In between devotional on principles...Bible reading week 13, day 5

Today is an in between chapter devotional or pastor's thoughts.  We will move on to chapter 12, the final chapter, of Ecclesiastes on Monday.  Today I want to talk about some things that we have been focusing on all year with the leadership of the church which also effects you.

One principle that we have been focusing on is the raising of our evangelistic temperature.  The principle is to bring up our effort in sharing Christ with others just a degree.  Kevin Harney in Organic Outreach For Ordinary People describes it this way,

"Every follower of Jesus has an outreach temperature.  It can be hot, cold, or somewhere in the middle.  This temperature impacts the way we live and interact with those who are far from God.  It is our responsibility to steward this temperature and seek to raise it so our hearts burn hotter for those who are lost."

Is that happening here?  Is our outreach temperature rising at the church?  Is my outreach temperature rising?  That is a question each one of us need to ask ourselves.  Instead of grabbing our groceries and heading for the door, do we notice the name of the cashier and call him or her by that name to engage in a little conversation while we are waiting for our cash back?  Are we going about our day not thinking about praying for every conversation we will have or are we taking the time to pray specifically for those conversations?  These are examples of our outreach temperature going up a degree.

The point is not to go up 5 or 6 degrees but rather to move up like the temperature in the thermometer, one degree at a time.  We have also experienced the temperature going down so there will be time we need to admit that we have gotten "outreach cold" but we always need the desire to "warm up" again in our witness of our Savior.  

I see evidences that we are moving up in our outreach temperature as a church and that is seen by seeing individual people in our church raising their personal outreach temperature.  We have programs and events but it is that individual that makes it a point to open up their life to another that makes a real difference.  The program or event might be the tool used to draw but the real work is done through one God loving caring individual coming alongside another praying for the opportunity to share Christ's gospel with them while doing life with them.  I have noticed us starting to notice, pray, listen, ask questions, loving, welcoming, etc. of the 9 Arts Of Spiritual Conversations that we covered last summer in the combined adult Sunday School class.  I saw it yesterday at the Men's Coffee time down at the Rootbeer Stand.  

May the Lord help us along with the accountability of others to keeping looking around us to those God is putting before us.

The second principle is the "two degree" rule.  This principle deals with the organized group activities that we provide as a church.  Kevin Harney in his book titled Organic Outreach For Churches describes it as such,

"The Two-Degree Rule is the idea that we can metaphorically push the needle of the church compass two degrees off dead north (caring for ourselves) to direct some of our resources, time, care, energy, and love toward those who are still far from God.  This reorientation happens as we identify how we can take what we are already doing well and extend it to those who are spiritually disconnected."

This principle is that we would take each ministry of the church and ask the question, "How are we vectoring this ministry to our community?"  Let me give you an example.

Our men's ministry has a monthly breakfast which is geared toward the men of the church and rightfully so.  We have the opportunity to invite others to come with us and we promote it through social media and the radio station but really it benefits 99% of the time to "us."  What if we keep doing this very vital ministry to the men of the church but then also veer out 2 degrees and put on a community men's breakfast at the Dickinson House or some other venue once or twice a year?  This is just one example of the 2 Degree Rule.

Are we doing this as a church?  I see signs of this also.  A community meal is coming up soon.  We have a coffee and donut time at an area apartment complex.  We are developing children and youth activities with the general public in mind.  We need to keep asking in our committee meetings the question, "How could we intentionally reach out with this event or this ministry?"  It pushes us to do something different than we always have done and doing things differently that we have always done them.  It makes us allocate time and resources for this type of outreach to happen on multiple fronts of the church.

These are two principles that have challenged me this year and hopefully for the rest of my life.  We need to see the temperature rising and the vector veering in the community coming from the church and those who call Jesus, Lord.  His gospel needs to be shared and our one on one with others makes that gospel not only heard but seen not just with their eyes but with their hearts as they feel the love of a Christian toward them.  Let's be that type of Christian and that type of church to our community!  Let us pray.

"Lord, forgive us for not looking out and becoming very selfish with the greatest news of all time.  Help us to notice those You are putting around us and start to build a relationship with them.  Open up the windows of opportunity to share and help us to be prepared to speak about You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam