Good idea - calling off Sunday church

DeWayneTN · Postby **DeWayneTN** » November 21st, 2008, 9:56 am

How about this?

Local Church Shuts Down This Weekend

Hundreds Take to the Streets to Provide

Early Thanksgiving Present to the Community

THE COLONY - Hundreds of members from Horizons Church in The Colony will skip church this Sunday and the lead pastor there doesn't even mind.

The congregation will be taking to the streets as part of its Faith in Action campaign, buying down gas at local service stations, delivering meals to those in need and even cleaning homes.

"This is one of my favorite Sundays of the year", said Pastor Jon Wiest, lead pastor at Horizons Church, a two and a half year-old congregation meeting in The Colony. "The church is not a location, it is a group of people sent out to bring healing and hope to our community. Our motto is 'don't just go to church, BE the church'. We think that phrase accurately describes what this day is all about".

Church members will gather at The Colony Recreation Center - 5151 N. Colony Blvd - at 10:30 am and then head out to all corners of the community to serve.

Among the activities taking place: a gas buy down, free quarters at the local laundry mats, a shoreline clean up of Lake Lewisville, 1500 cookies that will be baked and delivered to local residents, twenty complete Thanksgiving dinners packaged and delivered, and almost a dozen more service projects.

The community is invited to join Horizons Church for its campaign of service, and there are plenty opportunities to get involved. For additional information on the event, please call Pastor Jon Wiest at 972-689-9936 or e-mail at jwiest@thinkhorizons.com. You can also visit their website at www.thinkhorizons.com.

MacUser · Postby **MacUser** » November 21st, 2008, 10:06 am

DeWayneTN wrote:Our motto is 'don't just go to church, BE the church'.

RaceRunner · Postby **RaceRunner** » November 21st, 2008, 10:57 am

Why couldn't they do it on Saturday and STILL have church on Sunday?

Actually MORE people are out and about on Saturday.

They would even be able bless their fellow Christians more.

Why can't they BE the church and GO to church at the same time?

PastorDaniel · Postby **PastorDaniel** » November 21st, 2008, 11:04 am

RaceRunner wrote:Why couldn't they do it on Saturday and STILL have church on Sunday?

Actually MORE people are out and about on Saturday.

They would even be able bless their fellow Christians more.

Why can't they BE the church and GO to church at the same time?

Since they have "hundreds" of members and are only 2.5 years old...I'd say that they are doing both...Sounds like they are thinking outside the box to me...

Postby **Pastor Gary** » November 21st, 2008, 11:04 am

RaceRunner wrote:Why couldn't they do it on Saturday and STILL have church on Sunday?

Actually MORE people are out and about on Saturday.

They would even be able bless their fellow Christians more.

Why can't they BE the church and GO to church at the same time?

Because what they are doing puts their doctrine where their mouth is; that ministry is not just ranting from a pulpit -- it is showing practical expressions of love to the community. If they did it on Saturday, everyone would shrug. Doing it on Sunday says to the world "these people are more than a bunch of Bible thumpers huddled in a corner... maybe they really DO love us, if they are willing to show it like this."

That church, by the way, didn't initiate the idea: http://www.PutYourFaithInAction.org/

Hundreds of churches in Los Angeles do this on a given Sunday once a year, and it has given them much more credibility in the communities in which they minister.

DeWayneTN · Postby **DeWayneTN** » November 21st, 2008, 11:09 am

I love that motto - "The church has left the building"

fezzik · Postby **fezzik** » November 21st, 2008, 11:14 am

Pastor Gary wrote:Because what they are doing puts their doctrine where their mouth is; that ministry is not just ranting from a pulpit -- it is showing practical expressions of love to the community. If they did it on Saturday, everyone would shrug. Doing it on Sunday says to the world "these people are more than a bunch of Bible thumpers huddled in a corner... maybe they really DO love us, if they are willing to show it like this."

That church, by the way, didn't initiate the idea: http://www.PutYourFaithInAction.org/

Hundreds of churches in Los Angeles do this on a given Sunday once a year, and it has given them much more credibility in the communities in which they minister.

Amen to all of that!

Full Quiver · Postby **Full Quiver** » November 21st, 2008, 11:54 am

They would even be able bless their fellow Christians more.

Why?

Pianoman · Postby **Pianoman** » November 21st, 2008, 12:19 pm

RaceRunner wrote:Why couldn't they do it on Saturday and STILL have church on Sunday?

Actually MORE people are out and about on Saturday.

They would even be able bless their fellow Christians more.

Why can't they BE the church and GO to church at the same time?

My first thought - if they did it on Sunday (at least during
traditional church time) - they would have a better chance
of impacting people that don't already have a church home.
Seems to me like a much better way to focus their efforts
on the folks that truly need it.

I'd much rather them win the lost than try to transfer the saved!

Postby **Pastor Gary** » November 21st, 2008, 12:28 pm

Pianoman wrote:
RaceRunner wrote:Why couldn't they do it on Saturday and STILL have church on Sunday?

Actually MORE people are out and about on Saturday.

They would even be able bless their fellow Christians more.

Why can't they BE the church and GO to church at the same time?

My first thought - if they did it on Sunday (at least during
traditional church time) - they would have a better chance
of impacting people that don't already have a church home.
Seems to me like a much better way to focus their efforts
on the folks that truly need it.

I'd much rather them win the lost than try to transfer the saved!

