Potential

I have this thing about potential. I think each of us has potential for more than we’ve ever imagined. I think when God looks at us he sees potential. He always spoke to people’s potential rather than their performance. He is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20).

When I think about our potential as a church I am blown away. Spartanburg has roughly 150,000 people who are unchurched. That means that in our county alone we have the potential to reach 150,000 people who are far away from God. Can you fathom that? What would that look like? What would it take for us to be a church of 150,000 people?

Now I know what some of you are thinking: That’s impossible. Read Ephesians 3:20 again. Some of you are thinking: I don’t want to be a part of a big church. Why? In Acts the church grew by 3000 in one day. Some scholars believe the church grew to over 20,000 people in the first few months following Pentecost. God is serious about connecting with disconnected people. So am I!

So here’s what I would like to ask you to do:

1. Pray like crazy. Pray like you’ve never prayed before. Pray for God to move in people’s lives so that they are drawn to Jesus. Pray for God to show us as a church how to be ready for that kind of movement of God.
2. Serve like crazy. We need you to step up and serve your rear ends off. I think being a part of the movement called the church is the best and most important thing you could ever do. If you don’t have a place to serve then keep harassing me until I give you something to do. Take the initiative. Serve. We need you to step up to help us create a fun, relevant, exciting children’s ministry. We need you to help park. We need you to help greet. We need you to help with set up and tear down. We need you to serve like crazy.
3. Invite like crazy. Now let me clarify what I mean. Invite unchurched people. What I don’t want us to be is a church for people who already go to church. If you are on our team and you are already a Christian then please don’t hear what I’m not saying. I am SO glad you are a part of The Point, but we need you to join with us to be the church. We need you to help us create a church for people who don’t like church. Many Christians believe the church exists for them, but Christians are the church and they exist for the world. We don’t need people who just want to be a part of the new cool church in town because they aren’t happy where they are. Those people are in. They are not our Heavenly Father’s priority. Invite unchurched people. They are all around you and me. Some of them live in your house. Some of them live next door. Easter is a great time to invite them. We’re starting theproblemwithgod.com series. I can’t wait!

I want you to reach the potential that God has created in you. I want us, as a church, to reach our potential.

Here’s another question that I was asked today: If The Point was a church of 200, what would be different about us? What would we need? I’ll be throwing that out in a couple of weeks for discussion. I would love to hear your ideas.