I Need Your Help

Sitting in my office this Monday morning listening to the sounds of the God@Work Expansion going on right outside my office fills me with a great sense of gratitude and satisfaction for the many good things that are happening in the ministry of Mount Pleasant Christian Church.  As I write this “blog” we have just received a special offering that is nearing the one million dollar mark, our weekend attendance is higher than it’s ever been before and many of our ministries are experiencing new levels of impact and influence.  At the same time we have some very definite areas of need.  One of those is our Senior High Student Ministry.  For many years Mount Pleasant had a strong and vibrant Senior High Student Ministry.  It was nothing for us to have well over one hundred kids gather on Sunday nights for a time of fun, fellowship and spiritual growth.  Over the past few years, though, that number has been on the decline.  I’m not going to try and explain why that has happened because, the truth is, it’s the result of a number of different things and I’m more interested in focusing on where we need to go rather than where we've been. This is where you come in.  

At the current time I am working hard to find a new Senior High Youth Pastor.  I want to fill this position as quickly as possible but I am committed to taking as much time as necessary to find the right guy.  In the mean time I need you to do two things.  First, will you commit to praying earnestly, each and every day, that God would provide the right man for this need.  We need someone who has the passion, the energy, the personality and the commitment to rebuild this ministry.  I’m prayerfully seeking that person but I could use your prayers as well.  Second, if you've got high school students or you know high school students would you encourage them to support this ministry?  The simple truth is I need the parents and adults at Mount Pleasant to “leverage” their influence to help rebuild this ministry.  I need your help.  I need you to view this as an opportunity to help your kids or the kids you know learn that church is a place that’s supposed to be different from the rest of the world because church is a place where our primary focus is not what we get but what we give.  I've written about this before.  In fact, here’s a link to a blog entry simply called “Youth Group.” http://mpcc-front-porch.blogspot.com/2011/08/youth-group.html 

So this is my personal request because I need your help.  I am committed to a strong Student Ministry here at Mount Pleasant.  We have a state-of-the-art Student Ministry Center and we are committed to providing funding through our annual budget.  But I need your help.  I need your prayers, I need your influence and I need your support.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

God@Work: It's Here!





Hey MPCC family, this weekend we’ll be receiving our special God@Work offering to help underwrite the cost of our current God@Work expansion plan.  I’m excited to see the results of what happens when God’s people have the opportunity to pray and plan for generosity.  I say pray and plan because I asked you to do those two very things all the way back in September 2012 as we wrapped up a sermon series called “30 Days to a More Generous Life.”  In the last message from that series I shared the biblical truth that when God creates a need He always provides for the need and He does that, most often, through His people.  I genuinely believe that God has created the need for ministry expansion here at Mount Pleasant.  We needed the additional 185 parking spaces, the new maintenance building, the additional adult classroom space and the new Community Ministry Center to house and expand our food and clothing ministries.  The overall cost of this expansion plan will be in the neighborhood of 4.3 million dollars.  As I told you in an earlier letter, we will be able to pay for this through monies on hand, additional monies borrowed from The National Bank of Indianapolis and through this offering. 

 How cool will it be to knock out a huge part of this expense through this special offering?  I’m praying that this weekend you will be prayed up and prepared to give.  We’ll have special offering envelopes available for the God@Work gifts you’ll give over and above your regular offering.  If you’re not going to be present then you can log onto our website and give your gift online.  Also, even though we’ve been promoting this as a “one time” offering, if you’re not able to give this weekend or you’d like to give more than you’ve got available at this time then please know that the God@Work offering account will continue to be available to you as long as it’s needed.  As we approach this offering I’m especially mindful of two verses.  The first one is Proverbs 19:17 and it has a special application for our new Community Ministry Center that will be used to help people in need.  He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.  (NIV)  The second one is 2 Corinthians 9:7 which has a general application for what we do each and every week but even more this weekend.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  (NIV)  I’m looking forward to a great celebration this week!  See you in church. 

