By Doug Hayes

Church history has taught us that ministries of mercy are often erroneously equated with evangelism. Even today, some would say that we proclaim the gospel by meeting physical needs, breaking the chains of oppression and setting people free from multigenerational conditions of poverty and suffering. At best, evangelism is an afterthought; at worst, it’s not a thought at all, or it’s presumed to be inherent in deeds that reflect God’s justice and mercy.

On the other hand, some would claim that it’s not the mission of the church to care for the poor at all. They would view a strong emphasis on social justice as inherently worldly, an exchange of the eternally glorious, life-giving gospel for the culturally popular goal of making poverty history. The job of the church is to evangelize, not to combat poverty. After all, they might argue, what good is it to fill the stomachs of people who are on their way to hell?

So which one is it? Is the church to be concerned with evangelism, or is care for the poor supposed to be a high priority for God’s people?

Yes.

It is the job of the church to preach the gospel, and it is the job of the church to care for the poor. Too often, these two high callings are treated as an “either-or” proposition, but Scripture calls us to a “both-and” embracing of the two. We are called very clearly to preach the gospel, and we are called very clearly to serve the poor. One should not be done to the exclusion of the other, nor does our obedience to one fulfill our mandate for the other.

It’s important to recognize the difference between evangelism and mercy ministry. They are members of the same family, but they are not one and the same. The former is the all-important proclamation of the gospel, the latter a demonstration of the gospel’s effect on the life of the one who would proclaim it. Both are beautiful displays of the many-faceted mercies of God, whose compassions come in many colors though they flow from one source in the cross. And both are priorities that must find expression in our lives if we are to be faithful to our calling as disciples of Christ.

I believe that we as Christians need to become more comfortable with the fact that God is glorified through our merciful actions, regardless of whether or not they lead to the salvation of the person we’re ministering to. If you faithfully care for a suffering friend or family member over a period of years, yet that person dies without Christ, you have not wasted your time. You have greatly glorified God through perseverant, merciful action! This may seem like a startling statement at first, but Scripture does not command us to serve marginalized and suffering people merely as a pretense for evangelism. We care for the poor as a means of reflecting the merciful and loving character of God. When we faithfully do that, his name is glorified. The eternal results are his alone to determine.

Does this mean we’re off the hook for evangelism? Can we simply care for people’s physical needs and leave it to God to make the gospel known to them? No. The greatest mercy of all – the mercy that makes all other mercies possible – is God’s desire to forgive repentant sinners through faith in Jesus Christ. If we neglect this greatest mercy, can we honestly call ourselves compassionate people?

When Paul and Barnabas received their commission from the other apostles to take the gospel to the Gentiles, they were specifically exhorted to "remember the poor" (Gal. 2:10). Despite their primarily evangelistic mission – in terms of salvation history, perhaps the most important evangelistic mission ever – they were not excused from the priority of serving the poor.

And don’t you love Paul? This man is not looking for excuses! Rather, he says that remembering the poor was the very thing he was eager to do. Regardless of his unique role as evangelist and church planter, Paul was eager to be a “both-and” Christian.

Where the gospel is preached, it is to be accompanied by care for the poor. Where the poor are relieved of their suffering, it is to be done in the name of Christ with the good news of the gospel on our lips. May these two towering mandates of Scripture be for us – as they were for Paul – the very thing we are eager to do, for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom.

By Jill Vander Weide

Saul of Tarsus received a glorious commission from God to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. That was after a voice and light from heaven knocked him off his horse, struck him blind, and something like scales fell from his eyes. For me, it was a pair of glasses that just kept falling from my eyes that prompted a gospel commission of smaller sorts - not to the uttermost but to the optometrist. It was the third time in a month that my sole pair of eyeglasses broke, and finally, when I asked the Lord for clarity, I began to “see” God’s plan in it. Could I be sensing correctly that this bit of ocular misfortune was providing an opportunity for more than my growth in trust and patience, but an opportunity for proclaiming the gospel?

But to which worker did God want me to speak? How would I know when to go? How should I open the conversation? How much should I say? The questions flooded my mind. A number of busy days passed. I was still eyeglass-less. I didn’t feel ready enough to share. I reasoned that I must first spend sufficient time fasting and in prayer. Then, I would feel ready. I just didn’t want to mess up God’s plan. I was living as if the success of each mission he gave me had more to do with my plan, my obedience, my preparation, my courage, and my role in proclaiming His gospel. And that made the responsibility seem a whole lot more intimidating.

If only I could have heard one of our Acts series sermons about evangelism back then. I would have realized it was all about His plan, His unleashed Word, His work in human hearts before we ever enter the scene. I would have realized that it wasn’t up to me to devise my own plan or to feel pressure to “perform” a perfect gospel proclamation. All Philip had to do was to follow the Spirit’s voice to the Ethiopian eunuch and open his mouth to proclaim God’s gospel. God had already prepared the eunuch’s heart to receive the message. He just needed an available and willing messenger. God is no respecter of persons. Whenever we follow Paul’s and Philip’s example and listen to and follow God’s direction, we too will bear much fruit. We may pray with someone who is ready to repent and turn to Christ for salvation, or we may just play our part in the long chain of influences in another’s life. But in either case, the fruit of obedience and faithfulness is eternal. Remember, in John 21, when the disciples fished all night on their own and caught nothing. Once they listened to Jesus and put out their net precisely where Christ told them to, the catch was significant.

My husband must have known something of the Master’s role in the mission field of that North Carolina eyeglass store now two decades ago. Despite my own lack of preparation, Brian discreetly grabbed my broken glasses and brought them with us on errands. I felt a bit like Jonah thrust from the big fish as my newlywed husband pulled into the parking lot of the optometrist and flung open the door for me.

