The Holiday Season

This week I sent the following note to our Embrace Baltimore Church Starters. One of them requested that I post that message here as he thought it would be beneficial to others.

Dear Embrace Church Starters,

I trust you had a great weekend. I spent it with my family, so life could not be better. God has blessed me with a wonderful wife and three fantastic teenagers (my daughter, Sarah, turned 13 Saturday)!

Fall is an important time for making new disciples and for planning. Some people refer to the former as “evangelism,” but I prefer the phrase “making new disciples.” I mention it only to bring clarity to the focus of this note. Church starters in every season must focus on making new disciples of Jesus Christ. It is our first priority in ministry. It is our highest priority. Making new disciples is the basis of church starting.

The holiday season is an excellent time for making new disciples. The temptation is to spend these special days only with family or other Christians, while neglecting non-Christian neighbors. You set the tone and direction for your family, your team, and your church. If you are intentional about making new disciples during this season . . . they too will be intentional. On the other hand, if you take a vacation from making new disciples during the holidays . . . they too will go on vacation. The holiday season is one of the most important seasons of the year to spend time with non-Christian family, friends, and neighbors. It is also one of the simplest and least costly ways of helping your family, your team, and your church make new disciples.

The opportunities during the holiday season are nearly endless. For example, ask each person on your team or in your church to get with one or two other people or couples and host a Christmas party in a home, apartment, or dorm. Encourage them to invite unchurched and non-Christian friends and family to enjoy a fun celebration of Christmas. You do not want to make it a Sunday School party. Yet, it is amazing how many opportunities you will have to speak of God’s grace and providence if you are wise and prepared. Thanksgiving dinners, New Year’s Eve celebrations, and New Year’s Day football gatherings are just a few of the ways you, your team, and your church can spend time with non-Christian neighbors during the holidays.

An entirely different way to spend time with non-Christians is to invite them to serve with you. For example, you may choose not to prepare a Thanksgiving Day dinner. Instead, you could invite a non-Christian family to go with your family to a community center to serve a meal. Your kids and their kids can serve alongside you as together you serve your community. Many opportunities for deepening this friendship and telling your stories of God’s grace and providence will arise. Expect them. Be prepared to speak when God opens the doors.

You cannot do everything, but you should set the example by intentionally spending time with non-Christians during the holiday season. You might even develop a new family tradition for decades to come.

Review your 2009 calendars. Fall is a good time to review your 2009 calendar. As a church starter, your first priority is to be a disciple of Jesus and to make new disciples. You, your team, and your church have limited time and resources; stay focused—be a disciple and make new disciples. Many opportunities will arise, and you must prayerfully and wisely consider them. Expect God to give you new opportunities. Wise church starters protect their family, team, and church from dozens of exciting opportunities that subtly detour them from the best path in this phase of ministry. A few helpful questions are:

· How will this effort help our church connect with our focus community?

· How will this effort help our church make new disciples?

· How much time will this effort cost our team and our church? Are you sure?

· Is Christ leading our church to participate?

· Does this effort fit with our church’s current phase of ministry?

· If we say, ‘No,’ what will it cost our church after one year?

Note strategic dates such as the launch of your church, your second launch (6 months after your initial launch), scheduled baptismal services, the beginning of a 4-week message series, etc. It is important to schedule preparation activities before the primary efforts. For example, if you schedule a baptismal service, the person being baptized can send personal invitations to friends and family, especially to non-Christians. You can provide the invitations and collect them to be mailed two weeks before the service. You can also send a personal note one week before the service mentioning to their friends and family how important it will be for them to attend. Consider holding a reception, dinner, cookout, etc at the end of the service.

Consider every major holiday/date (national, cultural, religious, community, and personal). Select holidays to emphasize with your church and your family. Plan ways that you can develop friendships, love your neighbors, and tell your stories of God’s grace and providence. These efforts need not be expensive or even require volunteer teams. Super Bowl gatherings in homes, Fourth of July block parties, tutoring efforts for middle school exam week, and fine coffee and desserts in the school lounge on National Teacher Day represent only a few ways to spend time with your neighbors on the holidays and important dates. Don’t forget to invite non-Christians to your birthday party!

Identify every local community event or festival that has relevance for your focus segment. In Baltimore it will not be possible to participate in all of them as there are just too many. Prayerfully select a few for your team/church and a few for your family. It is remarkable how many festivals are conducted in this great city, and we need to plan wisely so we can intentionally participate in them during 2009.

Keep making new disciples, especially during the holiday season!

Your brother,

Troy