Reaching Our Community For Christ Pt. 2

You know, the Bible says that in the last days, the love of many will grow cold. And that's what we see happening right now. Yes, he's full for blast. So when you, when you start thinking about it, you said yourself with times and they really have changed a lot. Let's just say, in the last 10 years, the last 10 years. I've seen a big changing and mainly is It's just how the media. Says things. And, I mean, they're just kind of violent themselves and you don't know what you're hearing if it's right or not. And, and even if you listen to the sports program, it used to be all about sports. Now it's all about social injustice and they're trying to bring politics in all of that and then you see all the shootings and all and the things is going on, but you can just see it in our nation that people are just divided and hate each other more, and more, and more, and every day. And that's what the Bible says is going to happen in the last day. So we're, of course, we're living in the last days. You say what? How long is it going to be until Jesus come by? I don't know. But I'm telling you, he gives us the signs in the Bible and we look at them and you say we're all this is been going on forever. But what he tells us is that when you see these things, when you see the magnitude, when you see the intensity of them starting to Increase Dan is getting close. And that's what I see. I see the intensity and the frequency of these things happening. Just more often. It's kind of like a woman with birth pains. Life is like a, right? And a lot of that has to do with Well, there's no teaching at home, but we've taken the Bible out of schools and you see what we have developed in our country. So,

Of course, and we want to make it. Go to places.

Probably just know that things are going to get worse.

That mean that we give up. The best.

And this this right here, do you see a different word in it because I changed name. Healthy. It was the Dynamic Church initiative and I have changed it to the healthy Church initiative. You say why did you do that? Well, I don't want people to think what we're doing here. He is just all about. Church growth numerical numbers. That's not what we're doing here.

now, a lot of people look at small churches, like our

well, if you look it up, most churches in the United States, most of them have under 100 piece, About 75% of the church. I don't have anything against mega churches 2-20-2020 thousand forty thousand people. I have nothing against that God uses that and it's quite impressive to think of twenty thousand people sitting in one spot, one area on Sunday morning worship Him and praising God, that's a good thing. That is a good thing, but it's not a bad thing. When you have 20 or 25, worshiping God, eat because of the church. The church is the Church of Jesus Christ, and he loves all the churches. So I decided I would change it to the healthy church because what I want us, but I want us to be a healthy Church.

All the Dynamics that are church that has 2,000 people will have, we don't have all the video.

Play Zone at Christmas and things like that. We don't have that, but that's okay. Simply because we're small, doesn't mean that there's something.

I mean. A lot of.

and that's why I've been saying over and over for any church, but especially a small

Kamikaze want to build a relay?

I like smallfoot. I mean I really do most of the churches I've ever been a member of where what I would cause small churches. I like small churches so just because he's out there.

Very healthy. The church is on there, doing what God wants them. Do the Outreach, they're doing everything but it's just that there are small church, and they'll probably always be.

Now, my telling you this stuff, the kind of comfort you, in case. Nobody comes.

And I want us to be here. That's my whole point in doing it. That

Bring 2 or 10. That's fine too. We can be a healthy small church and have intimate relationships.

Last week we started looking at Outreach and remember what I said.

About Matthew chapter 4. I think it was worth 18, + 19. I'm going to read it and then I want you to finish it for me. Jesus. Walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brothers Simon called Peter and Andrew. His brother, casting the net into the sea for they were Fishman. He said to them, follow me and I will make you walk. Fishers of Men do this? Exactly what we're talkin about and I want to continue talking about tonight is being Fishers, of Fishers of Men. And I remember we talked last week about that. We need to reach people. That's in what we would call the natural footprint of our church. And we talked about maybe a seven eight, nine mile radius. Show that people have to go more than 12 minutes that they look at that as a trip and not just going to church they think they have to make a trip. So we're looking at an area this a 10 mile radius within our church. And and remember we asked will pants when do if you'd asked Peter and John in?

