I find it interesting that some congregations have church buildings in out-of-the-way places and yet the ministries are thriving.
And there are other congregations that have buildings in aesthetically challenged, industrial areas and yet the parking lots are packed on Sunday morning.
According to most church growth gurus, a choice location on a major road close to growing residential areas is the ideal setting for a growing church.
That’s good when it can happen, but that isn’t what builds a church’s ministry.
Huh?
Isn’t ministry all about “location, location, location?”
Nope.
It wasn’t that way for Jesus and it isn’t to be that way for us.
Ministry is about providing hope for the hurting.
It’s that simple.
If people know they’ll find hope at a certain church as they experience God’s love and understand their purpose for living, they’ll find their way there whether it’s in a swank subdivision or on a busy highway between storage warehouses.
This is the truth that I’m trusting as the pastor for the congregation I serve in south Miami and this is the truth that every member of a church in a “challenged” location should trust.
I share this message today because of a simple, yet profound lesson in Mark 1:45. The setting is this: Jesus had just healed a man with leprosy and had told him to not tell others of the miracle. Jesus knew that if word spread of the compassionate healing, then any effort to enter local towns in Galilee would be chaotic as the crowds would beseige Him in the streets and marketplaces.
The healed man told everybody he saw about the miracle, though, and so Jesus had to stay in “lonely places” in the countryside in order to not cause major disruptions in towns and villages.
Yet, the Bible says, “the people still came to Him from everywhere.”
Why did they leave their homes and their towns and walk long distances to reach Jesus?
Because they were hurting in their flesh or in their souls and they believed that they could find hope by finding Jesus.
Listen, I was humbled this morning when I read this passage from the One-Year Bible. I was stirred to pray more actively for wisdom on how to lead my congregation toward becoming a better lighthouse of love, a better fountain of Living Water, a better hospital of spiritual, emotional and — through prayer — physical healing.
The more hope like this that people find at my industrial-location congregation, the more filled the building will be even though our location is not what church growth gurus would recommend.
Provide hope from on high and people will find your church building, my friend.
They found Jesus out in the boondocks. They’ll find your church if your congregation offers what Jesus offered.
This is my assignment. I pray that it will become yours.
As always, I love you
Martiin
