“To reach the people that no one is reaching, we have to do the things no one else is doing.” -Craig Groeschel
What a great saying! So great, that at the beginning of this year I made it our theme for 2011. Now we are almost at mid-summer, I wonder how we’re doing making this theme a reality. I worry when we do things that seem ordinary, the kinds of things everyone else is doing. It scares me when we are referred to as ‘a church’ because that is far from what God called us to be. It bothers me when we fall into complacency and things going ’pretty good’ is ‘good enough.’ I’m uncomfortable when things get too comfortable. We offer After-School Programs (my favorite program of all), and we have our Summer Camp Program that gives us a unique opportunity to reach kids like no other time in the year. We do Christmas programs, and the Back-to-School Blowout, but that’s not so unique anymore. In August we’ll be putting up a 100′ x 40′ tent up on the Westside where Pastor Verlinda and Pastor Jarrett will labor for an entire weekend to introduce and expand the ministry on the Westside (details to follow as we get closer) but will it be enough? Teen Night, Super Saturday, the Children’s Choir–can’t we do more? Community Breakfast, Lunches and Dinners are feeding and giving out over 2,000 meals per month–but is it enough?
Andrae Crouch once said, “I thought I was giving my all to God, then I heard Him ask for more.”
The fact is, the ministry is really doing well. We have more volunteers than ever, as more and more are catching the vision of the ministry. Don’t think that I am frustrated or defeated in any way. I’m not. But at the same time, I’m not satisfied either. I’m with Oswald Smith when he said, “I don’t think anyone should hear the gospel twice until everyone’s had a chance to hear it once.” So I ask for your prayers for this ministry. Pray that we are able to “reach the people no one else is reaching, by doing the things no one else is doing” and that we be anything but ordinary.
