January 11, 2009
Dr. Ron Sumners
The State of the Church
January 11, 2009
Psalm 127:1-5
On the first Sunday of May this year, it will be
sixteen years since I came to be the Pastor of Meadow Brook Baptist
Church. It has been a terrific experience
and God has blessed us in wonderful ways. We have come a long way together;
from a frustrated, ministerial drop-out selling insurance and a struggling
congregation that went through a bad adolescence to a thriving, growing
fellowship. The attendance at that time was about a hundred in Sunday school
and maybe 120 in Worship. The prospects did not look good.
In 1990-91, the attendance at
Many of you were here through those days and you know
the pain that this church endured. Some of you are new to Meadow Brook Baptist
and do not know where we have come from. It is important to know where we have
come from. It is important to look at the past so we can meet the challenges of
the future. I want to tell some of the story again to those of you who know it
all too well, and to those of you who have come since those days.
In December of 1991, I stood in the pulpit of
I moved my family back to
If I told you all that happened during those days, you
would be bored to tears. I assumed a person with all of my obvious ability
would have people fawning over me offering me jobs. I found that the skills I
had were not that much in demand and that middle-level management positions
were being eliminated at most companies. I looked for any kind of job and I
typically got the response; that I was over-qualified for the job. I had never
had to look for a job before. People had always come to me. Now I was told that
I was either less or more than they needed.
I had a lot of time to think about myself during those
days. I reevaluated my life and what caused me to give up on ministry. I
discovered that I had been trying to do ministry in my own strength and had
always been burned out in less than five years.
When I came to Meadow Brook, I was not looking for a
church and this church was definitely not looking for me. I was simply filling
the pulpit for Bro. Charles Stroud, who was interim pastor. I believe God
brought us together. I certainly have not been all I should be. I have failed
you more times than I would like to admit, but you have been loving,
supportive, affirming and forgiving. I love you and I love
After almost sixteen years, I am not burned out! I
feel that we, as a church, are on a new vista of service and growth. I want to
be a part of it. The last year has been difficult for me and the church, but we
are both still here!
Our membership now stands at 935. In May of 1993, the
membership was 447, but about fifty more of them would join other churches by
the end of the year. So, in these fifteen and a half years, we have grown 109%.
When I arrived, the average worship attendance was about 120, and Sunday school
was about 100. At the end of 2008, our Sunday school average is about 388 and Worship
average is around 450.
In 1998, Belinda Stroud rejoined our staff as
Preschool/Children’s Director and Jim Browning became Minister of
Administration. Up until that, the staff consisted of me, Ed Cleveland and Dan
Urquhart, both of whom were part-time. Those additions as well as a very
impactful trip to Promise Keepers here
in
In 1999, we began to plan for a new building that
would house this sanctuary, a preschool area and a new choir suite. A
committee, led by Robert Reeve, began the work of choosing an architect, a
financial institution, a contractor and many other things. We began our first
capital funds campaign and raised almost $2,000,000. The total cost of the
project when completed in 2002, including renovations to the old building, and
prior debt was almost $5,000,000. At the end of 2008, we owe about $1,500,000.
To give that some perspective, when I arrived in May of 1993, the church had a
debt of $1,600,000, with only 120 people attending!
We began construction in November of 2000. We
continued to grow during this time and several Sunday school classes met in the
WMU building across highway 280. So many people worked tirelessly to make this
building a reality. I could never mention them all, but I could not omit Robert
Reeve, the chairman of the building committee, David Faught, who helped oversee
the actual construction, Keith Bryant, the church treasurer, who worked a plan
and proposal as to how the financing would be possible, and Charles Blackmon,
our consultant with RSI. He directed our two capital funds campaigns.
2001 was an eventful year. In May, Dan Urquhart, who
served as our Minister to Youth from October of 1993, left to become the pastor
of
We moved into this building in February, 2002. There
has been a steady growth since that time. We moved James Culbreth to Minister
of Education and Nick Price became Minister to students. Last year we lost Nick
Price. James again is working with our students. Also, in 2007, David Eanes
came as our Minister to children and families. We plan to find a new youth
minister and administrator as soon as possible.
Missions and ministry is our priority now and will be
into the future. We have many of our people involved in many different
ministries. We have taken a trip with Builders for Christ every year since
1985. We need new people to go with us this summer. We have ministry projects
with FBC Acipco and Jimmie Hale mission as well as numerous other ministries.
Andrew Morgan serves as our Minister of missions. Although still part-time, he
does a tremendous job of involving folks in ministry. In 2009, we hope to
expand our mission opportunities and involve even more of you!
When I arrived at Meadow Brook Baptist, the Deacons
here were a typical, Baptist board of directors and the relationship to the
pastor was adversarial, pastor and deacons each trying to straighten the other
out! Tonight we will ordain three new deacons. Their sole responsibility will
be to be ministers and spiritual leaders in our church.
Our giving in 2008 was $1,286,827. We exceeded both
our Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon offering goals. We averaged about $4,300
per family. This is fairly good giving, especially in a poor economy. While
this is true, a tithe, in our area, where the average household income is
$102,000, would be around $3,000,000. So, we
gave less than half of what a tithe should be. We invested almost $200,000 in
mission and ministry. That is 15% of our giving. If we tithed, we would invest
$500,000 in missions and ministry!
