Rev. David Holwick H The Church You've Longed For, #2
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 25, 2007
Acts 2:42-47
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I. Reeling in our community.
A. An awesome pun.
Landing a fish -- "Landing" Ledgewood. Get it?
[Landing is an adjacent neighborhood]
1) Of course, fishing has a long association with evangelism.
a) This summer, we will actually host a dinner for a
Christian Fishing Tournament.
b) They want to catch bass, we want to catch people.
B. How do we land a community?
1) Traditional practice is to have church, and hope people
come. (And hope not TOO MANY come)
2) Reality - most people won't come.
a) A recent survey found that only 7% of unchurched
people said they would attend a church in next year.
60% of the unchurched said it was very unlikely.
3) Churches themselves are part of the problem.
a) There is always the temptation to ignore the community
and maintain an inward focus.
b) Fences or sidewalks?
A Southern California church had just completed a large
addition, including a new sanctuary, to house their
growing congregation.
The next week they discovered that 250 housing units
were going in right behind them - they would share
a property line.
The pastor said he had two conversations within a
three-hour time period.
The first individual said: "We need to build a fence so
their kids don't wander onto our property."
The second person asked: "Do we have the money to build
a sidewalk up to our church so their kids can come
to our ministries?"
#28391
II. Why outreach matters.
A. The tragic history of the Eastern Church.
1) The Christian church has its birthplace in the Middle East.
a) They saw explosive growth - Acts 2 describes it.
2) But in the 700s a new religion arrived - Islam.
a) Christians were allowed to live in their old homes.
b) They were allowed to worship, quietly, in their
churches.
3) But they were not allowed to witness.
a) Those who converted from Islam to Christianity were
executed, which is still true today.
b) Churches that evangelized were destroyed.
4) The Eastern Church went along with it.
a) Their churches survived. But they dwindled.
b) And now they are dying out.
c) By choosing survival over witness, they lost.
B. Grow, or die.
1) Experts say once a church plateaus, they have three years
to start growing.
2) If they don't, they will probably shrink and die.
III. Is our church worth coming to?
A. Most of the community doesn't know much about us.
1) I have heard outsiders describe us as "the stone church."
2) They don't know much about our "living stones" - you guys.
3) They really have no idea about what goes on here.
B. What they suspect is not attractive.
1) Yesterday I was listening to a National Public Radio
program.
It was talking about religion in America, and they mentioned
that a survey of Americans found that 66% of them think
our country is "too religious".
They commentator said it probably reflected a reaction
against "sick religion."
2) Sick religion is negative, political, condemning, boring.
a) Not at all like our church!
b) So how do we let them know the truth about us?
c) How do we get the outside to come inside?
3) They are not going to flock to us.
a) We have to go out and get them.
IV. Begin with enthusiasm.
A. The early church was on fire with enthusiasm.
1) They spoke of God's mighty deeds. Acts 2:11
2) They were devoted to Bible teaching, communion, prayer.
3) They shared property so they could meet personal needs.
4) The result was a favorable attitude in the local community,
and significant numerical growth. (see also 5:12-16)
B. How do we feel about our church?
1) Run it down and criticize it?
a) What would have happened if early church was negative?
2) Do we praise our church to outsiders?
C. Have a good attitude about our church.
1) Speak well of it.
2) Action step: say positive things about our church.
a) We are not perfect: address the problems and fix them.
b) Our attitude determines our action which determines
our accomplishment.
V. Go fishing.
A. Reach the community through programs.
1) Vacation Bible School casts a wide net.
a) By producing our own program, we guarantee the quality.
2) Christmas Eve and Easter.
a) These services attract some of the unchurched.
b) A simple ministry like Christmas caroling reminds
our neighbors of Jesus at a very special time.
B. Reach the community through availability.
1) We are used by Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Bagpipers,
homeschoolers.
C. Reach the community through service.
1) Hospital ministry.
a) The Golden Girls visit as a group.
b) Helen was inundated the day I visited her!
2) Meal ministry.
a) Becky Pruitt made the rounds on Friday, delivering food
to shut-ins. Went from Hopatcong to Lake Shawnee.
One of those families now sends their kids to our youth
program!
3) Ice scraping and snow shoveling.
a) One church reaches their community by going out early
on winter mornings and scraping the ice off their
neighbors' car windows.
Then they leave a scrapper on the windshield with the
church's name on it.
b) Ledgewood has an old-fashioned version.
I send Josiah out to the neighbors with a snow shovel.
With tears in his eyes he pleads with me - "Dad, can
I do one more? Please?"
4) Lawn care evangelism.
Steve Sjogren conducted a "Free Lawn Care" outreach.
He loaded a mower and rake into a truck and drove around
until he saw long grass.
He approached the house and knocked on the door to tell the
owner what he was up to.
Through the screen door a man barked,
"What do you want?"
Steve gave him a brief explanation and, without even looking
up, the man's response was simply, "Yeah, whatever...."
The man sat motionless in front of the TV, watching a
Reds baseball game.
Steve mowed enthusiastically - he sometimes calls it "power
mowing" - and finished in about 30 minutes.
When he stopped by to tell the man it was done, Steve asked
if he could pray for any needs in the man's life.
The man said he didn't have any needs.
As Steve began to walk away, he felt sure this man had some
emotional need and that he ought to insist on praying
for him.
He turned around, went back to the man, and prayed, "Come,
Holy Spirit, and touch this man's pain, whatever it is."
The response was instant and surprising - the man erupted in
deep sobbing that continued for some time.
As the crying died down, he told Steve his son had been
arrested the night before for stealing a car in order to
support a drug habit.
That day God's presence and power penetrated this man's
heart in a dramatic way - because a Christian was
willing to cut a little grass.
#3820
5) Toilet paper ministry.
Mark Bell has an interesting way of introducing people to
his church.
His youth group wraps themselves in toilet paper, rings
doorbells, and gives them a card saying:
"YOU'VE JUST BEEN T.P.ed BY MOTION CHURCH... we just wanted
you to know that God loves you".
You have to admit, that's a creative way to promote a
church.
Then again, in New Jersey we would get arrested if we did this.
VI. Our ultimate goal.
A. It is not church attendance -- it is Jesus!
1) We want people to come to him, not us.
B. People want more out of life.
1) That is why pagan religions and the occult are growing.
2) People instinctively know there is more to discover.
3) If Jesus is the way, as he says he is, then they should
be able to discover that fullness here.
4) Let's get them here, and let God do the rest.
C. Do you yourself know this fullness?
1) Invitation to accept Christ as your Savior.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 3820 "Free Lawn Care," by Steve Sjogren, Discipleship Journal, #94,
July 1996, p. 37.
#28391 "A Fence Or a Sidewalk?," by Rev. Craig Watters,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/illustrate/message/870.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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