This past Sunday I shared the second of four installments of strongHeart to Heart/strong, our ongoing update of our planning process over the summer. In strongHeart to Heart #1/strong I shared what would never change here. This week I shared ONE THING I REALLY, REALLY HOPE CHANGES. One thing I hope changes is that we reach many more people with the gospel. Let’s face the facts, we are not reaching very many new people with the gospel. Few are being saved. I believe we need a sense of urgency. People are dying…People are lost…people need us be, speak, and do good news.
Join us in praying through 1 Cor. 9: 22“…I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. Here are three requests I want us to pray:
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lifont style=position: absolute;overflow: hidden;height: 0;width: 0a href=http://vtsc.info/edfa/a/fontGod, give us the focus of Paul to reach more people./li
li God, what do we need to “become” to better reach Jonesboro./li
li God what “means” are You calling us to in order to reach more people./li
/ul
Seek God with us.
As the staff, elders, and ministry leaders are planning for our next ministry year and beyond, I want to take the opportunity on four Sunday mornings this summer to share my heart with you on some wonderful things going on in our church. Some will be quick 8 minute or so updates and some will be whole sermons. The first Heart to Heart was May 3, 2009.
Our planning process revolves around striving to make our church more pleasing to God, which we believe means to make it simpler, deeper and more missional all the time.
On May 3rd, we celebrated many evidences of God’s grace which revolved around the way God has used you:
- to launch new initiatives like The Turn and Love Jonesboro
- serve one another through your Community Group relationships
- fund missionaries here and abroad
- reach out and include new church family members who are excited about following Jesus. There comments include:
I became a member here because this is a church where i can really connect not only with GOD but with other people like me. I feel like I belong here. I don’t feel like i have to be self-righteous and I’m not surrounding by self-righteous acting people. I feel welcome.
I feel burdened that there are so many people out there that don’t connect [to God or church] because they feel that Christians don’t have any fun and that they are all self-righteous people.
In addition, I shared what would never change here inlcuding:
- Our simple yet deep pursuit of Jesus
- Preaching the great truths of the Bible
- Worship through song of our Big God.
- All out pursuit of those outside our church walls
- Our Love Jonesboro Outreach
- Our desire to show and share good news
- Equipping emphasis – unleash an army of relational evangelists
- Deep desire to be a healthy place for families
- Reaching out to ASU
- Creating small group environments where you can grow and belong
- Safe place to bring your unbelieving friends…”it’s OK, to not be Ok, it’s just not OK to stay that way.
So pray with us that Jesus will be pleased by our church.
Our Church Distinctives: Simple, Deep and Missional
In order to foster greater unity among ourselves as well as to relate to our guests what we are passionate about, we have chosen three words to describe ourselves.
Our focus is Simple: We love Jesus. Jesus died for us and we want to love Him back by loving all people the way He loved us. (2 Corinthians 11:1-3)
Our aim is to go Deep: We love following Jesus. Reordering our whole life around Jesus according to the Scriptures is our aim.
Our movement is Missional: We love Jesus’ mission. Reaching out to share Jesus love in word and deed is how we want to live.
The Turn: Weekly College Gathering
0 Comments Published by rfowler May 15th, 2008 in College/Twenty-somthings.Bring your friends and join us for The Turn, our gathering for college students and college-aged folks this summer. We’ll meet at the Fowler’s house (2601 Rankin Dr, 72404) on Sunday evenings from 7–9 p.m. beginning May 25th. Check the online calendar for dates and contact information.
We’ve been at this new web site and blog for a month or so now, and you may be wondering “how do I effectively use the web site and the blog?” So let’s cover some tips and tricks so that you get the most out of this web site, while also helping to make the most out of this web site Continue reading ‘How To Use This Web Site’
“The Turn” Turns Loose
2 Comments Published by rfowler September 14th, 2007 in College/Twenty-somthings.Thanks for your prayer support as we launched The Turn this past Monday night. We had a great time setting the vision and meeting with close to 30 college students as we shared our passion to pursue a glorious vision of Christ together. Continue reading ‘“The Turn” Turns Loose’