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Last week, I wrote about a recent visit to Community Christian Church’s Yellow Box campus in Naperville, IL.  While the focus of the last post was signage, there’s something else CCC is doing well that deserves a second post.

Community Christian did a great job of communicating their core values throughout the worship service.  For example, right before the offering, the pastor said, “I want to let you know how your giving is making a difference.”  He went on to tell about a church plant in Paris, France, that recently had its first service.  The church planters were former members of CCC and the church gave them some seed money to start doing work in Paris.  The pastor didn’t specifically say, “Listen up.  I’m going to tell you about how your giving is working towards our mission as a church.”  But the story reinforced the core values to celebrate, connect and contribute as a way of growing closer to Jesus.  This church plant was a chance to celebrate what God was doing by connecting the congregation with these former members to show the contributions the church is making for the Kingdom.

Here’s another example.  Before singing a song at the end of the service, the pastor told the story of a woman in the congregation who has been really sick.  She’s been fighting for her life.  But during her struggles she’s been a great witness to others.  Recently, she was baptized at the church.  So during the last song, above the lyrics, there was a video of her getting dunked.  The congregation exploded into cheers.  This story and video let the congregation celebrate the awesomeness of a baptism while also connecting and caring for a member of their congregation who has found goodness in her struggles.

When you know who you are as a church is shows.  You don’t have to convince people.  It just comes through.  That’s why it’s so important to think about the DNA of your church. What makes you who you are?  What are you the best in the world at doing?  Once you know that, it just becomes a part of how you communicate.

(Juice on the Loose is a feature where we visit a church and share what we learn from the communication stuff they’re doing.  To read other posts in the series, click here.)