Leadership Community

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Bryan Nowak Research Services Georgia Baptist
Convention
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• Why Build Bridges? Thoughts on Todays Church
  Culture
• What does it mean to be Externally Focused?
• What does the Bible say about good works Good
  News?
• How and where do I begin?
• What resources are available when I leave today?

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Current Reality
Listen to what Im telling you Open your eyes
and look at the fields, for they are ready
white for harvest. John 435 (HCSB)
Let's face it... Evangelism is scary!
The harvest is abundant, but the workers are
few. Matthew 937 (HCSB)
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North America is the only continent in the world
where Christianity is in decline as a percentage
of the population.
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North America has the 3rd largest block of
unbelievers in the world only after China and
India.
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Large segments of North American society are
unreached because they are sociologically and
culturally distanced from believers (theyre
different).
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75 of unbelievers in North America do not attend
church because they do not want to be like
church people.
1 Reason Hypocrisy
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1996 85 of outsiders had a favorable
impression of Christianitys role in society
2006 only 10 of outsiders have a good
impression of Christianity
Barna Research Group. unChristian, p.24-25,
pub. 2007
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having favor with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church daily those who were being
saved. Acts 247
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Survey says They like Jesus, but not the
Church
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Religious Participation in Georgia
Based on Glenmary Research Center Survey of
Religious Congregations Membership in the U.S.
(2000)
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Unbelievers By Generation
Thom Rainer, Bridgers
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Unbelievers By Generation
Thom Rainer, Bridgers
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Unbelievers By Generation
Thom Rainer, Bridgers
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Unbelievers By Generation
Thom Rainer, Bridgers
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Unbelievers By Generation
75 become believers before the age of 12.
Thom Rainer, Bridgers
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• The only thing worse than being lost

is to be lost and have no one looking for you!
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Within 20-25 years, 60-70 of existing
evangelical churches will close their doors.
Year 2007
Year 2030?
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Quote

• The Church has a choice to die as a result of
  its resistance to change or to die in order to
  live.
• (Mike Regele)

Jesus said If anyone wants to come with Me,
he must deny himself, take up his cross daily,
and follow Me. Luke 923
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Why are we in this condition?
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Why are we in this condition?
Because many churches have isolated themselves
from the community and no longer have any
significant impact or influence.
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Our Reputation
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Christianity has changed from what it used to
be, and Christianity in todays society no
longer looks like Jesus.
Barna Update, September 24, 2007
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Our Response
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Quote

• If you dont like change, youre going to
• like irrelevance even less.
• (General Eric Shinseki)
• Chief of Staff, U.S. Army

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Questions or Observations
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Renewing ourselves inwardly
Expending ourselves outwardly
Celtic Knot Representing Our Interrelated Journey
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Our Cause To Impact and Influence Our World
as salt (Matt 513-14)
as light (Matt 513-14)
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Our Cause To Impact and Influence Our World
How?
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What Does an Externally Focused Church Look Like?
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• They are inwardly strong but outwardly focused

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They believe Christians dont grow until they
begin serving

• For it is by grace you have been saved,
  through faith and this not from yourselves, it
  is the gift of God not by works so that no one
  can boast. Ephesians 28-9

Position
For we are Gods workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do. Ephesians 210
Purpose
Saved BY grace. Saved FOR good works.
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• They integrate good deeds with good news to reach
  people for Christ

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(No Transcript)
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People sense when you are insincere and after
just another victory.
Robert S. Johnson, WWI Fighting Ace
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And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do
it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Colossians
317
Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father
in heaven. Matthew 516
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Jesus Model for the Church
Truth Grace
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Two Wings of a Plane

• Jesus traveled through all the cities and
  villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues
  and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom.
  And wherever he went, he healed people of every
  sort of disease and illness.

Good News TRUTH
Good Deeds GRACE
He felt great pity for the crowds that came,
because their problems were so great and they
didn't know where to go for help. They were like
sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 935-36
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Two Wings of a Plane
Good News TRUTH
Good Deeds GRACE
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us
full of grace and truth. (John 114)
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• They value impact and influence in the community
  more than church attendance

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What is your measure of success?

Big buildings? A large membership role? A growing
budget? Multiple programs? Busy
calendar? Satisfied attendees? Sufficient
volunteers?
Disciples reproducing disciples? Missions as a
normal function of every day life? Transformed
lives and communities? A church unhindered by
walls or space? Empowered laborers?
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What is your measure of success?