Jesus Cares,

Pastor Chris

Strengthen Your Strength

Strengthen Your Strength

 

In I Thessalonians 4, Paul urges the church to live holy lives.  In fact, verses 3-8 contains at least in my opinion, the best teaching in the New Testament about sexual purity.  Then I Thessalonians 4:9-10 say, Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia.  Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.  (NIV)  What’s interesting about this is that after Paul commends these believers for their love for others he goes on to say, “Do so more and more.”  In other words, he’s telling them to strengthen their strength…to take something they’re already good at and become even better.  What a great concept. 

 

As we approach our special one-time God @ Work offering on the weekend of April 20/21, I am mindful of the fact that Mount Pleasant is a generous church.  Now I’m sure there are plenty of folks who need to grow in the area of stewardship and generosity and that our week-to-week giving could be stronger, but the bottom line is, our church is a generous church.  So, following the example of the apostle Paul, I want to encourage you to strengthen this strength by being willing to generously support this special offering. 

 

God is at work at Mount Pleasant Christian Church all you have to do is look and listen to know that’s true.  The additional parking spaces have been needed for a long time and have been a huge blessing as our attendance is currently up 12% over this same time last year.  We’ve also needed a maintenance building for some time as our campus now includes over 70 acres of property and nearly 200,000 sq. ft. of building space.  Our commitment to develop what we are calling a plan for “focused discipleship” has created the need for additional education space.  And the sheer numbers of people who are coming to us for basic necessities like food and clothing have created the need for our new Community Ministry Center.  And speaking of the Community Ministry Center, how exciting will it be to open this facility and expand our partnership with Midwest Food Bank by becoming a Super-Pantry for the south side of Indianapolis.  Because of this building even more people will come to us for food and clothes.  And in addition to that, we will be able to resource smaller food pantries in the surrounding area.  All of this will give us many more opportunities to share the good news of Jesus with people in need.

 

So let me encourage you, once again, to strengthen the strength of giving by being generous in this special one-time God @ Work offering.  Be willing to trust God and give over and above your regular giving on this one weekend to contribute to meeting the needs that God has created at MPCC.  Give generously, give sacrificially and give joyfully.  If you have a non-cash gift we can put you in touch with someone who will help you convert that to cash.  Pray for God’s leading and God’s provision in this offering.  Every dollar we receive is a dollar that we don’t have to borrow and that means more money for ministry.  So strengthen the strength of generosity!   

 

Jesus cares,

 

Pastor Chris

The Story Begins

This past weekend at MPCC we began our much anticipated new series, “The Story” which will take us from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 over the course of 31 weeks (the actual series is 32 weeks counting this past weeks introduction).  To say that I was pleased with the way we began would be a huge understatement.  This past weekend we introduced “The Story” to 3,412 people…that’s infants all the way up to adults.  And it’s important to characterize what happened this way because our entire church is involved in this study.  That means our children and our students are involved along with all of our adults.  What an exciting adventure.

One thing that I was particularly pleased with this past weekend was there were no parking issues (at least that I’m aware of).  The addition of 185 new parking spaces (the first benefit of our God at Work expansion plan) makes a huge difference to the weekend experience.  We did, however, have an extra large crowd at our 10:45 service, which is usually our largest service (1,028 in Worship Center and Chapel Overflow and 166 in the Video Venue).  For those of you who may have felt a bit crowded at 10:45 let me just remind you that we’ve got plenty of room on Saturday nights at 6:00 and there’s still room on Sunday morning at 9:00.  Also, while I know it’s a different kind of experience, we have upgraded the Chapel for overflow.  We have a new projector and a new, much larger, screen that enables you to feel like you’re a part of what’s happening in the Worship Center.  I’ll be honest and say that in the past if you had to use the overflow space it felt like a punishment, but not anymore.  Our new Chapel is a very comfortable place to worship.

