Making Room

As of October 4, Harvest Bible Chapel will officially go to two services at 9 and 11 AM. It will be an important transition for our church and one that we all want to be ready for. How do we do that?

Choose a service - Have a talk with your spouse, your Life Group, and your friends and decide which service you will attend. Do this ASAP so you can think through your Sunday AM routine.

Lock in - Try to avoid switching your attendance times from week to week, attending the first service one Sunday to attending the second service the next Sunday. Lock in to one so that you begin to connect with your church family.

Don't worry about the Children - Harvest Kids (children's ministry) will be offered both services, staffed with wonderful, loving teachers and caretakers. Our children are the most flexible with life changes so if you are settled with a change of service time and routine, so will your children. Set the standard for them and they will follow.

Arrive 10 minutes early! - Arriving on time means that you will be 10 minutes late for the service after you have found a place to park, checked in your kids, grabbed a cup of coffee, and talked to a few people. Prepare your heart to engage with God and others by arriving early.

Meet someone new each week - The reason we are going to two services is to make room for more people. All these new people are looking for Christian community and fellowship so our hearts need to be large enough to love and receive them.

Are you ready? Get set...

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Gearing up for two services

October 4th is going to be a cultural shift for our church. We are going to two services on that date - 9 AM and 11 AM!

God is adding to our number week by week it seems and we need to make room for the growth. Perhaps you've noticed the crowded parking lot or our expanding children's ministry. My office gets converted into a nursery every week to make room for all the babies. Even the auditorium feels full!

All of this is exciting but I know there is a temptation in our hearts to be annoyed and inconvenienced by the expansion to two services since it means that we won't be able to see everyone each week. Those of you who serve on Sunday know that it means more work and sacrifice. Yet, God has given us a mission to fulfill at Harvest Bible Chapel:

Spreading a passion for the supremacy of God and liberating a generation through the life and love of Jesus Christ.

We cannot fulfill the mission if we bar the doors, circle the wagons to protect our intimate fellowship. If we did, we would find ourselves pushing against God who "desires all to be saved and come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). If we desire to impact the city of Rockford with the gospel, we must continue to put aside our personal comforts in view of the kingdom of God and its expansion (Mt. 6:33).

This is a crucial juncture in our church. Will we complain about the inconveniences or praise God for the vibrancy He is giving our church? Will we pull back because of insecurity or step forward in love to serve those who are yearning for Christian fellowship? Will we look longingly backward or forward with eager expectation?

I say we step forward in faith! Just watch God be faithful. Just watch God do "exceedingly beyond all we could ask or think" (Eph. 3:20-21).