For the week of February 06, 2006

You Have to Position Yourself for Growth
By: Bill Easum
I talk with a lot of pastors who yearn for their church to grow. But when I ask them, “When was the last time you asked God to double your church” I get a blank stare. If we want our churches to grow, growth should be at the heart of our prayer life. But alas, 99% of the prayers I hear coming from church leaders is for the return to health of one of the members of the church. Is health more important than fulfilling the Kingdom?

But not only should we pray for growth, we also need to position ourselves for growth. Here are a few examples of what I mean.

Example One: Most pastors tell me they need more volunteers. But what if 50 new volunteers showed up Sunday and asked to serve? Would you have places for them to serve or would you have to say to them “Give me a day or two and I’ll figure out where we can use you”? 

Example Two: What if you prayed for growth and it happened. Next Sunday God doubled your church. Would you have enough parking spaces? How about enough room to seat all of the people? Would you have enough room in the nursery or the children’s area?

Do you get my point? You have to position yourself to receive God’s blessing. God isn’t going to double your church if by doing so you have to turn people away.

So if you want to double your church you need to do two things: first, position yourself and your church to receive such growth. That’s right. Make room before you need it. Second, begin to pray that God will double the size of your church as soon as you have the room or the people ready to receive them.