Observations from work and around

Hello everyone! I have been observing and doing some talking about "felt needs" at work. First let me say that I work most closely with 20/25 females. I do go out to visit school and talk with high school students, but never get into serious discussions about anything other than their education. Out of the 20 women, about 8 are actually living out their Christian faith. Of the others,one is a cultural Jew, five are homosexual or living with their boyfriend, two are divorced, and the rest are married and have children and fit into no other category mentioned before. Several of the women have problems with their school aged children and several with their relationships with their adult children. Some are caring for ill family members. Some want a connection, but feel alone and feel they are "too far gone to be connected to a church". (Wrong!) The ones who feel that way probably just need someone to come along side of them and invite them to church or church activity and stay with them. It is difficult to be alone and come to a new place. On several occasions, my coworkers have asked me to pray for a particular situation. (My pleasure!) There is a spirutual need here for sure. We know they need Jesus.I would suspect that in Laurel there is a need for English tutors for adults since we have so many Hispanic families. Also, divorce care is probably another need, since in our community and church this is an issue. Many feel isolated or rejected after a divorce. I would suspect that many in our community (and my work) need some help with financial planning/budgeting/money matters. About everyone I know could use some help with parenting. Raising children is very difficult and sometimes we feel we should naturally know how to do it right. (Wrong,again!) I see that others have mentioned small groups, and I am a fan!! These are just my observations and thoughts so far. Judy

Last night's prayer group was small so it gave me an opportunity to ask some questions regarding our church and other things. What do people struggle with and what are their needs? They struggle in a secular world that has little or no regard for Christ. They need a supportive church family, which we agreed we have, that holds each other accountable.
We discussed that Christians struggle with all the stuff that non-belivers do, we just know how to deal with it. People need to be loved, appreciated and respected. We also discussed how many of our home bound are very lonley with no friends who check on them. Be a friend, then bring that friend to Christ. I'll be back later. Greg

Felt Needs

Last night, I asked you to listening, watch, and and talk to the people we see everyday in our schools, community, and places of work in order to discern their felt needs. Now obviously, everyone's greatest need is Jesus Christ. We all firmly believe that! But as we see in the Bible and in our own experience, Jesus enters into peoples' lives through their place of greatest need.

For example, Jesus entered into the life of the Samaritan woman, who was by herself collecting water, by talking about her need for living water (John 4). After their brother Lazarus died, he entered into the life of Mary and Martha by talking about himself as the resurrection and the life (John 11). To a crowd he just fed, he talked about himself as the bread of life (John 6).

So, after you've spent some time listening, watching, and talking, please comment on this post by listing the felt needs of the people you talked to. Give a brief description of who they are and what their felt need is. I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Our meeting yesterday

OK guys I'm new at this blog stuff, how am I doing. I think our meeting went very well. I read Chapters 3 & 4 today and I am really beginning to feel a better understanding of where the author is coming from. I'll keep in touch. Greg

Why Do People Need First Church?

I was very encouraged by the open and frank conversation we had yesterday evening, talking about the distinctive qualities of our church and why people need our church in particular. Answering that question will bring us a step closer to discerning what vision God has for us.

Consolidating all the things I heard us say, there seem to be five distinctive qualities that make our church stand out:

1. Our clear, biblical teaching and preaching People can expect that they will encounter biblical truth when the Word of God is proclaimed or discussed in small groups.
2. Our diversity The growing ethnic, racial, and familial diversity making up our Laurel community will see faces at First Church they can identify with.
3. Our small groups People can easily connect with a small group of believers in order to be nurtured and mature as disciples of Jesus Christ.
4. Our young people We highly value children and young people, providing opportunities for them to learn, grow, and serve.
5. Our outreach We continue to develop an outward focus, serving and reaching the spiritual and physical needs of people in our community and beyond.

So far, I think this is a great start... From here, we'll look at our passion, who we can most likely connect with in our community, and how to tailor our distinctive qualities to match and meet the needs of the people in our community who are yet to be disciples of Jesus with us.

I welcome your comments and ideas, too!