Removing Hindrances, Praying for the Holy Spirit

This week we had been praying for Revival and Reformation.  A series of church outreach events and activities is not enough to keep new people coming to church. We should focus on transforming the life and the conduct of the local church.  Have you been transformed?  How has our congregation had been transformed over the past few years?

Unless the local church has been totally transformed, all the programs and strategies will be in vain. Local church members should strive to model the traits they want to see in new comers.

ENVIRONMENT!   Think about this one word!  The influence of the local church environment on new members cannot be underestimated. Just picture our church as a fish tank, public campaigns and other forms of evangelism are “catching” fish to bring them back to our "tank." If the tank is contaminated, it doesn't matter how well we feed the fish or how much we lecture the existing fish to accept the new ones. Our concern is often the most obvious -- those fish that die in our tank, or who leave the church. But that's just the beginning. We should be as concerned about the fish that don't die but learn to adapt to the contaminated tank, carrying poisons within.  It is urgent to address the environment.

New members, like children, learn much more from what they see and experience than from what they have been taught. In the same way, life must be modeled for new believers. Paul puts it well: "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). A transformed local church will not just teach new members, but will model the life for the new members.

Here are few suggestions for a transformed environment, and its practical implications:

·   Befriend new members, and old. How can we make friends with new members if we're not already friends among ourselves?

·   Show love. We can't show what we don't have -- if the "tank" is contaminated with strife and hatred, that's all we can offer.

·   Involve them. We can't get them involved unless current members are already involved in church activities.

·   Visit them, but don't forget to visit the old member who lives on the street next door, too.

·   Disciple them, but show discipleship to the rest of the church as well.

·   Expect high standards of living from them, but model that behavior in the church.

The transformation of the local church into a loving family, the foretaste of heaven, is our biggest concern. One of our church co-founders attests  "A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs" (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 22, 1887).

We need more than revive our mission and programming, we need to be revived as people, then mission will be a never-ending reality, a warm environment filled with smiling, loving and caring people.  Not by our might, but by the Holy Spirit power we will have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, loyalty, gentleness, unselfishness.  Partner with us,to be ambassadors for loving church.