There are very well known mega churches throughout the world that thrive and are succeeding at spreading the word of God through His people.
For example, there is a great church in California that has many locations called Saddleback Church. At Saddleback they have 10 core values for their church, And on their website, for each core value they have real-life examples of how the values are lived out on the church and with the church family. The church actually uses their name as an acronym to represent their beliefs and values:
S- Second chance grace place
A- All nation congregation
D- Doable discipleship
D- Deliberate pathway to growth
L- Love in action
E- Empowered members
B- Bold faith
A- Authentic fellowship
C- Creative outreach
K- Kid and family focused
Saddleback also uses the Purpose Driven Paradigm that builds churches on the 5 purposes in the Great Commandment and Great Commission. Those 5 different purposes are: Evangelism, Fellowship, Discipleship, Worship, Ministry. Evangelism is the way that the church communicates God’s Word, and it shows that they are ambassadors for Christ and believe that it is their responsibility to share the good news wherever you may be. Fellowship is the provision of authentic community and the warm welcoming of new believers and follows of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is the way that the church educates Gods people, developing them into a time of spiritual maturity. Worship is the way that the church celebrates Gods presence, does not matter the circumstances of the situation, anytime and anyplace and with anyone worship is a religious duty. Ministry is the way that the church demonstrates Gods love, it is showing Gods love to those that have not have the chance to be connected with the Lord by meeting their needs and healing their hurts.
I have actually been to this church and experienced the atmosphere and you can truly feel the community and the presence of God.
This is a different way to do church and I like it. I personally prefer smaller churches because of the connections, and I feel like I get lost in bigger churches. That’s also good to hear you went there and it doesn’t just look good on paper, but the Lord is moving there. I would attend a church with these values and community personally might not be my favorite, but it would be life giving for sure.
Wow I have never heard of saddleback but it looks like they are really doing it right! That is super encouraging and I like their acronym and 10 core values.
There are many mega-churches that struggle to keep the Gospel at the forefront. Many mega-churches today focus on the health and wealth gospel and fluff the Gospel to make it less “offensive.” It is great to see a mega-church doing it right! I hope they continue to grow and find success in what they do.
It is really cool to see good stewardship of God’s resources at Saddleback. Far too often megachurches fall off the wagon per say and lose sight of God’s purpose and his commandments in the fame and success.