Mark Batterson:
I cited a study that found that 58% of college grads who grew up going to church stop attending church for one reason or another. I've actually seen studies that peg the number as high as 86%.These are church kids. And we're losing at least six out of ten. That attrition rate is going to kill us. It's like we're losing a generation. It's Judges 2:10: "After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel."I felt such holy conviction when I was speaking yesterday. I said, "I'm not in the camp that says what's wrong with them. The real question is: what's wrong with us."If the church was doing it's job--incarnating the gospel in relevant ways--I honestly don't think we'd see so many twenty-somethings leaving the church. They long for community and authenticity and meaning as much as any generation. There is a spiritual hunger. But evidently they aren't finding what they're looking for in the churches they grew up in.
Andy Stanley:
"Preaching is a performance. Preachers are performers. But unlike the comedian, we are expected to more than entertain. We are expected to be educational, inspirational, theological, and engaging all at the same time. So there we stand. All alone. All eyes on us. Waiting. Expecting. Hoping. And did I mention that we have to talk to the same audience week after week? Did I mention that all week long they have been driving around in their cars listening to my dad, Chuck Swindoll, Ed Young, and Sean Hannity. Whose idea was this?"
First Time Visitor this weekend:
I came today because someone invited me because they thought I might be interested in the topic. Boy, were they right! I am getting divorced and the man that I now have a relationship with has three kids and I have three kids. This was good stuff today. I will be back next week.
Andy Stanley:
"Simply put, you have to manufacture interest. On the average Sunday morning, or whenever you communicate, your first responsibility is to pose a question your audience wants answered, create a tension they need resolved, or point to a mystery they have been unable to solve. And if you launch into your message before you do one of those things, chances are, you will leave them standing at the station."
Jesus:
Matthew 14:23, "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.’”
Note sent home from Abby’s teacher:
The school year is not over. Summer vacation has not begun. We still have work to do. Some of the students have stopped doing their homework assignments. We will continue to work and learn throughout the school year.
The work we have been called to do as a staff of Charter Oak Church is of critical importance. People’s lives hang in the balance. The expectations are very high. Summer officially begins this weekend. We are at T-minus 17 weeks from taking over occupancy of the new building. Over the next three months we are going to have to lean into the power of the Holy Spirit more and more. There is a reason why God has called us to this work. He believes in us. He has entrusted a huge responsibility upon our shoulders because he believes we can do it. But we will only be able to do it through him.
