A prayer point

Sadly, often good godly Christians move around between churches for not the best reasons.

Pastors should discourage that. If people turn up at your church, it will often be best to suggest they go back! Or if they are determined to leave, at least to do so well by asking to see the pastor of the church they are leaving to talk and pray.

Of course it is great to see our churches grow. But transfer growth is not really what we are after.

Why not pray that this year we might see at least one person go from no contact with any church to firm faith in Christ and committed membership in our church?

And let's also pray for God's richest blessing on the other churches locally that they may grow too. If they are used by God more than our church is, let us resolve to rejoice in God's goodness. It is, after all, not a competition! There are plenty of not-yet-Christians so go around. Other churches and ministers are our friends and allies not our rivals and we are on the same side. Although we long to be fruitful for Christ, we should deliberately delight when God prospers our brothers and sisters down the road.  May he give us grace to do so. And perhaps, if we learn this lesson, it might be safe for God to allow us a measure of "success" too without it going straight to our heads.