August 9, 2013
Dear Eastridge Family,
The church has fallen into a bad habit in the USA ! We have been sitting back saying to our
culture "Come and See" what we have to offer. We have tried to
make Christlike disciples by "attracting" people to the church. We
have come to believe that if we had the right building, the perfect music,
great preaching, awesome children and youth ministry, stunning multi-media,
etc. then the church would be full of people. Somehow we have allowed
this American culture of entertainment to permeate the church. So much of our time, money and energy is
directed on our "programs" that we have lost the ability to “engage
the culture.”
Michael Frost says in his book, The Shaping of Things to
Come, "the missional church recognizes that it does not hold a place
of honor in its host community and that its missional imperative compels it to
move out from itself into that host community as salt and light." A missional church or a
biblical church, is one who engages the community. A
missional church has "GO-TO-THEM" mentality. Christians
must wake up from their slumber and look around at the harvest field around
them. We must start making relationships with people beyond our comfort
zones and live out our faith in authentic ways.
How do you engage the culture?
Let me offer a couple of suggestions:
1.
Pray for your neighbors! - I urge you, first of all, to
pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy upon
them, and give thanks. 1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT)
2.
Look for ways to serve - Do you not say,
‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the
fields! They are ripe for harvest. John 4:35
3.
Develop a relationship with unbelievers.
4. Invest and Invite - “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But who can ask Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells him?” Romans 10:13-14 (LB)
4. Invest and Invite - “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But who can ask Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells him?” Romans 10:13-14 (LB)
The church will never fulfill the mandate of Christ to make
disciples, if we just sit back and wait for people to walk into church on
Sunday morning! It will only happen, if we the people of God, go to
them and engage our culture.
- Youth Group Bible Study
On Saturday, August 10th at 6:00pm,
there will be a short Bible Study with root beer floats at the Heer’s house.
Following the Bible Study, there will be the showing of ”Facing the Giants”.
Also, the church van will take people from the church to the Bible Study at
5:45pm. Ages 7th – 12th grade are welcome to come.
- Back to School Party
On Saturday, August 17th from 11:30 am –
2:30 pm we will have a Back to School Party for our students ages 3 to 6th
grade. The Registration will begin at
11:15 am. We will be serving lunch along
with a Bible story, craft and games. We
have sign up sheets on the information table if you would like to help.
- Saturday Morning Prayer Service
Each Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. here at the
church Pastor Daniel will lead our prayer service. Everyone is invited to attend.
- Promotion Sunday
On Sunday morning we will
recognize our students who have been promoted to the next Sunday school
class. Our Sunday School Superintendant
Riley Carswell will be heading this up on Sunday morning before the morning
worship service.
I’m looking forward to
worshipping with you Sunday. I plan to
preach from Micah 6:1-8 where the prophet ask and answers the question, “What
does God require from us?”
Pastor Andy
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