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What to Do When Your Church Is Losing People · Daily Devotions for Busy Lives

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  Bart Leger: 5. You stand at the back on a Sunday morning and
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  count. You've been doing this every Sunday for years. There
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  are fewer heads than there were a year ago, and a lot fewer than
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  five years back. You know the empty spots by name, the family
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  that moved away, the couple that slowly drifted off. Then you
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  read a headline that puts a number on that feeling. In 2024,
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  more Protestant churches in America closed their doors, then
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  opened Around 4,000 shut down in a single year. The churches most
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  likely to be shrinking are the older ones, the kind with a
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  cornerstone laid before your grandparents were born. And the
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  pastors, least sure their churches will even make it
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  another 10 years, are the ones leading the small congregations,
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  the like yours. We'll come back to where that number can't tell
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  you, but
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  first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm
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  Bart Leger. If you love a local church, this kind of loss has a
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  way of getting into your bones. You remember when the room was
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  fuller, and you know exactly which seats sit empty now and
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  whose they were. The family that moved for a job, the couple that
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  slowly stopped coming, and never quite said why. Every absence is
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  a person you prayed for and did life with, and watching the
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  count drop week after week wears on you in a way others rarely
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  understand. And it can start to feel like a verdict like the
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  shrinking is God's great on your church or on you. When the
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  numbers keep sliding, the fear creeps in that maybe this
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  congregation is simply finished, and you're just there to turn
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  out the lights when you're the last one to leave.
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  number can touch. Jesus made it to Peter. Listen to Matthew 16,
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  18.
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  Here, who's building it? Jesus is. The church is His to grow,
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  and He promised that all hell itself would not hold out
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  against it. He was speaking there about the church as a
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  whole, the whole body of Christ, across the world and across the
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  centuries. That church is not in danger. It has never once
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  stopped growing somewhere on this earth. And here's what that
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  promise means to you on a shrinking Sunday in your local
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  church. Every local congregation has its own story under God's
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  care, and yours is no exception. Your job is to be faithful right
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  where He's put you, to keep preaching or to keep serving,
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  and loving the people who are still there, and to leave the
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  numbers with Him. God is doing something in that half-full
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  sanctuary or that auditorium that no attendance chart can
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  measure. He counts what you can't count. And sometimes the
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  very decline that grieves you is a thing He uses to call a church
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  back to its knees and eventually to new life. Here's what that
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  number can tell you, and what it can't. It can tell you the loss
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  you feel is common, and that a lot of faithful people are
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  grieving the same empty chairs or pews. It can't tell you what
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  God is doing in the people who stay. It cannot see the prayers
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  going up in a half-full room. Jesus said He would build His
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  church, and the gates of hell would not hold out against it.
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  No closure notice and no attendance chart gets to
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  overrule that. But you can partner with God to see His
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  church revitalized and to begin to grow again. Let me tell you
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  where my heart is in all of this. My passion is to see that trend
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  turn around. Over the years, I've studied the early church
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  and the culture we live in now, and I trained as a certified
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  church consultant and church revitalization consultant
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  through Church Answers with Tom Rainer. If God is stirring you
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  to help your church find new life, I would count it a joy to
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  partner with you and to rejoice with you as it starts to grow
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  again. You can reach me or find out more at mykingdomimpact.com.
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  And here's today's challenge.
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  who's missing, look at who's there and thank God for them by
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  name. Then pick one of those people and encourage them this
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  week with a call or a note. A church comes back to life
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  through faithful people loving the ones right in front of them
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  and trusting Jesus to build what only He can build. Father, You
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  promised to build Your church, and we hold You to that promise.
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  For every pastor and every member watching the seats empty
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  out, give them courage to stay faithful. Remind them that You
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  see the prayers going up in a half-full room, and that You are
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  not finished with our congregation. Where a church is
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  declining, breathe new life into it, and thank You that the gates
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  of hell will never hold out against what You are building.
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  In Jesus' name, amen. This podcast runs on the generosity
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  of listeners just like you. If Daily Devotions for Busy Lives
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  has encouraged you, would you consider supporting it with a
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  one-time gift or by becoming a monthly supporter? Every
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  contribution helps keeps these devotions coming every day of
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  the week. You can give at dailydevotionsforbusylives.com
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  Thank you so much. And thanks for joining me on Daily
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  Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, Jesus is the one
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  building His church, and no attendance chart gets to
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  overrule His promise. Be faithful where He's planted you,
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  and trust Him to build what only He can build. Come back next
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  time for more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's
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  truth. Until then, God bless and have a great day.