We started a new series this week called Everybody, Everywhere at Grace Community centering on how we help our community and our world hear the message of Christ. This week Chad Rowland asked us if we would be willing to fight for the spiritual lives of our friends. Would we have the courage to not give up when it comes to helping those we love the most hear the message of Jesus? We talked about this process last night in our community group. How do we lead those who are around us to Christ? In our group we landed on the truth that helping people see and understand Christ has to be more than words or a formula that we try to work through with people we know. It got me thinking about the process of engaging people with this message. How do we make this happen? I think we have to live lives of authenticity, look for who God is leading us to serve, and have the courage to engage people around us relationally.
LIVE >> People measure our faith, our God, or hope by the lives that we live. Authentic faith is revealed by people living authentic lives. When we live lives impacted by love and grace we will become people that God can reveal Himself through. People are watching us…do our lives reflect the fact that we have been made new by Jesus Christ. This has to be our continual goal, to be more like Jesus.
LOOK>>When I talk about looking I mean we should allow God to open our eyes to the people in our world He has for us to impact with His message. Why not invite God into this process through prayer? When we are looking around for God opportunities, God will make His plan known to us. Let’s allow God to open our eyes to the people he has for us to serve.
ENGAGE>> This is the step where we have to act in faith. This is where we serve people with no agenda but to display God’s love. This is where we invite our friend to go to church with us. This is where we give advice we have learned from God to a hurting coworker. This is where we explain our faith to a friend who is asking questions about God over coffee. This is the part where we never give up on people. We can do this…we can engage this culture with the hope of Jesus Christ.
Live, look, and engage…it is a process that never ends and it is a strategy we will never get perfect. I think if we adopt this process we might be right in the middle of God’s plan to redeem this broken and hurting world we live in. We might just begin to love people the way God loves people. Thanks to the people of Grace Community Church for partnering with us as we try to reach our city of Christ…you are an amazing group of people serving an amazing God!