Church is not just for Christians. We exist to train and equip believers – yes. We ALSO exist to reach people that are far from God and impact culture, to be salt and light in this city and nation. And we exist to be doing it now! Not tomorrow or when we feel like it, we need to be reaching out now.

Here is 10 Keys to reaching out now:

1.      Love
Making a difference in people’s life starts with loving them.
(Matthew 22:37-40)

2.      Cultivate a burden for the lost
A burden is a weight. It is a heart pressure and responsibility you feel to be a part of the solution

3.      Serve
Serving others opens up doors of opportunity. (Matthew 20:28)

4.      Invite to church
1 out of 4 people say they will attend a church with a friend the first time they are invited. (Matthew 22:9)

5.      Sow Seed
Understand harvest is proportional. Some falls on fallow ground. But some also falls on fertile ground. You won’t reach everyone but you can reach someone. (Mark 4:3-9)

6.      Pray
Make somebody specific your prayer target (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

7.      Resilience
Understand you will face rejection, but make a pre-commitment not to let that stop you. (Galatians 6:9)

8.      Pursue
Jesus said GO. There is a pursuit in reaching the lost.

9.      Persistence
Sometimes it can takes years of relationship and praying and inviting to see a response.

10.  Hope
Even those who seem the furtherest from God are well within his reach. God can reach anyone. (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

Let’s have a sense of urgency about reaching the people we are surrounded by. Let’s have a sense of urgency about seeing transformation.  Lets decide to reach out now, not tomorrow…

2 Corinthians 2:12-13

¹² When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me.

What is the meaning of the expression an open door in this passage of scripture?

An open door is a God given opportunity. It representing an opportunity that only God can provide.

When Paul went to a new city to reach people, his conclusion was not that he was gifted or had a great personality. Rather, his conclusion was that the Lord had opened a door for him.

So it is in our lives. Let’s be anticipating doors of opportunity to reach people that God has opened.

We have to be on the lookout for open doors daily, otherwise we can walk straight by them.

Do you have any open doors into someone’s life now? Perhaps today is a great day to seize the opportunity of that open door.

Opportunity comes from the Latin opportunus, which describes a favorable wind blowing towards the harbor. It literally refers to having a wind pushing against your back making your journey easier and more productive.

Colossians 4:5

⁵ Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.

Everyday we are surrounded by people. So everyday we are surrounded by opportunities.

Making the most of every opportunity is embracing a lifestyle of reaching people who are far from God. Not seeing it as a one off event, or a once in a blue moon kind of thing, because evangelism is not an event. It should be a part of our lifestyle, a function of who we are. Living with a perspective that is not inward focused but outward focused.

Is prayer an event? no.

Is having the fruits of the spirit an event? no.

Is reading the Bible an event? no.

Is growing in our faith an event? no.

They are all part of the journey of life. Well, evangelism and reaching people is just as much a part of that journey of life.

Reaching out in a relational way has to be part of our everyday Christianity.

Each day make a daily decision to seize opportunities to reach people in small, practical ways.

It is with great excitement that we open enrolments to the first year of our Lifeplace Internship today.

The purpose of this internship is to train you in ministry, and to develop your character.

Our approach is to blend two essential elements of training: formal education and practical apprenticeship.

We have also added an extremely unique and innovative piece to the internship. We will be hearing from world class leaders from around the country and the United States via Skype. This technology enables us to hear live in real time from some amazing pastors.

The theme for our internship is “Descending into Greatness” because we know it is through hands on serving that you will in fact grow and develop into your potential.

At Lifeplace we have a dream to raise up incredible men and women who know how to be pillars in the House of God.

This internship will stretch you and grow you. I want you to seriously consider giving a year of your life to God.

It is a government accredited certificate IV in Ministry, which means it is also Austudy approved.

Find out more at our Facebook group here, or on our church website here.

If you have any questions just email us info@lifeplace.com.au and we would love to answer any questions.

2010: Build yourself. Build the church.

We all have circles and boundaries in life. This is not a bad thing. It helps us live in a hurting world, in a broken world. We become desensitized. We couldn’t feel the full emotional weight of every tragedy you here or you would be crushed.

At the same time, our circles shrink over time. Sometimes our circles can shrink so much that really there is no room to reach people and make a difference in lives. These circles are pictures of our heart. We all know what it is to either have a heart for people or to have run out of heart.

Here are circles we all have in terms or reaching people:

1. Comfort (how far out will I step?)
2. Relational reach (What is my capacity?)
3. Time (Do I have any margin in my schedule?)
4. Care (how far does your care go?)

I want to expand your circle by just one notch. Allow one more person in that you care enough for, you will do this these things:

1. Pray for them
2. Believe they will find God
3. Invite them to church
4. Care for them

Where are the boundaries of your life? Do you make time for people? Is there room for unchurched people that are far from God in your circle?

Reaching people starts with having a heart for people.

Make a choice to say, “I will draw the circle of my heart broader.”

Our Transformation series continues this Sunday at Lifeplace!

The book of Jonah in the OT is only a small book but I truly think it is one of the most honest, real, authentic, narratives of how a personal actually felt about his mission to reach the lost.

Jonah 1:1-3

^“1The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” ³ But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.”

Jonah was sent to a city that He had no heart for. In fact, he didn’t go to the city, as he didn’t want people to hear his preaching as they might repent and be spared God’s judgment. He wanted them to experience Gods judgment.

The Bottom line for Jonah is that he is a man who has forgotten to care about others and thus turns from God’s plan for his life. However, the resulting storms and circumstances from Jonahs disobedience turn his eyes back to his purpose.

Here is the heart of Jonah’s story. Before you start feeling guilty and saying yes I am just like Jonah: remember that God still used Jonah! Now if he can use a man that:

1. Went and got a boat ticket in the opposite direction of his calling
2. Hated the people he was supposed to reach
3. Was more concerned about the shade from a tree than the welfare of 120,000 people.

Then why can’t God use you?

Think of this: God transformed Jonah first. From a storm, thrown overboard, belly of a fish, robbed of his shade, Jonah is a different man by the end of all this. God transformed the man so that he could transform others.

God is at work in you but it is not for you – it is for others!

The word ministry means serve. So knowing how to serve is vitally important to our potential. I have found the heart of serving is in fact an attitude. Here are 10 attitudes that will help make you more effective in your ministry as your serve.

1.      A do anything attitude

2.      A positive attitude

3.      A humble attitude

4.      A gracious attitude

5.      A big thinking attitude

6.      An honoring attitude

7.      An encouraging attitude

8.      A consistent attitude

9.      An excellence attitude

10.  An unto the Lord attitude

We just finished our membership class. Here is a thought we looked at on the last night when we talked about being a volunteer.

Matthew  9Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Laborers are hard workers. Often working in the hot sun, lifting heavy objects, and accomplishing all kinds of projects. Laboring is strenuous activity!

It is interesting that Jesus said the harvest is plentiful. In other words, the opportunity is always before us – the determining factor on if that opportunity is seized is the number of laborers.

Laborers are not:

• Critics
• Analysts
• Judges
• Experts
• Professionals
• Attendees
• Arm chair critics
• Grandstand spectators
• Gifted
• Well intentioned
• Blessed
• Skilled

Rather they are people that are prepared to work.

To build healthy churches and reach people we  need Christians that know how to work. That means serving, volunteering, and using the gifts and abilities God has given us.