Ministry to New Believers - It Matters!

It is such a blessing to get to watch God work, changing lives every week here at Palm Valley Church. In many ways it is overwhelming to see 47 lives changed so far this month, but I know that since God is causing the growth, He will also provide the strength, wisdom, and vision to care for these new believers.

One of the books that I am reading right now is called "Making Vision Stick" by Andy Stanley. It got me thinking about our vision to "Coaching new and returning believers toward spiritual growth". I realized that I don't articulate it enough to our coaches. Here's why this is so important to me:

- In the parable of the soils (Matthew 13), only 25% of the seed grew and produced fruit. That means that 75% didn't! I want to make sure that we do everything we can to nurture that 25% and to increase that number as much as possible (It would be great to be able to reverse the percentages!). This is a parable, not hard numbers, so we constantly search for ways to improve on this. There is too much at stake not to do everything we can to lead people toward maturity!

- We have many who come and are reconnecting with Christ after being away from Him and the church for many years. I don't want PVC to be the reason someone rededicates their life in another church sometime in the future!

- Other churches hand out materials to new believers. Other churches call new believers. What's different about what we do here at PVC? Relational connectivity! By connecting our coaches relationally with new believers we connect them to the church. By building relationships with them over time we are better able to encourage them to take the next steps in their faith journey. We are much more likely to help them make strong connections with Christ and His church. It's all about relationships!

- Programs only facilitate growth, they don't cause it! Our Fresh Start Class and New Believer Growth Groups are important, but they are only vehicles to accomplish our vision and purpose. They are not and we will not allow them to become the end focus! They exist as tools to help us fulfill our vision of coaching new and returning believers toward spiritual growth. This happens best in the context of relationships and we constantly drive people toward connecting with others. For example, I am nearly finished re-vamping our Fresh Start Class materials for the fourth time in 1 1/2 years. We want to continually improve what we do and how we do it. The tools will change and evolve, but the vision and purpose won't!

- There is nothing greater than hearing the life change story of someone who has encountered Christ. I live for this!