The state of the Church in America

This class is going to deal with a LOT of BASICS. This is out of necessity. This may come as a shock to many people, but America is NO LONGER a Christian nation.

George Barna, a Christian pollster, states, “By the year 2020 – if the present trend continues – 50% of all the churches in America will be closed.”

The United Methodist Church loses 1,000 members per week. The Presbyterian Church loses 5-7% of it membership every year.

In 2002 the average church attendance in America was 78.

In the last 25 years 60% of the churches in America have plateaued or declined.

This is the generation of the MEGA CHURCH!

10 years ago fewer than 300 churches ran over 1,000 in attendance.

Today, there are over 8,000 churches averaging more than 1,000 people.

A MEGA CHURCH cannot be established upon a MICRO COMMITMENT.

If you are going to dream you had might as well dream big.

If you are going to conquer something you had might as well conquer the world. If your vision of ministry and life does not touch the world then it is too small.

HOME PLATE

CONVERSION – Purpose and Power Over Sin

What happens at the point of salvation?

1. You are BORN AGAIN.

John 3:1-3, KJV
1          There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2          The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3          Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

2. You become a NEW CREATURE

2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

New – Strongs # 2537 – Greek – kainos – unprecedented, recently made.

3. You are BAPTISED into the BLOOD OF JESUS

Titus 3:3-7, KJV
3          For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4          But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5          Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing (anakainosis – complete change for the better) of the Holy Ghost;
6          Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7          That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Romans 6:4, NAS
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

4. You become the habitation of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 3:16, NIV
16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

5. You become a PURPOSE-FILLED, LIVING FORCE in the earth.

1 Peter 2:1-5, NAS
1          Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,
2          like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
3          if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
4          And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God,
5          you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6. You become an OVERCOMER by the BLOOD OF JESUS!

Matthew 26:28, KJV
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission (aphesis) of sins.

Aphesis – Strong’s # 859 – release from bondage or imprisonment.

Luke 4:18, KJV
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance (aphesis) to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Revelation 12:7-11, KJV
7          And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8          And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9          And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10        And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11        And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Who needs to be saved?

Rom 3:23, KJV
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

How can a person be saved?

Romans 10:9, KJV
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

A person can be a member of a church and NOT BE SAVED!

Once a person is born again they can truly become aware of their God-given destiny and purpose in the earth.

This becomes the power of God’s fulfilled plan.

Once born again there is nothing impossible to the believer who pursues God’s plan for their life.

A diminutive Albanian woman.

Mother Theresa. Her vision – God has sent me to the poor of the poorest in the world. This woman attributed fame and glorified God as she ministered in her fulfilling her purpose.

A black preacher in the South during the 1960’s.

His dream: some day our children will be judged by the character of their heart and not by the color of their skin. His name: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of my favorite quotes from him was – “Show me a man who hasn’t found anything worth dying for and I’ll show you a man who is not fit to live.”

A broke youth pastor in Chicago

He and three friends started a church called Willow Creek. In three years they had maxed out all their credit cards and sold their houses just to keep the ministry afloat. Today, the church is the largest and fastest growing church in America with a membership of around 20,000. The man’s name: Pastor Bill Hybels.