In our culture, a new year still means a new opportunity for change, a new opportunity for new beginnings, new relationships, and a new search for a faith community. Unfortunately, most churches miss out on the first-of-the-year window because they are not prepared for the new people who will show up in the first few weeks of the year. Typically, churches put on their big Christmas musical by the second week in December and they shut down all but life support systems until after the holidays. So as new guests begin to arrive, they are met with less-than-well-put-together services, often scaled-down music programs and, most unfortunately, a three-week stewardship series. Every church needs to teach stewardship, but we must be sensitive to the growth patterns in our culture. The first of the year is one of the top windows to reach to those outside the faith. Think Ahead Let me…

I spent Sunday morning with my friends at the Church on The Eastern Shore in Fairhope, Alabama, a very eclectic artist community near Mobile. I rejoiced with them as hundreds of new faces visited the church on the opening Sunday of their new teaching series. That’s a part of my job that gives me  great satisfaction: watching God bless an entire team’s effort. COTE’s story is one that I have seen happen time and time again, but it never grows old. Here’s what I have seen in churches like COTES that succeed in reaching their community for the gospel. They learn. Growing churches are learning organizations. They are always asking “how can we be better?” They invest resources and in training and helping their staff and volunteers grow. I’m always humbled when I’m asked to consult with a church and help them to stretch beyond where they’ve been. They have…

Most people start well. Most people don’t finish so well. Resolutions fail more than they succeed.  So as we look forward to all the promises and opportunities a new year brings us, we find ourselves out of the gate filled with hope that perhaps this is the year that changes everything. We hope for the break that will come our way, the call back from the right someone, the miraculous intervention from God. These are, after all, the key events in our future that could literally make our year. In my experience, however, it’s not the big break that will make the most difference at the end of the year, but the cumulative effect of everyday choices. As we start this race toward the end of 2011 our decisions more than our resolutions will carry the day and eventually the year. So choose wisely. Choose God. Choose your family. Choose…