Outreach
Be the church
There’s an old prayer which asks, “God bless me and my wife; my son John and his wife; us four and no more.” The ‘prayer’ is humorous, because no one would so blatantly exclude everyone else from God’s blessing, outside of their immediate family.
Yet what’s not so funny is the fact that when we get too busy, or when we get pre-occupied, or when we get a little bit scared, this is exactly how we tend to conduct ourselves. We start to cling to the generosity of God and deceive ourselves that there’s not enough to go around. This attitude becomes most evident when it comes to our dealings with money. But it also shows itself in the area of our relationships.
For ACTS Church Lakeway to be is at its best, it must maintain a sharpened focus on the outside. It must continue to spend the time and energy needed to develop relationships with other churches, businesses, organizations, and individuals who share its geographic space.
Yet in the end it is only people who can develop relationships with other people. An organization or an institution cannot develop a meaningful interaction with a person. So it is the people of ACTS who feel a burden for those who are disconnected from God or from the local Church. It is the people of ACTS who are in a position to ‘be the Church’ to their neighbors, their family members, their co-workers, and their classmates. It is the people of ACTS who, when appropriate, invite others to join them for a Group or a Gathering of their church. But more importantly, it is the people of ACTS who have the first - and best - opportunity to communicate the Life that comes only in Jesus.
As the Scripture says, “Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out... Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don't forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ... Pray that every time I open my mouth I'll be able to make Christ plain as day to them” (Colossians 4:4-6, 2-3).