Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2005

Grace Church of Burlington June 5, 2005 So what changes are next and what’s most important? When it comes to change, it is easy to focus on the surface changes rather than significant and difficult changes. So we put effort into that which will never have real results.  Serious, significant change requires sustained effort and perseverance. It is easier to act like we are making changes or to make changes that are easy but have no significant or eternal results. Often we’re doing little more than re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.             That came home to me recently when I read a recent Barna Survey. For over two years Rick Warren’s, The Purpose Driven Life, has been a best seller. Entire churches all over America across denominational lines have conducted Purpose Driven Life seminars and studies. Warren’s five purposes are clearly outlined in his book: 1) You were planned for God’s pleasure-Worship. 2) You were formed for God’s family-Fellowship. 3) You were created to become like Christ-Spiritual Growth. 4) You were shaped for serving God-Spiritual Service. 5) You were made for a mission-Evangelism.             Our purpose is God-centered, yet The Barna Research Group’s recent survey discovered that most believers just don’t get it as they answered that their first and primary purpose in life was to take care of their family. More than four out of every ten adults – 44% – said their top priority in life is to have a satisfying family life. This was nearly three times as popular as the second-most common response, which was that of understanding and carrying out the principles of their faith. And more than four times as prolific as the third-most popular reply, which was having good friends.             This, though, really is not new. The early church struggled with the same issue. Jesus’ last command to them before He ascended into Heaven was to go and reach the world but they stayed in Jerusalem. Finally, God had to bring persecution to move them out into the mission. Basically, it boils down to focus – Are we going to be internally or externally focused? And the change and remedy will take constant evaluation and maintenance.             The typical believer wants more fellowship and Bible studies. When we start talking about evangelism – reaching out to lost co-workers, friends and neighbors, which is our mission – it just rarely seems to happen. We are just too internally focused to make it the priority. Even at church in our worship services, we focus more on what we want out of our church rather than what will reach and minister to lost people coming in our doors.             The bottom line is that at Grace the biggest changes are not in worship styles or in purchasing land or even building buildings. The biggest changes that we will continually have to work, evaluate, re-evaluate and focus on is being an externally focused ministry. That Grace is not just about us, our agendas and preferences, but that God has providentially called us to this place and this time to reach our community with the Gospel. Even as we complete our series on change this morning, we must remember that change in ministry focus must be continually sustained and maintained.             That means that we will continually have to change to reach out to Burlington Bob and Barbara. We will continually have to evaluate who they are and how we can reach them. We will have to evaluate what it will take to eradicate barriers in our church that might hinder them from coming to Christ.             With that in mind, what lost people are you consistently praying for? Who are you seeking to reach? What lost person has God laid on your heart? Have you been praying and thinking about adjustments that we can make at Grace to better enable us to reach your lost friends? Are you part of the team helping us reach to Burlington Bob and Barbara? Do we know as a church who they are, what their felt needs are, what will attract them to the Gospel?             My dear people, those are the changes that we must make and will have to continue to make. We are here to glorify God. We are here to reach our lost community for His glory!! That’s the mission and we must continually adjust and make the changes that will help us effectively accomplish His mission!!