So I had someone ask the other day, “Pastor P, will it really make a difference if I commit to come at either 4:15 or 6:00 rather than a morning service?”
My response then…and now…IS YES, YES, YES!!!
When we built NewSpring Church I will have to admit that I was terrified that we had built too large. I literally sat on the stage one Sunday night before we moved into our facility and had a minor melt down, asking God if we had screwed up.
Well—here we are less than a year later—we have doubled in size—seen hundreds of salvations and baptisms…and new people are checking out our church every single week.
Statistics show that a first time visitor is most likely to come at either 9:15 or 11:15…and when they do arrive it is important for us to provide them with a few things…such as a seat, a parking place and room in the nursery for their children.
Over the past four months we have nearly maxed out our parking…had to put chairs out in our lobby several time (yes, we filled 2,500 seats!)...and have all but maxed out the number of kids we can handle. (Our next step is to just let them play in the parking lot—JUST KIDDING!)
I thought maybe we had built too large…but, as always, God’s plans are MUCH larger than ours. (The only people mad at the fact that NewSpring is growing are people in churches that are not growing…I can PROMISE that God isn’t mad!!!) :-)
So…we sat around as a leadership team and racked our brains to try and figure out how to solve this problem. We talked about television (can you imagine me on tv—now that’s funny!), multi-site, new buildings…EVERYTHING…and the best solution we came up with was this—why not just add a service?
We thought back to our days at Anderson College—when we added a second service…and then a third…and then a fourth…and we always saw the same thing—people move from the optimal times to either our former 8:30 service or 6:00…and every time empty seats were created they were filled within a matter of weeks.
So we decided to do it here! Why? Because we KNOW that this church has a passion to reach those who do not know Christ…and for the past six years we have demonstrated a willingness to do whatever it takes…and so we knew that if we made a plea for people to give up their seats at 9:15 and 11:15 and come to either 4:15 or 6:00 that people would do it because..well..quite frankly we have the MOST awesome people on the planet coming to this church!!!
Will your empty seat matter at 9:15 and 11:15? You had better believe it!!! Will it be a lifestyle change for some. Of course…but it will be for the better. Think about it…you get to SLEEP in on Sundays!!! AND…if you come to the 4:15 service you can go out to grub afterwards and get home in time to watch Extreme Home Makeover!!!
I know that some of you feel like we are beating a drum here…but please—if you can…consider 4:15 and 6:00—IT WILL make a difference in someone’s eternity. Now…if you can’t then I understand—we are NOT going to pack our bags and go on a guilt trip. I just wanted you to know that you making this commitment means SOOOOO much to me, to our church, and ultimately to HIS KINGDOM.
See you Sunday!!!