The one employee in the office at the time was just finishing up with his last customer when I walked through God’s open door. With no time to rehearse what I would say, I was forced to lean upon God and ask Him for boldness and faith to share the good news of Christ. The whole time the man fixed my glasses, I could think of nothing to say. As he handed them back repaired, I thanked him but made no move toward the door. After an awkward pause and another arrow prayer, I nervously opened my mouth. I told him I could not leave until I told him the more important reason God had sent me that day. “You see,” I expressed, “I believe God is involved in all the events of our lives, and that He is the one who has allowed my glasses to be broken so many times because He wants me to share with you how God saved me and the difference He makes in the lives of those who trust in Christ.” No eloquent introduction here. And what followed was just a simple pronouncement of my testimony and God’s gospel. The optometrist thanked me for being willing to take time with him, adding that all I had shared were the very things his sister had been saying to him on many long distance phone calls. He felt that God was getting his attention that day and telling him to listen to her. With the help of God and my husband, I had just entered the scene of God’s activity.

Since that time, I’ve experienced the joy of watching God use telephone calls, even “wrong” numbers, appliance and car break downs, confessions of sin, our neighborhood, even our very doorstep as opportunities to get His message out. I’ve seen him time and again turn trips to stores, hospitals, hairdressers, restaurants, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, parks, the gym and everything in between into opportunities to love people by taking time to share the good news of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t take great effort to find fish, just a willingness to interrupt our agenda, take time with people, and open our mouths with God’s glorious message. He brings the fish right to our boat. He is choosing which servant He will place in whose path at any given time. Are we listening to the Master Fisherman’s voice tell us where to cast the net of the gospel and our testimony of His salvation? Then, lets grab our nets (His gospel and the Word of your testimony) and get ready to fish.
 

By Chris Radano

Editor’s note: Chris is getting married in two days. This is the last blog we’ll post from him as a single man. Looking forward to what inspires him in marriage. Congratulations Chris!


March,1996, my bag was packed, the minivan loaded up, and the luggage secured amidst the bitter cold wind of the Pennsylvania winter. The only motivation to drag me out of a warm college dormitory was the anticipation of beaches, parties, and a scorching Florida sun. Yep, I was one of many college students off to Florida looking forward to the “traditional” college spring break experience. Now nearly a decade and a half removed from college, I found myself looking forward to a completely different spring break experience: a week spent in New Orleans with the college age ministry students of Covenant Fellowship Church to serve another Sovereign Grace Church, Lakeview Christian Center. For a week we would be doing servant outreach projects to the community in New Orleans, through yard work, distribution of Alpha fliers, and evangelism to the homeless. This is the kind of spring break that wouldn’t have even been in my periphery back in my younger days. The reflection of my college years led me to ponder a few things on a deeper, spiritual level.

First, it was a reminder of the change in my life orchestrated by the Holy Spirit in bringing repentance and transforming grace, and the sacrifice of Christ making this possible. This is no small reflection, and I don’t intend to downplay its significance. In fact, I am happily reminded of this change often. However, another interesting but less intuitive benefit of my reflection was how it provoked me to ponder the role of families in telling the gospel to the next generation. Perhaps, not an obvious direction, allow me to explain how I got there....

Being aware that many of the students with whom I spent the week in New Orleans in service spent their years growing up in church, fourteen years ago would probably place them in the first or second grade. I thought of how these students as children were introduced to the gospel, Bible stories in Sunday school and home, talking about Jesus, and (maybe!) even recipients of godly discipline. Regardless of whether or not they received Christ as Savior in those years, parents were faithful to their call and role in training their children in the ways of the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 reads “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Now, those same children are men and women leading worship, sharing words of encouragement, praying with passion for one another, and telling homeless people about Jesus. They are grown up, serving the Lord in ways perhaps their parents could only have hoped to imagine. To me, (and I hope to parents) this was another one of those living, breathing reminders of how God uniquely uses parents’ labor in teaching their children the gospel, to produce the fruit of selfless, God-glorifying service for the Kingdom of God.

The exercise of reminiscing on my college years started as a humorous reminder of my comparative age, but ended giving me a new appreciation of the fruit of telling the gospel to the next generation and the role of parents in accomplishing this.

By Rob Flood

 When we think of carrying out a mission, we can become pretty task driven.  For those of us who get serious about it, we can be caught putting our heads down, our shoulders to the grind stone, and get about the work of getting the work done. The problem with this, however, is that, when we look up, we can find ourselves carrying out the mission alone.

 There is an added temptation for those of us with families.  Why?  Because we can think that carrying out the mission with our family is the same as carrying out the mission in community.  As important as it is to labor in the gospel with our families, we need a vision that sees beyond that. 

 Let’s just take a moment to define the mission of our church for those who may yet be unfamiliar:

 We exist to treasure, proclaim, and grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 When this clearly defined mission is being carried out in the context of community, there are two key symptoms that we will see:

1. Speaking the mission: When community is functioning in mission, we will talk about it with others committed to the same mission. Questions such as, " How are you treasuring God during this season?" will come up in conversation when you are talking with friends. Testimonies of times you’ve shared the gospel, even when it’s gone bad, will be common when talking with brothers and sisters in this church.  We will seek out discussion of specific areas of sin in our lives and solicit help from others.
   
   In short, when mission is functioning in community, we’re going to talk about it.  We’re going to live open lives before each other and seek help while we also offer help to others who are seeking help. 
    
2. Doing the mission:  Our shoulders ought never be the only ones set to the grindstone of the mission.  Too many of us have been called to labor together for any of us to labor alone.  Whether that means hitting the streets doing evangelism or whether that means pursuing prayer for a challenge at work or in your home, community means that we do it with others.
   
   We study the Scriptures, we parent our children, we pursue purity, we handle our finances, we resolve conflicts…together.  We do it in community.  This is how the mission happens when the mission happens well.

 There is a great obstacle that creeps up separating mission from community: pride.  In our pride, we don’t always want people knowing where we are weak, where we need help.  We don’t want to do street evangelism with someone because they may see just how scared we are.  We don’t want their help in parenting, not because we don’t need it, but because we’d have to admit we don’t know what to do.

 Just think…if the dam of our pride could just burst, the grace that would flow into our lives.  In each and every area of mission, community is an asset, not a liability.  It is what God intended when He saved us to the Body of Christ.  It is the only real way to treasure, proclaim, and grow in the gospel of Jesus.

