Three Renovations: Our Heart

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 750 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

My wife can’t get enough of remodeling shows: Trading Spaces. Designer’s Challenge. This Old House. Hidden Potential. Surprised by Design. The list could go on.

I can’t exactly say I share her passion for renovation shows, but I have a passion for renovation.

As I mentioned in last week’s Winning Ways, I believe that when God called me here, he gave me a foreman’s hardhat and put me in charge of renovating three areas: our heart, our program, and our look. In other words, I believe God put me here to lead Hillcrest to look afresh at our priorities, our activities, and our facilities.

Now, the order of those three “renovations” is important. If a church makes changes to their activities or facilities without any real attention to their priorities, nothing much happens. Everything starts with the heart.

And this should be the heart of Hillcrest: we are to be a congregation where people can find and follow Jesus together. Some churches are very effective at helping people find Jesus, but they don’t really focus on helping people grow once they’ve come to faith. Other churches are very effective at helping people follow Jesus, but frankly they’re uncomfortable with the issues and questions that seekers raise. Our church needs to be where people can come together to meet Jesus and grow in him.

I recently prepared an eight-day devotional guide that will help you understand what it means to be this kind of church. Pick up the guide at this week’s worship service or download it from our website (click here). If you’re new to Hillcrest, it will help you “catch up” with what I’ve been saying across the four years I’ve been here. If you’ve been at Hillcrest a while, the devotional guide will serve as a refresher.

Now, as important as it is to get everyone committed to the same priorities, it’s not the only area to focus on. To say our hearts are the first thing to renovate does not mean that our hearts are the only thing to renovate. God called me here to lead Hillcrest to examine not only at our heart, but also our program and our space.

In the next two editions of Winning Ways, we’ll look at the renovation of our program and our space.

It’s an exciting time to be part of Hillcrest! Come this Sunday to our “Bold Blend” service or the 10:45am “Smooth Blend” service, or listen online Monday (iTunes; website).