Fellow Pastors, Church Leaders, and honored lay people:

Each time I stand to speak I am humbled by the opportunity that God has given to me to be His spokesman of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am honored that God would seek out and use me to be a part of the greatest plan in creation and I really don’t understand why.

When Jesus spoke of the church to his friend and follower Peter after Peter had declared that Jesus was the Messiah and God,  He told Peter "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church."  The truth that we hold evident today is that Jesus is the promised Savior and our God. He has promised to build his church and He has kept his word.

Around the world today the church that Jesus instituted is flourishing.  In countries like South Korea where Christianity is exploding God is raising up men and women to take the gospel to the masses in Asia. In China, where it is dangerous to operate a church even if it is approved by the government the fires of the gospel are burning like a college bonfire on homecoming weekend. In places such as Iraq, South America, The Pacific Rim and Central and Eastern Europe God is moving.

What about the church in the United States of America? The US over the last fifty years has grown in population from 152 million in 1950 to over 298 million people today. Our population has almost doubled and our country is still an infant in age. Unfortunately, the church has not been able to  keep up with the increase in population despite the many church planting movements underway in the US.

The church in our country today does seem to be having a resurgence, but looks can be deceiving. While the number of mega churches are increasing, there are numerous smaller churches that are struggling to stay in existence. Although this is the case,  I want us to be very aware that many small churches are thriving, reaching communities that just can’t possibly support a mega church. Then there are churches that dot the landscape that are of every size that are stagnant and not moving forward.

Many of our fellow citizens complain that the church is out of date and irrelevant to their lives. With an ever increasing flow of cultural values invading our homes through media, we have become an nation that is quickly losing it’s moral compass. In the history of our great nation, churches were the lighthouse for moral values and life teaching.  Today, the church is viewed as a place where those who are weak and feeble minded to turn to in their time of emotional need. Jesus I believe, wants us to be engaging this culture on an intellectual level.  When people are challenged to think with their mind, the opportunity to reach their heart is not far behind.

True to the ring of churches being out of touch and irrelevant, many churches are not open to change to reach the changing culture of today’s adult and youth. If churches that are unwilling to change the methods they use to reach our growing population, the number of closed churches will increase. The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ can be communicated in fresh ways, just as Jesus himself was always teaching with freshness so should today’s pastors. Churches must never compromise the message of God’s Word, but they should be willing to reexamine the methods they are using to determine if they are being effective in  reaching their neighbors with God’s love.

We Americans have come to realize that faith is important to us, but because of a busy lifestyle, Americans are having a difficult time fitting God into their schedule.  Church attendance has been in decline according to Barna Research Group and one of the major causes is the busy lifestyle. This should be one of the highest concerns for the church, because the church itself can excel at causing it’s people to be busy. This concern must be addressed by the church and behaviors of those who are stressing due to their schedules need to be taught biblical principles of contentment and trust.

I believe that there will be more mega churches that spring up, but I am not sure that will be a good thing.  We live in a culture where success is lauded and big means better. My generation, the boomers, have come to worship success and bigger and better at the expense of personal convictions. Just by the nature  to be big and consumer driven, the church can become a business of the gospel not a repository for the spiritually ill.

The Church in the United States is on solid ground, as long as it continues to be built on the Rock, Jesus Christ. Churches that have a heart for the seeking unbeliever and are willing to do whatever it takes to lead them to become believers will be the rule not the exception in America. There will churches that will fall by the wayside as they die a death that has taken years to happen. I believe we can look forward to the church to gain momentum as new leaders with a Spirit endowed whatever it takes attitude emerge. As Erwin MacManus points out in his book The Barbarian Way, churches should do whatever it takes not to civilize new Christians, but to teach them to stay barbarians.