Vision Sunday (Part 4): Serve The City

Many years ago, a phrase came to mind when I was thinking about evangelism and mission as it pertains to the local church. I wrote it in a Tweet before I deleted my Twitter account:

"Living "missionally" doesn't = sneaky evangelism strategy, it's being available always to let the Gospel spill out to anyone, anywhere."

When I read the gospels, I don’t see Jesus always engineering a strategy to be missional or to serve people. He was simply available. And he trained his disciples to be, too.

The kicker here is that, as they learned to ABIDE in his presence, as they followed his example in the everyday, they BECAME more missional. Why? Because that’s simply who Jesus is. He is on a mission to seek and save the lost. 

A lot of times, the church, relegates mission to a ministry or department. Not so with us. Mission is the overflow of a church that has supplemented it’s faith and is growing in strength. We can’t HELP but serve our city and reach the world.

So, a few ways we’d like to see an increase in the season ahead...

Reach has a variety of partnerships we foster in areas of pregnancy, single mothers, human trafficking, foster care, low income families, and even some international missionaries. All of these partnerships have come through relationship, typically because we’ve been approached for support.

While our primary role as a church is to attend to the needs of THIS body, we do desire to see our impact flow from these walls, advancing the gospel wherever God gives us favor. 

I’m working with our elders and finance team to prayerfully consider which of these partnerships are best suited to accomplish these ends, as well as specifically further the gospel though Bible distribution, discipleship programs, and tangible support of those in need.

Our future in missional partnerships will look a lot more streamlined, not only in who we partners with and what we do to support them, but also, how YOU can get involved as an extension of Reach Church.

Check out our current partnerships here. 

As I said, the Gospel is not a program, it’s Good News - and that news is meant to spill out of every area of our lives. 

That’s why, we believe one of our greatest evangelism strategies in this church is - well, YOU! According to our recent all-church survey, over HALF the people who responded said they came to reach because a family member or friend invited them! Not Google, not social media, by INVITATION.

Friends, there is no shortcut to sharing your faith and reaching a city. It’s relational, it’s time consuming, but it works. 

That’s why ALPHA is such a great tool for us. Be part - invite someone who’s curious about Jesus. We’ll host this event at Reach sometimes, but we’d LOVE to host it OUTSIDE of Reach too, to alleviate the apprehension folks might have of entering a church building.

And all you have to do is ask.

Our small groups are similar. Meals? How easy is that to invite someone into? You don’t have to be a Christian to share a meal with someone. 

Start looking for ways to invite people outside the church into your world. Our team is praying about / brainstorming ways to help equip you creatively to do that. 

Finally, I want to talk about the reason we’re all here to begin with…

Since our inception, we’ve known that church planting is in our DNA. I’ve talked with several key leaders about this so many times…we know there will come a time where a planter or a core team of folks will send out to plant another church - whether it’s called Reach or something else entirely.

The early church multiplied and continues to multiply because of efforts like this. Why? Because the local church IS the vehicle Jesus has chosen to carry out his mission until he returns.

My hope is that within the next 3-5 years, we have set aside some funds, identified a leader, and have made adequate preparations to train up and send someone from this community to start a new church that will impact a city.

In addition, many churches over the last several years have struggled greatly to survive the pandemic, the political unrest, and so many more things. Pastors are lonely and burned out. Church bank accounts are depleted. Staff are being let go. I’ve talked to many who want to throw in the towel.

I believe this church is called to encourage / support to other churches as well.

I currently co-lead an Everett Area Pastors Prayer meeting that happens monthly here at Reach, and we intend to broaden that into more of a relational network of churches in the future. The goal is to pray together, host periodic training and equipping events, and network like-minded churches in our region to advance the gospel in significant ways.

Between planting and partnerships, I believe this church is positioned to make a serious dent in the community for Jesus! If that’s something that you feel specifically burdened by, I’d love to talk to you! Send me an email directly: sean@reacheverett.cc