By Rob Flood

Much of this space on Fridays is dedicated to evangelism, church planting, and mercy ministry.  By design, this space is meant to encourage and equip us in the area of our mission:  We exist to treasure, proclaim, and grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When we are lacking fervor or motivation to proclaim…when we are lacking mercy for others…it is often true that we have somehow lost sight of the wonders of Christ and the glory of the cross.  And so, we must cycle back and treasure the amazing Savior.  We must treasure his abundant mercy.  And we must treasure the dumbfounding reality that he showers that mercy upon us.

In his wonderful book called The Bruised Reed, puritan author Richard Sibbes said:

If the sweetness of all flowers were in one, how sweet must that flower be? In Christ all perfections of mercy and love meet. How great then must the mercy be that lodges in so gracious a heart? Whatever tenderness is scattered in husband, father, brother, head, all is but a beam from him; it is in him in the most eminent manner.

It is a wonderful gift from God that he gives us morsels of his mercy in the various relationships we have in our lives.  We get to experience a bit here…a bit there.  But if we elevate the “morsels” in others above the “feast” provided in Christ, we will lose all perspective and treasure others more than Christ.

The mercy…the love…that we see in others is but a beam from him.  Whatever good we experience from those in our lives is coming from the Father of all Good Gifts.  As wonderful as friends, siblings, parents, spouses, and children may be, they each have only the sweetness of one flower.

It is in Christ and Christ alone that all perfections of mercy and love meet.  And, because all perfections of mercy and love meet in him, the treasure we deposit there is secure.  Morsels come to an end.  Though tasty and enjoyable, they are but morsels.  Feasting on Christ, where mercy and love reside in the most eminent manner, will never disappoint.  There, the taste of mercy and love never fades.

And when we are treasuring Christ in this way, we are best positioned to be a morsel of mercy and love to others.  It is then, in the midst of treasuring Christ, that we most naturally proclaim and grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When the sweetness of our Savior is refreshing our souls, we hunger for others to experience his mercy…his love.

This is the seedbed for orphan care.  This is the seedbed for Second Saturdays.  We have a wonderful Savior who has showered his love and mercy upon undeserving sinners like us.  In the humility and gratitude of our salvation, our regenerate souls yearn to share such grace.

May we, as a church, remain in a proclaiming church.  But may we never strive to proclaim without treasuring the God of the gospel we proclaim.  Then…then we will grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

By Andy Farmer

For many of us the holidays are one of the best opportunities we have to reach out to unsaved family members.  But this isn’t always the experience we would hope for.  About a year ago Mark Altrogge offered some great advice on how we can prepare for the always interesting but often challenging holiday family get-togethers.  This is from www.theblazingcenter.com.

What to Do with Your Unsaved Relatives this Christmas

Many of us have unsaved relatives that we see infrequently, or only once a year at Christmas.  What if they’re not open to the gospel?  Maybe they’re downright opposed to Christ.  What if God has yet to open a door to share the good news with them?  What’s a believer to do?  Here are some suggestions.

1. Pray

Before they come, pray that the Lord would open doors for the gospel and give you an opportunity to share it with them.  Ask the Lord for a sincere love for them, the grace serve them and that they would see Christ in you.

2. Serve

I can easily sink into a selfish malaise at family gatherings, especially after meals.  I find myself lying on the couch drifting into oblivion or staring comatose-like at the television.  By God’s grace, what I try to do is to look for opportunities to serve.  It may be something as simple as clearing the table or doing dishes.  Unbelievers are watching us.  Let our goal be to show them Christ, who did not come to be served but to serve and give his life for others.

3. Serve their Children

Before family get-togethers I have often told my kids that our goal for the evening is to try to make sure our relatives have the best time they possibly can, especially their children.  Serve your relatives’ children, and encourage your children to serve their children.  For many years after our Thanksgiving meal with relatives, I would do a Christmas craft with all the kids.  We’d make Christmas ornaments with Play Dough or 3-d Christmas trees out of construction paper, glitter and beads.

Remember, Jesus welcomed children, blessed them, and said that when we receive a child in his name we receive him.

4. Take an Interest in Them

Seek to take a sincere interest in your relatives.  Ask them about their jobs, hobbies and interests.  Ask them what kind of Christmas traditions they had as kids.  Ask them about their favorite childhood Christmas presents or memories.  Ask them about their health if you are aware of any problems.  You could offer to pray for them if it seems appropriate.

Look to the interests of others as Christ looked to our interests.

Let your light shine

The whole goal is to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:16).  Perhaps God will give you the opportunity to share the gospel with them.  If not this Christmas, maybe next.  Keep praying for their salvation.  Who knows, God may do something in the future that will make them open to the good news of Jesus Christ.

By Stefan Bomberger

 

For years now, our church has been doing a free gift-wrap outreach in local stores. We’ve gone to Toys’R’Us, Circuit City, and this year we’re in Christopher & Banks next to the Borders. It’s a small way to share the love of Christ with our community. Because of this, we don’t accept donations. It’s fun to see the looks you get when you offer to wrap people’s gifts. Many are perplexed, surprised, even suspicious. We’re often asked, “Why are you doing it for free?!” In that moment, what would you say?

 

I know in the past I’ve gotten locked up in bringing the gospel into contexts like these. I’ve feared that it would undermine the “freeness” of the outreach. If I bring up Jesus, the unbeliever might think: “Ah-ha! I caught you. There is a string attached!” But what I’ve come to realize is that the gospel truly is the reason I’m doing this. So bringing it up isn’t a bait-and-switch. It’s being authentic. It’s disclosing the real motivation behind my actions – which is what they asked for.

 

The same could be said of all our good deeds as believers. We love because God first loved us. We have mercy on others because God has had mercy on us. We forgive because we’ve been forgiven. We serve because Jesus served us. We freely give because we’ve freely received. This is who we are. Conduits of God’s grace. Vessels of mercy with the treasure of the gospel inside of us. We shouldn’t pretend that we have no motives or that our actions simply flow out of our own intrinsic goodness. No. We do it because of Jesus Christ.

 

Keep this in mind the next time you are doing something kind for a neighbor. …going out of your way for a co-worker.  …serving at a Second Saturday in a free carwash. …visiting a nursing home. …feeding the homeless at a soup kitchen.

