In Mark Chapter 2, there is a story about some men who wanted to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus but encountered problems. The conventional way of getting someone in the house was through the door but that was blocked and so were the windows. So wanting to accomplish their mission, they “stepped out of the box” and raised their friend up on the roof, dug up the roof and got their mission done.
The longer I serve here, I see lots of people who do not worship God and yet live within easy driving distance to Zion. We have done marvelous things in making our building accessible and being a hospitable people but still have people driving past us. Maybe we are still trying to get in the door when we need to “unroof the roof!” The families we are trying to reach have needs but we are not touching them. As Jesus went out to the homes and marketplaces to meet the people, so must we.
Right now we are primed to meet the needs of those who grew up in the 20th century. But what about those who cannot remember TV’s without remotes or phones you had to dial? We need to go out and ask them what they need. Oh, I am sure they still need the Christian faith and may even like much of what we Lutherans are about, but we must market in ways they can understand.
Early in May, our Dream Team will ask you to express your opinion on where we should go as a congregation in the next five years. But maybe first go ask your unchurched neighbor what would bring them to enter our building. Then share those results with us. Join your church council in reaching out to our “twenty somethings” who grew up in Zion. In August, join your leadership team as we survey the neighborhood around our church buildings. Then let us build together a mission plan that will not only serve Christ and those who live in our mission field.
Pastor Otto
The longer I serve here, I see lots of people who do not worship God and yet live within easy driving distance to Zion. We have done marvelous things in making our building accessible and being a hospitable people but still have people driving past us. Maybe we are still trying to get in the door when we need to “unroof the roof!” The families we are trying to reach have needs but we are not touching them. As Jesus went out to the homes and marketplaces to meet the people, so must we.
Right now we are primed to meet the needs of those who grew up in the 20th century. But what about those who cannot remember TV’s without remotes or phones you had to dial? We need to go out and ask them what they need. Oh, I am sure they still need the Christian faith and may even like much of what we Lutherans are about, but we must market in ways they can understand.
Early in May, our Dream Team will ask you to express your opinion on where we should go as a congregation in the next five years. But maybe first go ask your unchurched neighbor what would bring them to enter our building. Then share those results with us. Join your church council in reaching out to our “twenty somethings” who grew up in Zion. In August, join your leadership team as we survey the neighborhood around our church buildings. Then let us build together a mission plan that will not only serve Christ and those who live in our mission field.
Pastor Otto
