What To Learn From Apple

Apple TV hits the stores this week. This little device will allow computer users to download TV shows or feature films from iTunes, play them on the computer and see them on their TV via a built in wireless connection. I don't know if I'll ever own one of these new devices but I believe they will be very successful. One of the reasons for Apple's success is a philosophy of Steve Jobs and the leadership team at Apple, Inc. When asked about the success of Apple, Steve Jobs said this:

"It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much."

I think the church can learn a lot from this philosophy. Too often, the church tries to be all things to all people and ends up with tons of "Ministries" that don't have any effect or impact on anyone.

At The Carpenter's Church we've made a decision to focus in on four areas.

1. The Weekend: Nothing competes with the weekend. This is where we have the opportunity to reach the most people and share the Gospel to our community. We'll be relevant, contemporary and show people from Scripture what God has to say about the pressures, successes, failures, joys and sorrows that everyone faces every day.
2. KidZone: The Children's Ministry at The Carpenter's is called KidZone. This is where Kids and God come together. We believe that children aren't the future but rather they are the present. They are the church of today and we're going to invest time, money and resources into making sure that the Kids of our church and our community have the chance to know Christ and learn how He can be effective and relevant in their lives.
3. Ignite Students: Our student ministry is absolutely off the hook. Tucker and his team of V-Staff do an amazing job of bringing the Gospel to life in a way that Jr. and Sr. High students can relate to and understand. Current statistics indicate that 4% of graduating high school seniors claim to have a relationship with Christ. We have made the decision that this statistic is not acceptable in our community and we're going to do our best to change it.
4. Connecting Points: Our Connecting Points are where adults can meet in a small group each week and connect with each other and with God. We believe that the Great Commandment is lived out through our Connecting Points and we are committed to continued leadership and leadership development to start, grow, build and strengthen Connecting Points all across the Lehigh Valley.

We can't be all things to all people. In fact, no church can. There are 165,000 people in Northampton County who don't know Christ. We need lots of churches and lots of Christians to focus in on a few things, do them really well and watch God do His thing.