Hi there. Thanks for joining us for another exciting instalment.
Last week, I brought to your attention how Australians are warm to Christianity. This surprising statistic led visiting missiologist/pastor/cultural commentator Ed Stetzer to recommend “seizing the gospel opportunities” afforded by such major events as Christmas and Easter. Read all about it, by clicking here.
Ed made these comments during his terrific discussion with Scott Sanders about “Are Christmas and Easter losing their gospel edge?” As with all of Geneva's monthly Planter Session webinars, Ed's discussion on this vital topic is available. Click here to watch it.
The webinar is chockers with facts and reflections, which don't only flow from Ed being a Trinity College lecturer or how he's the kind of Christian expert you get to conduct masterclasses about the context and approach for contemporary ministry (which is just what Geneva has done, this week, in Sydney and Brisbane). Ed's a committed Christian and pastor who calls himself and his congregation to partner in the gospel. To mobilise on mission. Together.
Partners who get mobilised
While Ed told Scott that Christians “are doing it wrong” if they only desire to actively serve at major events, he is an advocate of using such events to train and equip Christians for year-round service
“What we're trying to teach people at our church is that we want to partner with them. I think that's a key phrase. We want to partner on our church, on these outreach opportunities.”
A recent example was the Easter program organised at Grace Church in Tennessee, where Ed is lead pastor. He and his leadership team “don't just assume people” in the congregation will get behind the Easter activities. So Stetzer calls his staff, to remind them all to pray for, and reach out to, five people to invite to Easter servies. They staff team call Bible study leaders, with the same shared message. Leaders call others in the church.
“It's not just us standing up saying 'listen all you blokes, invite all your friends next week.' It's a holistic approach,” says Ed. “We're not just wishing that they would invite people. We're mobilising them for that.”
Lead by example
Ed provided this brief overview of what Grace Church did at Easter, to suggest how church leaders can model and support partnership. While it might sound like all the phone calls, letters, personal contact and direct mail were instantly expected to generate kingdom results, Ed didn't think so. Instead, as he told Scott during their webinar discussion, the purpose is more about helping his church family to be active representatives of who they serve.
“We know that we're not going to get a huge response but by communicating all of those things together, we're mobilising our church. We tell our people: The postal service has not been given the message of reconciliation. You have been. You're ambassadors of reconciliation. So don't expect the mailer to bring somebody; that's your role.”
