People don’t come to a small church expecting a scaled-down version of a megachurch experience. They expect a great small church experience.

Yes, there are principles that all great churches hold in common. But a great small church is not a miniaturized version of a great megachurch.

A great small church won’t have parking lot attendants and professional signage leading families to hi-tech, age-segmented children’s ministries.

Mum and Dad aren’t going to be handed a cup of finely roasted cappuccino from a smiling barista in the church lobby, before being led into a thoroughly post-modern worship space with form-fitting seats.

The worship team won’t be playing original songs from their best-selling album to tightly choreographed lights and video. The pastor’s message won’t be backed by perfectly-timed, custom-made graphics and video clips.

There are a lot of great megachurches that have all that cool stuff. But that’s not what makes them great. And if small church pastors try to duplicate that on a small church budget, you will fail.

Yes, I said it. Fail. I know that sounds like lack of faith to some people, but it’s not. Because failing at those things isn’t even the worst of it. The saddest part is that the time and expense you’ll waste trying to be something you’re not great at will be taken from the things you can be great at.

Yes, keep the place clean and uncluttered. If you own a building, strip off the 1990’s wallpaper and slap a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Make sure everything and everyone are well prepared. But put your main efforts into people, not programs. Friendliness, not facilities. Worship, not entertainment.

Give people the space and time to meet with Jesus.

Then do something small church pastors can do that megachurch pastors can’t do – hang out in the lobby after the service. Build relationships. Pray with and for people. Tell dumb jokes. Hug, laugh and cry together. Be a church family.

That won’t lead you to greatness. That is greatness.

Karl Vaters is the author of The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking That Divides Us. He’s been in pastoral ministry for over 30 years and has been the lead pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California for over 20 years. He’s also the founder of NewSmallChurch.com, a blog that encourages, connects and equips innovative Small Church pastors

Thank God Jesus met me.

It was about 10 yrs ago during my last prison sentence. I was on suicide watch and the prison officers  thought I was going to end my life.

That was until a little old lady came into my pad. She told me that Jesus died for me. All the pain I was carrying he put on the cross for me. I thought she was a nut job at first. But when she left I opened the Bible and discovered it was true. I read Psalm 23 with new eyes. I heard him say to me that he was all I needed. I knew this the love I was looking for. so that day I asked Jesus to come into my life.

Straightaway I could feel a change in my heart. I lost the desire to do drugs and the self-harm stopped to.

Life story from “the message summer 2016”  CW  team member

“We had a big celebration attended by about 35 people, , for our atrea that a large number for one meeting. There were many healings, including a boy aged 11yrs with diabetes.

Source:  Release

“We started the year with a three-day service , fating and praying for revival in Turkmenistan and for the Government. Six people became Christians on the first Sunday service.

One woman cane who was very ill.. She had not walked for the past three years: as soon as she heard the Word of God she got up & started walking”

Source. Release

Risca churches Agapé Community Church, Ty Sign, and Moriah Baptist Church, along with Bethesda Baptist Church in Rogerstone, have partnered with charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) to offer advice to those struggling with debt.

CAP visits those who need support in their own homes, conduct the necessary negotiations with creditors and will continue to meet and offer support until that person is debt free.

Risca CAP Centre Manager John Pinkstone said: “The Church has always been about offering hope and we’re really pleased to be able to give a tried-and-tested route out of debt alongside other great free debt advice in the area like Citizens Advice.”

For more information visit www.capuk.org or call 0800 328 0006.

Ethical objections to embryo research can trigger genuine progress

The first time I saw Jesus Christ I was surprised. I was sitting on the stairs when he appeared, wearing a white robe that wasn’t a robe – it was light. I told my husband ” I saw Jesus” but he said that I was always talking about Christians and that it was probably just an illusion. But I knew it was Him. I just knew .

Fatima- not her real name- has a testimony that is increasingly common today. Born into a Sunni family in Northern Iraq, she is one of countless Muslims whose lives were transformed following a supernatural encounter with Jesus.

With half a smile and a matter of fact delivery, she explains how her first vision of Jesus was followed with a second the very next day. This time she shared it with a friend who was a Christian, who told her that it was a miracle as Jesus does not appear to just anybody.

The third time I saw Hi  I was  sick. he came and held my hand and said ‘My daughter, do not worry, I will take care of you’ I did not know how to pray but I said ‘I want my life to change’ There were some struggles that I was going through in my life at that time’

Last Monday (2 May), yet another church was burnt down in north-west Tanzania, however the church has refused to stop meeting. The church’s minister, Fortunatus Bijura, said, “Those who think that destroying our church means we won’t pray, they are wrong … We have a big tree near the church and will continue meeting there for prayers.”

Small groups create friendships through conversations, prayers, meals, and studies of Scripture. Friendships emerge as we sit across from each other and talk. It’s hard to pray for someone without becoming involved in their lives. It’s impossible to talk with someone without learning about each other, and it’s tough to study the Scripture with someone and not appreciate God’s work in their life.

One night a lady could not sleep. At midnight she went downstairs and picked up a Bible. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been to church; nor had she ever opened a Bible on her own. When she opened it now, she noticed it was divided into an “old” part and a “new” part. She decided to start with the “new” part, figuring the book may have been updated.

So in the still of the night she sat on her living room floor and began to read Matthew’s gospel. By 3am she was in the middle of John’s gospel and found as she put it, that she had fallen in love with the character of Jesus. “I don’t know what I am doing ” she prayed to God “but I know you are  what I want”

It is uniquely in the Bible that we encounter Jesus. The message of the Bible is not just that help is coming – it has arrived.

God still meets people in such ways

Extract from “The life you always wanted ” John Ortberg