Goal to go at the 3

Disclaimer: I'm not on the church staff and any observations or statements presented here are entirely my own. Any errors are mine, too.

This afternoon was the very first 4:15 PM service at the new building. The extra service, which is now the third of four, was added because the brand new 2500-seat auditorium had pretty quickly run out of seats as attendance soared past 8000 people per Sunday.

This is in a community with a county-wide population last year of 175,514.

I've heard that pastors from across the country call the church office, send e-mails and ask, "What are you doing to see such growth?" though I think the question also means, What are you doing to see so many people saved?

The answer has to be just one thing: instead of getting "deeper in the word", focusing on boycotts or wasting time with finance committees or worrying about steeples and stained glass windows, it comes down to ministering and preaching Jesus Christ and nothing but Jesus Christ.

Every Sunday, four times each Sunday ... it's all about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 5:42

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3