The Importance of Church Outreach in the Local Community - by Karen Chavez

As soon as the Church realizes how important it is to offer Outreach Programs to the local community, it will begin to see the positive impact Outreach will have in the church and neighborhood.  Church Outreach is a vital part of the congregation’s growth; without it, there is little hope of advancement.  Churches need to implement Outreach Programs in their local communities as an act of obedience to God’s command, to lead others to the Lord, and to promote church growth 

To establish Outreach Programs is to act in obedience to the Lord. When Jesus gave the disciples specific instructions through the Great Commission, he was telling them to go out into the world. They needed to get out of their comfort zones. For churches, this is accomplished when outreach is done. Missionaries are a great example of people who have chosen to live what the Great Commission demands. Many of them leave the comfort of home to live in a foreign place, preach the Gospel, and provide services to the community where they have settled.  Today, the local community is the mission field of the Church. This is the “land” the Lord wants the Church to conquer. It is the job of the Christians to get out of the comfort zone and begin to obey the instructions given by Christ himself.

Leading others to the Lord is one of the main reasons for Church Outreach. Through the established programs the Church can show the love of God to the people being served. When a food pantry or a clothing closet is offered to the community, the Church is doing exactly what the Lord expects. Matthew 5:35-40 says “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat… I needed clothes and you clothed me…I was in prison and you came to visit me... ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ” Programs can be designed in various ways that will allow an evangelistic message to be shared with the folks. A great idea is to give New Testaments or devotionals with the goods that are being distributed. Outreach creates a number of opportunities to share the message of Salvation to more people in a practical way.

 

A major benefit of Outreach Programs is church growth.  If the Church utilizes its building as the main location for the Outreach events, the people that attend will become familiar with its facilities. When people start feeling comfortable with going to the church building to participate of an Outreach Program, it will become easier to invite the community to the worship services. Once the folks continue to attend worship services on a regular basis, the next step would be to begin a Newcomers Program.  This type of program will familiarize the people with the church in another level, preparing them for a possible commitment to live a Godly life.

 

 

As long as the Church gives importance to the needs of the local community, outreach programs will continue to benefit both the church and the surrounding neighborhood.  It is a blessing to obey God’s command, lead others to Christ, and see the church grow as a result of establishing Church Outreach Programs in the local community.  Outreach is a great way for the Church to show a glimpse of God’s love the surrounding communities.

Solitude and Silence, a daily practice. By Karen Chavez

Recently, through my experience with an ectopic pregnancy (see last post), I was confronted by the Holy Spirit who led me to admit that I lacked in certain areas of spiritual disciplines. My spiritual life took a turn that changed my daily devotions with God and helped me to get closer to Him. 

This summer I was reading a book called Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation by M. Robert Mulholland. In it I found out a lot of things about my current spiritual habits and those that were missing from my life. One of the Spiritual disciplines it spoke of was Solitude and Silence. I had never before tried to be in solitude and silence before the Lord as a daily discipline. This is embarrassing for me because I have been a Christian most of my life, yet it was not a discipline I possessed. “This is what solitude is: in the silence of releasing control of our relationship with God to God, coming face to face with the kind of person we are in the depths of our being…facing brokenness…acknowledging our bondages…and naming ourselves to God as this kind of person.” (Mulholland 140). 

Solitude is the place where it is just you and God. It is completed by silence. When you practice solitude what’s most important is that you do nothing. Yes, nothing! There’s no Bible studying or music playing; it is a chance to focus on your Intimacy with Jesus, to disengage from your daily tasks and the people you interact with, in order to concentrate on the Lord alone. In solitude we don’t try to make anything happen. We just bring our naked self to the Lord to be with him.

As I read through the book, God began to speak to my life. He was leading me in a direction I never thought I would take. “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6). God took me to a quiet place where I would learn to be in solitude and silence with Him. Learning this new spiritual discipline was challenging, but being in the medical situation I was facing, I didn’t have many excuses not to try. The first time I tried it I only lasted about 3 minutes before my mind began to wander off to my daily to do list. I felt a little bit frustrated but understood that the reason why it is a discipline and not something we can just do one day out of the blue. To be disciplined at something requires practice and I knew that I would have to do this daily in order to remain in an attitude of complete silence before the Lord.

I can’t say I have become an expert at it. I can’t say that I last hours in silence and solitude. But what I can say is that when you begin to practice this discipline every day something supernatural begins to happen to us. When we go into God’s presence in solitude and silence, we release control to the Lord and He is then able to show us what’s inside our heart. “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Psalm 62:5).  He can show us things that we’ll never see when we are distracted with everything else going on around us; this is why we all need time of solitude and silence with God.