Well, they can tell you because they were fishermen. Well, when do people bite better? Remember what day more people saved on than any other Sunday funny? And it's probably Sunday at church this Sunday at the restaurant or Sunday out mowing or something like that. They're probably in a church and then the second largest, catch a fish if you want to say it like that.

But the second week and this comes from churches, that keep up with their baptisms and people getting saved. It's the second week of December and then of course, you know, where people bite best when we talked about before at church, that's why it's so important for us. That we become in Bible. especially for small Church, everybody has to be and then buyer and How do fish bite best? Well, this is what the Bible says. In John 6:44. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. So that's the holy spirit will draw people. surprise orcas either need a Salvation and most of the time not always but most of the time that's going to happen on Sunday morning when the people are in church with you remember the lame man who was laying by

So we need people lost people. We need to

So we need to ask God to draw them as we're afraid and I'll talk more about your 90-day prayer and a second. So most people will come to cry. When they're drawn to cry and they'll come they'll be drawn to Christ when Christians are pretty. So in this 90-day prayer, we've been praying, Lord, give me your heart for the loss, and I still owe me and give me your eyes for the Lost. Right now, we have about 30 days left into our 90-day prayer right now. If you haven't started, go ahead and start praying for a couple of people that, you know, neighbors, friends and family that are unsaved that do not go to church and start praying for them specifically. Now's the time to do that. So with your Lord, give me your heart for the lost. Now, start praying for a couple of people that, you know, Specifically and ask the Lord to give you the ability to open up an opportunity for you to to speak to them about the lure. So what I'm asking all of us to do you say what this is evangelism, that's what that is what it is but it's called what I would call either servant evangelism or friendship evangelism. Now friendship evangelism is you get to know a person? Well, there's people in your family, that's unsafe. You already know them. You may have neighbors or friends that you know, don't go to church and unsafe, you know them. But there's other people out there. Maybe you don't know that well, but they're not saying. And so, what we do is we start praying for those people and that the Lord will give us an opportunity to evangelize. But what I'm trying to say is sometimes, and I would even say most of the time, You're going to you're going to have to build a relationship with someone so you can talk to him and evangelize and witness two of you have to build that relationship. Well if it's someone that you are meeting for the first time or maybe just an acquaintance that may take some time and it may take some time for them to to come to church with you. So don't be surprised if you ask somebody and you know I would like for you to come to church our pastors at the start, the new series. I think you would like it, they'll probably say okay thanks but they won't come. But you keep asking and you keep doing things with them and for them and building that friendship and before long, they'll come. He will draw the holy spirit will draw. So let's look at a couple of points tonight, and we going to put it up here on the screen. In the first one, it is the goal of our Outreach system. And here it is right here at the goal of our Outreach. Sister number one, and I've already I just talked about this build relationships with. Well, we going to call him instead of just putting lost people up there. We will call him pre Believers build relationships with pre Believers so someone that you may know maybe not that well or maybe you know some or maybe it's someone you do know well. But you really haven't built a relationship with them. Now, there's plenty of ways to build relationships, and, and serve them. Some of you ladies who like to bake make somebody some cookies or something like that, and take it, over to their house and neighbor or something like that. I just thought you might like these. Some of you men who is good at working on things or you may fix a car or lawn mower for somebody. I remember when people would have hard times in our neighborhood back home. Where I left, my dad would get in his truck and put his lawn mower on his truck and go mow the yard for. Because if they had surgery or something and couldn't do it and maybe their wife didn't know, or whatever he would go, and he wouldn't talk to him. He wouldn't ask him why he would just go and mow, the yard for that was a service that he was doing for them. And that means a lot to people. You know, so just think of something that you can do what we want, we're going to have to build relationships with those who are unsaved. They may be an unsaved, young single mom in your neighborhood. You say, what in the world could I serve her?