But that reflects a philosophical/Theological difference in worldview: people who see their mission to be showing the love of Christ to the world around them might gravitate toward "the church has left the building," while those who see their mission as uniting existing believers into a single group would opt for a Saturday outreach, so they could be nice to their Baptist and Methodist neighbors. (But what about the Adventists??)

beckrl · Postby **beckrl** » November 21st, 2008, 1:07 pm

good idea? No! GREAT IDEA

Being Christ's hands, feet, ... :applaud:

dbserv · Postby **dbserv** » November 21st, 2008, 2:31 pm

LOVE the idea AND the day it's done on!!!

I only have two thoughts for them:

1. With a church of "hundreds" it seems that they should be able to provide more than 20 dinners.

Our Deeper Impact Group, of 16 people (9 "families"), is providing 18 dinners by ourselves. At last count, I believe that our church has gathered enough food for 600+ dinners. The pastoral staff challenged us to do 1,000 dinners this year, and we might make it yet. Many people had to wait for payday this weekend, to purchase the food.

So, we should see a lot more by 1:00 p.m. Sunday, when our 3rd Sunday service is completed. We also have enough $$ donated to purchase 300+ more dinners. If we reach our goal, then the $$ will be split between the Salvation Army and 4 other local Chirstian ministries to homeless people to use for the needs of those they serve.

AND, one of the local Church of God's (Anderson, IN) leaves us waaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind in the feeding the hungry field. With about 1/3 the size church as us, they will be feeding over 3,000 people @ their church on Thanksgiving and distributing coupons for 2,000 meals that the families can purchase at any one of the 5 major grocery stores in our area. This is the same church that provides over 100 FREE gospel concerts each year with such groups as Legacy 5 (last night), Florida Boys, Jadon Lavik, Lisa Daggs-Charette, Johnson Family, Hoppers Isaacs, Poet Voices, Beene Family, COGOP's own Daryl Williams Trio - his mom lives here (formerly COGOP, that is), Crabb Family, Martins, Nelons, etc. This is how they "minister" to us Christians. The rest of their ministry is to the UNSAVED in an attempt to bring them to Christ.

BTW: during the concerts, there is NO attempt to get people to attend their church. In fact, Pastor Jim will recognize other pastors and/or churches represented in the crowd and encourage those who accept Christ during the concerts to find a church home to be a part of. No mention is EVER made about being a part of "MY/OUR" church.

2. The paydown gas idea is alright, but since gas is now under $2.00, even here in CA, AND since most of the truly "NEEDY" people (or at least here in our area) either don't have vehicles or have had the vehicles repo'd from them - it wasn't just mortgage companies who were using bad lending practices - there might be better ways to use those $$ to truly benefit those in need.

These are simply MY OPINION and not meant to irritate anyone or cause dispersions on the ministry of this church.

dbserv · Postby **dbserv** » November 21st, 2008, 2:54 pm

RaceRunner wrote:Why couldn't they do it on Saturday and STILL have church on Sunday?

Actually MORE people are out and about on Saturday.

They would even be able bless their fellow Christians more.

Why can't they BE the church and GO to church at the same time?

IMHO, they will be more likely to "have church" by going out into the community than staying in their building on Sunday. Gathering together and fellowshipping together do NOT make us the "Church".

In our community, there are more people working on Saturday than on Sunday. Or, people are tied up with kids' sports activities and are in too big of a rush to be effectively "ministered" to. Sunday is a good day to find people in a slower pace who just might be inclined to slow down long enough to accept God's "blessing" from us and then to maybe hear why we are giving the gift so they will SEE the REAL GIFT!!!

We aren't here to "bless" our "fellow Christians". We should fellowship with our fellow Christians and work together to "bless" the world around us. It has been my experience that MOST people who say that they want to "bless their fellow Christians", are simply wolves in sheep's clothing.

Finally, IMHO, BEING the "church" has NOTHING to do with whether we "go to church" or NOT!!! I don't want anyone to twist that statement around and say that I don't believe in fellowshipping together. THAT is of ABSOLUTE importance and necessity for a healthy walk with Christ. However, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with being the Church of God!!!

BTW: meeting on the first day of the week is a CUSTOM/TRADITION that is NOT holy and is not required. As discussed with jklapp, we have our "worship" services several days a week - Tuesday, Wednesday (2), Saturday, and Sunday (3). During Christmas week, we will actually have services five days - Tuesday, Wednesday (2), Friday, Saturday (3), and Sunday (4) for a total of 10. So, fellowshipping together is IMPORTANT to a vibrant body of believers, but it does NOT make us the Church.

beckrl · Postby **beckrl** » November 21st, 2008, 3:38 pm

It reminds me of the song "Give Me Your Eyes"
Brandon Heath
http://www.brandonheath.net/

Tim Elston · Postby **Tim Elston** » November 21st, 2008, 5:30 pm

dbserv wrote:IMHO, they will be more likely to "have church" by going out into the community than staying in their building on Sunday. Gathering together and fellowshipping together do NOT make us the "Church".

I remember one year in Eugene, Oregon, when I became responsible for Sunday School outreach (or something like that), I decided that instead of try to get people to go visiting in the neighborhood on Saturday, I would take a different person out with me visiting every Sunday morning during Sunday School time. It was easy to get people to go out with me because their time was already allotted to sitting on a Sunday School bench, and it was more of an endorphin rush to go out and do something scary and exciting. We met a lot of people, asked them how we could help them, read scripture at their door, prayed for whoever they were worried about, went back during the week to touch base with new neighborhood friends. I found it fulfilling, and it seemed like there were several people in the neighborhood who appreciated a visit on Sunday morning. We had some visitors to church because of it, but for me it was more about going to them, not them coming to us.

Jude 2