Keep Pointing in Osage

Mission & Community

Can both be buzzwords around a church.  But what in the world do they mean?  Bill Clem is a Pastor near Seattle, Washington and he gives a fantastic definition of each.  Mission is making a difference in the lives of people who aren't at church yet.  Community is making a difference in the lives of those who are already at church.  As a church, our job is to do both.  To care for the people already present and to reach those who aren't.

Often we see churches that do either one or the other.  Some churches are fantastic at being missional and reaching lost people, but then don't have solid community or a defined pathway of discipleship.  Other churches have solid community, but aren't reaching out to lost people.  Healthy and growing churches do both.

Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 - "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He also have us the Great Commandment - "Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  ³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The Great Commission is all about mission.  Reaching those far from Jesus.  The Great Commandment is about loving God and developing community.  Around here at PLC we say it this way, "Love God, love people, influence the World".  Mission and community.  You simply cannot love God with your whole heart and not be on mission.  And you simply cannot love your neighbor as yourself without being in community.  Following Jesus requires both.

So what about you?  How are you being missional in your life?  Are you being intentional about developing community at church and away from church?  Across all of our PLC campuses there are opportunities to be missional and to develop community coming up.  I would encourage you to think and pray about how you can be missional and develop community.  What is your next step?

 

Celebrating a Promise

Our next Child Dedication Class is coming up.  It's scheduled from 6:00-7:30pm next Thursday, January 26 at the PLC-Osage office - 619 Main St. Suite B.  We will talk about the meaning of Child Dedication, walk you through what parents commit to as a part of the dedication and cover details of how we celebrate it during service.  A free meal will be provided.

Check out this link here to register, gather more information and to download the parent "homework" that you need to bring to the meeting.

I'm excited for this next round of Child Dedications.  It is exciting to see parents choose to dedicate their children to the Lord and for the congregation to also pledge to support parents in raising their children to know and love Jesus.  If you have a child who has not been dedicated or if you know someone at PLC in that position, please encourage them to register for the class.

Next Steps

 

Want to sign up for membership class?  Click here to register.

Want to be baptized?  Click here to register.

Being A Found Person Who Wants To Find Lost People

Hi Friends - I wanted to give you an inside look on the commitment I made last Sunday during worship as we filled out our "One for One" cards.  I want to let you know what God stirred in my heart so that you know that as a pastor, this is for me too.  I also want you to keep me accountable and ask me how I'm doing at pursuing and inviting these people.

On my list from Sunday were three people.  One is a man who I barely know who doesn't know Jesus and is far from God.  He is open to talking about God and to coming to church and I think he's one who simply needs to hear of the love of God and be invited to genuine Christian community.  I think God is close to doing something really soon in his life.  My next step with him is to invite him to PLC and also to sit down with him and talk about the Gospel and where He is at.

My second person is a woman I know only by face and not by name.  I know where she works, but not much else.  I plan to invite her to church soon and also learn more about her life and hear her story.

My final person is a guy who lives in my area of town.  I don't know much about him, but he seems like a good man.  Not sure if he even attends church, but God has really been placing him on my heart for the past few weeks.  My next step with him is to engage him in conversation and perhaps invite him and his family over for dinner or dessert.

All of these steps will require courage and all of them will require me to put fears and worries aside and seek their good and not my own.  As you pastor, I want to lead you well.  That is a frequent prayer of mine.  One of the ways that I can lead you well is by setting a Godly example, so I want you to ask me when you see me about how I'm finding and pursuing these folks.

What about you?  What is your plan to find someone in 2012?  Once you are clear about what God wants you do to, make a plan and be accountable to others so that it gets done!  Let's make 2012 a year of finding folks!

Courageous

 

Can't see this video?  Click here.

Campus Connection

  

Can't see this video?  Click here.

Want to register for Campus Connection?  Click here.

Gaining Momentum Going Into 2012

  

Can't see the video?  Click here.

Merry Christmas!

 

Can't see this video?  Click here.

Appreciating Chuch & Tom

 

Can't see this video?  Click here.

Our Competition

The temptation of any pastor or church leader can be to be competitive with other local churches.  We want to have the best worship in town, the most outstanding children's ministry experience and the most friendly first impression folks.  We want to have the best and be the best in town.  But this desire to be the best and compete against other churches is the wrong battle to fight.  While striving for excellence in all areas of ministry is a great goal, simply doing so to be better than the next guy is missing the point altogether.  At PLC our goal is not to compete with other churches, but rather to compete with other places, organizations and events that compete for the hearts and affections of people in our communities.  We want to compete against the mall, the social club, the sports teams and theater.  We want to reach the people who could care less what other churches in town are doing.  In fact, most won't have a clue what other churches are doing.  We want to reach those far from Jesus so that they meet Him.  We want to reach those burnt by the church or afraid to take next steps in their faith and we want to help them take next steps.  Our audience is not those already sitting in church.

As the church, we are the Body of Christ and we have the incomparable grace, mercy, love and community of faith that no other club, location or sporting event can compete with.  However, many folks in our world don't either believe or see that.  Our job as followers of Jesus is to engage folks around us in such as way that they are compelled to ask questions about our lifestyle and faith.  As we do, it gives us credibility to speak into another person's life and welcome them to church and into next steps with Jesus.  Are you living in such as way that those around you are interested in your faith? 

Which brings me to Saturday.  This Saturday is Christmas Eve.  A day when people who never go to church are thinking about going.  A day when some people feel at least a little tinge of guilt if they don't go to church.  People are searching for a church to go to and for a place where they receive things that other places and relationships in their life can't offer.  So, who have you invited to church?  Who in your circles of influence are in need of a Savior?  Who needs to hear of the radical love of Jesus Christ this weekend?  Invite them.  Don't simply hand them a card once in a while, but live your life in such as way that they want to know your Savior.

I'm praying that this Christmas Eve and beyond we crush our competition.  I'm tired of seeing so many folks in our communities more excited to go hunting or shopping than go to church.  I want to see Prairie Lakes - Osage become a place that so displays the love of Jesus that it leaves our competition in the dust.