Second Coming
As the Connections Pastor, I have an interesting role in attempting to connect the people God has entrusted to us. That seemingly simple process has eluded many church leaders – evident from the varied approaches, teachings and blog posts. The one clear message – God wants his church to be connected. Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17 is a clear indication, but the logistics were not in John 18!!
God has given each of us a gift or possibly multiple gifts to use to advance his work here. Uncovering these gifts and finding the right place of service and nourishment for each person is our goal. To become a disciple we must participate in both and Jesus’ mandate, and our goal as a church, is to “make disciples”. Again, the “how to” is what we are working on, what some are diving into, and what others are searching for. But, it all has to start somewhere. In the beginning…
Often when a person visits The Bridge and I have the opportunity to talk with them, I will ask them a simple question – “How did you hear about The Bridge?” This is a great way to find out what we are doing that attracts people, but there has to be more. We know that we will not be THE church for everyone and that’s OK. But for those that chose to come back, we need to know more – so I am asking a new question to everyone that reads this post – even if you have been here for 6 years!
“What made you decide to come back – the second time?” (now the title makes some sense)
This will help me evaluate. From here we will continue to develop a framework – a trellis – to attract people, make it comfortable for them to return, provide tools and resources to help them find a home-base from which they can grow as disciples and serve as disciples.
So, “What made you decide to come back – the second time?”
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Here are my reasons for coming back the 2nd time.
1. Alan Hood was preaching and the power and humility he showed in teaching God’s word really impacted me.
2. We got two lunch invitations and one dinner invitation by folks wanting to meet the “new people.”
3. We had three invitations to “visit my small group.” We ended up visiting all three.
4. The music felt like worship and not like a concert.
5. My kids (3 and 5) loved their Sunday School classes and couldn’t stop talking about how much fun they had.
My wife Susan and I had been searching for a church for a long time when we visited The Bridge. We were greeted warmly, sincerely and very enthusiastically by so many people there. We met the Shoopmans, who made us feel welcome… and gave us some Bridge swag to take home! We also met that young guy who preaches there… what was his name again..? Oh, yeah – Josh Howerton! Everyone we met not only greeted us, but actually introduced themselves and asked us questions about ourselves. The music was good and uplifting, the preaching was biblically solid, the love for each other was manifest. We felt like we could stay here and become involved.
And that envelope stuffed with cash didn’t hurt, either…
The reason we came the second time is the same reason we came the first time: preaching of the Bible. When that’s in place, everything else is secondary. That’s not to say it’s the only thing that brought us back. But it’s the main thing we want in a church, and it’s there.
My wife and I have only visited twice. The first time was on a recommendation from a good friend who actually doesn’t attend The Bridge, but we strongly felt led to come back the 2nd time and will be back again. For me it was the depth of the message Josh brought regarding The Will of God. I’m a simple guy, so if I can leave the service and not just remember what it was about, but actually be inspired, that gets my attention. That’s what happened. I even listened to some of the podcasts to catch up on the series. Our 2nd visit was last week when the guest speaker was there. I was equally as blessed. My wife and I have yet to connect with many people, but look forward to doing so and seeing how God leads in the days and weeks ahead.
We have been attending a church that has allowed us to meet several good friends and their kids program is wonderful for our children, but we are hungry for something a little deeper for ourselves. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and say this is where God will lead us yet, but I do find a refreshing excitement building as each Sunday approaches.
Well, we’ve been coming to The Bridge the past three weeks. I found it doing research online. We’ve been here in SH since last August and had an awful time finding a church that was the right fit for us. We’d been at one for almost 6 months but hadn’t really connected much with anyone.
The reasons we came back were many.
1) I think first and foremost was that in the 7 other churches we’d been to check out, no one ever stopped and introduced themselves by more than just “Hi, I’m Joe, welcome.” We’d been invited to lunch at a later date by one couple and to two different house groups by the end of the first service. The people seemed to genuinely care to get to know who we were and we really appreciated that.
2) I’d have to say that our five year old son actually communicated the story he was taught to us on the drive home. He could never remember at other places so he had to have been engaged and that was huge for us.
3) Having the opportunity to connect through a house group. The church we’d been at didn’t do that.
4) The worship was modern, relevant, and real. Not a show.
5) The message hit us right where we were at. Communicated amazingly.
GREAT INSIGHT! Thank you for your comments and real openness for what has made The Bridge – The Bridge. People caring about people – really.