You could though. Tell her. Why don't you go out to a movie one night and I'll babysit for you. Just little stuff like that. I'll babysit your children, while you go and have a night out, she may have two children. You know, she's living by herself is hard on her, just just things like that. That's how you kind of rich people and build relationships. Number two, After we build a relationship, we want to lead them to Jesus, of course. So we looking for opportunities to or witness to them and to talk to him, and that may take some time it may take a month or two or three or six a year, I mean, you don't know, but at least start talking to him a little bit. Number 3, then we help newborns take their First Steps of Faith. Well, how'd you do that? Well you can, you can do that by mentoring them. You want to stay close to him. But if you can get them involved in church, we we will have a, a program here where, you know, maybe we'll call it next steps of the Christian faith in someone that's just saved. They can go through this class and and talk to him and teach him how how to pray, how to read the Bible, how to study the Bible.

Talk, teach him about tithing and things of that nature. That's the next steps that they need to take once they're saved. And then number for and fold them into the church family. Of course, we would like them to go to a bible-believing church and if it's your friend, we would like for him to go dire bible-believing church, so bring bring them here and they you know, and go through the class there and and you know and be involved in the church. Now a lot of people, a lot of churches And I don't know if we are. I can't remember. What are bylaws last. Maybe someone here can help me. Once you become a member here, do you have to be a member for certain time before you serve? Does anyone know? Cuz I member I was in the church one and they said you had to be here 6 months. Before you can serve. Serving the church, a job. Whatever lot. Now, lot of a lot of churches that have done that in the past where they said, you know, well, you know they're trying to make sure well, let's see if this is going to stick. So let him come to church for six months and then if they show their fateful then we can put them on the committee. Or will they sing in the choir or something like that?

I don't like that.

If somebody say you say where they don't know anything about Christianity know, they can't teach but I tell you what they can do. They can greet somebody at the door. You know why? I would want them great and somebody cuz they are just saving, they got a smile on their face, that's exactly why. So you can give them a job of greeting. You can give them a job, check. And children then In the back. If we had a program for the children or something, they can do something but I wouldn't want anybody to think or read when we got to be here. Six months or nine months before we can do anything. But I don't that's not good. I don't think I understand why Church's did that but I don't think that's good. You want to get people involved and even if it's something simple, let them start doing things, you know, in the church and not now you not going to let a new believer, teach the adult Sunday school class, but they all they can do something. So that's what we, that's the goal of our Outreach. So just think of it. Okay, I want to build a relationship. I want to get to the point where I can witness. I want hopefully that they'll give their life to Christ. We've got something at our church, that they can go through. The let him know how they can grow and become mature. In Christ, they can go through this program here and then, of course, in fold in the church and let him start serving and doing things like that. That's the goal of what we're trying to do now. Let's go to the next life.

Strategy for reaching. Your neighbors. Now. This is what we want to do, and let me ask you this before I go any further. Who's your neighbor, exactly? Who is your neighbor? Is it the people who live beside you while you live in the neighborhood or even if you don't you may have people who live on either side across the road from me. That's your neighbor is that the only neighbor you have. No.

So, who's your neighbor? if you want to find out who your neighbor is come back Sunday morning, Because I'm going to tell you who your neighbor is. Because Jesus told us, who our neighbor is.

The parable of the Good Samaritan.

He's got and that's what we're going to talk about Sunday morning. So be thinking about what who's my neighbor, exactly. Other than the people who live around me? I give you a hint. If anyone that you come across this in, need that your neighbor if you see someone with an E, whether you've ever spoke to him or not, are you going to stop and help them? Are you going to look at them and walk by on the other side? Best our neighbor and the lawyer was asking Jesus, well, who's my neighbor anyway because he wanted to justify himself and saying, well, I serve the church, I serve in the temple. Those are the people I serve. She said, with no, that's not it, but we'll talk more about that. Funny. I don't want to give it away right now, but here's a simple strategy for reaching your neighbors. And we'll think about it of people that, you know, people maybe live near you. Number one, you pray for them. Like I said, I already started in the 90 day, prayer. We got 30 days. I start praying for a few neighbors or a few family members, whoever it may be number two, we talked about that, you serve them in some way. Do something for them.

