Ian & Lucy Fisher

Thinking back on my recent trip to Europe, one of the ideas that made an impression on my thinking was the thought that God has given the Church 2 hours every Sunday to connect and impact our communities with the possibility of tasting a bit of Heaven and meeting personally the Creator of the Universe, God Almighty the Saviour of the world.

Jesus said that the Church is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, but if we lose our flavor or effectiveness we are no longer good for anything. Setting a city on a hill is so that its beauty can be VISIBLE to all around, and so it is with the Church, if we do our job or calling well, there will be no problem with VISIBILITY in regards to our communities knowing and recognizing that the Church is there.

I believe there is enough evidence to suggest that the Church in Europe is especially struggling with VISIBILITY in the cities and nations they are trying to impact, where there is a downturn in church attendance, a lack of momentum toward Sunday, and an unwillingness to really count the cost by genuinely giving our lives to the Cause of Christ. I think the average church goer believes and supports that God can do something, but as long as it doesn't involve them to much personally.

This is where the thought for 2 hours to change the world can be so effective. For the Church, Sunday is a most crucial and important opportunity for every Christian, and must involve the willingness to release our gifts and talents to the Lord, to build the Church toward the possibility of bringing permanent and significant change to the World. God is not asking very much from every Christian when we consider Sunday as the focus and pinnacle of our week, accept that we do more than just attend Church, but have a builders attitude toward Church, and through our gifts and talents be determined to see the Church established and VISIBLE again in our communities. I believe if the Church can get Sunday right by building momentum and excellence to what Sunday Church is about, we then earn the right to enter our communities Monday and from there into the hearts and lives of the people we are called to look after.

So how does this work? Well every Church has a Sunday to get through, but it depends on how we all respond to Sunday as believers, whether or not it is a highlight in our weekly calendar, or whether we are going through the motions of a Sunday service, or whether our Church really know the WHY or the REASON of why we attend? If we try to think of Sunday as a Day that God has given The Church to change the World, it really comes down to focusing on and making those 2 hours the most excellent and exciting 2 hours in a persons week. Let's not have any other activity being more exciting and passionate than Church! Like football or movies, or parties or eating - all this is insignificant in comparison with the potential of what God has destined the Church to be.

Before we go into the details we must express vision and life into the heart of our believers, because if they don't know what they are believing for in Church life, they will have little passion about it, and probably won't give you much of their time to help out. VISION IS LIFES FUEL and generates excitement, passion and a desire to help out. People must be taught that serving God and His House is the BEST thing that they can do, but we must put something exciting and challenging before them. We cannot expect people to get excited about Church that is DULL and BORING.

So all we have to on Sunday is to make these 2 hours the most exciting and passionate 2 hours possible. That means the Worship Team give the Church the best songs in the world, not the worst songs in the world. Many old songs lose their value over time, and there is only a few examples of songs that have lasting and timeless value. The worship is usually only about 20-25 minutes, if it's longer it is getting to long, and we will lose our people, and only have the die hards still standing. So then we must make sure that every moment of the Worship is valuable and has meaning to the service - no long explanations of the meaning of the songs, let's just get on with the job!

Making the service move quickly without long periods where nothing is happening is crucial to keeping the attention of people, especially VISITORS! The focus of this style of service is the VISITORS, because they are the ones who are unchurched or are looking for a new Church. Sunday must no longer be focused on the believers and those who already attend - if we are going to WIN THE WORLD we have to focus our attention on services that will be relative and relational to the NON-BELIEVERS, so that in doing so we may WIN SOME.

Understanding that it is really only 2 hours that we have to make great, really takes the pressure off being a great Church, because if we get these 2 hours right, we will become a great Church. Through Jesus, we are the Light to the World - we are the Salt of the Earth so we must learn to taste good, feel good, be a great place to go, so that people feel that they would love to come again. It's like eating at a great restaurant, it makes you want to go back again!

In the UK a survey revealed that 27% of people had been to Church but said that they would never go back again - this is because the experience was so bad, and this is 14 million people! What would have been the result if the experience was amazing!!

2 HOURS is all it takes on Sunday to CHANGE A PERSONS LIFE! Let's all start focusing a little more on what God has given us with Sunday, and with these precious 2 HOURS!

These 2 Hours in the right hands can change the world! Do you have the Hands to build these 2 Hours into something that Changes The World?

I HOPE SO.