Curt Seaburg.com

Church’s Physical Location Has Little to Do With Growth

OKAY, it’s no secret, we’re running out of space.  Our church is growing, that's exciting.  It gives us some new challanges to look into.  One of those being, what do we do?  One of those things is that we’re gathering a team together to begin to do some research. And “Re-location Task Force” so to speak.  I came across this recent article that I want to share with you.

Did you know that the growth and health of your church has little to do with your physical location? Church health specialist Dr. Thom Rainer recently studied 13 mediocre congregations that grew to become vibrant, healthy churches without changing pastors. To his surprise, he discovered that there was little correlation between location and growth. “One of the surprises was that the location of a church had almost nothing to do with the struggles and subsequent breakout of these churches,” Rainer said. “Some of the churches have great locations demographically, but others have lousy locations.”

So what was the biggest break through then, for these churches? According to Dr. Rainer, they all had an outward focus. "If there is any one basic lesson, it is to lead the church to an outward focus. The great majority of churches in

America

are focused on their own needs and desires."

Dr. Rainer found that an external focus is fundamental for church health and church growth. He said his research continues to reinforce those sorts of essentials. "In essence, the research continues to remind the church to get back to basics," he said. "While we should seek to be cutting-edge in our ministries and methodologies, we should not neglect basic and biblical principles for church health. The biggest news is that God is not done with our churches. Through the stories of 13 remarkable churches, we see God?s possibilities for so many churches in our nation and our world."

What do you think? What is more important: location or focus; neighborhood or mission? I want to hear from you …..

Mind Dump - Mother's Day

It's always bugged me how we do "Mother's Day" in the church.  I recall attending church on Mother's Day and the service went something like, a few songs, announcements and then came the typical flowers.  They always went to the oldest mom, the mom with the most kids (which she ALWAYS won that one) and the youngest mom (which my home church did away with when some troubled girls started to attend the church and a few were pregnant at 15 ... Lord knows we didn't want to promote that ... I drip with sarcasm)

Mother's Day was all about Mother's.  What about the 24 year old single girl, or the 37 year old that lost her only son, were these ladies not mom's because they had no children?  Two weeks ago, I discovered a terrific truth in God's Word.

In Genesis 3, Adam named the woman EVE because "she was the mother of all the living."  Interesting thought that Adam named her this BEFORE she had children.  (That came later, in Genesis chapter 4.)  My conclusion, women have the incredible God-given ability to nurture others.  That what makes motherhood, not children, but the ability to nurture.

So yesterday, we celebrated ALL women!  What a great day!

Why I Love Our Church

Caring, authentic, truthful, servant - hearted, genuine concern, love for people, love for God, desire to want to learn, willing, inventive, creative, love for youth, helpful, talented, prayerful, diligent, striving for excellence, committed, thoughtful, hard-working, willing to take a faith risk, not willing to settle for average, believe in the reality of God's Word, early risers, out-of-the-box thinkers, heart for children and youth, great attitude, real, willing to be accountable, God-seekers, willing to give people another chance, forgiving, know we don't have all the answers, love of Jesus, love for kids, broken people willing to be put back together by God, musical, love God's Word, financially willing to support, welcoming, not high and lofty, willing to discover their purpose and pursue it.

I love our church.

What do you love about Victory Church?

Sunday Mind-dump 4.27.08

I wasn't sure if I heard from the Lord or not with this brand new series.  I remember thinking, "WORLD RELIGIONS? are you sure Lord?"  Well, I thought, "okay, I'm gonna do it, Lord."  Hindsight is 20/20 ... check this out:

One person, after the service last week on Mormonism, went home and decided he was going to not only put the Lord at  #1 in his life, but he was going to break out his Bible.  So he went home and started going through his "bible collection" (which he didn't know had gotten so large.)  In it, he found a "book of Mormon."  He told me, I would not have thrown it out if I hadn't heard the message this past week.

Another person came up to me and said, "You're not gonna believe this."  She told me how out of no where, a friend calls and says, "I just told two Jehovah's Witnesses to leave and not come back, I don't go to church, but I need to know, am I going to hell because I did that?"  My friend couldn't believe the question.  She said, "Hold on, we were just talking about Jehovah's Witnesses in our church, I can tell you what they believe and why they are wrong."

Someone else said, "I got questions this week about Mormons, and I was so pumped to know that I could answer them."

