When you think of a thriving church, what do you think about? Do you think about thousands of people pouring in every Sunday for the service/services? What about a bustling congregation that is willing to talk to each other about their faith and share the burdens of others, or do you think of a pastor that stops and talks to every one of the members of his congregation?

Do you think of everyone pouring into the church for special services for the holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving or celebrating New Year’s, or Easter?  What other images come to your mind when you think about a thriving church?

People Being Willing to Share Their Faith

So many people these days aren’t willing to share their faith. That comes with the territory of them getting ridiculed for it though too. Even more so, people don’t want to speak out in church and stand up for their faith. Many people are afraid of what others will think if they share their story. They might be afraid to share it because people get so bored with listening to others explain things, or they might not want to share it because they might think their story isn’t even as unique as another person’s. Remember, regardless of how you met Jesus, you can still share your faith story and how you came to be a believer. It is the most awesome story that you could ever tell anyone. Don’t be afraid to share it with the world.

If you see others stepping up and sharing their faith, don’t even worry about what others would think and be brave enough to share your faith, too. It might even benefit someone else besides you. If you share your faith story of coming to know Christ, it could change and even save someone’s life. It can help others want to know why you have so much peace in your life. It can help others be brave enough to start to talk about their faith journey. If more people are willing to share their experience with others at church, imagine the impact they could have outside of the church.

A Pastor’s Interaction with His Congregation

How does your pastor interact with you and other members of the congregation? Does he talk to you and others as if he is talking to his own family members? Does he make you feel appreciated and well respected, as well as value in anything you talk to him about? When you talk to him in private, is everything that is said kept in confidence as it should be? Do his sermons make you want to learn more about God? Does he push you in the right direction and is he really about what faith actually means in this lifetime? Does he talk about how important a relationship with God is? Any pastor who does these things is part of what makes a thriving church.

Share One Another’s Burdens

Whenever someone wants to tell you what may be happening in your life, you should always try and listen. Sometimes listening is all you have to do. You don’t even have to give the person any advice unless they ask for it.

God tells us to bear one another’s burdens in love. When someone in our church needs help with something, whether it is another member or the pastor, we can graciously give of our time, our talents and treasures in order to help them out. We should be more than willing to give of ourselves to help other people because that is what Christ did for us by dying on the cross. He suffered unimaginable pain and suffering and died for our sins, just so that we can be saved. Be there for one another no matter what life throws at you and you will be blessed tenfold by God in the long run.

Draw More People To Church

Instead of being against going to church, maybe try to think of ways that you can help others come to your church and draw people in. Maybe make flyers and pass them out around your neighborhood and the church neighborhood or hold a cookout in the front parking lot to have others see what the church members do. Never give up on trying to do good things for your church.

You can help your church become a thriving church through your prayers and through your words and actions. Sometimes, prayer is the only thing that is really needed to help a church start to thrive or continue to thrive.