We had a great meeting yesterday at Center City Church. It was so great to see a handful of new faces and then to see multiple people make commitments to Christ. I’ve been so encouraged by the way that our group has taken ownership of Center City and consider it “their church.” We have had so many new faces come through because our group has really responded to the challenge of spreading the news about what God is doing in their lives personally and at Center City Church corporately.
I taught yesterday on the power of God. I have been so motivated by 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 in our calling to start this church in Uptown Charlotte.
When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness — timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
After reading this Scripture, I’m convinced again that God does not need our learned human devices to display his power. As such, we are responding to the directive from God to start Center City with no advertising. No Facebook marketing. No Google AdWords. No Yahoo Search Marketing. No mass mailing to the community. I have nothing against these things. I actually love advertising and marketing. But we feel God’s clear direction that the story of Center City will be spread through our team and God’s power at work.
I’m so blessed to say that our entire team is on board. We are going to rely on the power of God and some good ole’ fashioned word of mouth advertising.
It may sound crazy to some, but this is our story. This is the way that God has directed us to start his church in Uptown. I learned a long time ago that God’s best plan is so much more effective that my greatest talents combined. When God continues to do his great work through Center City Church, he will continue to get all the glory.
