The Church has a responsibility to identify its gifts in order to glorify God and bless others. Each church has a unique set of gifts to offer, and through them they can become a redemptive good in their community. So what is targeted outreach?
Targeted outreach is connecting the gifts of the church to the needs of the community in a precise way. It sounds simple, but a church must be diligent, doing the hard work of identifying its gifts, equipping its saints, and sending them out to meet others face-to-face, engaging them personally in conversation, in prayer, and in Biblical teaching and preaching. Sound familiar?
If we grow in our core values, we will discover our unique identity in Christ, and through that identity we will know how best to minister to those around us. Let us pray about the days ahead, about our formation, and for how God will shape us into a church that reaches out in a confident and precise way.
The nature and function of the Church is to be ‘incarnational’, which is a fancy way of saying being present “in the flesh” in our mission and ministry. Because God saw fit to come and dwell among us (John 1.14), we as God’s Church—His representatives in the world —are to go out into the world, per His command, in order to make disciples.
In a world that is increasingly ‘online’, the Church must be increasingly ‘on foot’. We must maintain our incarnational mission to be present in all we do. Because God was really there for us, we must really be there for others. This can only happen if we are in fellowship, gathered and present so that we may bear one another’s burdens…actually.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6.2, ESV).
At Asbury, we want our growth in grace to be bone deep. We want for everyone to experience God, and not as a feeling, but really, truly from the inside, out. Let us disciple one another, face-to-face, sharing in true fellowship, being there for one another.
Christians are ‘sent’ people. We have been commissioned by Jesus Christ to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28.19, ESV). Therefore, we must have conversations that are personal, that engage others where they are so that we can walk with them to where God is calling all of us.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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 10.13-15 (ESV)
At Asbury, we want to be personal and personable—you could even say approachable. And we want to engage because we ourselves have a similar experience, that there were people who engaged us because we needed that encouragement, that push, that sometimes makes all the difference. It made a difference because people took time to invest, to care enough to say something. Let us care, let us say something, and let us do so by engaging others.
It’s no secret that God’s word has been under attack within the times we are living. To be Christian is to be a disciple, a learner and follower of Christ. There is no way for a Christian to learn or follow Christ apart from God’s word. And God’s word is exactly that, God’s word.
The Scriptures are God’s self-revelation to us. They contain within them “all that is necessary unto salvation” (to quote several orthodox catechisms over the centuries). Without His word, the preacher has nothing to preach; the teacher has nothing to teach. Therefore, if there is to be preaching, then His word is what will be preached. If there is to be teaching, then His word is what will be taught.
At Asbury Chapel, we will preach the word of God and we will teach the Scriptures in their fullness. Our very membership vows state, “Do you receive and profess the Christian faith as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New testaments?” These reasons, and many more, are why we have Biblical Preaching & Teaching as a core value.
There is nothing that we want to do as a church apart from God. Therefore, we must commune with Him in order to be shaped and molded; in order to grow in grace; in order to know Him and His love. The Scriptures tell us in 1 Thessalonians 5.17 to “…pray without ceasing,…” (ESV). Unceasing prayer means ongoing communion with God, and so we are to be a people full of prayer and prayerful in all that we do.
John Wesley, in his book A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, said this in regards to prayer: “Whether we think of, or speak to, God, whether we act or suffer for him, all is prayer, when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him.” God is the object of Asbury Chapel, therefore prayer is our first core value. It is one way God’s revealed grace brings us before God and keeps God ever before us.
Yes, I am ‘that guy’ or to some of you just a typical man when it comes to the grocery store. I can’t find my way around that place, signs or no signs. And even though I’m the ‘gopher’ (go for) for picking up a quick item here and there, I still can’t remember where the ketchup is or the cans of cream of chicken soup, no matter how many times I ‘gopher’.
Last weekend I got the funniest looks from people on various aisles, mainly because I kept passing them without any new items in my basket. There they were, with their full carts and line-struck lists, following their system for gathering items in a helpful, systematic way. Even the shelf stockers were coming up to me, seeing the look on my face and saying, “Sir, can I help you find something?” God bless those folks.
“My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” —James 5:19-20
I am so thankful for the folks that recognize the helpless man who can’t find what they need and is taking too much time in the store. The man’s wife is thankful, too (although slightly embarrassed). Spiritually speaking, the same is true about turning people away from sin. Every one of us would be surprised at the number of people who are looking for someone to approach them about their life; who wish that someone would offer them a better way and save them from a life that seems like no life at all (see Romans 7.21-25, and the New Living Translation is helpful here).
Most people do know that there is something more. The question is, will we show them the more? God has raised us up to be His people, all to the glory of His name; but part of bringing that glory to Him is playing our part in raising up others to do the same. We are called to go into all the world, after all (Matthew 28). We can’t teach them to obey Christ and all He has commanded if they are living in sin and sitting in darkness. Like the old hymn says, “Rescue the perishing.”
Today, put on the apron of God, like the store clerk and shelf-stocker, and ask people if they need help. Let them know that they are “on the wrong aisle” and then walk with them to the aisle that has what they need. And when you get there with them, bring me some cream of chicken soup!
