Where's your focus....

It seems like there's a new church starting just about every weekend in Charlotte and when you combine that with the existing ones we have well over 1,000 in the area. Whether you're a new church or an existing one, there's a tension that most carry...the weight of "how we will get people to come." The underlying emotion is, how will we get people to know we're here and show up on Sunday morning. At Elevation we've been able to remove a great deal of the tension through having the right focus. Pastor Steven has always had the ability to see things off in the distance. It allowed him to prepare us for things that would happen in the future, so when they happened we felt like we were prepared.

One of those things we were prepared for was dealing with this concept of "how will we get them come." He started with the foundational believe that God gave His promise when He called us to start Elevation. We believed that it was God's vision to reach the city of Charlotte through this church and we can rest in that promise. I think every church starts from that perspective....God's called us.

Here's where Pastor Steven took it one step further, he taught us to let God be God and we'll focus on our part of the promise. In Matthew 16:18 God says"upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." And in John 12:32 "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." God said that "I will build my church and draw all men onto myself. Pastor Steven reminded us that God's job is to bring the people, our job is create an experience they would come back for.

Because of the tension churches carry to try to get people to show up on Sunday they invest significant time and money to try to get them there. One problem though, often they've invested too much on the front end that the back end is ineffective. Because they are working so hard to try to convince people to show up on Sunday that when they finally do the worship experience is mediocre and walk away unaffected.

There's freedom when you realize what's your responsibility and God's promise. Focus most of your energy on "why would they come back" and let God be God. As people come and connect with Christ in your worship experience they will go home and invite their friends and family. Let the lives that God has transformed through your ministry invite others to experience your church.

When you keep the focus on "why would they come back" you're focusing your resources on the right thing....the people that God will bring to you!!! Stand in that promise and let God build his church!!!