OK…so far we have covered the following…I value dessert (I am thinking it is about time to hit Sullivan’s) and NewSpring values…
- Jesus (Just in case you are wondering…I say “Jesus” a lot instead of “God.” The term “God” has became so generic in our culture…it can mean just about anything…but when you say the name “Jesus,” well…there is NO doubt as to who you are talking about there!)
- The Bible
#3 - We Value Evangelism
I am an evangelist at heart. Nothing, I mean NOTHING stokes me up more than to see someone’s world get turned upside down for Christ.
Unfortunately I believe the Great Commission has turned into the Great Omission in many churches in America today. It’s sad—but I know many churches that simply do not care that people are dying & going to hell—and call me crazy…but that BOTHERS me…there are times at night when I literally can’t sleep!
So…when we began NewSpring Church we wanted to create an environment where people could meet Jesus instead of meeting the pastor. We wanted people to know more about Scripture than Robert’s Rules of Order. We wanted an environment where people were concerned about the condition of someone’s heart and NOT the condition of their wardrobe. We wanted what we believed the Bible describes the church to be in the book of Acts…a place where screwed up people come to meet Jesus.
If you look in Scripture when Jesus called the disciples He said, “Come follow me and I will make you…” Now, if you’ve ever read Scripture or sang songs in Sunday school you know the rest of that verse, ”...fishers of men.” Notice He didn’t say, “Come follow me and we will go to a Bible study.” Or, “Come follow me and let’s protest the lottery.” Nope—His focus was on reaching people…and because THAT is THE example He set—the church should follow it.
I believe it is unfortunate when a church is reduced to a mere country club that has a cross and a steeple. Come on now…the only reason you would get offended at a statement like that is because I just described your church.
We are called to reach people!!! We are called to get outside of our world and into the worlds of people who do not know Christ. We are called to not only like the people who are like us…but the people who are nothing like us.
When we began NewSpring I wanted a place where you didn’t have to be perfect to walk through the doors. I always tell people, “This is NOT the perfect church…I am NOT the perfect pastor…and if you are perfect then please leave because if you hang around here we will screw you up!”
I wanted a place where people could come and meet Jesus and be changed. And so because of that—we value evangelism. So far this year we have seen over 900 people receive Christ…and we are believing that number will exceed 1,000 after our Christmas Eve services.
AND…we have taught those who attend NewSpring that evangelism IS inviting people to church—IF your church preaches about Jesus! There are many right now that KNOW you need to invite someone to our Christmas Eve services…DO IT…because when people come to NewSpring on Christmas Eve they will hear the message about Jesus…and their lives COULD BE transformed! It takes all of us working together to make evangelism work.
We always ask in membership class, “Why did you attend NewSpring for the first time?” I would say around 99% say that they came because they were personally invited by a family member or friend…in other words—they were “evangelized!”
That was God’s goal all along…and still is today…people reaching people. SO…at NewSpring we create an environment where someone is not embarrassed to invite a friend or family member—we talk about Jesus…and through this process Jesus changes lives! It’s something that we are incredibly dedicated to…you should see what we have planned for 2007!!!