“What is the biggest obstacle you have to ministry here in West Chester/Liberty Township?”  I asked the elders in my interview for employment nearly 2 years ago.  Their answer… materialism, self centeredness and lack of motivation to step out of our comfort zone and see the fullness of Christ’s gospel realized in everybody’s daily life.  Don’t we all struggle with this?  We tend to go about our day, worrying about ourselves, our families, what’s for dinner, how to excel at our job and then pull into our garage at night, shut the door and forget about the world around us.  Thousands of people living a life without hope, without food, clothing, help, medicine or Jesus…in our own backyard.  Well, the X-Focused ministry team has worked hard over the past 8 months to begin to identify needs of the hurting and struggling in our area and it is time to get to work.  Really, let’s do it.   Below are two sign-up links fo ... Read More »

So we know that we need to become more externally focused as a church, but how?  From an organizational standpoint, there are three things we need to do: assess the needs of our community, find out our strengths and abilities to help, and from those two evaluate what we will do.  Some ways that we can assess the needs of our community include doing a survey and speaking with representatives of different services within the community, such as schools, hospitals, social services and law enforcement.  It is also important to figure out what our strengths are as a church; we need to have some idea of what individuals within our congregation are willing to commit to, and what gifts and talents they have.  Once we have established these two things we’ll be able to match up our church with some important projects within the community.

Today’s meeting opened up with the question “What would the church be remembered for if it ceased to exist today?”  Unfortunately many churches today are known only to the outside world for the buildings they inhabit.  But I don’t think this is what Jesus intended; He and each of the apostles were actively involved in the communities around them, talking to, loving and serving others.  Why then has service to others become an afterthought to so many churches?  One reason could be that people don’t think of the poor and lost in their communities as in need when there are so many government welfare programs available.  However, this is a dangerous thought since government agencies at best can only meet physical needs, leaving the spirit as lost as ever. While the people serving their communities have the best of intentions, only Christians supplying water to the thirsty can provide a glimpse of the “living water” Christ spoke of, even without preaching a sin ... Read More »

A few months ago my father was sharing with me a few stories about his life growing up.  My grandfather and grandmother on my dad’s side of the family passed away years before I was born so I was recently inquiring about his home growing up.  He was recollecting to me how Grandpa would work hard all day on the farm and with local farmers as a Veterinarian but would come home every day to sit at the table for dinner at 5:30p.m.  There, awaiting him would be a table full of food and kids (6 to be exact) where they gathered every night for dinner as a family.  As they would begin eating my grandfather would turn to grandma and say, “Well, Mother, how were the children today?”  And then the report would begin.

Dad said you always knew if your name was going to come up and you were always terrified when it was.  If you were included in the “bad report” you would go stand next to grandpa at the table where he would sit calmly ... Read More »

Today’s meeting opened up with the question “What would the church be remembered for if it ceased to exist today?”  Unfortunately many churches today are known only to the outside world for the buildings they inhabit.  But I don’t think this is what Jesus intended; He and each of the apostles were actively involved in the communities around them, talking to, loving and serving others.  Why then has service to others become an afterthought to so many churches?  One reason could be that people don’t think of the poor and lost in their communities as in need when there are so many government welfare programs available.  However, this is a dangerous thought since government agencies at best can only meet physical needs, leaving the spirit as lost as ever. While the people serving their communities have the best of intentions, only Christians supplying water to the thirsty can provide a glimpse of the “living water” Christ spoke of, even without preaching a sin ... Read More »

Today’s meeting opened up with the question “What would the church be remembered for if it ceased to exist today?”  Unfortunately many churches today are known only to the outside world for the buildings they inhabit.  But I don’t think this is what Jesus intended; He and each of the apostles were actively involved in the communities around them, talking to, loving and serving others.  Why then has service to others become an afterthought to so many churches?  One reason could be that people don’t think of the poor and lost in their communities as in need when there are so many government welfare programs available.  However, this is a dangerous thought since government agencies at best can only meet physical needs, leaving the spirit as lost as ever. While the people serving their communities have the best of intentions, only Christians supplying water to the thirsty can provide a glimpse of the “living water” Christ spoke of, even without preaching a sin ... Read More »

Today’s meeting opened up with the question “What would the church be remembered for if it ceased to exist today?”  Unfortunately many churches today are known only to the outside world for the buildings they inhabit.  But I don’t think this is what Jesus intended; He and each of the apostles were actively involved in the communities around them, talking to, loving and serving others.  Why then has service to others become an afterthought to so many churches?  One reason could be that people don’t think of the poor and lost in their communities as in need when there are so many government welfare programs available.  However, this is a dangerous thought since government agencies at best can only meet physical needs, leaving the spirit as lost as ever. While the people serving their communities have the best of intentions, only Christians supplying water to the thirsty can provide a glimpse of the “living water” Christ spoke of, even without preaching a sin ... Read More »