The Future Is Now!

Last night concluded our weekly mid week strategy after 22 years. I shared on the topic "The Future is Now" and felt at the end of the service that our church is ready for Reach Teams to take on a whole new meaning! Reach Teams have been our small groups strategy to date, but we have renovated it to now include a regional strategy that will begin in homes and eventually expand to multi-site in the cities we are connected in.

We made a decision to change our mid-week strategy to make room for more effective ministry, and in doing so, believe we will experience multiplicative growth. In Acts 6, when the early church made room for others to serve and minister, the apostles gave themselves to prayer and ministry of the word, the church moved from addition to multiplication. Acts 6:7, "Then the word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly..."

When was then? Then was when the early leaders made room for others, appointed leaders and let the gospel spread. TRC is doing the same.

Someone once came to me and said, "Pastor, I want a real ministry." My response was, "Start a Reach Team." They said, "Reach Teams are great and all, but I want to lead something bigger." My heart sunk as I thought, "What is not big about one life changing?" The good news is the culture has changed! In two years since that conversation Reach Teams have been connecting well over 35% of our attendees. In 2006, there were 70 of them connecting over 300 people!

The new mid-week strategy will allow Reach Teams to grow in significance to the level of the Sunday worship experience, volunteering, teens and kids. I am expecting followers to become leaders and carry the baton to our county! The Future is Now.