 

Jesus calls us to give out a cup of cold water, but to do so “in His name.” To connect all our deeds back to his amazing grace. The gospel isn’t something we tack on. It’s why we do what we do. Go public and share it with others. Who knows, God might just use it to powerfully change them like he’s changed you!

By Rob Flood

 

When we lived in Little Rock, we discovered the wonder and the magic of the Super Walmart.  In one place, you could buy lettuce, soda, produce, socks, motor oil, potted plants, and a television.  It was the ultimate in one-stop shopping.  A task we all need to do made simple by putting everything we could possibly need in one place.

 

As we depart Thanksgiving and run head-long toward Christmas, many of us will see family and friends.  We will find many we encounter far more open to spiritual conversations than they may be at other times of the year.  Wouldn’t it be great if you had a Super Walmart at your disposal in your conversations with such people?

 

Well, we have created such a wonder for this holiday season.

 

Celebrate Christmas is our winter season invitation intended to be used for evangelism.  Just like the Super Walmart, it has a vast variety of items in it, to fit nearly every occasion.  Check out what it covers:

 

~   God with Us (Our Christmas preaching series)

~   The Christmas Concert

~   Christmas Eve Services

~   The Children’s Christmas Musical

~   A Holiday Blood Drive

~   The Alpha Celebration Dinner

~   Financial Peace University

~   Explore

~   Word of Comfort (Our preaching series that will follow Christmas)

 

Folks, that’s better than motor oil and lettuce.

 

But notice that this blog is not titled “The Mission Done for You.”  It is titled “The Mission Made Simple.”  This “Super Walmart” of an invitation is as useless as the Super Walmart is if you never go.  It has to be used.

 

It provides all the information you would need to communicate, so you don’t have to remember anything.  It covers a wide array of topics, so you don’t have to fear it will be irrelevant.  The only hitch is that they still need to be carried from our church to people’s doors, desks, pockets, etc.

 

Consider picking up 5, 10, or even 20 of them.  Consider the block you live on, the department you work in, the gym you workout in.  Consider having one handy at all times and praying that God would open your eyes to opportunities to hand them out.  When you run out…we have plenty more. 

 

By Stefan Bomberger

 

As many of you know the Thrive community handed out about 180 boxes of food in Chester through our annual Boxes of Love event on Saturday, November 7th. This was the third year we've done this Thanksgiving outreach, and every year its been a huge blessing and highlight for many of us.  What was particularly special about this year, is that we did it in partnership with a local church in Chester called Freedom Baptist Church. The pastor, Sidney Harrell, has been pastoring there for over twenty years and has a real heart to reach the community with the Gospel. As we gathered with them that Saturday, you could feel the joy both groups had to be serving alongside of one another.

 

In the morning, before distributing the boxes, we were able to focus our energies on doing renovations and projects around the small church building. In just a few hours, we were able to tile the foyer, paint the exterior, clean out a basement, bust out a window, put in a door, trim a hall, clean up the street, and more. Our team worked very hard alongside of many other contractors and professionals from our church to execute all the various projects quickly and with excellence.  We broke for lunch around 1:30 p.m., where Pastor Sidney Harrell told us about his story of coming into ministry, into Chester, and how we both connected as local churches. It was a real highlight.

 

Then in the afternoon we broke into seven groups to hand out the Boxes of Love. Members from Freedom Baptist joined all the groups so that they could connect directly with their neighbors. We as a church also created special invitations to Freedom Baptist Church which went out with every box.  As we distributed the Thanksgiving meals, so many of the residents expressed their gratitude through warm receptions and even hugs. We were also able to pray with many folks right there on their porch. Besides the food, inside every box was a New Testament and an invitation to our Christmas events at Covenant Fellowship.

 

The evening ended with a bonfire back at Covenant where we shared stories, ate dinner, and closed out the night with praise and worship. It was an amazing day where God met us and blessed us. We thank God for each of you that filled up a Box of Love. We couldn't have done it without the dozens of families that went grocery shopping and filled the boxes with food, gifts, and prayers.

 

Feel free to join us on any Second Saturday in the future to participate in more outreaches like this. For example, December 5th we will be putting up Christmas Door Hangers for the Share the Good News of Christmas Campaign. See goodnewsofchristmas.org to learn more. Thanks for being the kind of church that proclaims the Gospel and is eager to share the mercy of God through your actions.

 

 

By Andy Farmer

A couple of Sundays ago we celebrated all God did at Youth Camp 2009.  During the service we had the chance to hear from a young man, Evan Wisneski, who received the saving grace of Jesus Christ during the camp.  At the end of Evan’s testimony he made a very profound theological statement.

“I never saw it coming, but I was saved at Youth Camp 2009"

As soon as he said this my mind went immediately back to that late night on February 10, 1981, when I was saved.  Like Evan, I never saw it coming.  I sat down in a college dorm suite lounge convinced that belief in God was “the opiate of the masses” (as my hero Karl Marx said it), and stood up a few hours later a follower of Jesus Christ.

The truth is, for all of us the fitting end of our testimony is, ‘I never saw it coming, but I was saved at…..’  The apostle Paul seemed to enjoy the irony of it all – his Damascus Road arrest by the risen Savior is a key part of the story he tells about himself to whomever will listen.  And he surely never saw that coming!  Essential to Paul’s Gospel is the idea that no one seeks after God.  It is God who seeks after us (Romans 10:3-26).  Repeatedly, Jesus tells us that he has come to seek the lost, not the searching; to open the eyes and ears of the blind and the deaf.  The very people in Jesus’ day who said they were longing for deliverance from God never saw it coming.

This doesn’t mean that people don’t search for something like God.  I was certainly searching back in 1981.  I’m sure Evan would say he was searching before he went to Youth Camp.  The world is full of searchers, and there are plenty of gods, both spiritual and temporal, that are easily found.  But no human searching can find God.  Sin has ruined the eyes that are essential to see Him, ears that are essential to hear Him, and hearts that are essential to desire him.  No, my brothers, if you have found Jesus Christ, it is because he revealed himself to you.  Admit it, you never saw it coming. 