ASKS How can we get those on the outside to
come to us? What events, activities, programs,
and entertainment must we provide to bring them
in? Then, how do we keep them?
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• They seek to be salt, light and leaven in the
  community

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The church is called to be separate in lifestyle
but never to be isolated from the people it seeks
to influence. Salt, light, and leaven dont work
well from a distance.
Rick Rusaw Eric Swanson
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Quote

• You have to become involved to make an impact.
  No one is impressed with the won/loss record of
  the referee.
• (John Holcomb)

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• They see themselves as the soul of the community

They believe that their communities cant be
healthy without the church.
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Seek the peace of the city where I have caused
you to be carried away captive, and pray to the
LORD for it for in its peace you will have
peace. Jeremiah 297
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• They would be greatly missed by the community if
  they left

Would they weep if you were gone?
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An externally focused Christian is not just
GOING to church or DOING church on Sunday but
is BEING the Church in the world 24/7/365.
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Examine the Great Commandment
We dont need to be more religious
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Rick Warrens said
Im not trying to impress other Christians.
Im trying to build a bridge to unbelievers so
that Jesus can walk across.
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Pure and lasting religion
in the sight of God our Father means that we
must care for orphans and widows in their
troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
James
127 (NLT)
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What would Jesus see if He were walking the
streets surrounding your church?
How would He minister to the physical, emotional,
financial spiritual needs of the people?change
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We need to be like Jesus. Like him, we need to
be out in the community, connecting with people
through acts of amazing love while connecting
them to a God of amazing grace.
Robert Lewis, founding pastor of Fellowship Bible
Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. Robert Lewis
wrote the book The Church of Irresistible
Influence.
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• He who says he abides in Christ ought himself
  also to walk just as He walked. 1 John 26 (NKJV)

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Quote

• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a
  single step.

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Questions or Observations
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Good WorksScripture Passages
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He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what
does the LORD require of you? To act justly and
to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 68
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• Walk humbly with God (with authenticity without
  arrogance unashamed in public and private life
  people want to see the real deal)

• Love mercy (give with compassiontime, talents,
  spirituals gifts, money, your unique God-given
  resources)

• Act justly (promote justice, fairness and
  opportunity work for a cause change a life
  transform a city improve the world)

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True Religion (Isaiah 581-12)
Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Tell my
people Israel of their sins!  Yet they act so
pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem
delighted to hear my laws. You would almost think
this was a righteous nation that would never
abandon its God. They love to make a show of
coming to me and asking me to take action on
their behalf. We have fasted before you! they
say. Why aren't you impressed? We have done much
penance, and you don't even notice it! "I
will tell you why! It's because you are living
for yourselves even while you are fasting. You
keep right on oppressing your workers.
Next gt
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True Religion
What good is fasting when you keep on fighting
and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never
get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance, bowing
your heads like a blade of grass in the wind. You
dress in sackcloth and cover yourselves with
ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you
really think this will please the LORD? (Walk
humbly with God) No, the kind of fasting I
want calls you to free those who are wrongly
imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work
for you. Treat them fairly and give them what
they earn. (Act justly)
Next gt
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True Religion
I want you to share your food with the hungry and
to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give
clothes to those who need them, and do not hide
from relatives who need your help. (Love mercy)
If you do these things, your salvation will
come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come
quickly. Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the LORD will protect you from
behind. Then when you call, the LORD will answer.
Yes, I am here, he will quickly reply.
Next gt
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True Religion
Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making
false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!
Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then
your light will shine out from the darkness, and
the darkness around you will be as bright as day.
The LORD will guide you continually, watering
your life when you are dry and keeping you
healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered
garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Your
children will rebuild the deserted ruins of your
cities. Then you will be known as the people who
rebuild their walls and cities. Isaiah 581-12
(NLT)
Above is a description of the externally focused
church!
Stop
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Good deeds are obvious, and even those that are
not cannot be hidden. 1 Timothy 525
Command them to do good, to be rich in good
deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
1 Timothy 618
And let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 1024
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All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 316-17
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to
have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save
him? James 214
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Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him
show it by his good life, by deeds done in the
humility that comes from wisdom. James 313
Live such good lives among the pagans that,
though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may
see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He
visits us. 1 Peter 212
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Then the King will say to those on the right,
Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit
the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I
was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a
stranger, and you invited me into your home. I
was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick,
and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you
visited me... I assure you, when you did it to
one of the least of these my brothers and
sisters, you were doing it to me!' Matthew
2534-40
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Jesus, answering Philip, said Believe Me that I
am in the Father and the Father is in Me
otherwise believe because of the works
themselves. John 1411 (NASB)
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Acts 1038 (Peter speaking)God anointed Jesus
with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus
went around doing good for God was with him.

• He cared for the physical needs of people
• He fed people who were hungry
• He helped at a wedding
• He met people at the point of their greatest
  perceived need
• He prepared people for eternity
• He did anything that advanced the will of God in
  the lives of others

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Good Deeds is not Good News!
People, left to their own reasoning, will
intuitively arrive at the wrong conclusion!

• Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another,
  What does this mean? Some however made fun of
  them and said, They have had too much wine.
  Acts 212
• Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or
  godliness we had made this man walk? Acts 312

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Good Deeds is not Good News!
We must tell people about the Good News of
Christ. This is where eternal life change happens.

• I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is
  the power of God for the salvation of everyone
  who believes. Romans 116
• Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the
  word of Christ. Romans 1017

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The only thing that counts is faith expressing
itself through love. Galatians 56 (NIV)
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Questions or Observations
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Becoming Externally Focused
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Two Strategies For Community Missions Involvement

• Identify the needs of your community and start
  ministries to service them.
• Food bank, learning centers, ESL, recreation
• Partner with existing ministries or human-service
  agencies that are already accomplishing a shared
  vision for the community.
• Local mission, homeless shelter, emergency family
  housing, safe house for abused women, etc.

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Lessons from One Churchs Journey
LifeBridge Christian Church, Longmont, CO
1. Broaden your outreach focus.
Move from having one or two large annual outreach
events to having ongoing engagements with the
community through service. Create a culture for
serving others.
2. Do not create something that already exists.
Partner with schools, service organizations, and
other non-profits (religious and secular) to help
them.
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Lessons from One Churchs Journey
LifeBridge Christian Church, Longmont, CO
1. Broaden your outreach focus.
Move from having one or two large annual outreach
events to having ongoing engagements with the
community through service. Create a culture for
servicing others.
2. Do not create something that already exists.
Remember, Jesus saidWhoever is not against us
is for us. Mark 938
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Lessons from One Churchs Journey
LifeBridge Christian Church, Longmont, CO
3. Open your doors to other community
organizations.
Allow your church to be a gathering place for the
community.
4. In order to love and serve the community, you
must know your community.
Research the demographics and lifestyles within a
3-5 mile radius or 15-minute drive time. Make
opportunites to meet people personally to
discover their needs, hopes and dreams.
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Lessons from One Churchs Journey
LifeBridge Christian Church, Longmont, CO
5. Invite everyone to jump into the stream.

• Most Christians are unfulfilled because they are
  not getting their feet wet in ministry
• Create opportunities for
• All ages (children to seniors)
• All abilities
• Christians and non-Christians
• Singles and families
• Short-term and long-term commitments

Unfilled because they are not doing what God
created them for! For we are Gods workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians
210
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Lessons from One Churchs Journey
LifeBridge Christian Church, Longmont, CO
6. Be open to innovative ideas.
Initiating and implementing service
opportunities is not the sole responsibility of
church leadership. Let everyone get involved.
Imagine what God could do through us if we didnt
care who got the credit!
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How do I promote this to the church?

• Rediscover together what Scriptures say about
  good deeds and good news.
  This is not conservative vs. social theology.
• Broaden the definition of ministry.
  Defined as meeting anothers needs with the
  resources God gives to you (any sized budget).
• Present ministry to others as part of the every
  day normal Christian life. Be
  doers of the word, and not hearers only,
  deceiving yourselves. James 122

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How do I promote this to the church?

• Provide church-wide opportunities to serve
  others. Harvest festival, car wash, park cleanup,
  water give-away, mission trip, etc.

• Encourage each S.S. class or small group to adopt
  a service project. Working with schools,
  handicapped, senior adults, etc.
• Help individuals find a cause or concern that
  they find personally rewarding. Volunteering at a
  pregnancy center, with the American Red Cross,
  YMCA, Big Brother, etc.

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Give Everyone an Opportunity to Serve

• Expose
• Easy entry
• One time, very little risk
• No commitment

Expose

• Experience
• Several times
• Heart is changing
• Some commitment

Experience
Engage

• Engage
• Continuous engagement
• Recruiting others
• High Commitment

The Opportunity Funnel (Mariners Church Model)
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Externally Focused Depth of Engagement
Money Things Projects
People
Yearly Quarterly Monthly
Weekly
Externally Focused Frequency of Engagement
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Externally Focused Depth of Engagement
Money Things Projects
People
Yearly Quarterly Monthly
Weekly
Externally Focused Frequency of Engagement
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Externally Focused Depth of Engagement
Money Things Projects
People
Yearly Quarterly Monthly
Weekly
Externally Focused Frequency of Engagement
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Externally Focused Depth of Engagement
Money Things Projects
People
Yearly Quarterly Monthly
Weekly
Externally Focused Frequency of Engagement
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Externally Focused Depth of Engagement
Money Things Projects
People
Yearly Quarterly Monthly
Weekly
Externally Focused Frequency of Engagement
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Questions or Observations
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Bridge Building Ideas!
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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Volunteer at a local school
• Teacher breakfast
• Office or classroom assistance
• Reading
• Tutoring
• Mentoring
• Supplies
• Abstinence training
• Paint classrooms
• Landscape property
• Backpacks

