Sermon by Ps. George

The preacher used the analogy of an air show and asked us to ponder over how we would categorise ourselves if the church were to be an compared with an air show. He then explained that a churchgoer must not remain an audience to enjoy the performance on each Sunday but rather be like the trainee pilots or fighter pilots out in the field. If a church does not want to be outdated and inefficient, it must focus on being a leadership factory and not a membership factory. He shared his testimony about requesting his seniors to permit him to start the cyber church and how COVID made that idea very relevant.

Paul never created audience but faithful leaders who were trained and deployed in the field and these leaders then trained others who carried mission further and the church grew with a multiplier effect. This is also what Christ has commanded us to do as part of the Great Commission. The key is to discover people who strong faith in God, develop them spiritually, and then deploy them on missions. Paul did that with Timothy who then was sent out to most of the early churches that Paul has established in faith. 2 Timothy 2:2 sees Paul asking Timothy to find faithful people who can train others.

As a church, we need to teach people the first principles, help them turn to mature believers, go on missions to preach to new believers who are then taught, mature, and go out. This becomes a infinite loop and the Spirit of God assists the growth.

It is for us to reflect on this and decide whether we want to be just audience, trainee pilot, or be flying out there!