Monday, March 10, 2008

Building Bridges...Meeting People



Never before have we attempted to pull off so many big events in such a small period of time here At Grace Church. Beginning this weekend and running through a two week period, we will undertake five major events that will in all likelihood allow us to build bridges with 8,000-10,000 people as we strive to fulfill our purpose of meeting people where they are and moving them to where God wants them to be. These events include:

Mar 14 – At the Hop Women’s Event
Mar 15 – Easter Egg Hunt
Mar 21 – Good Friday Night of Worship
Mar 23 – Easter Sunday
Mar 27-29 – Pennsylvania Regional Chorus hosted by Lititz Christian School

It all kicks off this weekend with two very exciting “entry level” events. These events are intentionally designed to be non-threatening and to provide a safe environment were literally thousands of people from our community can have a “first touch” with Grace Church. We believe that God will use these events to break down barriers and build bridges so that many of these folks will come back and visit us again, especially with Easter Sunday being just one week after these events.

Do these events work? Sure they do. God is allowing us to see wonderful growth as a church because we are taking the time and effort to reach out and build relationships with people in our community, many of whom have warped, preconceived ideas about what church is like. One of our men who makes home visits weekly to those who visit Grace on Sunday mornings told me just this weekend that he is a big believer in the effectiveness of these entry level events. In home after home that he is in, he hears how events like last spring’s Ladies Beach Blast and last summer’s Rodeo and Western Event were the first contacts that people had witfh Grace Church.

The ladies event this year is also being used it to reach out to some of the women’s shelters in our area as well and providing transportation for these precious ladies who are currently going through a difficult time in their lives. I am also excited because not only are the pre-registration numbers above what they were last year at this time, but they also show that 20% of those who have already registered for this free event have no church affiliation at all. WOW! That means that we will literally have hundreds of ladies in our church this Friday night who are “unchurched.” And that does not count the hundreds of ladies who will be here who are affiliated with churches that do not preach the Gospel.

So…if you are a lady and/or if you have children and have not yet pre-registered for the 'At The Hop' event or the Egg Hunt, be sure to go to our church website and do so today (http://www.lgbc.org/). If you can help to pull these events off, please go to our website and sign up to volunteer. If you know any ladies or those with kids who you have not year invited to these events, contact them today! And most of all…pray! Nothing of eternal importance happens apart from prayer.

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