Scott Hodge tells it like it is: taking a church that has plateaued or is in decline to a level of healthy growth will be painful. Some people don't like change. Some people like church to meet all of their needs. Some people like it small. Some people like it the "old way" because it's their style. So transitioning a church into a healthy missional church will require sacrifice, a season of pain, and focusing on what really matters: people disconnected from God.
However, the reward of a transitioned church is worth it all.
Instead of blogging all the notes from the one-day conference (I'm sure others will...you guys can throw out you blog address in the comments), I decided to just write down some personal take-home thoughts from the event.
- First Assembly will not make consumer Christians. It's not about them getting, but about them giving of themselves to others.
- Our needs will be met when we meet the needs of others.
- There is a HUGE gap between Jesus and people following him. First Assembly needs to help close in that gap. The world takes note of this gap everyday.
- We need to identify what is sacred in church, and what is not sacred. Then we can examine what is really important.
- I need to re-read all the blog posts from Andy Stanley's catalyst session.
- We must tackle our assimilation/fusion process of taking a first-time attender to becoming a committed follower of Jesus.
- Love this quote from Hodge: "If you want to reach people who have never been reached before, then you need to do things that have never been done before."
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