What's been your story in this series? 

What's Your Story?

UFO's are a term I coined a few years ago to describe our Unsaved Friends Outside the faith.  It all started when our kids got involved in sports.  While they ran and got sweaty, I stood on the sidelines, watching.  I started to make small talk with some dads which led to deep conversations of faith.  Most all my conversations centered around the hole that guys would share with me that they had in their heart.  This past Sunday, I challenged our congregation to be BOLD in your witness for Jesus.  Don't just live it, TALK about it,

Living in Lancaster County, I have discovered that their are a lot of people who are very empty and searching for truth.  Here are just a few of my stories:

1. One guy has been so busy with his career that he longs to get connected with God, but can't seem to prioritize connecting with a church family over his kids sports.
2. A teenager is looking for truth and asking his parents to take him to church.  They're too busy sleeping in on Sundays but tell him that he shouldn't go to church because it should be a family thing.  He's searching ...
3. Another dad refuses to lead his family.  He'd didn't come right out and say it, but I told him he was being less than a responsible man.  He knows the answers, but would rather hunt, while the opportunity to impact his kids slips away as they get older.
4. A preacher's kid, who is now an adult.  She has been on a journey.  She emailed me, "I'm looking for truth."  She's serious, not a fly-by-night, but she is truly seeking.  By the way, she'll find Him ... I'm confident.
5. A mom emailed me, her daughter is making wrong decisions, and she's concerned (as she should be.)  She and her husband haven't been living for God in their home.  She wants to get back to the way it used to be, when she and her husband would pray together.
6. Another UFO is a non-practicing catholic that is thirsty for more.  She's asking questions.
7. Another UFO, I got to lead to Christ -- he attends, is plugged in and is growing.
8. A dad is not only asking me questions, but we're having dialog ... he's even helping me with research on our latest series.
9. Girls from our daughter's rugby team are asking questions about faith.  Can we visit your church?  Can God love a lesbian?  Does God have a plan for me?  I'm talking REAL QUESTIONS. 

Bottom line is, people are asking questions if we will take time to engage in conversation with them.  Be bold in your witness!  Ask God to give you an opportunity.

You see, I'm not just preaching it, I'm living it!  What's your story?

Sunday Night 04.20.08 Mind Dump

Today was a beautiful day on a lot of fronts.  Before I hit the sack, I thank the Lord for:

• Great kids that have a passion for the Lord.  I love to watch my kids worship.
• Today, we were week #2 in "Truth on Trial."  We challenged Mormonism and JW's.  Both came up terribly short on the truth scales.  (Go GOD!!  The one true God, that is)
• Spent time with college friends I hadn't seen in 18 years!
• Picked up two car loads of teenagers to take to youth group.
• Also spent time at Damon's restaurant with Paul Bell.  Dry humor and all, he is one of my best friends.
• Heard one of our youth staff, Lou Thomas, speak to our teens.  Lou got saved in our youth group 10 years ago ... I'm so proud of our leadership team.
• My heart is heavy for several people in our congregation that need a touch from the Lord.
• Preparing to talk about "the Oprah Church" next week in church.  We'll lump it in with Hinduism, Buddhism, Christian Science, etc.  Should be an awesome Sunday.  I'm already praying that the Lord will open the eyes of those that will hear the message.
• Lot of brand new faces at church again today.  Several returning from last week.  That's good news!

I love our church.

A Pastor That Loves That We're In A Recession

Yea, you heard me right -- I LOVE IT!!  "Slumping economy", "down turn", "sluggish", I really don't care what you call it, I'm hear to tell you ... I love it!  Before you call those "nice-people-that-just-want-to-talk-to-ya", hear me out. 

Pam & I have four kids and we live an, at times, hectic schedule.  If I'm not careful, I'll go,go,go.  My personality is, "a little aggressive", I've been called, "impulsive", I would probably be defined as "type A",  so a "recession" is good for me.  Why? because it causes me to slow down.  It causes me to re-look at where my money is going and not to spend aimlessly.  High gas prices causes me to ask, "Do I need to go there or can I stop by some other time?"  It causes me to decide to eat at home rather than eat out, thus not only saving money, but increasing family time. 

