THE FOUNDATION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH

Just reflecting about what had happened over this weekend. Can't help but think, somewhere in the midst of running the church, we forgot about our purpose and reason for being in Yishun. Yup, I nearly lost it, even felt like leaving and putting everything behind. I am not bothered by what happened to a fellow brother but was upset with the condition of our church after much reflection. I took up the book "Purpose-driven Church" and read the chapter on building a healthy church. So these are my thoughts on the subject above:

If we want to build a healthy, strong, and growing church, we must spend time laying a solid foundation. This is done by clarifying in the minds of everyone involved exactly and what it is supposed to do. Our church's foundation will determine it's size and strength. we can never build larger than our foundation can handle. - Let's take a look at our mission statement and vision for the year:

Mission Statement
"To be a people full of Christ, building a strong cell group, making disciples in Yishun, and helping evangelise Singapore and Asia".
(must keep reminding myself of this mission statement so that I don't lose focus!)

Our Vision
Two-fold Vision for 2005/2006
1. Turning unchurched Yishunites into faithful believers of Jesus Christ. ( I think there are some!)
2. Intentional expansion and development of our leadership base as God extends our tent. (Well, 2006 is coming to an end so hopefully this will come to pass!)

I felt that we did not state our visions clearly to the congregation and in between, we actually begin to look at other issues especially when our Senior Pastor left. We need to go back to our visions for the year. I know there are important issues to solve but I hope we willl not get distracted halfway.

A clear purpose builds morale
Morale and mission always go together. 1 cor 1:10 says ," Let there be real harmony so that there won't be spilts in the church... Be of one mind, united in thought and purpose." People working together for a great purpose don't have time to argue over trival issues. When you're helping to row a boat, you don't have time to rock it!.The key to harmony is the church be united in purpose. If our mission is unclear, our morale will be low.

A clear purpose reduces frustration
A clear purpose statement reduces frustration because it allows us to forget about things that don't really matter. It not only defines what we do, it defines what we don't do.

A clear purpose allows concentration
Let's be an effective church. Review our purpose continually so that we can keep our priorities straight and our church focused.

A clear purpose attracts cooperation
People want to join a church that knows where it's going. when a church clearly communicates its destination, people are eager to get on board. This is because everyone is looking for something that gives meaning, purpose and direction to life.

A clear purpose assists evaluation
We should evaluate our church by asking, " What is our business?" and then, "How's business?" Our church's purpose statement must become the standard by which we measure our congregation's health and growth.

I am now looking hard at our mission statement and visions again. I pray that I will not allow anything else to come in my thoughts but to focus on what God has placed in our hearts right at the beginning. We need to go back to our foundation, our roots.

Alright "yawn"... time to express milk and sleep....