Thank you, Evan, for preaching Gospel truth to us.  I’m glad he saved you when you never saw it coming.  I know what that feels like.  It feels right.

By Rob Flood

Spring was in the air and the sun was shining, but a chill went through his body.  The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention telling lies about the climate.  Brent Fisher tells the story this way: 

I received an e-mail several months ago from my pastor telling me that August 8^th would be my Community Group’s day for Second Saturday. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. How am I going to get the folks in my Community Group to agree to go out on an outreach? This group of senior saints is BUSY; they’ve got all their Saturdays filled.

As Spring turned to Summer and the temperature of the air rose, so did the hair on the back of Brent’s neck.  Carrying a burden to care for his group…and a burden to not be the cause of their angst, Brent…and the hair on the back of his neck…went into his next Community Group meeting.

I started to talk about how all the care groups were being asked to go on a Second Saturday outreach. Just then someone said, “ is that where they hand out water on the street corner”? I said, “Well, that could be one of the activities for the out reach.” Another one said man that would be a great thing for “them” to do since it is so hot. I quickly said, “Why don’t we do a water give away?” The long and short of it is we ended up with 11 people signed up to go and headed for Kennett Square.

On August 8^th, Brent arrived at Second Saturday with the hair raised on the back of his neck.  The hair whispered: What if no one else shows up?  How will you answer to your pastor?  You should leave now…before it’s too late?  Upon seeing eleven others from his Community Group, Brent continues the story:

Things started to feel much better as everyone began arriving for things like the car wash, Chester Bible give away, special out reach to a brother’s home, and a couple other places. Did you ever notice the hair on the back of your neck calms down when you see a lot more people are in this with you?  Our water outreach went wonderfully.  We met people in beautiful downtown Kennett and we even met some people that had attended Covenant Fellowship several times.

Brent survived…and so did the others from his group.  Just that morning, the lying hair was whispering at them.  Now, just hours later, there wasn’t a peep coming from it.  Brent reflects on why:

We had a great afternoon in Kennett. God met us in our labor and our joy. We all ignored the whispers of the lying hair and were blessed as much…perhaps more…than those we met in Kennett. 

When you are tempted to listen to the hair-whispered messages from the back of your neck, remember Brent and his Community Group.  And remember The Tale of the Lying Hair.  The truth of it is…your hair can’t always be trusted to tell you the truth.  That doesn’t mean your hair is bad…it’s just that constant truth telling isn’t its style.

By Ramona Doyle

 

It’s wonderful to see children inspired by the gospel.  To see them join in the mission of the Great Commission.  That is…until it makes you really uncomfortable. 

 

Recently, in Promise Kingdom, the children had a lesson from Luke 5:1-8…where Jesus called his first disciples to join him in his mission to save the lost and become “fishers of men.” Our eight-year-old daughter was inspired!

 

The very next day in a crowded doctor’s waiting room she approached a little girl about five years old and asked, “Are you a Christian?” The girl, connecting the question to the darker skin tones of our daughter and her brother whom we adopted from Latin America, responded with a huge smile, “No, I’m Chinese.” At that point, my daughter did what any young child who had just gotten herself in over her head might do…she asked her twelve-year-old brother to take over! He shared the Gospel…and did a pretty good job!

 

Looking back, I’m saddened by my actions that day. What a wonderful response my children had to what they had learned from the Word of God…and what a faith-filled step they took. But my first response was to look around to see who was watching and whether anyone felt uncomfortable. The little girl left the conversation to continue playing and we left for home with no further ado.

 

As we left, I was aware that I had missed a huge opportunity to live what my children were learning. I could have introduced myself to the girl’s parents and started a conversation. We already shared a common bond of adoption. Perhaps our “chance” encounter would have blossomed into a relationship that would give future opportunity for the Gospel.

 

As Jesus disciples, we are a part of a bigger mission. But all too often we get caught up in the business of our lives rather than looking for opportunities to testify to the hope we have within.  But the Gospel is for every day and should have the most prominent place in our lives. And our children, who are watching our every move, can learn and grow in their understanding of the Gospel as they see it lived out in the every day of our lives.

 

Though the mission is a big one…it is also a simple one.  So simple, that children can catch a vision for it, and even join it.  We are the ones who complicate it.  We distort its simplicity with high thoughts of public sensitivity and a desire not to offend.  Yet, when I boil off my fancy terms, I’m left with my fear of man.

 

How do I escape that?  How do I join in on this big and simple mission?  Among other things, Isaiah 11:6 prophecies that “a little child will lead them.”  Though I’m certain it was not referring to our recent doctor’s office visit, it seems to fit.  Faith like a child…who is inspired to be a fisher of men.

 

May the Gospel bear good fruit in the everyday situations of our lives!

By Chris Radano

 

This past month our community group was on the schedule to go on a gospel outreach Let me admit it up front…I was pretty nervous and wasn’t looking forward to it with enthusiasm. This time, I knew I didn’t have an excuse to work late, be sick, or double book my schedule,…because, well, I’m the community group leader.  I can’t really “drum roll” the virtues of direct evangelism, send out the people in my community group while I sit elsewhere.

 

When I saw the date on the calendar, just like Moses at the burning bush, I began to tell God in my heart how slow of speech and tongue I was. And like Moses, I knew God wasn’t letting me get off the hook. You see, I have this little sin called “fear of man.” I know God wants me to overcome this fear.  Still, I became more and more fearful day by day.

 

The more I thought about the day, it became clear to me how self-focused I was becoming. As the night for gospel outreach approached, I became more wrapped up in how I was feeling, how I would do, and how the result was going to affect me. I’d missed the point of caring for the people in the same way God cares for them. Simply put, my view was inward not outward.

 

It was through a book on fasting, oddly enough, that the Lord revealed this to me. Specifically how fasting ought to consist not only the self-deprivation of food but also a desire to place that food in the mouths of the poor and oppressed. (Isaiah 58)  As I repented and moved the focus of my evangelism from self and placed it outward toward the lost, I began to see how privileged I was to be used by God in advancing the gospel, for the benefit of others. 

