Building on "Round Up Sunday"

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:25, NIV

We chose a Sunday that we believed would be a good one to gather our families back together and set some goals for a "round up Sunday" attendance emphasis. Our goal was to have 200 present for Bible study, and 250 present for worship. Even with a few people unable to be here, we managed to make both goals. We had 215 for Bible study and looking back in the records, that will be the largest attendance of this year so far with the exception of Easter Sunday. And we just did make the 250 mark in worship. Well, we had 249, and so we counted the police officer who comes to do security patrol for us, so that helped to round it up. And we probably missed one or two here and there, so we can say 250 people were in worship with us, in one service, Sunday morning.

As a side note, there were 25 children in Children's worship, and 15 preschoolers, toddlers and nursery babies here yesterday, and altogether, one fourth of those present were under 18.

We don't do something like this merely to pat ourselves on the back and feel like we've accomplished something. There are several reasons why we placed an emphasis on raising our attendance numbers and making people aware of what they are.

Encouragement
Our church has now been pastorless for over a year, and during that time, people have a tendency to drift. We've had several members pass away, and several of our families, including some involved in key leadership positions, have moved away recently. The combination of all of those factors can be discouraging to those who are attempting to remain faithful to the church and continue serving and supporting it. You miss them and you notice the empty spaces. So a little bit of an emphasis which encourages people to get back in touch with people helps build a few relationships, and makes people feel they are being used in the kingdom work at the church, and the results will hopefully encourage people to continue this ministry and these relationships. Several members and regular guests who haven't been here for a while returned on Sunday and that, too, is encouraging.

Reaching the goals may also help to create a spiritual sense that God isn't finished with GOBC and he still has a work to do here. It would have been so easy for many people to just consider this another "gimmick" and leave it at that, but obviously many people took the challenge seriously, and made a move into the lives of other people, especially considering that there were people visiting here who are not regulars or members. Be encouraged, then, by these results. This is August. Let's build on this through the remainder of this year, and see where that leaves us by Christmas.

Fellowship and Community
People come to church to experience the presence of God. We hope that's what they find every time they come to GOBC. Research shows us that over 80% of adults who are not part of a church would consider the claims of Christianity if someone presented them in a clear, understandable way, and many of them would respond positively to a personal invitation to accompany a friend to church. Reaching across the aisles and singing "There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place" isn't just a nice way to end a service, it sends a message that this is a congregation that wants to give itself away, in a meaningful way, to other people. If you're looking for Christian community, you'll find it here.

Outreach
We exist in a community which has seen large numbers of new residents move in over the past couple of decades. Many of them simply do not know about the Christian community that exists as Garden Oaks Baptist Church, or what happens here, though they may see the building. They aren't going to take the initiative to come, for a variety of reasons. Events such as this open opportunities to reach people who have come to our part of the city in recent years, and allow them to find a comfortable way to find out about the Christian faith, and about how it is presented here.

It also gives us a handle on the kind of people who have moved in around us, in order that we might be able to "speak their cultural language" so to speak, and translate the principles of the scripture into that language in order to gain both a hearing for and an understanding of the gospel message of Jesus. Surprise! People are willing to listen, and they are even willing to give you a hearing.


Move Forward
I think yesterday's events were very important with regard to some specific messages which we can receive and call blessings. Our church is still viable, and there are plenty of people who want to be part of this body of believers in order to fulfill their spiritual calling and advance the gospel message. We can, as a body, put together prayer and the movement of our feet, so to speak, and see the results of viable ministry. There is excitement and enthisuasm among our people about our particular body of believers, and there is ownership of the ministry, under submission to God's Spirit.

Can you see a vision for the future? I can. Do you want to be part of it? As a body, let's pray for God's will and for God's direction, and follow the lead of the Spirit. Yesterday was just a taste of what God wants to do with us and through us. Let's ask for more, and receive what we are given.

