Ministry Coaching Minute #2

What I want to share with everyone is something that I think is absolutely important to us as leaders in a church.  God has chosen all of us to be the people he uses to facilitate what Torch is.  When I first came to Torch a little over a year ago, the one thing that stood out to me and impressed me most was the sense of community that Torchers had.  I felt welcomed and even grafted in to the body the very first time I attended!  It was incredible!  I remember thinking to myself on the drive home how incredibly hard it usually is to pull off community at such a level.

Well, what we’re going to talk about today I think really captures that.  In regards to community, on Monday nights, or at Mini-Church, or even functions, I want all of us to read, understand, and practice this one simple statement:  Belonging leads to Believing which then leads to Becoming.

I’ve shared this already with our Mini-Church leaders and now I want to share this with all of the leaders.  It is so VERY important that we go out of our way to welcome people into the community.  It’s important to begin the process of belonging, believing, and becoming.  I know that sometimes it’s not the easiest thing in the world to cross the room and talk to a total stranger but please keep this in mind: God has ordained and orchestrated their attendance at Torch and it would be almost ludicrous for us not to EMBRACE that and pursue new people.  Think about that.  Newcomers might be stopping in for the first time because they were just driving by and they heard something/someone tell them to stop in.  God is constantly calling people towards Himself!  He’s doing that by bringing people to 1966 Hawley St. in Mundelein. 

Do you see how important it is to rise above our fears of crossing the room and just getting there and initiating the conversation?  God is walking people through our doors every week and asking us to care for His children—isn’t that amazing!!!

Can I challenge all of you this coming week (and every week) to be bold and wildly on-fire to talk to newcomers and even regular attenders that aren’t connected?

--Brad Gross, Associate Pastor