The Half-Full Church

Wonderful day. What a great day. A blessed day. Had a wonderful I I want to think that every worship service is wonderful because we worship a wonderful God. God's always the same.

His people are not always the same. But I have a feeling his people this morning were certainly joyful, happy to be together, and happy to be worshiping God. And, you could tell when people were leaving, they were joyful. And, I thought that's the way we need to be when we leave a time of praise and worship together. We're joyful, we're happy, we're rejoicing in the things that we've done.

And that certainly was the, the feeling. It's not all religion is not all about feeling, but there is feeling about religion. And I think that the feeling was wonderful this morning. And I was certainly happy to be part of that, part of that worship. Evening, I want to talk to you about the half full church.

The half full church. You know, psychologists, often try to help their patients by teaching them to think positively. That some people are very negative, very pessimistic. If there are 9 good things that happened and only one bad thing, they focus on the bad thing. And they forget the other 9 good things.

We're we're we're guilty of that. All of us at one time or another, we're like that. We're pessimists still negative about about everything. When counselors work with people like this, they usually try to make them see the good along with the bad. And hopefully, to take notice that it's not all down, not all gloom.

And that they have a choice to be positive or to be negative, and they can choose to be either one. Now, one of the favorite expressions or images used is that of a glass that is either, that is half filled with water. You know where I'm going. The client is told that they can see the glass as either half full or half empty. Depends on how they depends on how they look at the thing.

It doesn't change how much liquid that there is in the glass, but their way of looking at it, whether they see it as half full or half empty, will change the way that they feel about the situation. And of course the point that they're trying to get across is the way that you see something determines how you feel about that thing. Well, you know the same type of negativism and pessimism often exists in the church. When discussing the condition of the church, some folks see it many times as half empty. They're worried about its growth.

They're discouraged about its direction. They're pessimistic when it comes to the work of the church and the future of the church. And some of their fears, you know, may be warranted. But the constant review of the things that are wrong with the church often creates discouragement and loss of faith. You know, you keep on talking about things that are going wrong in the brotherhood, you're going to get discouraged.

So this evening I'd like to share with you a view of the church from the half full perspective. So we can have reason to rejoice and maintain a positive attitude. And I chose to do it at night because I know the building would be half empty. So I want you to have the half full. That's it.

Now that's the spirit. Have the half full. The church building is half full tonight, not half empty. That's exactly the spirit that I'm looking for. Now, I wanna give you some reasons to rejoice.

You know they say that statistics don't lie. Now they can be manipulated, but when you want to get to the bottom line, you usually have to look at the statistics. So let's look at our statistics, not in comparison to ourselves, but in comparison to the different religious groups throughout the United States. Now the Institute For Church Growth, one of its directors, Flayville Yakely doctor Flayville Yakely is a member of the church, I believe out of Abilene. Harding, thank you.

Harding people are here. You always know when the Harding people are here. Doctor. Flavell Yeakley from Harding completed a study comparing churches of Christ to other churches of Christ to other religious groups. And here's what they found out statistics.

Not what the preacher said, statistics. First of all, they found out that there are approximately 245 Christian religious groups legally incorporated in the United States of America. And for legal purposes, the churches of Christ, including Christian churches, are part of these. We have to be incorporated in order to function here in the United States as a legal entity. So, we're part of those 245 for legal purposes.

Now when they studied these 245 and compared how we stacked up to the other 244, here's some of the things that they found. Among the 245 they found that the churches of Christ were 7th in total number of members. We were 4th in total number of congregations. We were 4th in dispersion, meaning the number of members per county. And in relation to our size, we're actually the number one congregation or the number one church in the numbers of members that are within each county.

In other words, we're the best spread out of all 245 groups. They also found out that we're number 3 in the total number of career missionaries in the field. Number 3. Out of 245, we're number 3. Not 245 congregations, 245 denominations.

We're number 3. They also found out that our average yearly growth rate is 5%. Now this puts us in 5th place in a group of 245. Now this is pretty amazing when you consider how the 4 groups ahead of us measure growth. We're number 5 in growth rate.

The other 4 ahead of us, this is the way that they measure growth. The Pentecostals do not baptize for salvation. The Mormons count those who are baptized for the dead as growth. The Baptists do not baptize for salvation and also include TV conversions in their numbers. And the Roman Catholic church count babies who are baptized in their growth statistics.