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Prepare or purchase a meal for
• Neighbor
• Sick friend
• Visitor to church
• Lonely acquaintance
• Homeless person
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas
• Meals on Wheels
• Food drive
• Food pantry

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Help with someones yard work
• Mow grass
• Edge
• Trim bushes
• Rake leaves
• Plant flowers
• Till a garden
• Cut trees
• Fertilize
• Weed

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Hand out bottled water at
• Park
• Parade
• Race
• Ballgame
• Beach
• Bicycle path

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Start support groups for
• At-risk kids
• Parents
• Pregnant and parenting teens
• Twelve-step program
• Divorce recovery
• Grief recovery
• Blended families
• Financial responsibility
• Addiction recovery
• Reintegration of military personnel into families

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Throw a neighborhood block party

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Homes
• Habitat for Humanity
• Housing for homeless teens or moms
• Weatherize homes (caulk seal)
• Home improvement
• Paint houses
• Repair roofs
• Extreme makeover
• Change bulbs
• Leaky toilets

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Coach a Little League team

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Care ministries
• Network of people offering skills for needy
• Monthly birthday party at a family shelter
• Volunteer at battered womans center
• Big Brother/Sister
• Nursing homes
• Hospital volunteer
• Military care packages
• Toys for Tots
• Home-made quilts
• Soup kitchen

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Provisions for those in need
• Money for prescriptions, rent utilites
• Eye exams and glasses
• Transportation
• Clothes
• Jobs
• Shelter
• Food
• Furniture

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• In the streets
• Saturday worship with food clothes
• Adopt a block, street or neighborhood
• Park cleanup
• Provide cold weather shelter
• Bike tune-up
• Dinner movie for homeless
• Minister to addicts prostitutes
• Reach out to Hispanic day laborers
• Plant a tree or flowers
• Cleanup after a parade

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• At the church building
• Open for use by community groups
• Halloween carnival
• Vacation Bible School
• Computer lab for job training
• Christmas store
• Family film nights
• Upward sports programs
• Aerobics or dieting classes
• Skate Church reaching out to skateboarders

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Child Sponsorship
• Angel Tree Gifts for Children of Prisoners
• Compassion International
• World Vision
• AMG International

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Missions
• Short-term mission projects/trips
• Renovate an urban mission center
• Financially support missionaries
• American Indian ministries
• Urban homelessness hunger
• Medical missions
• Church planting

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Bridge Building Ideas!

• Health
• Volunteer at or open a health clinic
• Minister to HIV/AIDS patients
• Crisis Pregnancy Center volunteer
• Community health fair
• Blood drive

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World Changing Causes!

• Alcohol abuse
• Body image
• Cancer
• Disaster preparedness
• Discrimination
• Drug abuse
• Education
• Endangered species
• Energy conservation
• Environment
• Fitness
• Healthy eating

• Helping senior citizens
• HIV / AIDS
• Homelessness
• Hunger
• Immigration
• Katrina relief
• Mental health
• Pollution
• Poverty
• School dropouts/violence
• Smoking
• Voting

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• Small things done with great love will change
  the world.
• Steve Sjogren

You can change your world.
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Questions or Observations
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7 Concluding Thoughts

• It is far easier to ride a wave than to create a
  wave. See where God is working and join Him.
• Recognize that loving and serving our communities
  being Gods Church outside the walls is the
  mission and calling of every believer.

111
7 Concluding Thoughts

• Understand that we cannot get different results
  from doing more or better of what we have done in
  the past. To create a different future, we must
  THINK different, BE different and DO different.

• Learn all you can about your community. You
  cannot love that which you do not know.

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7 Concluding Thoughts

• Remember that you are kingdom builders and not
  social workers. Discover new and effective ways
  to combine compassionate service with passionate
  evangelism. Good deeds and good will are no
  substitutes for the Good News.

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7 Concluding Thoughts

• This is a work of God. He uses yielded people of
  faith, prayer and action. The world can only be
  transformed by those who themselves have been
  transformed.

• Every movement of God begins with one passionate
  person who says Yes. Pray and seek out
  like-hearted people who want to change the world.

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How Do I Learn More?What Resources are Available?
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http//www.gbcresearch.org or
http//rs.gabaptist.org
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Externally Focused Church Resources
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Printed Resources
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PowerPoint Presentations and Audio Sermons
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Recommended Books, Stories and Websites
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More Websites
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Contact Information Bryan Nowak, Research
Services Georgia Baptist Convention 6405
Sugarloaf Parkway Duluth, GA 30097 770-936-5245 bn
owak_at_gabaptist.org Website http//www.gbcresearc
h.org or http//rs.gabaptist.org