Serving the Community

Part 5 of our Strategic Plan series takes a different focus. As we looked at the other three Key Strategies and the Enabling Strategy of Kingdom Prayer there was quite a bit of inward focus. Looking at how we respond to what God is doing in our lives. In a way this final Key Strategy is the ultimate response but rather than being inward, it is community focused. 

I am going to offer more questions than answers this month, but I think that is a good thing. 

First off, I want to start with the question, how do we at Palm View serve our community? 

Yes, we have our food pantry which through its amazing volunteers cares for the underserved and struggling in our community by providing a small bag of groceries each week. But more than that what are we doing to intentionally share the gospel with those folks? We are feeding them physically but are we doing anything to feed them spiritually? 

Another question in this area would be whether is there anything more that we could do even if it requires more volunteers or resources than we currently have? James and Paul both place emphasis on the importance of caring for the widows and orphans. What are we doing to fulfill God’s Word in regard to those areas? 

A third question is what kind of name does Palm View have in the community? Do people hear our name and ask where is? Do they hear our name and have a bad taste in their mouth? Or do they associate our name with the love and mercy which we have received being shown freely? Maybe take a few minutes and ask your neighbors or coworkers? 

Finally, how are we praying for our community? Are we going about our day, just getting by, living Sunday to Sunday with a week going by without us spending more than a few fleeting seconds in communion with God in prayer? 

As I said more questions than answers, but all these questions are important, and the answers well... those are going to be interesting. 

Three Modes to Evangelism

Greetings Palm View Family! 

 

April is already off to a great start with our 65th Anniversary this past weekend and Easter this weekend we have an excellent opportunity to share our faith with those who might not normally attend church. 

 

I want to keep to our theme working through the 2024 Strategic Plan that we have been developing. So far this year we have looked at the topics of Kingdom focused prayer, glorifying God in meaningful worship, and making mature disciples.

 

 

This month we are focused on Evangelism. So, to start us off I want to ask the question what is evangelism? 

In its most basic form evangelism is the telling of the good news of Jesus. The word evangelize comes from the Latin evangelizare, "to spread or preach the Gospel," with the Greek root euangelizesthai, or "bring good news." Now this is not something that most believers would think twice on. It makes sense the message of the good news of Christ has been proclaimed for centuries, right? 

The better question would be who is called to evangelize? Who should be spreading the good news of the gospel? Over the last 200 years this has changed. Shifting responsibility to the pastor/shepherd rather than on the saint/sheep. However, scriptures are clear that the role of a pastor/shepherd is to equip believers to do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12).

 

This doesn’t remove the burden of evangelism from the preaching ministry of the church, but it does shift the daily work of evangelism back where it belongs, on the shoulders of the church, the body of Christ.

 

So how does that work? To determine the answer to that question we must first define what the mode of evangelism. There are three base modes for evangelism. Natural Mode, Life Mode, Ministry Mode. Let me explain, Natural mode is relationally connecting to people God has put in your life. For you that may be co-workers, neighbors, or other parents on the same soccer team. Life mode is when you invite someone into Christian community, and they experience the body of Christ. They have the "There is something different about these people" thought as they meet others. This is done by inviting people to Church, or a Bible Study group. Finally, Ministry mode is what you think of when you think of classic evangelism styles. Having a spiritual conversation with someone you do not know. You can do this by taking a co-worker or friend to lunch and asking them about their faith.

 

The data shows that for someone to come to know Christ, a person needs to experience all three modes of evangelism. It's not likely that just one will work. If our evangelism strategy as a church is invite them to church so the pastor can preach Jesus into them, we have a serious problem. The great commission was not given solely to pastors rather it is for all believers that we are to “Go therefore and teach all nations.” That “go” is an active verb, meaning as we go out teaching, as we go out preaching, as we go out living our lives, we are to carry the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ with us. 

Are you evangelizing as you go? Are you wearing your Christianity so prominently on your person that the world looks and knows there is something different about you? 

If not, why not? 

Why not start today?

Pastor Jonathan