Sunday night reflections

Last night we did a bit of follow up from the previous week's message. You can listen online here. I shared how we need to Investigate before we Initiate (thank you Andy Stanley). What I mean by that is this: If we really are going to make disciples who make disciples, if we really are going to connect people who are far away from God to God, if we really are going to create an engaging, relevant and irresistible gathering that's worth inviting our unchurched friends to, if we are going to make a dent in the unchurched population of Spartanburg County, then it makes sense for us to do a little investigation to discover the hopes, dreams, stresses, concerns, fears and needs of the people who are unchurched. To do that I said we need to do three things:

1. We need ask the right question of God: God, if you had your will and your way, what would this church look like in relation to the people you want us to reach (I stole that from Putman and Stetzer's book Breaking the Missional Code)?
2. We need to talk with and listen to God on behalf of the people we are trying to reach. (This coming Sunday we're going to Prayer Walk at 11 AM as a start).
3. We need to ask the right questions of the right people. The right people aren't those who already are a part of a church. The right people are those who are unchurched.

I am looking forward to us discovering the answers to those questions together so that we can make disciples who make disciples.

I'm trying to be cautious and not get my expectations too high, but I feel like we've got a new hope at The Point. Last night we had 4 new people (all came because they were invited by friends) and it feels like we've got a little momentum going.

It's really God's doing, so I want to give Him the credit. But he's using some of you to do it. You are the ones inviting people. You are the ones volunteering. I want to give a big shout out to Scott and Janae for stepping up and asking, "Where do you want me to serve?" That is huge. May God continue to grant us favor!