Those are the 4 that are ahead of the churches of Christ. What is even more amazing is that here, for example, at Canyon View with 24 baptisms and 30 people placing membership, this is in the year 2000, our percentage of growth was approximately 10%. That's 2 times the national average. And that's not counting the 30 baptisms that were produced at MCRD with our outreach there. That's not counting those, that's in addition to the 30.

Another thing they found out was that when it comes to our youth, the young people in our congregation, surveys found that 2 thirds of the young people in the churches of Christ remained faithful into their twenties and into their thirties as far as statistics were concerned. They also found out that 80% of our members have free and open fellowship. And the other 20% have some distinctions like one. Some churches only use one cup when they have communion. And some do not believe in supporting various institutions like orphan homes and colleges and things like that.

But they still have fellowship. There are disagreements but they have fellowship one with another. Now, a lot of people point to the division between instrumental and non instrumental congregations in our brotherhood. But this division pales in comparison to the Baptists for example, who have 36 different denominational groups under the Southern Baptist Convention alone. Now there is an element of division in the church, this is true.

But it is not as severe as the hundreds of different branches that appear in the denominational world. Now some claim that as a unity movement we are more divided than others, but the statistics do not back this up. The restoration movement has 3 main branches if you wish: division. I say branches cup half full. You can say division if you want to see the cup as half empty.

First of all, there are the disciples of Christ who are now a fully denominational group, who espouse completely the ecumenical movement and no longer identify or fellowship with those in the churches of Christ. The other branch, if you will, are the Christian churches whose main difference is that they use instruments in their worship and then there are what they call the mainline churches of Christ who don't. This separation over music is serious, but it doesn't compare to the division and multiplication seen in the denominational world. Another statistic: They found out that we are in the top ten for every category that was studied. And in some categories, we were number 1.

For example, we have the highest percentage of attendance from our total numbers than any group. We're number 1. When it comes to church attendance, we're number 1 of the 245 group studies. The percentage of our members on our church roles that actually come to worship. Like in some congregations they say, We have 700 members, but there are only 120 people that actually show up for worship.

The statistics show that a higher percentage of members of singular congregations of the churches of Christ were regular worshipers. For example, I did a little research here and found that 78% of our total membership are here for worship on the Lord's day. 78%. Is that fantastic? No.

Not fantastic. We can do better. But in a highly mobile, very busy, cosmopolitan city like this, with the membership that includes a lot of people that are in the military, who have, you know, that are away a lot. We have a lot of business people here that are taken out of town. 78%.

Pretty good. On a consistent basis. They also found out that we have the highest percentage of giving of any group. We give better than any religious group in America. And we also have the highest percentage of $1,000,000 contributions in one day than any group in the United States.

Statistics. Just statistics. And the survey showed that the churches of Christ are the envy and the model for much of the denominational world for two main reasons. Number 1, our conservative theology creates less problems and promotes rapid growth. And number 2, our non denominational structure is the newest thing in the religious world.

We've had it all along. You know, I get magazines in the mail all the time, you know, addressed to the pastor. You know, all kinds of magazines put out on religious issues. And the big buzz word, you know, community church, non denominational community church, the newest thing. You know.

It's always a shame that a lot of times we're tempted to let go things that the denominational world are just discovering. The survey concluded that conservative, non denominational churches are the only ones that are growing at the end of 20th century and entering into 21st century. Conservative, non denominational churches, the only ones that are showing any growth. And so, we are definitely part of that growing movement. Definitely, we are part.

Definitely the cup is definitely half full. Now, I want to share with you, this evening a couple of things that we need to do in order to keep that growth going. Keep that cup half full and maybe 2 thirds full. Couple of things. How to maintain that growth?

How to keep these numbers high? First of all, I think we need to stick to the word of God and stay only with the word of God. You know, from the beginning of time man's greatest error has been disobeying or changing the word. Eve disobeyed it. The Jews ignored it.

The early Christians, many of them, tried to change it. But Paul the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 6, that we should not exceed what is written. What's so hard about that? What is it about that that we just don't get? That we must not exceed what is written.

We must not go beyond what is written. Why is it that most of my discussions, let's put it that way, with people today has to do with their yearning to always go beyond the word? Why is it that people have such a hard time to just try to understand what the word says and just stick to that? John the Apostle warns us in Revelation, chapter 22, verse 18, 19 that if anyone adds or subtracts from God's word, they'll be condemned. And here I'm paraphrasing that.

