It is easy to give up on the church right now. Whether you are a pastor, church leader, or member, you can easily be discouraged. It is disheartening to see the lack of church attendance or the division that is in the church. Many people have left the church or abandoned their faith altogether. It can feel like the Church in America is taking steps backward. I have felt those moments, especially in the first half of 2021.
But despite all the discouragements and challenges, I have been encouraged to see that God is still alive and He is still working. The church is going through its most significant challenge in my lifetime, but God shines brightest when it is the most darkest. Here are four ways that God is working in our church. I hope it encourages you that God has not given up and we should either.
God is bringing people to Him.
It is easy to get distracted by those who are not showing up to the church. There are some excellent reasons and some very questionable ones. But I’ve been encouraged to see that there are still people coming to church. And these are unchurched people. They did not have a faith background, and they aren’t coming from other churches. They are hungry for God. I’ve had several conversations with people that met Jesus during the pandemic. We’ve baptized over 55 people this year alone. Each of those baptisms is a powerful story of life change.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Matthew 9:38
Be encouraged to know that the harvest is plentiful. God is still calling people to him, and many are responding. They are coming to know God during this season, and God is not done bringing more to Him even during a pandemic.
Next Generation is helping the current Generation meet God today.
I asked some parents how they found our church. They shared how their four-year daughter discovered our church from our kid’s youtube channel. She wanted her parents to take her to church. The parents have not been going to church in years, and they decided to because of their daughter’s request and hunger to draw closer with God. They said that they found their new home church and will be coming back every week.
I heard another story of a family coming to faith because their eight-year-old son asked them to attend church. They decided to give it a try, and the parents received Christ and got baptized just recently. Their whole family has changed.
God is using the young Generation to lead the parents to faith and God. It is encouraging to see God move in the Next Generation now. God has been moving in our student ministry where the youth are stepping up to serve and lead. They are the only ministry in our church that has grown during the pandemic. Students are coming to God, and they are responding and leading.
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12
Be encouraged that the future is still bright. God is raising up leaders in our kids and students right now. Let us encourage them to continue to serve and love God. They are our future leaders, teachers, presidents, and officials.
Committed to being in the community
The pandemic has been brought so much isolation and division in the church, and it has been easy for many to continue that. However, I’ve been encouraged to see families and people lean into the church through small groups. There is this hunger for community and to be surrounded by a new group of people. We have seen ten new groups formed over the past month, and fifty people have joined or started groups. There is this hunger to do life together with other like-minded people in the church community.
not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25
People are not giving up on meeting together, even if some have been out of the habit. Be encouraged to know that community and life change are still happening in small groups.
People are stepping up to serve and helping.
We have lost many volunteers and people serving in the church. Many have moved out of California or changed churches. It’s been a struggle and challenge to do church at times. However, it’s been encouraging to see new faces and people step up to serve. We had close to 500 people serving before the pandemic. We lost many of them, but many new volunteers stepped in. While we are not where we were before the pandemic with 500 volunteers, we are still close. We have new faces and people willing to help the community and church. People are serving in different capacities and ways. One of those ways is our food distribution. We have a list of over 140 people that have served or are serving to feed those in need. It’s encouraging to see people care more for others than themselves.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
1 Peter 4:10
We are still in a pandemic, and we don’t know what the future holds. But I know that God is still working and moving through his church. I’m encouraged to know that there is still hope and lives are being transformed. What we do matters. What you do matters! Don’t give up.
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