Where did God put it?

There are so many things that people are looking for when they come to church but are not finding. Hope, freedom, peace, friends, encourage and the list goes on. Does God hide these things from people, are do we, as leaders, never really show people where they can find the promises of God? This blog entry will look at a few of these missing incredients.

Looking for the Church…where did it go?

There are millions of Christians that are staying home these days. The reasons are many.  There is, however, a greater number that is present but not fulfilled. They are the faithful to attend every week, tithe or at least give some, sing the songs, pray and hope for better things. Their hopes are to find the things that brought them to church to begin with. The things you should expect from church the sermons and fellowship. But are they finding them? Here is a list of things that came up in interviews with some Christians that are faithful attendees.

This is what people are looking for in the local church but are not finding:

1.    Spirituality – relationship with God-”God just doesn’t seem to attend.”

2.    Connection with people. “No one greeted or welcomed us…we are new to town.”

3.    Recreational involvement – “We wanted to get involved in things outside of church with other Christians but it just didn’t happen.”

4.    Children’s development. “The kids learned a few songs but were mostly unchanged by their attendance.”

5.    Special interest like choir, youth, to serve. “No one seemed to be interested in what we had to offer.”

6.    For the teaching – in life issues. “I don’t know anymore now, after being in church for years, on how to do life than I did before I started attending.”

7.    For leadership. “We wanted someone to guide us in biblical principles for life…we were looking for strong leadership…we found that the leaders only served the corporation and not the people.”

8.    Counseling – life and marriage and teens. “We needed help with our marriage and teenagers. They had no answers….much less compassion.”

9.    Worship and music. “I heard this music 15 years ago. No one seemed to worship the Lord…just sing familiar, worn out choruses.”

10.  Business and political connections. “I wanted to connect with the business community in the church….it was difficult to find business people that were willing to connect with us.”

11. Significance. “I wanted more than just a building and a sermon, I was looking for a place to do something significant for God and for others.”

12.  Alleviate guilt – obligation and duty. “I feel more guilt…more hopeless than before I stated going to church…I thought God wanted to forgive me…not just give me more rules to live by.”

13.  Perpetuate tradition – My family used to go to this church. But it is so outdated that my children, as well as my husband and I have lost interest.”

14.  Goes for the sake of spouse. “I brought my husband, hoping he would get engaged…he didn’t. He says he doesn’t need that and will not be back.”

15.  Status and reputation. “Being part of a church helped my parents have a strong reputation in our town. Now it means little or nothing.”

16. Looking for people who actually live out their faith as examples to follow. “I work with some of the people in the church I visited. I would not want to live like them. There seems to be no one who lives  a godly life away from church that I would want to follow.”

People come to church for different reasons and really want to connect. But they are not finding what they need. Make a checklist of the items above and every week ask yourself if these items can be found in your local church. If not, then week by week work on one of them until you have rediscovered every one and have implemented a plan to make them more visible to people who attend. It will amaze you how quickly things will turn around and how your church will begin to grow.

Next time:7 Reasons why We are yet Unfulfilled.