THE LORD ADDED TO HIS CHURCH
Acts 2:47 begins “And the Lord added to His church…” What a wonderful feeling it is when the Lord sees fit to grace us with new families in the church. This past Sunday night we hosted Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC. We had 15 who attended and 12, so far, who felt led to join with us. Others may join as they pray through and get a confirming word from the Lord. Think about that for just a moment. We had 12 adults who felt led to unite with this church family. Between them they had 13 children. Several of them will be baptized in the coming weeks. Several will have children dedicated soon. Good Lord willing, many of their children and teenagers will come to know the Lord and become followers of Jesus. Oh what a blessing from God. Because we are growing, we can sometimes lose the wonder of God’s grace when He adds to His church. Children and teens that can be reached before they have to be rescued; families coming together to study God’s word; finding a place of love and acceptance. It is a story of God’s grace, each and every one of them. To God be the glory!
NOW IS THE TIME…
Did you take typing in high school? Among the first lines we learned to type: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”. Now is the time for all our members to come to the aid of a major outreach effort. If you have been through Class 101 with me, you know our strategy of who we are trying to reach. It is the five circles starting from the outside and work in. We start with the COMMUNITY. We try to find ways to intersect with their lives and the things they value. You know…find an itch and then scratch it. Families love big, fun events for their kids. For JIBC it won’t get much bigger or “funner” than our Easter Egg Drop on Saturday, March 19. Sean said it correctly: the Easter Egg Drop is designed to be like our successful Fall Festival on steroids. If all we did was to put on a fantastic program for families, it would still be worth doing. In our case, we are praying and working to move them from the COMMUNITY Circle to the CROWD…those families who attend church on special occasions like Easter and Christmas. Once they attend worship at JIBC, we hope they will feel welcomed, hear great music, an inspiring Word, have their kids blessed in All Stars, etc. Then as God leads, they will be invited to our next Class 101: Discovering Membership at JIBC…conveniently timed for two weeks after Easter. So they move from the COMMUNITY to the CROWD to the CHURCH to those COMMITTED to becoming like Jesus. The goal being to lead them to a relationship with Christ and membership in His family so they may become fully devoted followers of Christ.
Listen, if you have a better plan that’s working…let me know. But this is the one we are working. The Lord is blessing. Come on and be a part of this. Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of the mission…to reach, redeem and restore a lost and broken world.
Pastor Tom
