sticky church - part cinq

I like the five "W's" that Larry Osborne gives in his book "Sticky Church".

Word
Worship
Witness
Warmth
Works

(I love the alliteration).

These are the marks of a healthy church.

How are we doing in each one of these categories?

I would appreciate your viewpoint on this.

So many times, (as you have heard me say, perhaps in a different way, but still the same thought is there) we desire to do all five on Sunday mornings between 9:00 A.M. and 10:15 A.M., or 10:30 A.M. and 12:00 P.M. (depending on the service you are in).

The thought is that for a lot of people, this is the only contact they have with the church, so we need to "make hay while the sun shines" to you an old cliche.

Realistically, the two values we can obtain on a Sunday morning are Word and Worship.

I believe we do a great job at this. People study the Word during the Adult Bible Fellowship Hour, we worship God in a powerful way, and we hear the Word every Sunday (if not steak every Sunday - at least some hamburger - either way it's meat).

So where can witness, warmth and works take place?

Let's define those before we go on.

Witness - sharing our faith with people on a relational and personal basis.

Warmth - having deep relationships with those in our body.

Works - reaching out to those in our body with care, love and affection.

That might surprise some of us. Works, for the longest time in our churches has been, "what can I do when I come to the building on 127th street?"

While those who work (Minister) on Sunday mornings to make it happen and in other ministries in our church - while they are invaluable and needed, the works we are talking about are those times when we visit someone in the hospital. Bake someone a pie who is hurting, well you get the idea.

Here's the adjustment perhaps we need to make: IN EVERY MINISTRY AND PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE IN OUR CHURCH, WE DON'T NEED TO TRY TO ACCOMPLISH ALL FIVE.

Where can we experience warmth, witness and works? In life groups. Surrounded by people within our community that we are intentionally drawing closer to.