New Upcoming Series

Dear Church Family,     

Greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ.

    On March 14, we will begin a new series of messages at church. The new series is called How Do We Make Sense of this World?And I’ll be honest with you, this series is going to present a real challenge for me. I’m not the kind of teaching pastor who has messages all worked out far in advance. I like to serve up fresh bread each week right out of the oven. Even though I have been collecting a lot of material, the real work begins every Monday.

   Early in my ministry I adopted some mottos that help me stay focused, and motivated. One of my mottos is: To Make God Real, To See Lives Changed. The other motto is: The Preacher Preaches to the Church so that the Church Can Preach to the World.

Maybe my mottos can help us focus on our mission and motivate us during the next few weeks. When it comes to our mission of reaching people with the good news about Jesus, the burden is on us to make the connections. We have to earn the right to be heard. We don’t love people for the sake of conversion. We love people because they need to be loved.

   This new series is aimed at both the believer and the non-believer, the connected and the disconnected, the servants of God and the skeptical. In my experience, the needs of people inside the church are pretty much the same as those outside, and the questions we struggle with, they struggle with too.

   Now, we are doing a bit more with this series than we usually do.

   First of all, we are printing up some simple pocket-sized invitations that you can use to invite people you know. Remember, the place to start is with their need. You are not inviting them to become a part of our church forever. You are inviting them to hear some teaching that can help them in their daily life. You are inviting them to take one step in a new direction. That first step can be pretty overwhelming, so be patient and flexible. 

   Spend a great deal of time in prayer before you invite someone. Keep in mind what Paul says in Colossians 4:5-6: “Be tactful with those who are not Christians and be sure you make the best use of your time with them. Talk to them agreeably and with a flavor of wit and try to fit your answers to the needs of each one.” (Jerusalem Bible)

   Your invitation can be mailed, retyped into a personal email from you, or posted on your Facebook page. Of course, the best way is face to face.

   The second thing we are doing involves small groups. We are calling them M68 groups. M68 stands for Micah 6:8. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Each M68 group will meet once a week during the series and go deeper into the word using the questions I will supply each week. I think you will find yourself engaging with Christ and the Bible in fresh ways as you listen to the message with the questions in hand and then discuss them in your group during the week.

   In each M68 group we want to practice the empty chair strategy. We need to pray and expect friends to come to both the services and the group.  So, each group needs to keep an empty chair and ask God to fill it with just the right person. If you are doing this as a Zoom group, then think of it as an empty rectangle on the screen. 

   There is godly strength when we are all moving in unity in the same direction. M68 groups are for this series so that we are all making the same commitments in the same direction.  If after the 7 weeks your group wants to continue, go for it. Or, if you like being a part of a group, but want to try a different group, go for it. The church needs a spirit of flexibility and experimentation without fear.

   The third thing we are emphasizing is prayer. I want to ask all of you to spend every Monday beginning now, and every Monday through this series, in prayer. Pick a time each Monday to pray or pray several times a day as you think of it. Imagine the power of our entire church praying every Monday for weeks. Pray that as invitations are shared people will be responsive. Ask God to bless us with visitors. Pray that many lives will be changed. Pray for the M68 groups. And please pray for me as I prepare each message.

   In Philippians 1:3-6 Paul says,

   “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.…”

He took the words right out of my mouth. Actually, he put the words right into my mouth. I am thankful for you and I remember you in all my prayers.

Warm regards in the Lamb of God, Pastor Gary