13 Characteristics of a Growing Church: Share

I am proud to say that I, Jimmy Mustion, am an only child! Let me tell you being an only child is pretty great. I had all of my parents' attention. I didn't have any sibling rivalry, and I got all the toys at Christmas.

However, my wife would be the first person to tell you that there is one major downfall to being an only child...we never learned to share as a child. Christiana grew up in a family with two sisters. She, Mary, and Gretel were forced to share all their toys. They had to make room for one another in the back seat of the car. They had to take turns watching the movies and TV shows that they wanted to see. Sharing was normal and expected. Not so with me.

I started learning how to share when I went to school. It wasn't normal. It wasn't easy. It still isn't easy. No wonder that our churches have so much trouble sharing...they are full of only children! OK so I am joking a little bit, but it's true. Our churches DO have trouble sharing. It's no wonder that we have trouble growing.


So here's a quick recap of the Characteristics of a Growing Church:
1st Love Genuinely
2nd Hate What is Evil
3rd Cling to What is Good
4th Devoted to One Another
5th Humility
6th Excitement
7th Stability
8th Service
9th Hope
10th Patience
11th Prayer

The 12th characteristic of a growing Church is Sharing.
"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Romans 12:13 NIV

What do you think about when you read, "share with the Lord's people who are in need?" Let me tell you that the first idea that pops into my mind is financial aid given to struggling families. I have worked in churches for thirteen plus years now. I have seen the different people who come into the church office on almost a daily basis asking the church for money. Some of them are legitimately in need and others are trying to abuse the system. It's no wonder that churches are skeptical about helping people.

We had an experience like this in our church a few years ago. One of the youth families was "struggling" and they didn't have the money to pay the registration fee for the youth mission trip. They did the right thing. They came to the church staff seeking help. We willingly gave their child a scholarship for the full amount of the trip. Directly after leaving the church the family went out to eat at Red Lobster. There's something wrong with that picture. Does that mean that we should stop sharing with them if we are able to help them? No.

What?! They obviously abused the system! If they didn't have the $100 for mission trip then how did they have the money for Red Lobster! Yeah, it's wrong. They shouldn't have done it. Still, God doesn't tell us that we are to be the judge and jury on every single person coming to us for help. He simply tells us to share with those in need and as far as we knew (at the time) the family was genuinely in need. God is the judge. He will deal with our dishonesty. It's our job to share. So let's get to it!

Ok, so you are like us and you don't have money. Does that mean you get off the hook and you don't have to share? Absolutely not! Acutally it will be hard for you because your sharing will be more personal. Instead of cutting a check, God is calling you to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.

Your sharing might be taking someone to the airport if they need a ride. Or maybe a family in your church needs help moving and you are able and available. Or you might share your time by volunteering at a local food pantry. Who knows?! That's between you and God to figure out! Just get to sharing!

Share your time, your money, and yourself with those in your church and your community who are in need. Stop being selfish and skeptical. Just SHARE like God has called you to and you will be truly blessed and our churches will begin to grow again.

13 Characteristics of a Growing Church: Prayer

Busy busy busy. It's amazing how quickly an hour, a day, a week, a month, and even a year can go by. Sometimes it seems that you blink and you miss it all.

When my life gets busy and hectic like that I have to make sacrifices. I have to give up things that I would normally do to accomodate things that I now feel that I have to do. The real temptation there is to sacrifice the "God Things" in my life for the "Jimmy Things." It is so easy to sit down and play two hours of Xbox 360 than to spend 10 minutes reading my Bible and 10 minutes in prayer. I find that I have to make a concious decision to keep God and the "God Things" a priority in my life. If I don't then I will skip them. I will miss out on a blessing and my spiritual growth will be stunted if I continue skipping my prayer time. That's why what we are talking about today is SO important!

So here's a quick recap of the Characteristics of a Growing Church:
1st Love Genuinely
2nd Hate What is Evil
3rd Cling to What is Good
4th Devoted to One Another
5th Humility
6th Excitement
7th Stability
8th Service
9th Hope
10th Patience

The 11th characteristic of a growing Church is Faithful in Prayer.
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12 NIV

There it is in black and white...prayer is important. As Christians and as a church we are called to be faithful in prayer. So what does it mean to be faithful?

Faithful (def):

1. strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker.
2. true to one's word, promises, vows, etc.
3. steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant: faithful friends.
4. reliable, trusted, or believed.

