One method is to hang around after our worship service. When the service is over, don’t rush to the parking lot. Take your time. Grab a coffee or tea and see who is willing to chat with you.  Or introduce yourself to someone. If you have children, talk to the other parents and the volunteers. If you are thinking that our church is so small we all know each other, think again.

Seeing someone for a few minutes does not make a relationship. If someone is lonely they don’t want to stand up and yell it out.

Being a Christ-follower means you are other-centred, so be bold and reach out. If you are of the mind that we are a tight little group and we don’t want to spoil it with outsiders, it’s time we sought Jesus advice on this:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (NIV) Matthew 28:18-20

 

Join A LIFE Group

Join a small group.  One of the best ways to “do life” with people is to join a small group.

Our groups are called LIFE Groups. Did you know that our groups at Harbourview Church have a purpose?

L = learning together

I = Impacting our community together

F= Friendships growing together

E = Experiencing God’s Love together

 

LIFE Group Philosophy of Ministry

This is a fancy way of saying what we want for our small groups.

  1. To bring people into our community by building on the next steps that will help them move toward Christ. This is our strategy of LIFE Groups.
  2. We know that there is no problem-free small group system.
  3. Path, not the intent, determines the destination. We will provide a map, not a menu and create steps that are easy, obvious and strategic for connecting people and growing in Christ.
  4. Your ministry is perfectly designed to produce the results you are currently experiencing. There is an indisputable relationship between the design and the outcome.
  5. “What business are you in?” “How’s business?” – John Wimber. We will not be afraid to evaluate how we are doing in making Disciples.
  6. The optimal environment for life-change is a small group. People grow better in circles, not rows. Life change happens most frequently as a result of life-on-life interaction. A small group system provides a strategy that scales for the size of the congregation, crowd, and community.
  7. Everyone needs to be cared for by someone but no one can take on more than about ten. We will develop and deploy an effective coaching structure. A scalable community no matter how big HC gets.

Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, the fifties and tens. (NIV) Exodus 18:20-22

  1. Unconnected people are one annoying thing away from not being at our church.

 

This is the promise we made. How are we doing?

Terry

 

 

 

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