 

So how did the evening go? …Well for starters, the evening forecast called for rain, which tested my heart. And as I considered the option of cancelling the outreach, the Lord was kind and gave us a beautiful night. So we hit the streets and local parks and spoke to people about Christ.

 

We were able to share God’s story of salvation, our own stories of redemption, and why we enjoy telling the story to others. We were able to hear where people were struggling and share in their questions and confusions. But importantly, we were also able to point them to the solution to the problems and to the creator of their souls. I definitely wasn’t eloquent and was without question slow of speech and tongue. A couple times I was rejected. But I trusted that God could use a weak vessel like me to reveal himself to people He loves.

 

I really like how God challenges me in moments like these. It gives me assurance that He is at work transforming and sanctifying me. Even though it doesn’t seem like fun all the time (be honest with yourself), our church has provided great opportunities and teaching in direct evangelism.

 

I hope in some way my experience encourages you to go out and share the gospel with those He has called in advance; whether with your community group or even all by yourself.

 

 

By Jim Donohue

Water skiing can be scary.  You’re floating in dark water behind a powerful boat that’s revving its engines.  Two planks of wood are strapped to your feet and you are holding onto a rope attached to the huge motor.  Meanwhile someone is gently and soothingly encouraging you with the essential instructions to survive on the aforementioned wooden slats.  “Keep your ski tips up, bend your knees, lean back, keep your back straight and always remember to keep your elbows locked.”  As you desperately try to remember these tips, the soothing voice asks, “Are you ready?”  You give a tentative nod.  The soothing voice transforms into ferocious roar of  “HIT IT!!!!!!”

It can be a little unnerving. 

So, we were recently on vacation with another family.  Their 11 year old daughter, Zoe was getting ready to ski.  I was the soothing voice guy and was about to give her the long list of rules while the engines roared.  Then I pondered, “You know Zoe, water skiing is a lot like evangelism.  It is a little scary at first but once you get going it’s a lot of fun.” 

That’s been my experience when it comes to evangelism.  I always feel a hesitation at first.  The little voice in my head keeps saying, “I’m not sure this is a good idea!”  But then the Spirit inside of me says, “HIT IT!” and I end up opening my mouth.  The conversation gets going and is actually enjoyable.  In the two decades of my Christian life I have found that whenever I seek to share the gospel I am met with resistance and doubt.  I have never found a way to erase these feelings, I’ve just learned to overcome them.  And I’ve learned that there is some serious joy that comes when I overcome the flesh and obey God in evangelism.  It’s kind of like water skiing, it’s a little scary at first but once you get going it’s an incredible feeling to be skimming across the water with the wind in your hair.

Just this Tuesday Dave Harvey and I went to West Chester’s campus to share the gospel.  We got into a great conversation with a student named Martha, and a guy on a smoke break from his philosophy test.  When we had finished sharing the greatest news in the world with two people it seemed had never heard it before, joy filled our hearts.  We had just done what God created us to do in “testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”  I can honestly say that some of the most joyful moments in my life have been while sharing the gospel with lost men and women. 

So I yelled “HIT IT!” and Zoe popped up for a few seconds and then fell down.  I swam out, gave her a little encouragement, and then shouted again.  This time she popped up and skied around the lake with a huge smile on her face.   When she came back I gave her a big hug and said, “See, I told you it was wasn’t so hard.”

By Andy Farmer

Note: This is the fifth in a series of posts on Christian liberty based on a pastoral letter written by John Newton in 1776. For background on the letter see the 6.18.09 post.  You can read the letter in its entirety HERE. 

Last week we looked at how the law of love governs our liberty as it relates to our brothers and sisters.  Pastor Newton then extends this principle to our example to unbelievers.  In considering the unbeliever, we should desire that their interactions with us will not only leave them conscious of our graciousness, but our set-apartness as well.

I remember in the first few months after my conversion I met a girl at church who said she believed the Lord had called her to go to dance clubs because they provided great opportunities to evangelize.  I’m pretty confident the clubs she was talking about weren’t quaint little village pubs where she could discuss eternal security over a game of darts.  I was only a few months distanced from the bar scene myself and I was taken aback by my sister’s strategy and rationalization.  I had been going to bars for years and had never met a guy who had any desire for conversation, spiritual or otherwise, while he was there.  I didn’t have the nerve to ask her how it was working out.

But this young woman was simply making her appeal based on a disco version of what is often called ‘incarnating’ in our day.  Christians need to be ‘incarnational’ – need to mix with regular folks in the stuff regular folks do – to have a platform of relevance upon which to share their Gospel story.  There is some good reason in this – we do need to share truth with both our words and our lives.  But the slippery slope of incarnation is that we become so involved with our mission field that we forget the mission task.  We get too alike the people we’re trying to reach.  To be honest, I’ve done my share of ‘over-incarnating’ over the years – sitting in on ungodly conversations, imbibing when I could have easily abstained, telling stories that accent my raucous past rather than my pedestrian present.  My logic is something like, “They see me as this really good moral person, I should show them I’m normal so they ask me what makes the difference.”  And maybe this works from time to time.  But Newton helps us to see that if we buy into the relevance logic we may misrepresent the more significant evidence of God in our lives – our set-apartness, our holiness.  The world is full of people who are trying to be relevant.  What it needs are people who are willing to be different.  The mark of an authentic work of God in a person will combine a discernable holiness of character with an attractive, gracious spirit.  The apostle Paul expresses it with this exhortation:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,  just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.  (1 Cor. 10:31-33)

In holiness we live for the glory of God; in graciousness we live for the benefit of the lost.  Our exercise of liberty should always have in view the saving purposes of God in the unbelieving world around us.  Or as Newton sums up,

Happy are they who are favored with most of the holy unction, and best enabled to manifest to all around them, by their spirit, tempers, and conversations, what are the proper design and genuine effect of His gospel upon the hearts of sinners.

By Lennie Spitale

Editor’s Note: Lennie Spitale has been involved in full-time prison ministry for many years. In fact, he’s even written a book or two on the topic. Just pop his name into Amazon.com and you’ll pull up his book entitled Prison Ministry: Understanding the Prison Culture from the Inside and Out. It has this plug from Chuck Colson on the cover: “This may well be the definitive book on prison ministry.” Lennie now oversees the prison ministry of Covenant Fellowship Church.  What a gift this man is to our church! Below is an update from Lennie on our Prison Ministry.

