No one goes to the World Series on one pitch.
No matter how good you are, sooner or later, a good hitter will be able to measure your pitch and then, hit it real hard. You have to be able to mix up your pitches. In the same way, churches are going to have to be able to find several different ways to engage their culture and the communities around them.
Historically, churches have engaged their communities in three ways: education, healthcare, and poverty. Each of these ministry efforts will open up more and more opportunities for evangelism.
Evangelism will always be the core of our work, but we live in a time when people have become jaded about the gospel. The ministry has to come before the message these days. We’ll do that through working with area schools, with the poor and with those who need healthcare.
The gospel restores dignity to the person. With that in mind, many of our people don’t have a chance to break the cycles that have enslaved them.
Whether it is getting a job, managing family finances, needing help with reading or math, our people will go into their communities and simply say, “We’re here to serve you.” From those moments we will earn the right to share the gospel. And community after community, we’ll begin to spread the gospel.
In local schools, in neighborhood coffee shops, in medical and dental clinic— wherever someone needs to be loved and served—we will meet them there and tell them of the love of Jesus.
From Kentucky to Alabama, from Dickson to Lebanon, as God opens the doors, I’m praying we will be ready to respond.
