Forgetting What is Behind

Sunday I did a message called "Springing Into Fall." We are praying that on Sept 9 we can pick up where we left off in the Spring. I used the text "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." I reminded everyone what was behind so that we could forget it. In January 07, we were in the middle of a test. I have seen many churches come and go, start and fail over the past 5 years. Church planting is hard and there is no guarantee of success. Usually what kills a church plant is a lack of finances. This is a test that every church plant has to pass. In January we were falling behind financially and flatlining in our attendance. But today, we are caught up, attendance is on the rise (except for this month) and we are more passionate about our mission than ever before. I believe that we did 4 things that turned things around:

1. We practiced compassion instead of consumerism. It is easy to become selfish when things aren't going well. Our test actually began last July. It was the first time in 4 years of ministry that we could not pay our rent. In Aug 06 we did a series called "How In The World Are You?" where we discovered that God means for us to be a light and a blessing to the world around us. In Dec 06 we challenged our people to not fall into the Christmas hype by buying things that would only find it way into the next Summer's garage sales. We raised $3000 to drill a well in Rwanda even though we were 2 months behind in rent. In Jan 07 we began supporting 3 kids from 3 different continents through Compassion International because of Isaiah 58. There is something about sowing seeds of generosity into the world that unleashes God's work in your own life. Thats why you shouldn't wait to get out of debt before giving regularly toward the kingdom of God.
2. We focused on mission instead of ourselves. We became aggressive in reaching Holly Springs. We spent money on signs, ads, mailers, remodeling, etc. to reach new people even while we were behind. God can miraculously rescue you from debt but usually doesn't give you the winning lottery number to meet your need. Over the last 4 years I have seen God provide miraculously through generous people from which I never expected it to come. But God's plan is to provide for His church through the generous giving of its people. We needed to reach more people because that is the mission of the church. But we also needed more people to share the financial responsibilities of the church. I also found that our own people were more willing to give toward mission and vision rather than debt. Our focus on mission unleashed generosity in our people.
3. We developed a plan for outreach instead of hoping for change. We had an advertising plan that began on March 18 as we launched our new start of being "The Church In The Warehouse." We ran ads from March through May in Around Canton magazine, put out new and more signs, did mailers for our March 18 launch, Easter and Mother's Day. We had a 33% increase in attendance during this time.
4. We turned to God instead of the bank. Sometimes we look everywhere else for solutions rather than turning to God. I really thought that the only way to satisfy the landlord was to borrow money and pay him off. I didn't see how we could pay him in a timely manner otherwise. Fortunately our Elders are smarter than me and said no. So after a successful Spring outreach campaign, we still owed $15000. We stopped all church activities for the Summer including home teams and children's ministry and started meeting on Wed. for prayer. No Bible study, just prayer. And God answers prayer! We are now caught up and we did it during the Summer. It is a complete miracle.

God has now positioned us to spring into fall. We can put some things behind us and press on to what is ahead. It's a great day to be alive!