See if I have it. Thought I put it in yet. Here it is.

Showing God's love no-strings-attached active kind random act of kindness card. I know y'all probably use them before here in the church but here's and you give them this card and act of kindness and you just do something for me and you give them or leave them this car. And on the back, it's going to say new Grace Baptist Church, join us Sunday at 11 a.m. and then it will have our address and everything like that website and everything like that on just do it. Just give somebody make them 10 cookies and take it to him and put this on top and hand it to her. I thought you would enjoy that. So that's how you serve them. What did I say? The church. We need to be, we need to be inviting us. So we invite them to church. We don't just pray for him and then do things for him and serve them. We have to get them to church, why we have to get them church. I was most people say, you know, what day Sunday that's when most people are saying and so they're saved probably at a church service.

number for, Expose them to. Grace. And Truth. Why do we want to expose them to Grace and Truth? And why do we put Grace first? I swear he did. That's exactly right. That's why we love others because God first loved us. but we give them Grace, because We all need Grace.

And if somebody comes in here and like I said last week and they're Lesbian or homosexual.

or in our time, the thing that you see a lot with young people is their living together,

So what are we going to do? If young fella and his live-in comes in? And how we going to treat them? Like I'm welcome you. You treat them with Grace because when you look at them no matter what they're saying is, when you look at them, all you have to say is There I go without the grace of God. That's me right there. I will do that. I could do that. A very easily, that could be me sitting there. So we show them, great. We don't beat them up with the Bible. I'm not going to stand up here so yeah, they live. Yes, I'm going to preach a sermon about marriage and how strong to lift know you going to love them, going to be nice to him, you going to be friendly to him. You going to show them Grace and you going to build that relationship? And when you do, then you can speak truth into their life. Right? You going to speak the truth in love? I can I can preach on marriage from from right here with people sitting out there this living together and I can preach on marriage and I can preach in a way that will not offend them but they will know what between what's right and what's wrong. And that's what I will do. They will know what Biblical and was not, but I would never offend them in any way, call them out, or, or speak ugly, or anything like that. So, we always in this is what Jesus always did. He always expose people to Grace and then truth. And so that's how we need to be as well. Number five, invite them to receive Christ, so that would be more of witnessing and then help them to grow. As Christ followers.

So, in other words, you want to help them to mature in Christ. So we want to get them in church and then get them in to the, you know, show him how to read the Bible, how to study the Bible, and things of that nature. And that's kind of our gold. And that's our strategy if you will, to help them to grow. So, and and then some things that maybe that I could do.

As far as, you know, a pastor or whatever number one, you know, we need to be an inviting Church. Well, then the leader of your church needs to be an invite her. Do I need to be an invite or so everybody can see it? Well, might he's out here inviting people will then I'm going to invite people to and once once we grow and things, we can hold, you know, maybe a couple of classes a year on maybe some I said I just need to brush up on my witnessing how the witness and things like that we could do that will have a new members class and I already talked about that and you know, speak more of evangelism because one of the things a new Christian wants to do, but they don't know how to do is they want to go tell your friends, what happened to them? They want to be able to witness, but sometimes they don't know how. So maybe, you know, sometimes a lot of churches does a stewardship series each year.

