A pastor took an informal survey of 50 random students on a college campus, asking two questions:
1) “What do you think of Christians?” Some people cursed and walked away in anger. Fifty out of fifty people responded negatively.
2) “What do you think of Jesus of Nazareth?” The responses were unanimous: “He was great!” Fifty out of fifty responded positively.
I found it interesting that non-Christians have conflicting views of the historical Jesus and his purported followers. Either they are misunderstanding Jesus, or they have had bad experiences with Christians, or both! But is there something that we Christians can do to fix this perception?
Jesus embodied love and made the answer pretty simple: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35) Whatever people’s past experiences are, we should do nothing to sour the name of Christ in the future.
As we prepare this month for our Open House Sunday coming up on November 3, we will have chances to show love to everyone we go through life with. Our Wednesday night sermon series is helping us become a welcoming church, with practical tips and ideas that every church member can do. We have weekly outreach scheduled on Saturdays (don’t miss the big one on Saturday, Oct. 27!), and ways to love our neighbors through service ideas like free curb painting.
Open House is one of our biggest outreach events of the year as we try to meet strangers, make their acquaintance, and turn them into friends. It’s a chance for our whole church to come together and love others like Jesus did.
Tonight, Bro. Christian will step us through all the details of the event. He will cover the three main categories of outreach, grounds prep, and ways to help on the day of Open House. Come back tonight at 6:00pm for a booklet and a special presentation that will lay it out all.
I’m so excited to serve our valley side by side with you. Let’s show Calvary’s love this entire month!