Grace Vs. Works For 300

Looks like the worst part of the summer slump is over. Some of our closest members have made their return and were with us in services this weekend. Plus a really solid group of visitors – a lot of guys. The Lord has been blessing us so immensely in this area – He has brought us some wonderful guys in a place where guys are just not interested in church. There’s not really words to describe how far we have to go yet to really impact the male college students of our city, but we are definitely in a wonderful position to prepare for such a task.

“Sole Survivor” Sam, the last of the American students with us this summer, preached this weekend as its his last weekend here with us. With the international aura of the Olympics all around, I thought these next few weeks would be a great time to talk about the church’s worldwide mission. We’ve never had a missions conference or anything, but we’re praying this will have a similar effect.

Second service last night, we tried out the question and answer thing again, this time with much better results. First I taught for about fifteen minutes, then opened it up for questions. Lessons learned from last time: set an ending time from the beginning, and never ask, “does that answer your question?” Instead, it’s better to just say, “Sorry if that doesn’t answer your question thoroughly enough. We want to keep moving and go to the next question, but if you’re still not clear, we can definitely talk about it after the service.” Otherwise, you’re asking for an argument.

Surprising question set. Only had time to get through three questions: “What’s the difference between Catholicism and Christianity?” “How can you know if you’re a Christian?” and “What can a Christian not do?” All questions asked by first or second time attenders. Not near as shy about asking questions as I thought they’d be. Hands shot right up as soon as I said, “Alright… questions?”

The benefit: it’s been a long time since we’ve generated so many spiritual conversations after the service is over. Maybe because we’re letting them know that it’s okay to ask crazy questions if you’ve got them, and breaking the ice by talking casually about questions beforehand. Plus when they see answers a couple times in a row from the Bible, it might make them think, “Maybe my question could be answered that simply, too.” Whatever it was, the atmosphere after the service was terrific – little groups all over the place talking about Jesus.