20%
I was thinking today of the fact that in 2011, Southside's Sunday morning attendance was 20% higher than in 2010. That's amazing growth for a church our size, and it could elicit many different responses from those who lead this church:
1. Pride.....we did it!
2. Intimidation....wow, how did that happen and how are we going to look after these people?
3. Performance based acceptance....well, I guess we're ok, because the church is "successful".
4. God's plan is confident humility....you've probably heard of this before...when we come to a place where we realize that we are feeble, broken people and in our own strength not really capable of anything good....so we're humble, YET, we're confident of this, that He who began a good work in us, in this church is faithful to carry it out to completion...not because of our performance, but because of His perfection.
Jan 29, 2012 at 8:35 2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
AMEN!! LOVE IT.
I love that, Mike. Sometimes I get thinking "Wow! That went so well, we better top that next time." It's a good reminder about confident humility.
This weekend I was reading my pregnancy book and each week it gives a description of what is happening and developing. All the changes amaze me! I remember one week I must have told Dave a handful of times "the baby is getting tooth buds! Isn't that the best!" One of the weeks says that "the baby's skin is a bit saggy, hanging loosely from his or her little body. That's because skin grows faster than fat develops, and there is not much fat to fill the skin out yet." I find things like this so interesting. The body is such a masterpiece. Everything in God's design is just so perfect. He develops everything just so and has a plan for everything. I hope I am making sense here. I know I sound like a emotional mother-to-be and I am, but it just made me think of how I need to give people more grace. God designed even the smallest things about them, and I need to give them grace and patience because we are made in his image and his love. God sees the best in everyone and on top of that knows every details about them - that's a reminder to me to try to see the best, especially given that I know so little about people's stories and details.