What is the 1 thing I desire for people to know about Restoration Church?

For the last few weeks, I've been pondering a simple question. What is the 1 thing i desire for people, who visit our church, to leave knowing?  We all wish they would leave their first visit knowing who we are, what we believe and why we love Jesus.  But like most children, we only process one over feeling about a place we are exposed to. When we pick up our kids from church or school for the first time we ask them the same questions. ( did you have fun, what did your learn)
   I believe it is the same with first time guest to our churches, they leave with one feeling and a decision already made about our churches, ( before the service is over, usually within the first 7 minutes) did they enjoy it and will they come back. The first question we must ask ourselves is "what is unique about our individual church"?
 While we have the same commandments and vision the The church, I know each church has a unique God given vision, gifting and motivations. Being a 3 yr. old small church we know that Restoration isn't the only church in town. duh! We also don't believe we are the best church in town for every person. We are really good at a few things but don't pretend to have the "best of everything" nor should we be expected to. Thus we believe and support all churches in our area and The Kingdom. We celebrate each unique differences and common purposes.
    We are blessed to have been entrusted by God with each individual or family that walks thru our doors and consider each person a gift.  It may surprise some to hear, but usually after talking with someone about their past church attendance and preferred music or worship styles, I usually know if restoration church is going to be a good fit for them.  For a large percentage of people "looking for a church home" we are a good fit and they stay and often I recommend them to try several other churches that better fit their past history and preference. So back to the question.
  All Christian churches hope every visitor leaves our service (after their first visit) knowing we love Jesus, we love people , we love our community. Funny thing is even the " snake handling" churches can live by the motto: we love Jesus and we can prove it. For the rest of us "non-snake" churches we hope we have some unique differences that separate us from other churches.lol.
But what is the one unique thing we want them to know about our church, people, staff or pastor? I have little desire for people to leave our service thinking we have the best facility, best transportation, best programs, best music or funniest preacher or most eloquent communicator. Probably not gonna be true in more than one of those areas. My desire is that everyone who comes in contact with Restoration church will believe that we are real. While we want be able to share how our bi vocational staff sacrifices or how they are among the biggest financial givers per income. Many will never realize what they do without in order for us to be financial sound and save money. In an age when mega churches and their leaders have little financial self control or integrity. Restoration church has been able to save several months income toward our operation and opportunity fund. While many churches (even some with famous pastors) are struggling we have been blessed with financial increase.  This is just one but measurable ways we can prove to the world and ourselves that we do ministry out of pure hearts and motivation. Authenticity is a major factor for the success we have experienced.

where is the worst place to eat in your area?

had the displeasure of going back to a place to eat today that i knew was less than pleasurable. How can anyone screw up a pizza buffet? i had given this place in my town 10 plus chances because i love pizza, my favorite. the problem has never been the pizza. Its part of a successful chain, pizza hut. As recent as 3 yrs. ago, it did decent biz with a great lunch crowd. But every time you would notice horrible service and other patrons getting disgusted by the lack of care of the employees.
Today they were serving the same food, same price, same building but it seems people have caught on. fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me. No one was there during the rush lunch hour.
I wonder if many unchurched felt the same as i when they tried to give church another try, this past easter sunday . No doubt some attended churches that were based of models of the 1950s and haven't changed a bit. they only seem less connected to reality more than ever. Often churches fail not because of a bad product, but by bad service or preperation. Whats the difference between a 5 star restaraunt and golden corral, not really taste- its preparation. its the effort put into the quality of the food and the atmosphere in which it is served. A caring, attentive staff who has pride in their work has alot to do with the quality of effort in which they serve. Knowing our product and the benefits to our guests, how much more pride should we put in caring for those who walk thru are doors. unchurched people are not put off with Jesus, they are just confused by the manner in which we do things in order to please ourselves and not our special guest. Most churches are friendly to each other, but not the guest who don't look like us, dress like us and talk like us.

what does a church staff pastor and wife look like?

I just read a new post from a pastor near Auburn.(MatthewThrower.com) It is some of the best and "truly honest" advice I've heard recently. And it comes from the Bible. Had the chance to know pastor Matt and his more talented brother(ha ha) while we were leading a Bible study for college aged students at our home church before we entered church planting .

I am so thankful for the role modeling we received under Pastors Rudet and Betty Atkinson, Mike and Sue Wright, Whit and Jan Sasser. Will never forget my favorite 2 youth pastors growing up Keith Jones and Scott Smith. They poured countless hours into Nicole and I. They modeled what it means to be a Christ follower. I served under some great men of God but was also exposed to every different type of attitude and styles from those in ministry. One of my professors at Southeastern Univ. in Lakeland, FL.(a/g), said 90% of pastors are good as gold and the other 10% are bologna. I recently heard Pastor Chris Hodges of the fast growing church in America and one of the founders of ARC say in his opinion @ 50% of those in ministry should not be ( due to sin or not really being a real leader). Well here's Pastors Matt's blog. Boy it sounds like he's been exposed to the same stuff we all have been. enjoy!

The Church – The role of a Pastor/Church Leader18 02 2010
Over some time I want to attempt to post about how I feel a healthy church should look like. Hopefully you will find these posts helpful and give you an idea of how Refuge Point Church will look. Before we get into the role of the church I think it’s fitting to get an idea of what the Bible says the role of a pastor and/or church leader should be.

Let’s look at 1 Timothy 3: if anyone wants to provide leadership in the church, good! But there are preconditions: A leader (pastor, elder…) must be well thought of, committed to his wife, cool and collected, (I LOVE that part) accessible, and hospitable. He must know what he’s talking about, not be over fond of wine, not pushy but gentle, not thin-skinned, not money-hungry. He must handle his own affairs well, attentive to his own children and having their respect. For if someone is unable to handle his own affairs, how can he take care of God’s church? He must not be a new believer, lest the position go to his head and the Devil trip him up. Outsiders must think well of him, or else the Devil will figure out a way to lure him into his trap…No exceptions are to be made for women—same qualifications: serious, dependable, not sharp-tongued…
Here’s the deal: Churches don’t need kings…(Absolute power always goes bad.) I’ve seen this ‘pastor King model’ and it’s not biblical or healthy. You know…the men who wear the super hero capes, have the guards surrounding them, bla bla…? We just read that a church leader/pastor is accessible and hospitable. Pastor, stop hiding in your office with your door shut all of the time. You are not a god.
What churches need are pastors who will lead by example and who are servants. By the way…isn’t that what Jesus came to do…serve? In fact it seems like he came with a towel in his hand to wash peoples feet, not sit behind a title.
The Pastor’s wife: Same applies bro… and I love what the writer also included on the list: NOT SHARP-TONGUED! Dear Beloved Pastor-if you can’t handle the affairs of your family and can’t keep your wife from gossiping and being slanderous…then you are not fit to lead a church. Apply for something in the corporate world.
Here’s what you should expect from any church leader:
1. That they are continuously growing in their walk with Christ.
2. That they pastor their family – bathe them in the word and bathe them with their love and support.
3. To Pastors – Instead of being a CEO Pastor, try being a spiritual director. Care for the spiritual life of your staff. Support your staff at any cost, because it will cost you.
4. Serve.
5. Lead.
It’s not about advancing a “pastor’s” kingdom…it’s about advancing HIS Kingdom. “let Your kingdom come, Lord.”
Love You, mean it-
Matthew