A Call to Focused Prayer, Soul Searching, and a Church-Wide
Dream

I believe this is the year for Bethlehem to translate
"Spreading a Passion for God" into Planting a Passion
for God.

What an extraordinary grace it has been to this church to have a
clear reason for our existence. We exist to spread a passion
for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all
peoples. That is our mission statement.

For years now the staff and elders have dreamed about starting
other churches. This was part of Growing without Growing,
which was part of Education for Exultation. What's new is the shift
in our thinking from negatively reducing our crowding to positively
spreading a passion for God. In other words, the primary impulse
now is not "manage crowding here," but "plant an outpost of passion
for God elsewhere." And do it whether it helps us manage crowding
here or not.

We believe it is time to expand our strategies for spreading a
passion for the supremacy of God. Presently there are dozens of
ways that we pursue this spreading from Bethlehem's home base. But
now we are more persuaded than ever that if it is good to have a
strong home base for such God-centered gospel spreading, it would
be good to have lots of home bases for such spreading. This means
Planting a Passion for God should become part of spreading
a passion for God. Our new aim: not just spreading from a strong
base, but creating strong spreading bases.

If the question is raised: Are there enough churches in America,
the answer is no. Not only because radically God-centered,
Bible-saturated, passionate churches are not the norm, but also
because "there has been a dramatic decline in the
church-to-population ratio in the past century. According
to the '1993-1994 Almanac of the Christian World' there
were 27 churches per 10,000 people in 1900 compared to just 12
churches per 10,000 people in 1990. However, churches are
getting larger. . . . The average church size has tripled in the
past century. So even though there aren't as many churches per
capita, many people are attending larger, mega-churches" (quoted from an article in Christianity Today).

There are reasons why Planting a Passion would be a
wise addition to our strategies for spreading a passion for the
supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. Consider
a few of them:

1. A new, strong, God-centered church would capture much of the
under-used leadership potential of the saints at Bethlehem. Our
church is rich with spiritually mature men and women. Many are
under-invested in the ministries of the church. A new church would
cry for their engagement.

2. A new, strong, God-centered church would increase the urgency
of intentional leadership development at every level (children,
youth, adult, worship, music, outreach, care-giving, etc.). The
need for more lay ministers in every sphere would press us all
toward rigorous efforts of nurturing spiritual growth and
leadership gifts.

3. A new, strong, God-centered church would breathe fire onto
the smoldering embers of evangelism because of the fresh feeling of
the new church for outreach to its new community and the aggressive
efforts to let the community know that it is there and new and
welcoming.

4. A new, strong, God-centered church would reduce the tendency
to rely too heavily on one man's preaching ministry. Christ alone
is the head of the church. He ordains the ministry of the Word as a
means of his grace, and he anoints mere men for this work. But
he gives all the growth, and does not make his triumphs
hang on any man. When the apostle Paul was in prison, unable to
preach, he said with joy, "I am suffering, bound with chains as a
criminal. But the word of God is not bound!" (2 Timothy
2:9).

5. Thus a new, strong, God-centered church, planted from
Bethlehem, would mean the existence of an independent, like-minded
body of passionate believers, which would give the mission we love
increased durability and credibility.

6. Finally, a new, strong, God-centered church would call for
hundreds of faith-filled, God-reliant risks from the congregation.
And that is good for us, lest we become soft and comfortable in a
perishing world.

What are you willing to dream in 2002?

Pastor John