So, we’re off to a great start in 2013 and I’m looking forward to see how God uses The Story to challenge all of us to a deeper faith a deeper understanding of His story and a deeper desire to study and know His Word.  And if you missed the introduction it’s not too late for you to be a part or bring a friend.  The introductory message is already available on our Facebook page.  Watch it online and come ready to worship.  I’ve been in ministry for over 32 years and I can honestly say that I’m as excited about what God is doing at MPCC in 2013 as I have ever been.  I look forward to seeing you this weekend.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

“One of us”

Most of you have probably heard me tell the story of how my brother Kenneth was preaching about the incarnation (God becoming a man) one Sunday and began to tell the story of a man who went to live in a leper colony.  The only problem was he said he went to live in a leprechaun colony.  I believe it was nothing less than the favor of God that allowed me to be present, that morning so I could hear it with my own ears.  That misspeak on his part has given me lots of opportunities to tease him as well as provide me with a funny story to tell in all kinds of settings.  All that aside, the story he was trying to tell is a powerful one.  The man’s name was Father Damien.  He moved to Kalawao, a village on the island of Molokai, in Hawaii, that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony.  For 16 years, he lived in their midst.  He learned to speak their language.  He bandaged their wounds, embraced the bodies no one else would touch and preached to the hearts that would have otherwise have been left alone.  He organized schools, bands and choirs.  He built homes so that the lepers could have shelter.  He built 2,000 coffins by hand so that, when they died, they could be buried with dignity.  Slowly, it was said, Kalawao became a place to live rather than a place to die, for Father Damien offered hope. 

Father Damien was not careful about keeping his distance.  He did nothing to separate himself from his people.  He dipped his fingers in the “poi” bowl along with the patients.  He shared his pipe.  He did not always wash his hands after bandaging open sores.  He got close.  For this the people loved him.

Then one day he stood up and began his sermon with two words: “We lepers…”

Now he wasn’t just helping them.  Now he was one of them.  From this day forward, he wasn’t just on the island; he was in their skin.  First he had chosen to live as they lived; now he would die as they died.  Now they were in it together.

There’s a sense in which the Christmas story could be told like this: One day God came to earth and began his message: “We lepers…”  God didn’t come to into the world in the person of Jesus just to help us…he came into the world to become one of us.  When Jesus was born God was in our skin.  That’s the miracle of Christmas.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Story taken from John Ortberg’s book, God Is Closer Than You Think

The Story

I want to take a minute to write about a new sermon series called “The Story” that begins here at MPCC in January 2013.  The intent of The Story is to help you see the connectedness of the Bible as it unfolds from two perspectives: the lower story and the upper story.  The lower story is God’s work in and through the lives of people, places and events while the upper story is about how God uses those people, places and events to accomplish His ultimate plan of redemption. 

I want you to know that it took me a long time to choose this new series because it’s not something that I normally do.  I say that because The Story is a sermon series resource that comes from Zondervan Publishers and I almost never use these kinds of resources.  But I’m making an exception for some very specific reasons.  First, I believe there’s great value in helping people understand the connectedness of the Bible.  I think this will be beneficial for anyone regardless of where they are in their personal spiritual development.  Second, I believe that we can use The Story as a tremendous evangelism tool.  All of us know someone who not only doesn’t know or understand the Bible but believes it’s a book that is too difficult to know or understand.  I’m praying that we will invite these folks to come and be a part of this series so they can begin to see the Bible in a whole new light.  Third, regardless of how familiar you may be with the Bible, there will be great encouragement that comes from being reminded of how God has revealed Himself and His plan through the pages of His Word. 

