Yesterday my friend Martin and I launched, on this blog, the "One Hour a Week Movement" which urges all Christians to spend an hour every week in evangelistic local outreach.
Every day I read a Psalm in the Bible, in order, all the way through the Psalms, then I start again- this is my "Psalm of the day". Today's Psalm was 77 and there are a couple of verses that speak to what I wanted to cover today.
11 I will remember the works of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph.
The verses above from Psalm 77 talk about it being a positive thing to think about and share the works God has done in our lives. It talks about how God does wonders and how it is He who is the one who redeems/saves people. This is a pretty incredible Psalm considering what I wanted to blog about today was frontline stories of our One Hour a Week strategy! It IS God who saves people and he DOES do wonders- when we get out there for just one hour a week - He will show up.
Story 1.) "The friendly couple" - Sunday when we went to a local apartment complex we knocked on doors and handed out flyers inviting people to church. We probably knocked on 25-30 doors. We came to one door and a young woman and man were there. There seemed to be other people in and out as we talked to them so it might have been a household where several people lived. We introduced ourselves, talked about the church, handed them a flyer and then as we were talking I had an idea that came to me with some conviction and passion. I said, "You know what, its a miracle we are here today. Martin and I only do this for one-hour a week. There are thousands and thousands of doors we could have knocked-on - but we knocked on yours today. Not only that but you were here when we knocked. I want you to consider the possibility that God is reaching out to you- he's doing a work in your life and He wants you. God orchestrated today so that we would connect with you out of all the people in this area- and this apartment complex. Maybe you should consider visiting this church - if you give God access to your life, if you reach out to God, he'll speak to you- I guarantee it 100%. He will change your life." They seemed very receptive to this and there was a sweet spirit as we engaged with them.
Story 2.) "A lonely man and his dog" - we met with another man who couldn't have been more than 45 years old but he seemed to be almost a shut-in. He had a little chihuahua dog and when he opened the door to his apartment you could see it was quite a mess. He seemed to be lonely with a life in disarray and without hope. He came to the door wearing black,worn-out casual clothes and black dress socks pulled up to his calves with one toe sticking out. As always we were very kind to him - we don't care what he looks like. We opened up, as always, talking about the church and giving him a flyer. We always joke with people when we start off that we're not selling anything- they always smile at that. The approach we used with him was three-fold. We highlighted the fact that you don't have to dress up to go to church, we talked about how its a casual and very friendly environment, and we talked about how sometimes it gets lonely living alone and the church would be a great place to come be with people and be encouraged. He seemed interested and, as many people do, he said he "had been meaning" to go to church- he even pointed out a picture of Jesus just inside his door as if it assure us of his sincerity. The last thing we covered was that the church was not judgmental- he seemed to like that a lot. We mentioned this because there is no telling what kind of lifestyle that guy lives and Jesus didn't come to save clean, pure, healthy people- he came to "seek and to save that which was lost". In fact Jesus described Himself as a Shepherd willing to leave 99 sheep - to go find 1 that wandered off.
As you can see we take a very casual, friendly, and humble approach when we talk to these people- the lives Martin and I used to live were very sinful. We are truly those that have been plucked from the fire. We just want to get out there, show up, and allow God an opportunity to do his wonders! Its fun, its exciting, and its amazing to share in the fellowship of what GOD is doing at work in local missions outreach.
Try it- one hour a week - watch God show up. In your weakness- watch his WONDERS.
Let's GO God!
No comments:
Post a Comment