 

“I am an inmate at GWCF (G.W. Hill Correctional Facility), and I’ve been attending your church services…Your services have helped me and others maintain a good spirit and hope! I and my fellow inmates thank you.”

 

The sentiments above were taken from a letter that was recently sent to the church in response to one of the prison team’s ministry among them. GWCF is the alternative name for the Delaware County Prison, which is located only a few miles from Covenant Fellowship making it a prime target for evangelistic outreach. The church has granted me the privilege of leading the team for the past year.

 

Over the last year, the prison itself has gone through a change of leadership. Beginning January 1^st, an entirely new administration took over the facility; the old guard is out and the new guard is in. (Pun intended)  And although this resulted in many administrative changes for the correctional staff, its impact upon the prison team was minimal. We were able to continue serving at our various weekly assignments without interruption.

 

One major key to the smooth transition was the fact that God has our own David Robinson, a member here at CFC, as the sole chaplain for the Delaware County Prison. David and I meet regularly and he was able to keep me aware of all the changes that were taking place.

 

The new administration has set a limit on how many volunteers a church can send into the facility. Their formula is a limit of four volunteers per service. Since we currently have five weekly services going on, in five separate units of the institution (two for women and three for men), we are allowed a total of twenty volunteers. Our CFC prison team now has 21 members, which includes two letter-writers.

 

Currently in process, is the launching of Grafted In, a CFC outreach that is designed to help former prisoners integrate into the life of the church. This mentor-driven ministry will be headed up by Tom and Maggie Fitzpatrick.

 

Please pray regularly for this ministry. The prison is replete with opportunities for the gospel to go forward, to both save and encourage.  Pray for the volunteers to have courage and for the hearts of the inmates to be open.

By Jared Mellinger

 

The corporate witness of the church is a biblically rich theme that I have enjoyed studying and exploring in recent months, and recently preached on from 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10, you can listen here.  What do we mean by ‘the corporate witness of the church?’  The idea is that our witness, which includes both our words and our conduct, not only has an individual dimension but a corporate or congregational dimension as well. 

 

For a long time, I had thought only of the individual dimension, and neglected the corporate one.  Without creating an adversarial relationship between the two, I think we need to give more thought to the importance of the corporate witness of the church in our approach to evangelism.    

 

Here are a few quotes that have helped me reflect on this prominent biblical theme:

 

~    Andreas Kostenberger and P.T. O’Brien: “The church’s mission is not to be carried out as an individualistic enterprise.  The mission should rather be undergirded by the corporate life of the community, as believers reflect God’s love and unity.”  (Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, 226) 

 

~    Donald Whitney: “The reality of Christ’s power and love can be visible in a group of Christians in ways that cannot be seen in a solitary believer.” (Spiritual Disciplines within the Church, 98) 

 

~    Iain Duguid: “In addition to saying, ‘I am the light of the world,’ Jesus also said, ‘You are the light of the world’.  To whom was he talking when he said that in the Sermon on the Mount?  We tend to read his words individualistically, as if I personally am to be the light of the world.  So the old children’s song runs: ‘Jesus bids us shine with a pure clear light / like a little candle burning in the night. / In this world of darkness, Jesus bids us shine / you in your small corner and I in mine.’  That is not what Jesus is saying though.  What he actually said was ‘You [plural] are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.’  I can no more individually be the light of the world than I can individually be a city on a hill.  Both images are corporate: it is as the church that we are the light of the world, shining out God’s glory together.  As Jesus comes into our midst as his people and inhabits our church, his glory shines out from us to those around us.”  (Numbers, Preaching the Word Commentary, 111)

 

~    Ryan Fullerton: “As pastors, we must help our congregations see that the state of our churches is primarily responsible for our culture’s perception of Christ.  Our churches can give the gospel a black eye, or they can be used by the Holy Spirit with magnetic effect to draw people to Jesus.  The believers we serve must understand that our churches were meant to powerfully reinforce and to attractively adorn our evangelistic message.  …When our lives together are divisive, unloving, selfish, and fearful, Christ and Christians look about as believable as the tooth fairy.  Yet when our lives are united, loving, sacrificial, and fearless, our verbal witness to the cross of Christ becomes weighty.  For many, our witness will become believable.  As pastors, we need to help our congregations make this link.” (from the 9Marks forum on Corporate Witness)

 

I am grateful beyond words that what rings out from Covenant Fellowship is a weighty message, and that God is using our corporate witness with a magnetic effect to draw people to Christ.  Let’s continue cultivating our witness together as a church, with our words and with our lives, that the transforming power of the glory of Christ might shine out from us all the more

By David Mayinja

God moves all around the globe to care for His people, to save lost souls and to provide mercy to those in need.  And He is using Covenant Mercies to play a small but integral part in His work.  One of those places He is using Covenant Mercies is in caring for orphans in Ndola, Zambia.  The work in Ndola began three years ago in collaboration with Pastor Wilbroad Chanda of Ndola Baptist Church and his wife, Zicky.

Wilbroad and Zicky established a Christian school – Light House Christian School – in 2005 specifically to offer a quality education and hope for a better future to the children on the streets and in the slums of Ndola. Eighty-nine of the 142 children enrolled in the Covenant Mercies Zambia sponsorship program currently attend this school.

For a number of years, the school has operated from a rented building.  Even though the facility is barely sufficient for their needs, rent costs continue to increase toward becoming prohibitive with each succeeding year. For that reason, Light House Christian School has purchased land and is embarking on constructing a school campus.

To aid in this effort, Covenant Mercies is collaborating with Providence Church in Bethel Park (Pittsburgh area) to send to Ndola a mission team of twenty members led by Wayne Harvey of Providence Church and David Bard of Covenant Fellowship Church on a 12-day trip in July to assist with the beginning of construction of the school.

A Pittsburgh newspaper, The Almanac, highlights this trip in a recent article. A seventeen-year-old student who is planning to be part of the trip was interviewed for the article. He enthusiastically stated: “Being a part of a project of this nature changes you; dedicating yourself to help complete strangers on a different continent strengthens your sense of community at home. It expands how much mercy, generosity and kindness you show toward others in daily life. The needs of these people are real.”

The team from Providence Church will be the first team Covenant Mercies has coordinated for a mission to Ndola, Zambia. For many in the team, it will be the first time on an international mission. They plan to take with them school supplies and clothes for the children. They are also looking forward to sharing the Gospel of grace with many that do not know Christ.

Covenant Mercies is also coordinating another mission team to its flagship program in Nagongera, Uganda in mid August to continue the construction of New Life School initiated last September. The team plans to finish off work on two dormitories and begin work on the planned science laboratories buildings. Do you have a desire for international missions? Do you sense a call to affect the quality of life and future of orphans in Nagongera? Go to the Covenant Mercies web page here and fill in the application form.

By Stefan Bomberger

When it comes to outreach are you feeling a little rusty? Or just looking for another outlet to let your light shine? Then look no further than Second Saturday.

What is Second Saturday?

Second Saturday is a monthly morning of service, mercy, and evangelism. Think of it like an outreach fair. You show up at 9:30am in the lobby and there are many outreach stations to choose from. Anything from doing visits at a nursing home, delivering Bibles to homes in Chester, sharing the gospel downtown, cleaning up 202, and much more. As summer approaches we're going to re-launch our annual car washes as well! Our goal is to provide various opportunities to reach out to our community with the love of Jesus through both word and deed.

Best of all, you get to pick whatever you want to do. No pressure. Find whatever you’re most comfortable with and sign up. You will receive on-the-site training, so no experience for any of the outreaches is necessary.  Just bring yourself and dress accordingly if you plan on doing an outreach outside. We also have at least one outreach that stays back at the building with the children to do a craft or assemble something outreach-related.

For example, we might make gift bags to give out, or put invite-cards on candy canes to give out during the holidays. Children age three and older are welcome to come and help on the craft. Older children and youth can also go out on almost any of the outreaches, based on your comfort level and supervision.

When does Second Saturday Meet?

Second Saturday meets every second Saturday of the month, rain or shine. So for example, the next three are June 13, July 11, and August 8. It starts at 9:30 am with a light continental breakfast and ends at 1:00 pm with a brief pizza lunch and a chance to share highlights from the various outreaches. Both meals are free.

Who Should Attend Second Saturday?

If you have a passion for outreach and evangelism, or would simply like to grow in your heart for reaching out to others, this context is perfect for you. There are people who are out regularly who love walking the campuses and the shopping malls sharing the gospel, starting spiritual conversations.  There are also people who come out regularly who just want to share the love of Christ with others through service or generosity with the hope that the mercy will provide opportunities for the Gospel.

Since evangelism, in one form or another, is a call we all have, then Second Saturday’s are a wonderful context for you…regardless of your preferences.  So is you’re interested in a morning of service, mercy, and evangelism, join us for the next Second Saturday.

 

By Jared Mellinger

 

I recently read a thought-provoking book by Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin).  The title alone is worth reflecting on for a few hours: Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different. 

 

Who is Tullian?  He is Billy Graham’s grandson, who spent a number of his early hears in rebellion from God before responding to the Gospel call, later to the call to ministry.  He has been pastoring a church in Florida, which just recently merged with Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.  Coral Ridge’s long time pastor, D. James Kennedy, went to be with the Lord in 2007, so Tullian is now an early thirties man who is carrying on in the wake of two of the greatest evangelistic ministers of the Twentieth Century.

 

So what is he doing writing a fashion book?  Actually Tullian is seeking to challenge my generation of Christians.  One of the most troubling trends Tullian says he sees among today’s young Christians is our fascination with fitting in.  We are quick to run after what is fashionable, stylish, and cool.  

 

Tullian shares his story of visiting a church when he was an unbeliever.  He says “What stood out most was just how refreshingly different it was, compared to everything I’d come to believe was cool and in style.”  That morning made a serious difference in his life, and convinced him unbelievers today “aren’t looking for something appealing and trendy.”  People are starving for depth and truthfulness, not cleverness or trendiness.

 

The way to make a difference in the world is by being different from the world, not by mimicking what the world seems to value.  The way to be relevant to the world around us is, ironically, to resist the urge to run after relevance.  The way to be faithful in the long run is to resist the seduction of pursuing coolness.  The way to get the world to sit up and listen is to say things that are unfashionably eternal. 

 

Like Tullian, “I want to be part of a generation that understands this and is radically committed to being different, unfashionable, uncool.”  It is when we choose to follow the unfashionable claims of an unfashionable Christ that we begin to make a real difference in the world. 

 

Are you committed to making a difference in the world by being different from the world?  Are you in faith to be unfashionable?   

Posted by Rob Flood

 

For years, every Wednesday night in our home, I taught a Bible study.  One evening, at the beginning of one of our meetings, there was a knock on our door.  I opened to find a high school acquaintance and, who I later discovered to be, his wife.  I asked what brought them out to the Bible study and heard this surprising response:  “I think we’re supposed to be born again and I was hoping you could tell us how to do that.”

 

On that odd Wednesday night, evangelism stepped into my world.  It may be the first recorded event where a person knocked on the door…not to share the gospel…but to ask for it.  But don’t get used to that kind of opportunity, folks.  It doesn’t happen often…and it hasn’t happened since.

 

We have been given a message to take to the lost.  We are not to hoard our message until the lost come knocking at our door…we are to take it to them.  Consider Romans 10:15:

 

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

 

Notice it doesn’t say “How beautiful are the front doors of those who preach the good news;” it says “feet.”  And it says “feet” because that is what brought the good news into “their” world.  The good news was not buried in our world for them to come and get it whenever they felt like it.

 

Stepping into evangelism most often means stepping out of our world. 

 

This Sunday, at Covenant Life Church, Jim Donohue preached a message on evangelism.  (the full audio can be found HERE.) In his message, he highlights the awkwardness of stepping out of your world, along with the necessity of doing so.  (Check out the clip of Jim’s message below.)  As you consider this truth in light of your world, may you pursue feet of ever-increasing beauty.