Within the next two years you could see more people converted than in the previous 20 years of your witness and ministry. If you would like that experience, you may be interested in reading and applying what John Miller shares in Outgrowing the Ingrown Church.
In 1970 the author was on a seminary faculty and pastoring a church in Pennsylvania, but he found himself crippled by his "liking to be liked." Feeling himself a failure as an instrument of change, he took a summer to visit Spain and study God's promises. Miller discovered that Christ not only said "Go with the gospel" but also "I will give you the power to bring in an immeasurable harvest." He felt like John Wesley, who, convinced that Christ had died for him personally, had experienced a powerful compulsion to take the gospel to the world.
Miller decided to use a fourfold emphasis in transforming his church: (1) Christ-centered rather than moralistic preaching, (2) worship services emphasizing God's welcome and grace in song and testimony, (3) encouraging each organization to get involved with the for gotten people of their community, and (4) developing programs to meet the needs of others by utilizing the gifts and abilities of his members. Though he lost some members who did not want an outward-looking church, there were many more who came in and found their lives changed by Jesus Christ.