Helping Our Church Connect With Young Adults

One of the action plans emerging from our summer leadership seminar is a plan for reaching young adults. In different settings, that means different things, but basically, "young adults" are those between 18 and 40 years of age, including college students, singles and young married couples. It's an aim that makes sense for our church for several reasons. One, there are large numbers of people who fall into that age range living in the neighborhoods we consider to be our field. Two, the percentage of unchurched in this age demographic is high all across North America, and in our church, they represent the smallest number of adults. Three, according to research, they are not as hard to reach as we might think, especially when the church is willing to be the church, preach and teach the truth of the word, and find meaningful service opportunities for adults in those age brackets.

Many of the basic structures that are necessary for reaching young adults, things which help build community, expressive worship and ministries which meet their needs, are already in place at GOBC. We have home fellowship groups for community building, a contemporary worship service, ministries which are involved in evangelism and discipleship of preschoolers and children, and a five day a week Early Learning Center with 90 families involved. Our plan must include ways to tie all of these things together and become aggressive in our outreach.

The prospects for such a ministry are encouraging. According to the authors of both Essential Church, and Comeback Churches, Thom and Sam Rainer and Ed Stetzer, a significant number of young adults are willing to consider the gospel of Jesus Christ if it is presented to them in an understandable and meaningful way. Our job involves making new disciples, teaching them, building community for them and giving them meaningful ways to express their faith through service.

Contrary to popular belief, if the church wants to reach young adults, it needs to be the church, rather than fall prey to the consumer idea that the church must resort to accomodation and appeasement in order to get young adults involved. The latter model may attract people who are already believers from other churches, but it doesn't provide any kind of foundation on which to do kingdom building. If we are willing to teach the truth of God's word, and then disciple those who are willing to follow it, we will get a response from people.

We will start by getting our young adults together for a time of fellowship and a meal. From there, we will formulate a plan for moving forward. If you are a young adult between the ages of 18 and 40 and you are already a part of GOBC, please give careful, prayerful consideration to a serious level of involvement in this ministry.

The Wrapup: Summer Leadership Seminar

Sunday at 5:00 will be our last Summer Leadership Seminar gathering. We've looked at principles related to winning lost people to Christ, making disciples and building community for them. We examined principles from Essential Church by Thom and Sam Rainer, during the June session, and principles from Comeback Churches by Ed Stetzer at the August sessions. Ironically, I met all three men at the Connect Conference at Lifeway in Nashville this week, and so, in our wrapup, I will be able to include some finishing touches as a result of the conference material, and my conversation, particularly with Sam Rainer.

The timing of the conference couldn't have been better. I was registered to attend the event in Washington, D.C. in September, but it was cancelled due to low registration numbers, so I wound up getting in to the Nashville meeting at the last minute. That was helpful to allow fine tuning for the last session of the seminar, and will factor into the solutions that will be offered. I hope you'll take the time to be there this week, in the Library, at 5:00.

You know, there's no real "secret" to reaching people, helping them become disciples of Christ, and building community for them in the local church. It's in the Bible. We need to simplify, rather than complicate, the issue. It's a matter of the elements of letting the Holy Spirit do the leading, and the scripture setting the standards, and the church being the body of Christ that is described in the scripture. So, you can sort of guess what the conclusion will be. Of course, there are some things that are unique and specific to our situation, but our plan of action is simple, and some of its components are already in place in our congregation.

Hope to see you Sunday evening.

The Interim Agenda Team

Tonight, the Development Team will begin the process of naming individuals to serve on the church's Interim Agenda Team. The purpose of this team is to work toward congregational unity in resolving underlying issues in the church in order to clear a path for the new pastor, when he is found and named, to be able to hit the ground running when he gets here. It would be good for him to have a productive ministry, and not to have to deal with things that have been lying around unresolved for a while. We want to put him in the Biblical role of the church's overseer, its episkopos, bishop, rather than to have him be a fireman, putting out fires.

This is a temporary position of service, and we are hoping that most of those who are originally asked to serve will do so. The desired outcome is to begin meeting by September, in order to be an asset to the pastor search team. A lot of the team's work could be accomplished in a weekend retreat, if that fits into everyone's schedule.

If you are asked, please consider serving. It means that others have recognized your talents and spiritual gifts. Use them. Help out Christ's church here at Garden Oaks.