Joseph Series - Week 1 - Abandoned

Tomorrow morning I'll be teaching the Young Adult's Sunday School class. We will be talking about Old Testament (Or as I like to say, 1st Testament) Joseph, primarily out of Genesis 37. Joseph was abandoned by his brothers, his own flesh and blood, sold into slavery, and nearly left for dead...how can we relate to such betrayal...

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Do Visitors Feel Welcome in Your Church?

I don't want to always sound like I'm chewing church people out, I'll preface this post by saying I'm equally guilty of everything I'm going to be talking about in this post. So let's just shoot straight for a minute, which is easier; talking to a person you know and like, or a complete and total stranger? Obviously for most people that answer is the person they already know. Talking to strangers is awkward at best for most people, mix it up and make the setting a church and you've got a whole new bunch of obstacles to make the encounter even more uncomfortable... but it doesn't have to be, and it shouldn't.

A saying from my dad, "You only get one chance at a first impression," this statement is never more true than inside a church. You only get one shot to show people who you are, as a church when they visit. If they don't like it, they are moving to the next church on their list. So the first impression they get of you starts early, with the people you have greeting them when the enter the doors of your church, or as they drive their cars onto your parking lot (I'm a big fan of having parking lot attendants directing visitors to the "easy to find and close to an entrance" visitor parking). 

We talked about it today in an impromptu staff meeting, what do you say to someone if you aren't sure they are a visitor? You don't want to offend someone who's been coming for years, and don't want to ignore a possible visitor... what to do? Get creative, here is an example of an easy and friendly question, "Good morning, how are you doing etc," followed up by a, "Now, how long have you been coming here?" Either they are a visitor, or you've just connected to someone in your church you haven't connected with before. It is a Win-Win.

As a church, we cannot afford to not be friendly, especially to visitors, what kind of Jesus Christ does that convey? "We are only friendly to people we know..." ? That's not the way Jesus rolled. I encourage you to extend a warm welcome to unfamiliar faces in your church this week, whether you are on the "Greeting Team" or not. As Christians we are called to be Christ-Like, He wouldn't ignore someone, so you don't either (myself included).

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Are you reaching the lost?

So I'm always playing the bad guy, the devil's advocate or whatever you want to call it. My question about all churches is, "Are you reaching the lost? Are you doing outreach? Are you practicing 'Evangelism' outside the 4 walls of the church?" For some churches the answer is, "Absolutely!" for others, there is pause...or even a "kind of" answer. 

By my standards...which I feel line up with those of Christ, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation," I feel like it is unacceptable for us to not be reaching out to those who don't know Christ!

Currently our church is in the midst of a restructuring of our Outreach and Evangelism Ministries. Previously we had a full blown church/ministry that's sole purpose was community outreach and evangelism. They, through the Lord's blessing and excellent leadership, were so successful that they are now their own sovereign church. The outreaches we currently have revolve around our Bus ministry for our Children's and Youth Ministries on Wednesday nights, and our Men's Basketball Ministry on Monday nights. Outside of that, we aren't reaching out to bring the lost in....so what to do? In a few minutes I'm about to be in a meeting with a few leaders that are going to be helping our church launch a new Outreach and Evangelism focused ministry. What are we going to do? I'm not entirely sure, but I promise you, we are going to be connecting with individuals who don't know Christ, connecting with church visitors and newer believers to engage them in Discipleship, and most importantly telling each of these people about the love of Christ as well as showing them first hand what it is.

What's one of the road blocks? The Word of God tells us that the Harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few, what does that mean? It means that there is LOTS of work to be done, ministry to do, and people to be reached, but the people willing to do that kind of ministry, and ministry in general are few and far between. On top of that is the fact that all of our outreach minded volunteers are already plugged in at our former outreach church. So what now? We develop new leaders, ministers, volunteers, etc. God has called us to reach the lost...all believers, not just some of us, or the Pastors, or the Rich people, or those with an "amazing" testimony, but all of us. You are called, serve your church by being a part of the ministry that is reaching out to the lost, its the Heart Beat of God.

I'll give you an update as our ministry expands and lives are changed, I'm believing on it.

-Ryan

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Time...it's relative right?

Here's a thought....

Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time at all, embrace the day!

Meditate on that for a few minutes.

Not much of a blog post, but I think that's a pretty big thought to chew on for a while...daily even maybe!

Check out my new About.me profile HERE get your name while its available!

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Why Young Adults are Leaving the Church...

This is a very well written excerpt from an article I read at CovPresChurch.org, very sobering and depressing on some levels, most importantly it is very informative...
To learn more about "Ignite" our Young Adult Ministry, click HERE!


"Why do so many young adults stop going to church?   Perhaps the most frequently offered explanation is that many students enter college with an inadequate understanding of “the Christian worldview” and an inability to “defend” it against professors who are “hostile” to the faith.  It is unclear how this theory emerged, but it is not supported by the research.  The NSYR found that only 11% of young adults who “stopped attending religious services” did so because of “disbelief.”  The number one answer given was “no reason or don’t know” (41%), followed by “disinterest” (17%).  (This study further found that young adults who attend college are actually LESS likely to “experience declines in religious service attendance and self-reported importance of religion” than those who do not.)