If you trace the history of the denominational world, you will see many sincere and pious people who originally wanted to serve God. But with time, their followers abandoned the concept of simply understanding and obeying God's word. Now the basis of the success of the churches of Christ is that one of our basic beliefs, one of our foundational ideas is that the Bible is God's word, and the final authority in all matters of morals and spiritual life. It's an easy concept to say. It's not that easy to continue to work out in our everyday lives.

I think the reason that there are 245 different groups with thousands of subdivisions is because people refuse to accept the Bible and only the Bible as their authority and their guide. David the psalmist says, Thou hast ordained thy precepts, that we should keep them diligently. Psalm 119, verse 4. Maintaining our spiritual health and our growth is directly connected to our willingness and ability to remain faithful to God's word and only his word. That we preach only the Bible.

That we teach only the Bible. That we do. This is an old fashioned saying, but so true that we, with all of our heart and strength, try to do Bible things in Bible ways. Is there disagreement about that? Well, of course there is.

But let us at least agree that we have the same goal. If we can agree that we have the same goal, then we can give each other a little room. There may be economic downturns and population shifts. We may not be in the busiest traffic area sometimes, or boast of the most modern facilities. But if we remain faithful to God's word, the promise is that the Lord Himself will add to our number and bless every effort that we make in His name according to His word.

You know, we often quote, you know, Matthew 28:18-twenty. Especially this week's been mission emphasis and so on and so forth. But going out, you know, and preaching the gospel to all creation, making disciples. You know how? By baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Right? But we don't often quote the passage that comes after. Teaching them. Who? Them?

The disciples. Teaching them to do what? To obey. Teaching them to obey all the words of Christ. Teaching them to obey the things that Christ has done.

Not just teaching them the things of Christ, teaching them to obey the things of Christ, the words of Christ, the commands of Christ. And we do this when we learn and study and obey and not go past what he has said. Another thing that we need to do in order to maintain that growth, that half full cup, is that each member in the congregation must, not should, must have a ministry. Each member must have a ministry. Now the Bible provides the information for normal church growth.

And the elders, and the ministers, and the staff, and a couple of us have been discussing a lot of this recently. And you deacons and ministry leaders, you're next. In May, and one of the weekends in May, you'll be getting a letter in the mail inviting you to come to a workshop to talk about these issues. But basically, the New Testament method for growing a church is very simple. It has 3 steps.

First of all, the church needs to understand that there are 5 areas of ministry or service if you wish that the church is active in. And they're listed in Acts chapter 2, verse 1 to 47. And I'll mention them very quickly. Five areas of ministry. The first is evangelism: preaching the gospel to the lost so that the lost will obey.

The second area of ministry is education, teaching the disciples to obey all the words of Christ. The third area of ministry is fellowship, bringing Christians together, integrating Christians into the body. The 4th area of ministry is service, meeting the needs of the body and the community. And the 5th area of ministry is worship, bringing the church together to praise and to worship the Lord. Those are the 5 areas of ministry.

Everything we do in the church fits into those 5 areas. That's the first step. 2nd step to grow the church: Make sure that the work of the leaders in the church is to train the members to learn about and to serve in 1 or more of these 5 areas. That's the second step. And the third step, which is the ultimate goal, and that is that each and every member is not only active in a variety of ministries, but that each member is also teaching and training other members in that ministry as well.

Acts chapter 2, verse 47. Churches don't grow because of 1 person or because they build buildings. The church grows if it follows the plan for growth provided by God in His word. And that plan requires that the leaders be busy training the church so that each member has a ministry and serves the entire body. There are no spectators.

Everybody is a player. And I'll tell you this again, coming to worship is not a ministry. If I asked you, What's your ministry? And you say, Well I've come to church. No.

Sorry. Wrong answer. When you're sitting here, you're receiving ministry. I'm ministering to you. You're not ministering to me.

So you you need to scratch that out. That's not your ministry. You need to find another one. There will come a time, if the Lord is willing, there will come a time where this auditorium will be full and we will be able to go one chair after another and every person will stand and say, This is my ministry. This is what I do.

And the next person will stand and say, this is what I do. And all of it will work together systematically to grow this church and to honor God, and to grow in a fashion which is without limit. Because the New Testament church is a church that has no limits placed on its growth. And when we start thinking that way, you cannot believe what God will do with us. Alright, another thing we need to do, that half cup, half full feeling.

The Church of Christ must become the Church of Love. The church of Christ, that one of those 245 there, we need to become the church of love. For anything to prosper and grow it needs the right direction and the proper tools. Our direction is correct because we use only the Bible as our guide. Our tools are correct because we are using the New Testament pattern for church growth and development.

