ST. PAUL METHODIST THEN, NOW AND TOMORROW

MARK 2:22 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

IS ALL CHANGE GOOD?? MAYBE NOT?

THEN AND NOW National Debt 257 Billion Dollars 2013 – National Debt 16 Trillion Dollars 1950 – US Population is Million 2013 – US Population is Million 1950 – Debt to Income ratio – 35 percent 2013 – Debt to Income ratio – 122 percent 1950 – Out of Wedlock births – 5 percent 2013 – Out of Wedlock births – 42 percent

TOP TEN REASONS PEOPLE DON’T GO TO CHURCH 1.Boring or unfulfilling church services 42% 2.Beliefs of the church 35% 3.Church’s moral views 35% 4.No need to 34% 5.Prefer to do other things 31% 6.“My beliefs are too weak” 27% 7.The way churches are organized 24% 8.Other commitments 21% 9.Bad experience among church people 16% 10.Not enough time because of work 15%

UNATTACHED – 59 PERCENT OF CHRISTIANS IDENTIFY THIS WAY More likely to feel stressed out Less likely to be concerned about the moral condition of the nation Much less likely to believe that they are making a positive difference in the world Less optimistic about the future Far less likely to believe that the Bible is totally accurate in its principles Stats taken from The Barna Group

UNATTACHED – 59 PERCENT OF CHRISTIANS IDENTIFY THIS WAY Substantially more likely to believe that Satan and the Holy Spirit are symbolic figures, but are not real More likely to believe that Jesus Christ sinned while He was on earth Much more likely to believe that the holy literature of the major faiths all teach the same principles even though they use different stories Less likely to believe that a person can be under demonic influence More likely to describe their sociopolitical views as "mostly liberal" than "mostly conservative“ Stats taken from The Barna Group

THE GOOD NEWS Bible Reading rose by 4 percent Small churches and Large churches are growing “Spiritually” is on the rise The great “demise” of the American church hasn’t happened, yet.

FIVE THINGS TO EMPLOY 1.A sense of vision or direction. 2.Leaders empower attenders. 3.Attenders invite others to church. 4.Contemporary worship. 5.Growth in faith and movement toward commitment.

MARK 2:22 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY? Tradition – the old is always more comfortable, it is easier to stay where you are, Luke 5:39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’” Flexibility – Animal hides used to store things like wine, new wine in old skins caused the old skins to burst, is this a picture of the church? Patching up the Old – would you cut up a brand new coat to patch it onto the old? Only if the old is so comfortable, the pain is too great to put on the new.

WHAT IF? Here is where you get to fill in the blanks Let me here some, “What Ifs” for you. What do you think we could do, should do, can do, want to do???????