8/15/2019 3 Ways to Make the Church More Effective

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3 Ways to Make the Church More

Efective

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do

 people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it 

gives light to everyone in the house. – Matthew !" 

To be a Christian means to stand in witness for Christ. All of us, no matter our 

background, are called to share the Good News with the people of our world ( Mark

16:15). Its a huge responsibilit!, a great honor, and a noble calling. "nfortunatel!,

Christians arent alwa!s skillful when it comes to sharing the gospel. #ith all the

changes taking place in modern societ!, man! belie$ers are %uestioning the

Churchs effecti$eness in leading others to Christ.

&d 'teter is one such Christian. In a recent column for Christianity Today,

'teter proposed that churches needed to change their methods if the! wanted to

continue reaching communities. As an eample, he pointed to the use of pathwa!s,

#athways transitions people away from apathy into groups where they$ll provo%e one

another to love and good deeds & Heb. 10:24  '. (e need to help people live as agents

of )od$s mission. *ometimes you have to stop doing good things to do the best 

things. +hat$s always a hard call, especially for churches. hurches that refuse to

budge on inerrancy of *cripture should be commended. hurches that confuseinerrancy with methodology should be corrected.

+hat tendency can be applied to aspects of ministry that have outlived their 

usefulness. (e need clearer systems and processes that lead people from passivity 

to activity in involvement in the mission of )od and serving one another.

#hitne! *opler, another $oice on Christian transformation, takes a more

introspecti$e approach. 'he advises Christians to change their attitude on worship,

which she belie$es has grown stale o$er the !ears. 'he writes,

http://www.biblestudytools.com/mark/16-15.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/mark/16-15.htmlhttp://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2016/june/3-church-methods-that-need-to-change.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/hebrews/10-24.htmlhttp://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/how-to-make-your-preaching-worship.htmlhttp://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2016/june/3-church-methods-that-need-to-change.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/hebrews/10-24.htmlhttp://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/how-to-make-your-preaching-worship.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/mark/16-15.htmlhttp://www.biblestudytools.com/mark/16-15.html

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Receive the Gift of Worship Gratefully

“*ince it$s only through )od$s love and power that you and the others in your church

can offer yourselves as living sacrifices to )od through worship and e-perience the

 profound blessings of encountering )od through worship, be than%ful. eep in mind 

that gratitude is the foundation of worship as a church community.+

inall!, Nick *all, the founder of -"'& and author of /eset , belie$es we all need to

be more like /esus. Too often the gospel becomes entangled in politics, social

issues, or personal egos. /esus, on the other hand, was concerned about people,

and that meant stepping into lifes messes. In a section of /eset   he states,

ut !thers a"ove #ourself 

“If we spend time with 0esus, then we will naturally be driven to do the things that 

0esus did. In other words, if you tell me you$re hanging out with 0esus every day and 

yet there is no desire in your life to share your faith, or love those he gave his life

for, then we should probably dig a little deeper to find out what version of 0esus we

are tal%ing about.1 

The gospel message will ne$er change, but as &d 'teter suggested earlier, perhaps

its methods should. #e li$e in a culture which $iews the Church with increasing fear and suspicion, and the old s!stems of ministr! are no longer working. If we continue

to hold on to bad strategies, the strength of e$angelism will onl! weaken. Now is the

time to let our lights shine, so let us renew our efforts to share the Good News with

all people.

http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-put-others-above-yourself.htmlhttp://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-put-others-above-yourself.htmlhttp://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-put-others-above-yourself.htmlhttp://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-put-others-above-yourself.htmlhttp://www.crosswalk.com/faith/http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-put-others-above-yourself.htmlhttp://www.crosswalk.com/faith/