Has your church lost focus on the Great Commission?
Are you intentionally developing genuine relationships with non-Christians?
An interesting podcast was recently shared (2024) regarding how many American churches have gone back to focusing on themselves after covid, rather than focus on the Great Commission. I suspect this is at least partly true in our nation too. The focus has been on retaining those who did return after lockdown, not on reaching out. The encouragement of the podcast was for leadership of churches to develop genuine relationships with not yet believing friends, doing life with them and being able to share Jesus with them. As the leaders of the church do this, and share with the congregation their ups and downs along the way, the passion for the lost will return as each person is encouraged to have 'their one' that they pray for and would grieve over if that person chose to not be a follower of Jesus. (A genuine friendship, not a project). For churches working on how to change to be more attractive, it is highly recommended that you walk into your church with a non-believer so you notice what needs to be changed. Does it look and smell inviting? Is there a safe process in place for children to be looked after and a place kids want to go? Are the sermons understandable to people exploring Jesus? Do people talk to new people, making them feel welcome?
This podcast was also great for the individual, reminding us to have a person that we are genuinely having a friendship with, who we can do life with and share Jesus with over time.
If you would like to listen yourself, you can find it on Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, episode 634: Daryl Cripe on How to Reverse the Decline in Small, Mid-sized, & Stuck Churches, How to Reach New People With No New Money, And How to Hit the Tipping Point in Church Revitalization
Click here to go to the podcast.
Resource on this website that might help:
You can find an example of a prayer card Grace Vineyard developed on the website in Prayer is Vital in the Resources folder. It is to help people prayer for one person. You may wish to adapt it as it is likely to take more than one month for a friend to come to Jesus.