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Ten Little Christians

Dear friends of Hilton Baptist Church,

I spend a lot of time thinking about our church.   There are some nights while you are sleeping, I am lying wide awake in bed staring into the dark contemplating and praying for Hilton Baptist.   Every morning I make an effort to go into the sanctuary before I do anything else and I pray for all of you.   Even while driving to Wegmans I find myself reflecting on our church.

I think about the ways we can make Jesus known through our church.   I ask myself, “How can we be a church that is both relevant and meaningful to our kids and grandkids”.  I wrestle with the thought “How do we move forward while honoring those things we value?”  I spend time thinking about the ways we can actively make ourselves visible in the community.

It is not uncommon for most people inside the church (both pastors and parishioners) to ask the question “How do we make our church grow?”   And yes, I spend time thinking about this question as well.  This is a “loaded question” as they say and we don’t have the time or space to fully address that question here.

However, I recently remembered a poem that addresses why churches decline and how churches grow.   This poem does not give us a secret recipe for church growth, but it does give us a good place to start:

Ten Little Christians 

Ten Little Christians came to church all the time;
One fell out with the preacher, then there were nine.

Nine Little Christians stayed up late;
One overslept on Sunday, then there were eight.

Eight Little Christians on their way to Heaven;
One took the low road, then there were seven.

Seven Little Christians, chirping like chicks;
One didn’t like the singing, then there were six.

Six Little Christians seemed very much alive;
One took a vacation, then there were five.

Five Little Christians pulling for Heaven’s shore;
One stopped to take a rest, then there were four.

Four Little Christians each as busy as a bee;
One had his feelings hurt, then there were three.

Three Little Christians couldn’t decide what to do;
One couldn’t have his way, then there were two.

Two Little Christians each won one more;
Now don’t you see, two plus two equals four.

Four Little Christians worked early and late;
Each brought one, now there were eight.

Eight Little Christians if they double as before;
In just seven Sundays, we have one thousand twenty four.

In this jingle there is a lesson true;
You belong either to the building, or to the wrecking crew.

~Author Unknown

Want to help grow our church?  Invite one more!

With Grace and Peace,

Dan