It causes me to re-prioritize.  Just look at the word "recession."  It's taken from recede which means to "draw back."  Yup, 'draw back.'  In a "draw back" time, I look at where to get the most bang for my buck, what decisions should I make that have Kingdom - eternal value?  It's during times like this, I want to give to the Lord.  I need His help, but I also believe in His cause.  I want to give my money to the things that have eternal value, not short-term usage ... like a new shirt.

That's right - I LOVE RECESSIONS!  And do you know what?  YOU SHOULD TOO!

Water Baptism - 3-30-08

Sometimes, we can blow in and out of church (or wherever) and never really get to know people.  Baptism always gives us all an opportunity to know people.  It allows us to hear their story.  Behind every set of eyes, there is a story … a beautiful one of redemption.

Today was one of those milestones in our church’s short history.  Jeff Bender, one of our key people at Victory, said it best when he mentioned, “Today, we are putting a stake in then ground.” I had the privilege of baptizing 12 candidates.  To hear their stories was very moving.

Back a few months ago, we felt it was time for us to purchase a portable baptistery.  We threw out the need to our congregation, and they responded in a beautiful way.  We purchased the portable tank and promoted our first indoor baptism.

Hearing their stories was very moving for us as a congregation.  Many tears and a whole lot of cheers for people going public with their faith.  It was a beautiful day!  God was glorified and magnified and Jesus was lifted up. 

Today, there guys got baptized:

1. Tanner Beaman
2. Talia Stem
3. Kaleb Berkich
4. Clayton Steele
5. Lily Esh
6. Michelle Zerbe
7. Karen Minnick
8. Angie Lefever
9. Amber Bubb
10. Shawn Blake
11. Michelle Blake
12. Tom Mason

Wow!  What a day!!

Easter Sunday Mind Dump 08

What a day!  I love our church.  People are warm and welcoming.  I get many emails each week from visitors that are blown away by the authenticity of our church.  Big time props to all our volunteers.  Can't do it without them.  Before I turn in for the night, here's a couple of thoughts:

• If I have one more piece of chocolate, I'll throw up.
• I always preach in jeans, but today I preached in a suit jacket and dress pants ... I did it for my wife ... good move on my part.
• Saw almost a dozen people come to faith in Christ this morning.  What a day to get saved!
• The Lord gave a BEAUTIFUL weather for our Easter Sunday service.
• We put out every available chair we had (487) and we needed just about everyone of them.
• I'm still pumped that Steve Fee (worship leader extraordinaire) commented on my blog last week. 
• Proud of our youth pastor (Chris Wallace).  He's doing a great job loving and leading our students.
• We are in need of additional staffing.  Church is in a crazy momentum mode, tomorrow I'm going to call VFCC to see who is coming out of college that we might be interested in.
• Our youth group was at youth Convention 08 (check it out on YouTube)  Michael Gungor and one of my best freinds on the planet, Pat Schatzline, were there to light up 5000 teenagers!!!
• Spoke last week to 400 men at Men's Frat at LCBC.  We are going to link up with LCBC and start a Men's Frat on our side of Lancaster to reach out to men in the east and southern parts of Lancaster County.
• I wonder if we should've had 2 services scheduled this Easter Sunday instead of one?
• I wish I would've gotten golf carts to drive people to the front door so they wouldn't have to walk so far.
• Saw a lot of people that brought a lot of friends and family to church.  Will try to get pictures up this week.

Praise God for another very cool Easter service.  This week is a very busy one for me.  I'm off to Texas to preach to youth and youth leaders.  Keep our family in your prayers as we travel.  OKAY, I'm wiped out.  Good night!

82%

Hey, Easter is coming this Sunday.  I just heard that researchers have determined that 82% of the people you invite to an Easter service WILL come.  This week our services are at 10AM.  Our regular Sunday meetings are maxing out.  I often thought over the past 2 weeks that we should've opened this up to 2 services.  Taken the plunge ... just did it!  It would've been a great time to experiment ... but ... alas, this Easter came so fast.

I'm talking about the change that the resurrection brings to all.  The death of Jesus forgave our sins but we were still spiritually dead.  But Jesus didn't come to just die for us so that we could go through rituals and religious tradition.  He came to bring us BACK to right relationship with God the Father.  The resurrection of Jesus made us ALIVE spiritually!  I LOVE EASTER and the hope it brings!!

Anyway, get out there and invite somebody.  Doesn't take much effort, just SOME effort on your part!  You and they, will be glad you did.