Does Your Church Have Water?
This past Thursday-Sunday we were with Speedwell Pentecostal Holiness Church in Speedwell Virginia with Pastor Don Byrd. Even though the attendance was not what the pastor and congregation wanted, the Presence of the Lord literally hovered over each service!
A friend of mind asked me sometime ago how I felt about ministering in so many small churches. While it would be a thrill to minister to large congregations every week, the truth is the vast majority of churches in America number way less than 100 in attendance.
It's been said most of these churches need to be merged with other churches to create a thriving congregation. But with gas prices going through the roof, it could be some of these churches may come back in "style" by being close by in the neighborhood.
Yes, we need to be relevant to a generation that has not been raised in church. But the biggest key is making sure there is the flow of Living Water when people do come that meets ever need in the House!
Last September the University of Central Florida opened a brand new $55 million dollar football stadium. 43,000 screaming UCF fans opened the stadium on a hot September afternoon. During the game a potential tragedy developed; people began fainting, and at least twelve people had to be treated for dehydration.
The reason: the $55 million stadium was built with no water fountains! The University later apologized for "underestimating the need for water"!
In our quest build the biggest churches in town; in our pursuit of accomplishing something of worth for the Kingdom of God; in our passionate attempt to be validated by the masses of being legitimate ministers and ministries of the Gospel, let us NOT underestimate the NEED for the Living Water of God's Presence!
Does your church have water?
Comments
March 17, 2008
9:52 pm
it starts in our lives. if we do not have water in our own personal lives we can’t believe its going to be in the church… great blog it really spoke to me
March 18, 2008
11:38 am
Thanks David, that cuts to the chase. Excellent word!
March 18, 2008
1:00 pm
Why is it, exactly, that we want to build mega-churches rather than building the body of Christ?
March 19, 2008
2:00 am
Thanks Anthony, great word!
Thanks slw…keep the voice thundering!
Kathi, I think a lot of pressure has been put on pastors to be successful numerically, instead of faithfully…so with the unspoken pressure to become the next Joel Osteen, we’ve thrown the heritage of the local church out the window. That’s coming in my next post!