As we approach our church’s 7th birthday, I thought it would be totally appropriate to give this message. We’ve seen some incredible things over the past few years, and there are some really big changes coming soon.
Life group discussion questions after the link.
If you’re the discussion leader for your group, be sure to have everyone open to this page on their mobile device. This session is really different from the usual ones. You’ll have to freestyle it a little bit… This discussion is all about preparing ourselves for the coming changes at The Orchard Church. TONIGHT, I would love it if your group would communicate back to me via email about what your thoughts are, based on what you heard. Please email me at stevedusek@orchardellijay.com
What did you think of this week’s “State of the Church” message? Was there a part that surprised you?
The Big Idea
Sunday we talked about “Making the gospel relevant to our community.” the key words here are “Gospel,” “relevant,” and “community.” I put a specific spin on each of those words for us… How did that come across? What did you think about what I said about “relevant?” Is that what you thought it meant?
I also talked about this big idea:
Doing what nobody is doing to reach who nobody is reaching.
How do you think that is working out? What has been the result of this mindset?
Some great measurements
When “measuring by fruit,” we saw that in 2015 we had 161 salvations, 41 baptisms, 40 kids join our youth group, and 80 in Children’s Ministry last week. You know what… I forgot to mention these fruit numbers, also. How do those strike you? What does that mean for us, in the face of the fact that most churches in America are flat, or dying off?
Our Attendance Change
Do you agree with any of the problems that I propose these sheer numbers bring on Sunday mornings? Parking issues, foot traffic, children’s capacity, auditorium crowding, etc?
Easter
I am really excited about doing Easter Sunday morning at the Gilmer High School. What do you think about this? Do you think this will be a real attraction for our community? There are now less than seven weeks till Easter. What good ideas can your group generate about inviting people? Who do we need to be praying for and inviting?
Sunday Schedule
Okay, so everyone has pretty much universally said that the early service will be great… for someone else. What do you think about this? Do you see the early service as a potential for growth? How can we make that happen?
The Orchard Church North Campus
This is the really big one. I had several people express excitement about it afterwards. What do you think? Who do you think this might be for? How should it be different than our current worship service?
Financial Storm
Okay, let’s be honest… When have you heard a preacher in a growing church say “let’s not build a building right now?” What did you think of that? We decided to do a little personal preparation as a prerequisite to any building program. How did you feel about that? How do you think that might affect you and your family?
Timeline
We are going to move fast! How can you help us discover and develop new leaders for all these things ahead of us? Do you have any words of wisdom as we move into all this?
What about a building?
Sure… That will come. We are analyzing that. We will be re-enlisting our Strategic Planning Team, which hasn’t met in a while, due to lots of other time and objective conflicts. These are all good problems that a rapidly growing church can expect to have! I will keep you up to date as best I can. In the meantime, just ask any time!
Remember, I would like to hear back from your group! Email me!