning disciple of Christ if your “spiritual gift” is sitting on your rear end. In order for people to develop…they must be involved in ministry. Look at the disciples in Scripture—they were all EMPOWERED and ENABLED NOT to sit in a room and discuss the tribulation…but rather to do ministry!
- Through groups--we do not believe that you can make it in this world on your own! SO…our groups ministry is literally a form of discipleship in that it challenges people to spur and encourage one another.
- Through classes—we do a limited number of classes that teaches people Scripture…we currently have a new believers class and will be developing classes on marriage, parenting and finances. We simply want people to know WHAT the Bible says.
#5 - Care/Outreach
One of the biggest lies I have ever heard about our church is, “Well, if I come there and something happens to me…no one will know!”
BULL
Our care/outreach area is AWESOME! While it is true that I do not do counseling…we do have pastors on staff that meet with people every single day and point them in the right direction.
One of the things I learned a long time ago is that ministry is messy…and people need people…and the church is here to serve…and so that is one of the things we are dedicated to.
#6 - NewSpring Ministries
We are JUST NOW launching NewSpring ministries…and already we are seeing an amazing response. We have over 170 people signed up for our conference...and I spoke with a pastor yesterday who said he is bringing 40 people with him!!!
Our church has a responsibility to the churches all around the world…and whatever we can do to serve those churches…well, we are dedicated to doing it. More information about this to come later…this guy is heading it up…and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
That’s it…we do those six things. We are not saying that anything else is WRONG or EVIL…it’s just that we know God has called us to do these six things and do them well…and not to water down our vision with hundreds of other programs.
Have an awesome weekend…and I hope to see you on Sunday!