Now, I feel like I need to share a couple of disclaimers with you before we begin.  First, while this will be the longest series that I have ever done at MPCC (32 weeks) there’s no way that we can go verse-by-verse through the entire Bible in 32 weeks.  There will be times when we cover significant portions of the Bible in a single weekend.  And there will be times when all I’ll be able to do is give a summary or overview of significant portions of the Bible.  The emphasis will be connecting God’s overall story from beginning to end.  Having said that, though, you need to know that Andrew and I will be writing our own original messages and our goal will be to bring as much depth as possible to each sermon (Andrew has actually already started working on the first sermons as I continue to focus on the remaining weekends in 2012).  We will not be preaching sermons that we purchased with The Story resource kit.  Second, Zondervan has published some resources to go along with The Story.  Two of them are The Story Bible and a companion Study Guide.  We won’t be using either one of these resources.  We will, however, be selling in The Resource Center, a book called “The Heart of the Story” which is like a devotional guide that follows along with the sermons.  Our goal in this series is to help people understand the connectedness of the Bible in a way that leads to a deeper faith in God and a deeper desire to dig into the truth of His Word. 

I hope that you are praying about someone you can invite to discover God’s love and His ultimate plan of redemption through a better understanding of the Bible.  I’m praying that God will use this new series to capture, to teach and to inspire all of us to a greater desire to study and know His Word…His story. 

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Closing the Door

There’s lot’s of ways to describe it.  Some say “It’s the ugly secret that no one wants to talk about.”  Others say, “It’s the 800 pound gorilla in the room.”  The bottom line is it’s a problem, a big problem, especially for the megachurch.  What am I talking about?  I’m talking about the back door.  The truth is in most churches the back door is open and while new people are coming in the front door, others are walking out the back door never to return.  Now, to be fair, some of those who leave were never really committed to Christ and his church.  They are like the seed that falls on the “rocky” soil or among the “thorns” that Jesus talks about in The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23).  They gave an initial appearance of commitment but it wasn’t real.  At the same time there’s always a natural attrition that takes place in every church.  People die, people move, people divorce, people get mad, etc.  But the bottom line is the back door of the church is always open.  That’s certainly been the case at Mount Pleasant Christian Church over the years.  At the risk of being too honest I’ll tell you that when I arrived at MPCC in November 2001, the average weekly attendance was 2,107.  Today, in 2012, our average attendance has fluctuated throughout the year between 2,900 and 3,100.  But here’s the deal, from 2002 – 2012 (ytd) we have added 2,847.  You do the math.  While our growth has been solid, it’s fallen well short of what it could/should be.  So what’s the answer?  Let me give you four things.  First, establish high expectations for membership.  Research shows that as churches lower their expectations of members and attendees, the result is an exodus of people from the church.  Why would anyone want to be a part of something that expects nothing?  Second, get people connected to a small group (Journey Home Groups).  This helps create the kind of community that leads to long-term commitment.  Third, get people involved in serving.  The earlier a new member or attendee can get involved in a church’s ministries, the higher the likelihood of effective assimilation.  Fourth, help people develop relationships within the church.  This is why we have developed a new focused discipleship ministry called The Journey.  We have incorporated all four of these elements in The Journey to do two things.  First, and most important, is to help people become fully-developing followers of Christ.  Second, to do all we can to shut the back door.  Through The Journey you have an opportunity to make a commitment to Christ and his church.  We make sure you understand that this isn’t a casual commitment it’s the most important commitment of your life.  The Journey also gives you an opportunity to begin to travel down a specific pathway designed to help you grow.  That pathway will involve opportunities to be connected to a small group (Journey Home Group or Journey Care Group), opportunities to grow through a connection with caring and gifted people who have been trained to minister to you on a personal level (Stephen Ministry), opportunities to grow deeper in your understanding and application of God’s Word (Journey Bible Classes or Journey University) and opportunities to discover and use your gifts and talents to serve people (Journey Ministry).  I genuinely believe that The Journey is something that can have a dramatic impact on your life and our church.  I hope you agree.  Log onto www.mpcc.info and click on the link “Join The Journey” or contact Ken Jones at kjones@mpccministry.com. 

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris