Revitalizing the Church Today

What is the state of the church today you hears all these negative messages.

Churches are closing down.

I can just meet my home.

Why do we need to get together all the music, the mega church pastor. The little bitty churches the house churches there some really good news friends. God's church is still on the go on the market still an army.

It's also hospital today I'm talking to Amanda God is doing something about he leaves an organization.

It's putting a church event on now. Yes, the event is in North Carolina but yes WS anyone out there. Whether you're in Utah or your listening to us in Indiana on the Wilkins radio network or our awesome truth partners or truth talk weekend, friends and affiliates you're to be encouraged by this man's message, I want to welcome them to the mic. He is also one of my former college Sunday school teacher, so don't hold that against Walker Armstrong. The Rev. Walker Armstrong is your good.

Have your man likes the good to be here. It's hard to live up to that bill and now it's like all know what I say out. I did how to get out of this little corduroy this Tuesday in Vienna. It all goes downhill from here that's exactly right but so many churches just need encouragement. I love it. We were just down the hall talents of our staff about what you're doing here North Carolina which ouch hope everyone will mark your calendar March 26, four 2019 coming up in a few weeks or whatever year this program this program a play in 2030. I don't know if were still around to the show because the gold programs encourage you pastor drink to encourage you church member to encourage your pastor to encourage a nonchurch member to go to church and get plugged in, get fed.

So this is to really revitalize encouraged what you've done here in this event Walker is really encouraging. You told me what other hey, this is the whole point is to lift people up. Talk about that spirit in your real passion with all this will influence encourage to some degree, leads 94 churches in six counties in the central part, North Carolina the organization and part of the polyp Mountain Babs Association has been in existence since 1885 goodness, so it is obviously gone through multiple iterations over time. In her last three years we've retooled it to be even more efficient and effective in helping our churches get back on mission in our mission statement is real simple, is to help our member churches build lifelong followers of Jesus Christ. Awesome. That's awesome so you you thought you know you came across this fellow named Mark Clifton is a big time church revitalization guy. Now that's a big word of Abascal players so I don't grapple with those kind of words as well as maybe other folks do, but what is this revitalization about in why is there real neat movement of God among churches to revitalize, recalibrate the county get going again to connect with God in a deeper way. And their people well is been estimated that 80% Protestant churches in the United States or plateaued or declined and when you start really, thinking through that implication is a real big burden to absorb, especially if you're in the work that I do, or others do. We are coming alongside local churches to help pastors and church leaders really figure out how they can be on mission with God is that 80% of churches across United States leaving North America or are staying still or on the clan, you gotta figure out something you can do to help him decide he always does. Always done it so often in honestly is.

Maybe not something new. Some newfangled technique or something new. In addition to the Bible, but maybe it's gone back to the word to the gospel to the sacraments to really drilling deeper into the to the fountain of life. The Lord Jesus himself Walker me this is really in a week.

Wow, how do we we tend to drift. We drift from our core principles. Well the way I teach it to organizations the churches is sometimes we have two different competing models of church one is a maintenance model in the maintenance model of church. Really, most of our resources.

Most of our attention.

Most of our time is spent spent on Bill building up this organization protecting this organization, making sure this organization can keep going and that is not a evil thing, but as a secondary thing because really the kingdom of God is not about maintenance is about movement and movement is about being part of what the Spirit of God is doing three people that are redeemed by Jesus Christ to join together in the greater expansion of his kingdom. And so what we try to teach churches to do is how to move more out of the maintenance model and more into the movement model while in a Mark Clifton the speaker who's been all over the country in the world really helping churches. He's written this book called reclaiming glory. I love that question he poses in the book exist. What is there about a a dying church that brings glory to God. And the answer is absolutely no not nothing, and so God is just a lovely set about you instead of building monuments instead of building maintenance build a movement in a Jager of this book gained by losing. We need to firer leaders wait a second, January time. I just got this amazing leader and he's taken over my small group disguise Haley my youth group this leaders dealing with with all the music and all the implementation and the senior adults know you bring them into send them out where we planting more churches. Why are we sending more people to reach the 2 billion people who've never heard the gospel to reach the multitudes of new generational unchurched folks who need to hear about Jesus. So Walker this really is the what you're doing this event with your ministry as your coming alongside all these churches in all the church is a large listening who may be too far away geographically to attend your try to really can give them a shot in the arm and say God's great plan for your church. Let's let's go back to the founding principles of this amazing this amazing institution that Almighty God is set up called the church of Jesus Christ.

We think about in terms of in in our audience and are 94 churches in six counties. We've come a couple churches and 33 categories one there churches that are dying that there losing their ability with their aging out when leave their neighborhoods of radical change and I haven't stepped up to be national to those new people in the neighborhoods. Whatever reason they got to the point of chronic unhealthy in their church where they don't have the horsepower they might have the willpower I might still want to do something, but they just can't pull it off in in those dying churches.

What we do in our association is we go through a process of helping them replant or relaunch those churches that I mentioned earlier that are not dying, but they're struggling they need to get back on mission. We help those churches revitalize. We use a program called refocus the doctor. Peters is written that it really helps churches get back online and then you got the smaller number churches that are dynamic or healthy or doing something in what we help those churches do is reinvest in other churches and show the churches what they're doing right so they can encourage your sister churches to get back online. 11 give us the quick skinny on this is for a specific event in North Carolina for pastors you know from Charlotte or Raleigh or Virginia South Carolina in the area can come some and want to fly and I mean some idea what I'm going over here Steve raising I love your Nancy grown up on a man of.

Gotta missionary kid growing up in a bit of mystery pastors home scenes as a heart for Jesus. I can't see how it no one, anyone would go and not be encouraged by hearing Steve Green speak and sing plus to get Mark Clifton know so this event is late March. Tell everyone real quick said that the particular's budget one day thing and it just a one-day conference were really holding in Oldtown Baptist Church is from 9 AM the three PIs in Winston-Salem… I'll know if that's actually weirdly enough about 10 or 15 minutes or worse it right now that is what we Winston-Salem is the home headquarters of the Truth Network and you talk weekend.

Of course, and so that's chemical not far but so this will be there Oldtown Baptist in his fist and 93 is that we think that's correct okay, no lunch is provided. See if you your pastor, your past you want to go. You need to call in at a time to get get in before those up to write. Yes they can.

They can sign on it www.pmba.org and there is a sign-up process will can go online to set up the cost is only $25 file that includes the of the concert includes the teaching and training for more Clifton we give everybody a book of Mark Clifton's book, reclaiming the Lord is mid-January and lunch so Nina will end up investing more than we receive, which is fine. This part of our mission but it's good to be a day of encouragement more Clifton is a practitioner of this is not a theoretician. He constantly is involved in the process of helping churches revitalize, replant his team at the North American Mission Board over 2018 help to replant over 200 churches in the United States of dying and so on. So that's that's something that people will be able learn about what replanning is that we look able learn about what revitalization is in a conference in the course of Steve Green. This design that I like sty I just had a might drop your me. I got my gotta pick myself off the ground you're tell me 25 bucks 25 smackers I get this amazing book about reclaiming glory how to revitalize a dying church.

I get to hear Steve Green to meet him and hear him speak and sing I give this guy Mark Clifton who is an amazing just church bundle of encouragement for pastors and your feed me lunch to its excellent bundle it K Walker look listless just let's pray and begin the past.

The offering plate 25 bucks. Tell your pastor about is your anywhere in the southeast come to this thing is a one day burst of encouragement come by and meet visit us at the Truth Network love to show you around give you some more goodies. But I 25 bucks go to p.m. BA p.m. BA which stands for pilot Mountain Babs Association of assuming.org sign of this event will be hearing more about it on silver Truth Network stations Walker, thanks for doing this man, thanks for loving our pastors and loving our church is your guy who's been in that in you have a passion for now I do and it's been this month will be on being have been preaching the gospel, Jesus, for 39 years, God's almost as long as you been alive, well and I've been listening for many of those years I that I will continue to hear you and thanks for your encouraging mentoring of me to grow the truth network.com. We should have some information there about as well and when I want to know about this also will put it on her social channels follow me I'll be tweeting about it in on my Instagram account to just call me on Stu Epperson for more information and join the diagram Pham God bless you Walker thanks so much is the revitalize conference March 26 90 to 3 PM 25 bucks. Steve Green music message Mark Clifton you get a book to get lunch. It's in Winston-Salem but sign-up quit if you Susie candid p.m. BA.org