Why Two Services

When I stepped into a life of faith, I found myself enveloped in a church with a clear mission. Their mission was the same as Jesus’ mission. Jesus said that he “came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

These were not words that the Lord spoke lightly. He taught this message only days before he would die on the cross precisely because the overriding mission of his time on earth was to seek and to save the lost.

Since I began serving in vocational ministry in 1978, I have had this same mission clarity. Apart from faith in Christ, people are lost. Those of us who have experienced his love and forgiveness have an urgent responsibility to reach out to those around us. Why? Because apart from faith in Christ, they are lost. Those are Jesus’ words, not mine.

People who die without Christ do not “go to a better place.” If you have any question about this, I encourage you to study what Jesus teaches about hell. He does not mince words.

In this day and age, many people pick and choose from Jesus’ teachings. I suppose they think Jesus offers a buffet of options. It’s ok to like some of his teachings, but disregard others we don’t fancy as much.

Unfortunately, Jesus never gives us that option. We must take all of him or we reject all of him. Jesus gives no middle ground. With him, it’s all or nothing. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) If we claim to follow Jesus then we must follow him. Not just the parts we like…but all of him.

This includes making his primary mission our primary mission.

This is why church growth is so vital. It’s often been said that the church is the only organization that exists for those who are not yet part of it.

·       The church does not primarily exist to worship as a community, although that is important.

·       The church does not primarily exist to serve the poor, although that also is important.

·       And the church does not primarily exist to teach the saints, although that is also very important.

Jesus was crystal clear when he said, “Go and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19) To make disciples is to reach lost people and lead them to saving faith. Christians are to multiply. Why? Because Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. And to authentically follow Jesus, we must make his primary mission our primary mission.

Haddon Robinson was one of the greatest teachers of preachers in the past century. Decades ago, I heard him say, “We must do anything short of sinning to reach the lost.” (I realize others have adopted this language. But I believe it came originally from Dr. Robinson.)

This is long-winded explanation why ECF recently went to two Sunday services. Simply put, we want to reach more people. Two services gives us twice the opportunity every Sunday to reach more people.

Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that two services are TONS of work. The first Sunday we offered two services I came home and took a three-hour nap. It is a WHOLE lot more work. It requires more volunteers. It takes more time. It uses much more energy and effort.

So, why would we do this to ourselves? Because we want Jesus’ primary mission to be our primary mission. We want to seek and to save the lost. ECF is not about “us four and no more.” We want to reach more people.

For decades, I’ve told the teams I’ve led that most churches around the globe do not grow for one simple reason: church growth is hard work. Change in hard. We no longer know everyone in the room. It feels different. Church growth requires more of our time and, usually, more of our money, too.

However, I’ve been proud of our team at ECF. They have put their hand to the plow and stepped up to the plate to make two services happen. Attendance is up about 10%. New people are arriving every Sunday.

I think this is the kind of church Jesus had in mind when he said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18)