Ministry to New Believers - Laying the Foundation - Part 1

Monday's it is! I will plan on posting thoughts, ideas, concepts, things I'm learning, things we've tried that work (or didn't work) regarding ministry to new believers on Mondays. Realizing that as readership to this blog grows, pastors and new believers alike will read it's contents, so I will write with both in mind.

For today I want to begin to lay the foundation for developing a ministry that focuses on new believers.

1. New Believers matter! Jesus could have said to "Go and make converts", but He didn't. He said to "Go and make disciples" (See Matthew 28:18-20). Paul wrote in Colossians 1:28 that we are to "present every man complete in Christ." Peter wrote that we are to grow in our faith (See 2 Peter 1:3-11). There a numerous other passages that show us that as individuals we need to grow in our relationship to Christ, and many others that show the church that it is to lead people toward maturity in their faith. To this end, our vision at Palm Valley Church is "Leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ." this basically summarizes the passages that I have listed.

2. If new believers matter to God, they should matter to us. It's not about programs! If you're looking for a cure all program that will take new believers from conversion to maturity, you're looking for the wrong thing. There are to many variables. We should want to help new belivers grow. We should want to connect with them personally. We should want to connect them with others who can come along side them to encourage them in their faith. We should want to teach them how to feed themselves spiritually. To put it simply, it's about the heart. All of the "one another" passages include new believers. We should love them, letting the love of Christ flow from us in a way that compells us to come along side them, especially in their first steps in their faith.

Of course there are programs, but they flow out of vision. In conjunction with the vision of PVC, our vision for our Fresh Start Team (ministry to new believers) is "Coaching New Believers toward Spiritual Growth." Our team can't do everything. We can;however, be there to guide, support, encourage, and pray for new believers as they begin their faith journey. Notice that there isn't a guarantee in this statement. That's because while we take ownership of a part of the process, the new believer has a part in the process as well, and must desire to grow. You can have the most perfect program, but if you don't connect, and if they don't engage, then you have nothing!

If you care for new believers, then check it out next Monday when I blog on Laying the Foundation - Part 2.

Thanks for reading!