Exciting Things Happening At StoneBridge

So far, So God! I believe Mark Batterson said that one time. So far, January has proven to be fruitful. God continues to bless us with people who are excited about following Jesus. The first Sunday in January, I preached a message on The Biblical Basis of Baptism. I felt like it was one of the best messages I had done in a long time. After the message, a young mother requested to be baptized. I was pumped! We had two baptisms the entire 2006 year.

Then, Russell called me to tell me that two (possibly three) college students wants to be baptized. Thank you, Lord. I have been so burdened about this need. I believe it is important for people who have professed Christ to make a public profession of their faith, by entering the waters of baptism. We have set a goal this year as a church to see 75 people saved and 24 baptized. Now, before I get hate mail (just kidding), I would love to see 75 people saved (if not more) and 75 people baptized, but the reality of this is not likely because each year we host a Sports Camp where several kids accept Christ. Most of these kids are either churched or have no church background. So, following up with these unchurched kids has not been productive even though we try to follow up with every person who accepts Christ as Savior.

The assimilation process of seeing people move from unchurched, saved, baptized, and a fully developing follower of Jesus Christ is difficult, and the reason I think it is difficult is because we make it difficult. We do not plan for growth. We do not remind people of what they are supposed to do. If we want to see people assimilated in our churches we must constantly remind people of what a disciple looks like. We must remind our people about the mission of the local church. It is to reach people, make more and better disciples who in turn will reach people and make more and better disciples.

This Sunday

I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle on Sunday. I will finish the Y Series with a message on Y-Church. Y Church will deal with the benefits of connecting with a local church. The Biblical text comes from Acts 2:41-47.

I can not speak for my readers, but I am thankful for the Lord's churches. When we connect to the local church, we are not just connecting to an organization, we are connecting to a family of like-minded believers who desire to sincerely worship the Lord and carry out His work!

Joining this family of believers is a privilege and honor. It is important for the leaders of the churches to challenge people to take their position in the family seriously. I have been listening to Nelson Searcy's seminar on Assimilation. One of the things he encouraged leaders to implement was the power of mobilization. He called it, "The Power of the Big Ask!" In other words, if we don't ask people to get involved in ministry, they probably will not.

I hope you all have a great Sunday!