Understanding Your Community

ByAdministrator

Last week I shared the importance of knowing and understanding your community.  It is not an accident your church building is where it is.  God has a plan for you to reach your neighborhood and serve those who live closest to your address location.  Unfortunately, many churches lose touch with their neighbors and miss a great opportunity to be a light in the darkness or life raft in the sea of brokenness that surrounds them.  The second part of the Great Commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves.  That cannot happen unless we know them.  As important as it is to exegete Scripture to faithfully interpret and apply its truth, leaders also need to exegete their community and faithfully interpret and apply the gospel with those within their reach.  Fortunately, there are several tools and resources available to help churches understanding their community well.  The MBC makes available to churches wonderful demographic reports that help identify basic information about the population characteristics in their area.  This allows a congregation the ability to see how closely they match the people who live in the neighborhood where their church exist.  Other means of knowing your community are talking with and interviewing government officials, police officers, school administrators, civic leaders, business owners near you.  They will have a valuable perspective on the greatest needs of the community.  Prayer-walking in the neighborhood is a great exercise that combines praying for the Lord to open our neighbor’s hearts as well as opening your eyes to what is obvious and apparent by what you see and hear.   Another valuable tool is using a survey to interview neighbors and explore what concerns and needs they identify that your church might be able to meet.  These tools provide a window that allows you as leaders to exegete the needs and opportunities before you to make an eternal impact on your community.  As an association, we stand ready to help you with any of these tools and strategies.  – Dr. Gary Mathes

Similar Posts

  • Thy Kingdom Come

    ByAdministrator

    I recently was at one of our churches and the minister declared, “Thy kingdom come.” and the congregation responded, “Thy will be done.”  It was a good reminder that regardless of the political agendas and in the aftermath of a recent election day, it is God who is sovereign over the affairs of our world,…

  • Trust is Fragile

    ByAdministrator

    The events within the SBC that have occurred and been made public in the past weeks, has caused me to do some reflecting.  As I shared last week, I am deeply grieved by the Guidepost Solutions SATF report.  I am also burdened by the task set before us as a convention of churches of rebuilding…

  • Thanksgiving

    ByAdministrator

    As we come once again to the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of what the apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the believers in Thessalonica, “Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (5:18). It is important to notice that Paul doesn’t say be thankful for everything, but in everything.  That is…

  • Sons of Issachar

    ByAdministrator

    In 1 Chronicles 12, it reveals how the tribes of Israel were offering their allegiance to David.  As the number of men and their skills were described, the characteristics that marked the tribe of Issachar were: “They understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” (v.32).   As our nation struggles to face the effects…