Here's the latest edition of Ed's Creative Leader Newsletter. Want it to come directly to your inbox next month? Sign up here for free.
On your next commute, take a look at the houses and apartments you pass and consider the situations that could be taking place within their walls:
"I need to stop cursing and hitting my wife when I am angry and stressed! With a new baby on the way, I need to change my actions now."
"I need to stop living in the past, let go and move on. No matter how much it hurts. He's not coming back."
"I need to make wise financial decisions and get my money in order. I want to stop running from creditors. I need to tithe."
"I need to change the fact that I have a secret life outside of my family."
"I need to stop this debilitating anxiety."
These recent submissions from our ineed2change.com website are a powerful reminder of the mission field that surrounds us every day. A morning stop at the coffee shop, chatting with a neighbor at the mailbox, sitting with other parents on the sidelines at soccer practice…these brief encounters bring us face-to-face with people who are lost and hurting; people in need of change in their lives that only God can deliver.
Whether big or small, most of us could stand to make some changes in our lives. When we began to toss around ideas for this series at the beginning of summer, it became clear that change is a universal topic. We decided to launch our ineed2change.com website before the series as a non-threatening place to point people from our marketing (discussed at length here). Since its release, the site has received almost 40,000 hits and more than 5,200 people have submitted changes they want to make in their lives. By seeing honest and raw submissions from others and having the opportunity to contribute anonymously, individuals could participate in this community and take the next step toward change: attend the ineed2change series at Fellowship Church.
But during the first message of the series, I created some major tension with my opening, which everyone repeated with me: “I can’t change.” There were some confused faces in our worship center after that! I quickly followed up to say that the true beginning of change occurs when we admit, “I can’t,” and understand that only our unchanging God can bring about real, lasting change - change from the inside out.
So often, people are grasping at improving their lives by pulling up their own bootstraps and making adjustments to their relationships, finances, career, etc. But in reality, they are just rearranging components of their lives, engaging in a spiritual shell game that doesn’t address the root cause of these symptoms. As a pastor, I’ve seen it too many times to count, and I’m sure you have too – people who come to you with their life in turmoil, looking to God as a last resort after every other attempt at change has failed.
Initially, we had planned on dedicating a week to each of the most popular topics submitted on the website, but what we found was that all of these subjects pointed to a larger theme of deeper changes needed. Instead, we dedicated the next six weeks to a practical theology of change – not a step-by-step formula, but lasting principles based on the true change agent, the Holy Spirit of God.
It’s been incredible to experience the tides of change within our church. More than 750 individuals have seized the momentum of change by responding to opportunities for same-day baptisms during these services. Throughout the series, we have presented the salvation message and on one weekend, during an open invitation in two states on five campuses, 563 people stood, walked forward and crossed the line of faith! And this moving submission from the ineed2change.com website was great confirmation that God is at work through this series:
"I am in love with a married man, and I recently asked God for a sign. I saw your billboard this morning while driving to work."
Thanks for joining with us as we share in the journey of church leadership together. We’d love to hear the changes taking place in your communities as well!
Comments