And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” — Luke 10:2-3

Last fall we had a couple of town hall meetings to discuss the state and future of our church.  To recap: like many churches, we have seen a significant decline in worship attendance and engagement in the life of our church.  While for the most part our income has remained steady, it is also declining.  Up until last fall, we had seen very few visitors to our church, and those who did visit usually did not return.  It seemed as if, while we love our church and what we offer, it wasn’t resonating or connecting with others in our community.  Our circumstances seemed discouraging, to say the least.  One year later, we’ve often been asked about where things stand and if we are as concerned as we were.

When you look at the practical numbers — worship attendance and income — not much has changed.  Our average worship attendance is about the same as it was last fall, and our income is just slightly lower.  But those numbers only tell one part of the story, and not the most important part.  Since last fall we have had a steady increase in visitors to our church, which led to our largest Inquirer’s Class in the past 8 years.  One new regular attender commented, “I didn’t know churches like yours existed any more.”  Where we often wonder if our church is declining into irrelevance, another visitor sees a community that has deep faith and deep relationships, the very things she has been needing and looking for.

Where did these new visitors come from?  In almost every case, the answer is the same: Someone invited me.  In fact, when you boil every church growth and evangelism strategy down to its core, it’s always about some form of personal invitation.  It’s how the Gospel spread in the very beginning, and it’s how the Church has grown ever since.  Telling others about Jesus is something that all believers are called and invited to do.  As Jesus and the Holy Spirit change and transform us, we are invited to share that transformation with others.

The most important part of our life of faith is for us to be looking to see how we are growing as disciples of Jesus Christ, paying attention to how the Holy Spirit is making us into new creations, formed in the image of our Savior: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)  Think about it this way: when something good happens in our lives or when we have good news to share, we naturally and instinctively want to share that with the people around us.  When we see how Jesus has changed us, we want to share that change with others.  This change is a process that happens throughout our lives on this side of Glory.  Look for how the Holy Spirit has changed you and how you are growing as a disciple.  If you aren’t sure how that change is happening in your life, consider asking what the Holy Spirit might be inviting you to change or do differently so you can experience the change He wants to bring about in you.

Sometimes, though, even when we know how we are being changed, we hesitate or aren’t sure how to share that with others.  We know Jesus has told us to tell others about the good news of God’s grace, but don’t want to be pushy or offensive.  In fact, this is one of the most common questions we’re asked: I know I’m supposed to tell others about Jesus, but I don’t know what to say.  To that end, we are going to spend time in September talking about a model for sharing your faith called “The Three Circles.”  This is a slightly different model than others you might already know.  The emphasis with The Three Circles is helping you learn how to turn everyday conversations into Gospel conversations.   We’ll introduce the Three Circles in a three week sermon series, which will be followed by a six week Sunday School class.

If we want to see Northminster grow, it simply comes down to telling others about Jesus and inviting them to church to learn more about Him.  The elders and I encourage everyone to join us for worship and plan to participate in the Sunday School class.  We’re excited about how the Lord will use the Three Circles to help us share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our friends, our family, and the community around us.  Find more information about the Three Circles Sunday School class on page seven of the newsletter, or by clicking here..

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” — Romans 10:14-15

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison