Luke 14:28, Ephesians 1:23, 1 Corinthians 10:31

James Galloway

Last year Becky and I, with our two boys, moved to Stoke on Trent. What an absolute awesome privilege!

This is my home city and I am so pleased to be back. The church that we are leading, Bethel City Church (BCC), in the last 12 months has undergone a major Cultural Revolution and experienced phenomenal growth. Many people ask 'Why?' or 'How?' and I believe that it is because we listened to what Jesus said when He described the building process.

Luke 14:28 says that the building process involves intention. Much of church activity kind of just happens but here are five pointers that we use here at BCC to ensure that we are intentional in all that we do. Whether you are building great youth ministries, churches or conferences, or simply to help you in outworking your faith, these five directives will keep you intentional:

Purpose Driven - I know we have all read the book and know the principles but the reality is that much of what we do in church has no reason. Think about it. Ask the question, 'Why?' Why do we do all the stuff that most of us really find boring?

How about we find the reason and stick to it. If there is no reason to be there, then there is no reason to be there! How about we give our gatherings, church, and youth meetings real purpose? We have found that most stuff can be removed from the schedule because we only do it because previous generations have done it.

It is like the little girl who asked her mum one Christmas why she cut the sides off the turkey before it went in the oven. Her mother simply replied, 'Because my mum did it.' The girl thought about this and then asked her gran the same question, to which gran replied, 'Because my mum did it.' After much more thought, as they were sat around Christmas dinner, the little girl turned to her great gran and politely asked, 'Great Gran, why did you cut the sides of the turkey before placing it in the oven to roast?' Great Gran pondered and answered, 'My dear child, our ovens were small back then so it was the only way the turkey would fit in. Why they do it now I have no idea! Have you seen the size of the ovens nowadays?'

Discover the reason, the purpose, and then stick to it.

People Orientated - Jesus died for people. He gave his life for people. God's will is for people. His passion is for people. If we are to learn from this then we have to make sure, whatever the context or setting that all that we do is for people.

When people come to the House of God, they may have had a tremendously difficult week. Make sure they get a really good welcome and that they know that this is a place where they are loved and appreciated. It would be good if people could understand what is actually happening. Try not to complicate things by wrapping it all in religiosity.

Make it a priority to ensure that all feel as though they are the most important person on the planet; that they are loved and that they are most welcome.

Passion Filled - Passion fills stadiums. Passion fills theatres. Passion even fills shopping malls. Sometimes the question of, 'Why are churches emptying at a phenomenal rate?' can be answered simply by observing the lack of passion.

Without passion marriages are empty. Without passion football matches are boring. Without passion our churches lack.

Jesus was passionate. Church should be passionate, energetic, exuberant and exciting.

Pace Setting - Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:23 that 'The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.' [TM]