But then maybe we can do an invite or series about just how you know how to invite people and use certain scriptures. And all of that. Well let's go to the next is how to develop a heart for the lost and you have that in your hand out, don't you? Okay, how to invite your neighbors, boson to Grace and Truth. And So, what we want to do, what we want to do here, if course, we're doing our 90 Day prayer Challenge, and if you've been doing this for 60 days, now, you've probably seen how, you know, you just look at people differently and think of people differently and you if own your mind more maybe than it was before you look at people differently. And so at the end of 90 days, you know, we're going to think to ourselves. You know. I really do need to get out and I need to become an invite her and I need to start inviting people to church. So the polemic very thing that we want to do to recap to attract more newcomers is find our natural footprint, which we have And if we want to start widening our front door. That's very first thing. We have to do before we go out and buy it and things like that is we need to pray. We need to be a a strong praying church. We need to ask God to speak to other people. Ask God to no one comes to the father unless the father draws him. Well let's start praying that God would draw people to Christ. Let start praying that on Sunday since that is the best day for people to receive Christ that God will start drawing them to our church on Sunday morning and see. Just start praying those prayers like that. And then start investing in the lives of people in a little deeper way, you know, maybe like I said volunteered to babysit or fix a car or lawn mower, something like that. We have the random acts of kindness. You can do those things. You say well I don't know what to do on the random acts of kindness. Well that's why I put a little page. I believe in your Did I put the random act of kindness in your hand out? All right, the very back. Let's turn there and look You say why? I don't know what to do with me. Well I got this here from another church. New song church. I think they're out in California. Look at all of this. You can get ideas from this. Pay for someone's meal. I've done that before and Vicki and Keith done that when we get in line at the same time at Bojangles and a lot of times will pay for each other's meal. You know, and so more neighbor's lawn already talked about Sweet Shop. Wash. Someone's car. Give grocery cards or gas card to someone. You know how expensive gas is now, if you got a little extra money, he has here's a $20 gas card, just a random act of kindness offered to walk her neighbor's, dog. I'm not going to do that one but I mean if somebody wants to do that you can oh here's what I'm going to do. Take coffee and donuts to businesses or the coaster station for breakfast. Well how about taking coffee and donuts? And I told Martha I was going to do that and I was first place. I was going to hit, was this dentist's office right up here. She said, you can't take Donuts to a dentist office. I said, where you want me to take him and she wanted me to go to Harris Teeter, and get some type of fruit tray. Nobody wants a fruit tray. They won't Krispy Kremes you got to take him something. Sweet. Even at a dentist's office. They probably hate it. But there's also a A Veterinary on something about a dog place up there and whatever animal you can go in there and I guarantee you they would. But that's just something that you could go go to businesses around this area. And just tell him. My name is Mike, and I'm Pastor new Grace Church and look, I want to bring this Tuesday. We just trying to reach out. Let you know. We're here. If you need anything, you can call on us, too, short and brief. They'll appreciate that. And I'll give him an invite card. Or if we have a series coming up, I'll have some cards made up with the series title and what we going to talk about here, could you send this out so many customers? Do that? You're not going to say no after you just gave him a dozen donuts. They're not going to do that. But look at just some of the Well, here's one that will make Martha happy. Treat someone to fresh fruit so that will make her happy so you could do that. I guess. Here's a good one. Bye. Stranger a pizza. Help. Custodian clean classrooms at the school. There's a school about two and a half miles down this week, right? Across 50. I bet you they need some help that we could do things. But just look at all this. That will give you some ideas of what you could do as far as serving other people. So,

let's let's close it right there tonight because I'm getting into another big section right here and I'm afraid, I don't want to stop right in the middle of that, but let me say this about our next action, it will close. We're going to have to have like some Churches. Call it Big days or something where you ramp up and you really go out and ask people to come. Now, thank your hand out, makes a 426 big weekends per year and that would be too many for us or small Church. Three at the most probably, too. And we're going to talk about what days next week or what time of year Easter Christmas Mother's Day things. Vacation Bible School when we can plan big things and really have a push to go out and and reach those who are lost Amy. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you and praise you tonight. Lord for your word and Lord you know, our hearts here. Do you know that we want to do the right thing and Lord we're not trying to do all this just so that we can have a bigger church and or so that we can have a lot more people here so that we can get more money and we're not doing it for that. We're doing it because we want to be healthy, you want to be a healthy Christian and a healthy church and we want to reach the people who's in our footprint. As many as we can, if you desire that our church to grow numerically will thank you for it. If not, we're going to be the best small church and the most dynamic small church that we can be. We're going to praise you and give you all the glory in Christ name we pray. Amen. Alright. Why will see everyone Sunday, Lord willing. And we're going to talk about who's your neighbor.

Related Media

Related Sermons