We have done a good job paying down the building debt.
I challenged you two years ago to pay off our building debt in seven years. To
this point, you have given $166,000 this year alone. Just imagine if we tithed;
we could pay off the debt in less than two years. How we would be blessed!
I challenge each of you to tithe in 2009. We have 99
families on roll who gave less than $1,000 in 2008. That is a third of our
membership. I am sure that some of those families gave closer to $100 than
$1,000. If all those families tithed, it
would mean an extra $891,000 in 2009. I could give you “What ifs” all day. The
point is: we are hindered from doing all we have been called on to do because
we are not a tithing church. We do not tithe with our money or our time.
We have come far in these fifteen years. Now is not
the time to rest upon our laurels. Now is not the time to become satisfied and
complacent. We have not arrived. God has so much more for us to do and He
desires us to do what we do now – better!
Where do we go now? Do we sit here and stagnate. Are
we just the alternative “traditional” church in our community? Are we to be
defined by our style rather than our ministry? Are we here just to do what we
have always done?
We have a wonderful fellowship. This is the most
loving and caring church I have ever been a part of. The people here genuinely
care about one another. There are exceptions to that rule, but it is true for
the most part. But a great strength can also be a weakness. It becomes easy to
assume that the purpose of the church is to simply provide fellowship and
nurture for the saints. Meanwhile, the unsaved sinners, in this community die
with no hope!
The truth is that we have done a pretty poor job of
evangelism, reaching outside the walls of the church. The Outreach Committee
has done many things in the last few years to make us more aware of our community.
We have a Block Party in the spring and a Fall Festival in October. They have
done numerous other activities: hot chocolate at the football games, Tee shirts
that speak a word about our church: Got
joy?
These efforts have been good and we will continue
them. However, the funds for this type outreach are at a premium. We would like
to do more, but I refer you back to the section of this sermon about tithing.
We would desire to bring Andrew Morgan full time but again; I refer you back to
my statements about tithing.
The only way that is completely effective in
evangelism, is for one Christian to tell another person about the love of Jesus
and lead them to salvation. I would have to believe that very few of you
actually do that! I challenge you to make 2009 to make it your purpose to share
your faith and reproduce yourself with a new convert. If we all did that, next
year at this time we would have 1870 members. What a joy it would be if I saw
you leading someone down the aisle to introduce them to me. Can I convey to you
the joyous sense of revival that would envelope this church if we did that? 935
new members in 2009! We would have no place for them; but what a wonderful
problem to have!
Almost two years ago David Eanes came as our Minister
to children and families. He is doing a good job involving more people in that
vital ministry. Kelley Young works with him as Preschool director and works
tirelessly. We are a community of young families with young children. That
statistic will continue to grow. We need more parental and church member
involvement. We need a renewed commitment. It is the responsibility of every
able church member to take a turn keeping and working in our preschool and
children’s departments.
We have overworked and exhausted a few who see their
commitment to God in that area. It is easy for them to get discouraged. It is
your responsibility to help teach “our” children. Every child is your child.
You should take care of your children; volunteer with David or Kelley to find a
place of ministry. If you have a child in that area and assume it is someone
else’s responsibility to care for your child and never take a turn, shame on
you! You would do that in no other area of your involvements. I have a wife who
never gets to come to worship because she is taking your turn in the nursery!
She has heard plenty of my preaching. She has endured it for 38 years, but she
would enjoy the fellowship once in a while. Could you volunteer to take her
place? I would be happy to do so, but it might prove difficult. Will you take
my place?
Music enhances worship. It is the opportunity for each
of you to participate. Ed Cleveland needs the help of volunteers for there to
be a music program. We need a renewed commitment by many of you to use the
talents that God has invested in you. You are not giving Him much return right
now. We have an average of 388 in Sunday school. There should be 10% of the
Sunday school average in the worship choir. So, we should have 38 in the choir
every Sunday. Maybe you disagree with the music sung or would like a different
style. Maybe you don’t like me or Ed. That is understandable, especially
concerning me. But you don’t come to church for me or sing for Ed. You do it
for the Lord. If you don’t use your gift, God just might decide to take it
back.
Our church has always averaged about 50% of our
membership actually present on any given Sunday morning. We need for church
members to actually attend regularly. I call it the “Ministry of attendance.”
Would you commit with me to be in our place every Sunday? I promise you that
unless I am too sick, I will be in my place. Will you?
A man in our church envisioned a few years ago
beautiful stained glass windows in our sanctuary. It was designed for that from
the beginning. We have had a good amount given for that purpose already. This
spring, I will appoint a committee to investigate the possibility of proceeding
with that as soon as possible. This project will be funded by special gifts for
this sole purpose.
We have a young couple that has felt God’s call to
start a new church. I would ask that we partner with them and assist them in
all the ways that we can. What a wonderful possibility!
We have come a long way. We have not arrived; we are
still on the journey. This is not the time to become satisfied with ourselves.
When people become static, they no longer look to the horizon, they search for
what is wrong in the here-and-now and focus on that. Instead of looking to
possibilities, we begin to seek out the imperfections in one another. How I
would love to retire from here in a few years knowing that
We have so much farther to go! What will 2009 hold for
us? We can’t wholly predict that for our individual lives or for