I believe that all of these different aspects and definitions of faithfulness are important. However, I want to focus on #2 & #3 because this is the type of faithfulness being addressed in Romans 12:12.

When you are faithful in prayer you consistently spend time in prayer on a daily basis. You are praying everyday--even multiple times a day--missing your prayer time isnt' an option. You make prayer a priority and you stick to that standard in your life. Prayer becomes as much a part of you as your name or your eye color. It is important to you and it is a part of you.

When you are faithful in prayer others can be sure that you will pray for them. When I think about someone in my church and my life that is faithful in prayer I think about Ms. Edna. Edna is a senior adult in our church who I call on a regular basis with prayer requests. Why do I call Edna? I know that if I call Edna she will actually pray for Christiana and me. Her prayer habits are consistent and reliable. I know that if she tells me, "I will pray for you" she isn't going to get busy and forget and she isn't goign to push it off on the back burner. She will actually pray. Edna is faithful in prayer.

So I asked myself, what can I do to be more like Edna? How can I become more faithful in prayer? Here's what I came up with:

1. Set a specific time
2. Keep a list of specific things that I need to pray about
3. Pray first. Make the decision that I am not going to do any of the "Jimmy Things" on my list until after I spend time in prayer.

Being faithful in prayer is hard and it's a choice. Choose to pray today!

More Resources:

• "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess 5:16-18
• "Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found;
  surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them." Psalm 32:6
• “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

13 Characteristics of a Growing Church: Patience

Bad days happen. It's the truth, and it's a fact of life. We all have bad days. We all go through our own unique set of trials in life. We each suffer in our own way. Something that might be particularly trying for me--like going without air conditioning--might be no big deal for you. However, we all go through stuff in our lives.

We all have days like today where we just want to rip our hair out or throw ourselves down on the bed and cry until we can't possibly cry anymore. I know that in the week or so that we have been home from mission trip things have been trying for me and I have felt my own personal brand of suffering. People in the church just don't understand why the youth minister can't force the teenagers to come to church. I can encourage them and plan events that are exciting and hope to draw them in but I can't physically force them to come to church and sit through a worship service that may or may not appeal to them. I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say, "Where are the youth?" since we have been home. I don't know why but the first couple of weeks after mission trip are always the worst as far as youth attendance at church. I try my best to be patient but it isn't easy. I know this attendance slump will end and I won't have to hear the grumblings again until after mission trip next year but that doesn't make it much easier. So what should I do? That's what we are going to talk about today.

So here's a quick recap of the Characteristics of a Growing Church:
1st Love Genuinely
2nd Hate What is Evil
3rd Cling to What is Good
4th Devoted to One Another
5th Humility
6th Excitement
7th Stability
8th Service
9th Hope

The 10th characteristic of a growing Church is Patience in Affliction.
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12 NIV

Ok, so I realize that listening to people complain because our youth group church attendance isn't as high as they like it isn't the most "afflicted" thing that people are dealing with out in the world, but it is an example that I can relate to right now. So like I said before, what should I do?

I think that Romans 12:12 makes it pretty clear that we are to be patient. Patience isn't really one of my strongest virtues. How about you? Things can get pretty rough. Life can be overwhelmingly hard. The last thing we want to do is be patient and the first thing that we want to do is panic, but we can't do that. To make a snap decision or change or to simply pack it up and move because things got hard is not necessarily God's will for you or me or our churches. God wants us to be patient as we go through these hard times and to trust Him to see us through. It's a tough thing to do. Fortunately, God never promised us that life as a Christian or as a church was going to be easy so we can't feel like He's been deceiving us on that one.

There's a reason that God tells us to trust in Him and not in OUR understandings (Proverbs 3:5-6). Basically the reason is because we CAN'T understand it. Our nature is not to be patient when we are going through something that is hard. We want a quick and easy fix that is going to make life easier! That's the whole reason that the "Easy Button" campaign for Staples works so well. We want things to go our way and we want it to go our way fast.

However, there are times in our lives that we need to go through affliction and suffering. In Romans 5:3-5 it says, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." God uses the struggles and hard things in our lives and our churches to develop important characteristics in us. Without those times as reference points in our lives, how can we really enjoy and appreciate the great and amazing things that He does for us? I know it's hard, but this week I encourage you to try and be patient with whatever struggles you are going through. Look for God and for His bigger picture, and I will try to do the same.

More Resources: