All Access 2010: Day Two, Session One with Rick Bezet

The morning started off with powerful worship led by the Healing Place Church worship team. And after worship Pastor Rick Bezet of New Life Church in Arkansas opened up the morning with a powerful message from the Word of God.

Rick Bezet recently had an appendectomy that put him out of commission for a few days. That made him slow down and see what God was trying to say. He realized that one day the people he’s pastoring will be in the presence of God and that he wants that to be a good day for them. He remembered that Billy Graham told him to “always live your life with the end in mind because the end is going to come.” Bezet stated that it is imperative that we finish well.

Bezet, wanting to finish well, began to think about people that have never heard the gospel or were backsliden in his state. He declared that the fields were ripe in this day and time for harvest, but sometimes we forget about the harvest.

Rick Bezet then gave 7 Measuring Tools in Terms of the Harvest:

1. Is your church humiliating?

To prevent visitors from being humiliated New Life Church holds a ‘believers service’ where they want the Holy Spirit and want God to touch them but are aware of the ‘nonbelievers’ around them.

Bezet made the brilliant statement that “everything (Spiritual gifts) doesn’t have to happen in every service.”

He asked the audience if it’s embarrassing to bring friends to their church? Pointing out that you don’t have to compromise your convictions, but that the church exists for its non members because unchurched people are showing up.

He told a story of a time where he wanted to share the Gospel with a friend, but was scared that if his friend came to church, he would ‘lose’ him (getting saved).

He pointed out that at church, the Holy Spirit is very good at drawing people to the Father and sometimes we ruin it by the things we expect Him (the Spirit) to do.

He pointed out a statistic that 85% of all 1^st time church visitors will go to your website before they go to your church – to make sure that you don’t embarrass them.

People that were unchurched and lost loved to be around Jesus- why don’t they love being around the us?

Nothing ever hurts church growth more than having a friend who visited your church then they get in the car and say they will never come back because then you will probably never invite anyone again.

2. Be nice

Bezet told pastors not to let weird people be greeters, let nice people do it. And be nice about how you open your services: Start with a countdown,  ask how many guests have been to church before, tell them that there’s a lot of ways to do church and God likes them all, then explain how you do church. He tells  his crowd: When we start the music our aim is to worship God. We don’t know your background, so participate in worship in a way that feels comfortable to you.

3. Music

Rick advised to never set up your church to have the style of music you like . You’re not trying to reach you. People don’t flip through the radio looking for choir music, so pick music people like. Churches grow because they have good music.

4. Sermon

Bezet said that the Word of God is very cutting edge. It’s ahead of its time. When preaching, use terms people are familiar with. Find something in the Word that relates to people. God and people are looking for people to be real.

5. Your Church is Schizophrenic

He said that churches are always changing; always changing services and ministries and not getting things right. Even thought he knew perfection was not possible, he stressed the important of being consistent in the quality of what you do. This point was a tad bit grey as it was the thing he talked least about.

6.Relational

Bezel said that churches have to be relational because people know when you love them, and when you’re just being fake.

7. Are You Delusional?

“The heart of God is looking for those who are lost.” Are we delusional and forgetting that?

Next Priscilla Shirer shared on the importance of the Power of God in your services. I will post my notes from that session momentarily.