The researchers interviewed very few young adults who had become skeptical of or hostile toward the Christian faith in college.  The majority (about 60%) of those who had stopped going to church sounded something like Brad—one of the young adults who participated in the study.  He attended church pretty regularly with his family during his teenage years, but now, it “kind of depends on how busy the schedule is.  If I get a free Sunday, I’ll go…once in awhile.  But I’m not really into it like some people are.”  Brad did not “lose his faith” in college.  He still believes that “there is a God and…if you believe in Jesus and ask him to be in your life, [you] go to heaven…that sort of stuff.”  In his words, “I still have the same ideas now, I just don’t go to church like I used to every Sunday.  I’ve got a busier lifestyle…higher priorities.”

What the NSYR researchers found is that the young adults who were most likely to stop attending church were those who, though they basically believed the “right” things, lacked a real understanding of those beliefs, appreciation of their importance, and ability to apply them to their everyday experiences.  According to Christian Smith, director of the NSYR project and author of two books on the subject of youth and religion, it was as if the teenagers and young adults were being asked to speak a “second language” that sounded confused and awkward, especially when it came to how their “faith” impacted their daily lives.  Smith coined the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” to describe what he and his colleagues frequently heard in their interviews.  Most young people believe that God created the world and sent Jesus to die for their sins, but in terms of their everyday experiences, God seems to be little more than a cosmic therapist (to make them “feel loved, happy, secure,” etc.) and giver of moral advice (to teach them how to be “good” people and occasionally help them resolve their “problems”)."

There's a lot of info to take in from this article, one of the most important pieces shows only a small % of young adults leaving the church due to disbelief in God. One encouraging note is that the majority of these young adults have a good foundation in their belief system and aren't entirely abandoning the faith. They know God is there, and that Jesus died for them, but because of their stepping back from church, they do relegate God to the sidelines and seek him only when in need as opposed to serving Him at all times. They are a big fan of the Jesus that calmed the storm, but at this point in time not such a big fan of Jesus the teacher (This is not the case with all Young Adult Christians outside of church, but the majority).

The sad news however, is that the Church (as a whole) is no longer reaching or delivering the Word to Young Adults in a relevant and life applicable way. The claim is that their schedule and priorities are superseding their need to go to church, at least at the regular/traditional church times. That's really not a bad excuse, and I don't think of it as a cop-out. I remember being in college, taking 17-19 credit hours, working 2 or 3 part time jobs, being married, having labs, study groups, senior thesis projects etc...church can take a back seat.  What about the young adults who don't go to college and go straight into the work force, get married young, and have kids young? They are getting a real world shock, they are just fighting to get by, pay off their debt and make ends meet!

So what's the answer? Some might say..."Well they just aren't committed" or "They must not have had a strong foundation" or "If they were living right, they'd make church a priority." Are we really supposed to expect them to make the "super spiritual" "uber mature" adult decision to make church a priority when they are still just discovering what it even means to live as an adult out from under mom and dad's roof? Personally, I don't think any of those viewpoints are correct. Maybe it just happens to somewhat be the responsibility of the "Church" to try and find a means to minister and reach out to this group stepping away...?

Paul gives us a pretty good road map for how to reach those we aren't reaching in 1 Corinthians 9 

"19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Sounds to me like Paul said, "Become what you must to reach those who don't know about Jesus." ...like a Jew to the Jews...like the weak to the weak... get this one, "TO THOSE NOT HAVING THE LAW I BECAME LIKE ONE NOT HAVING THE LAW" ... "so as to win (to Christ) those not having the law." So I think Paul makes it clear, we aren't supposed to just sit here and twiddle our thumbs and expect the lost, the struggling, etc to just come find us, but we are to go seek them out and minister to them in their culture, setting, etc. We need to be doing our part to be reaching them on their level where they are at. Occasionally I'm in downtown Fort Smith, AR around lunch time and I see a community outreach that does sack lunches to the needy, feeding the hungry. Imagine if instead of making those meals available and advertising it to the homeless community, they just sat on their hands and had those sack lunches sitting in a fridge somewhere saying, "well we got the food here, if they want it, they'll come find it!"

We are re-launching our Young Adult Ministry at my church this month, my goal is for us to reach the young adults on a level that church isn't getting to them. Right now, our meeting time is going to be on Wednesday nights at 7:00, that may not be best in the long run. We have to start somewhere and that's where we are best equipped to start, as things progress and the ministry grows, we may evolve into another time, location, style etc for whatever best encourages personal growth as well as reaching more and more individuals. We must make the gospel readily available, even if it takes us outside of our "normal" comfort zone of Sunday mornings. We must also remember, we have a formidable foe in the devil, who is on the prowl like a hungry lion, ready to strike. Each young adult we alienate for our own "comfortable agenda" we make more available pray to the devil...

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