And we're doing that. The elders are working on that. The ministers are working on that. Very soon you deacons and ministry coordinators and leaders, you will be working on that and then eventually the church will be trained in that. So we've got the right tools in the right direction.

But for all of these to be effective, there needs to be the right climate, the right attitude so that the entire thing can bloom. Now Jesus stressed the idea that for the church to grow, there must be love between the brethren. John 13:35 where He said, By this all men will know that you're my disciples. How? Because you have the term Church of Christ on your building?

By this all men will know that you're my disciples, that there's no organ inside the building. By this all men will know that you're my disciples, that no women are up here preaching. By this all men will know that you're my disciples. That you have a Wednesday night service? No.

He says, By this all men will know that you are my disciples in the way that you love one another. Because brothers and sisters, I'll tell you right now. The world out there doesn't care that we don't use instruments. Now is that a biblical thing that we don't use instruments? Absolutely.

I'm ready to defend it, argue it, you know, yes. But the world out there doesn't care about that. They don't care that we just follow the bible. They don't care about that. A woman whose husband just walked out on her, and she's alone with 2 small children, and now she has to raise these kids all by her self and she's dead broke, and she's angry and hurt.

You think she cares that we're a quote New Testament church? She doesn't care. But she cares a lot if one of our members shows her some love. And if she comes to this place and she sees how we love one another, that'll be the balm that will heal her wound and open her ears and expose her heart to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said that even if we had great faith and correct doctrine, if one didn't have love our claim to doctrinal purity and biblical methodology would be a hollow sounding thing.

It would be insincere. You know, I've been in churches where they did everything according to the New Testament, and where there was a lot of activity and a lot of running around, but there was no genuine love for people. There was no genuine warmth for one another. And so, for the church of Christ to grow, it must must become the church of love. As I said, the unsaved are not impressed if we have the doctrine right and the method right, but they will be drawn to Christ if they see and experience His love when they enter our doors.

Christian love is the experience that makes a person want to remain a member of this congregation. And every single person here is responsible for providing that love. We have to get away from the idea that the ministers are paid to love everybody. I can't love all of you. I don't have the capacity.

Some of you I'm starting not to like. Ministers are paid to teach, to train, to lead. We provide love, but you provide love too. I believe that our congregation is more than a half full cup. Matter of fact, I believe that our congregation our cup is running over.

I see that we have been blessed in significant ways in the last year. I wasn't here, but I I see the things that have happened. We've grown numerically as I say 10%, while others have shrunk. We have a beautiful facility which is located in an absolutely perfect place for our work. We have 8 elders who are of one mind for the gospel and who are anxious to see the church grow.

And that's no small feat. We have a multi talented congregation that has not even begun to flex it's spiritual muscle in the name of the Lord. Not you haven't even started yet. You don't know yet. Really.

We have a field here in San Diego that is truly, truly white unto harvest. And we have a biblical plan of attack that will enable us to experience, not growth, unlimited growth. And that is exciting. You know, some people they're looking for noise, and light, and for excitement. You baptize a 100 people in a month, you'll get all the excitement that you can handle.

I guarantee you. In the weeks months to come, as I say, I'll be teaching in small groups and preaching to the entire congregation about a ministry management system that that will revolutionize, I hope, our work and provide opportunities for service and growth that we may not have had in the past. So I hope that you will receive this teaching tonight with an open heart and a cooperative spirit as we really do begin and I chose at night to begin to say this slowly, just to a few of you, as we begin to turn a new page in the history of this great congregation. The past has been good but I pray that the future will be more than you ever imagined that it could be. In the meantime, I trust that this brief review of our strengths and our success will inspire us to do 2 things.

First of all, I hope that it will inspire you to give God praise and thanks for the way that he has blessed us in the past as a congregation. And secondly, I hope that it'll give us hope and confidence that we're going in the right direction and give us the courage to make the right decisions as we move ahead in a more dynamic ministry and a greater surrender to God. I want us to get to the point where God is in control. I mean, really in control of this congregation. Perhaps one of those decisions for you is to to become a Christian or to be restored as a faithful Christian or maybe to be restored as one who ministers.

Maybe you've just been faking it. Sometimes we need to confess that we've been faking it. Our elders are here tonight and the church is gathered tonight for that purpose, to be ministered to and now to minister one to another. And so if you have a need for prayer or encouragement, whatever it is, then we do encourage you to come forward now as we stand and as we sing.