Ronnie Floyd

Archive for February, 2014

February 5th, 2014

Pastors, Inclement Weather and Your Church

Since the first week of December, we have had three Sundays with snow and/or ice. In fact, as of right now, we are scheduled to have another wave this weekend…again. Pastors, how do we lead through it? What do we do when we have inclement weather that affects Sunday in every way?

At least twenty-one states nationally are right now affected dramatically by the weather. This impacts attitude, finances, families, businesses, and even churches. How do we deal with something that affects our church so dramatically? Here are a few thoughts to consider:

1. Keep perspective: God is sovereign over everything.

This is a test of our faith after we have spent hours preparing the sermon, the worship service, and everything else that influences each Sunday. Yet, God knows everything and is the Master Controller of all. Ultimately, our only alternative is to trust God.

2. Remain focused: Give it your all.

I realize the personal challenge when you get in your vehicle on that snowy and/or icy day, knowing the crowd may not even reach one-half of a normal Sunday, and the offering may not reach one-third of the normal Sunday. Yet, Pastor, remain focused. Give it your all. Since God is in control and you are there…be present where you are! People can still be discipled. People can still come to Jesus Christ.

Preach it and teach it like normal. Give it your all. Our faith should be so passionate and our hearts set on fire by the Word of God, we should have no problem at all giving Jesus our best. A crowd – or a lack of one – should never motivate or de-motivate us. We are Pastors…we take people where they are. We are leaders…we take people to places they may not go on their own. We are interceders…we pray for people with a greater intensity than ever before.

3. Communicate clearly: Keep the vision and the need before the people.

When we face that snow day or icy Sunday, we have to communicate with the entire church clearly. They are aware the weather may have kept many home, but may not understand the full implications. They want to hear from their Pastor about Sunday, and they always want to hear from their Pastor about the vision of the church.

Therefore, consider these ideas:

Use technology to communicate with your people immediately. Email your church family and communicate with them some things about the Sunday most of them just missed. On Monday of this week, following a snowy Sunday, I emailed our entire church family, including a link to Sunday’s message. I encouraged them to watch the message in its entirety so they could stay in the flow. Additionally, I asked them to make up any giving they may have missed due to weather, sickness, or absence. Mainly, touch base and tell them anything that happened that Sunday and encourage them to continue in the vision with you. In fact, you can see exactly what I sent my people on Monday afternoon.
If you are in a series, over-communicate about what you taught the week before so everyone can be in the flow with you. Right now, I am in a series called, “CHAINED: Breaking Free Financially,” therefore, this coming Sunday I will review the entire series briefly as I wrap it up. The inclement weather we have experienced has challenged the flow of this series, even though God has moved powerfully through it.
Build anticipation about the next Sunday and what God is doing through the church. With the growing infrequency of church attendance by members of local churches, along with Sundays of inclement weather, it is very difficult to have them before you enough to communicate what God is doing through the church. This is why every transition you make in worship, as well as any spoken or visual word communicated, should be communicating what God is doing through the church, which in turn is building anticipation towards the next Lord’s Day.
Plan a special day to re-engage people completely into the life of the church. We are so blessed that each year, we have a day called, “I Love My Church Day,” which is always planned around one of the Sundays close to Valentine’s Day. The emphasis is always on gathering members, regular attenders, and unchurched people to worship and small groups. Today, I wrote a letter that our members will receive on Monday, February 10, talking about February 16, “I Love My Church Day.” The letter casts a vision about the day and challenges the people to demonstratively declare in person at Cross Church on February 16: “We Love Our Church!”

May God give you His pathway for you to lead, even through Sundays that are impacted with inclement weather. Lead on Pastor, God is Sovereign!

Yours for the Great Commission,

Ronnie W. Floyd

Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

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February 4th, 2014

4 Actions to Create a Generosity Plan

Bible Studies for Life

In my last few posts related to Bible Studies for Life, we have been looking at being productive. This unit, Productive, was written by my son, Nick, and me. In it, we hope to address the subject of Christians and work. That includes how we handle the fruit of our labors.

Last week, I wrote about generosity. Specifically, I noted how money can be used to meet needs and included this warning, “Certainly there is nothing wrong with budgeting, especially when it helps us be better managers of all God has entrusted to us. But, if budgeting only serves as a more efficient means accumulating possessions we might need a spirit check.”

I think most Christians really want to be generous. Few followers of Jesus want to be known for their stinginess. One problem we face is the lack of intentionality in giving. Too often, giving is an afterthought – as if we don’t consider it until the mortgage, water, power, gas, car, groceries and kids’ activities have all been paid. Today, I want to give a brief, but I hope helpful, action plan that points toward a lifestyle of generosity. It is focused on saving some here and there to have more to give later.

1. Cut back on the number of times you eat out.

According to this recent article in Forbes, Americans spend more than $900 each year eating out for lunch. That does not include other meals we eat in restaurants solely for convenience. If we ate out at lunch half as much as we do, that would potentially free hundreds of dollars a year to give to God’s work.

2. Order smaller meals when you do eat out.

Almost no American needs to supersize a meal. Order the regular portion and save the difference to give later. Some full-service restaurants include so much food on the order, it’s almost impossible to eat it all. Consider sharing a meal and give the cost savings later to a person in need.

3. Sell things you no longer need.

Have you ever noticed the longer you live, the more stuff you seem to collect? Remember that boat/car/collectible you could not pass up? How many times have you thought recently, “I should go ahead and sell that?” Perhaps you should. The money tied up in that asset might fund a child (or children) for summer camp, send someone on a mission trip, increase a building fund, or feed many hungry families.

4. Designate a portion of your income as a Generosity Fund.

One thing that hinders us is thinking we do not have enough money to make a difference in someone’s life. Frankly, if seventy cents is the difference between regular fries and supersized, that will not go far. But what if we set aside all of our small savings for a big opportunity to give? What if we ate out ½ the times of the average American and saved $350 between January and November, saved another $100 by ordering smaller portions, then sold an item or items throughout the year, totaling $550? When December came around, we could have as much as $1,000 to fulfill a purpose in God’s kingdom.

Maybe this is one way in which we see 2 Corinthians 9:8 fulfilled in our own lives: “And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work” (HCSB).