Anchor Church: May 2020 Newsletter ⚓
"Would I be welcome at your church?"
People don't typically actually ask this question. Though, I'm sure many have thought it. This question, however, came into our inbox on a Saturday evening. He added that he doesn't believe everything that Christians believe. He thinks the Church has done more harm than good. He doesn't live the Christian lifestyle.
So the question remained: would he be welcome at our church? We connected with him and told him "yes". But words are so much easier than actions. He came to our group, talked freely, and the group welcomed him with open arms. Afterward, we texted him to ask him what he thought. He loved it! His only criticism was to give out the verses ahead of time so people could look it up beforehand.
It reminded me of Matthew 9:10-12: "Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with such scum?' When Jesus heard this, he said, 'Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.' "
Here are a few things we learned:
1. God doesn't always use the most conventional methods. We met him through the popping of an animal balloon at the farmer's market. He saw it as a sign to come over to our table to grab a flyer. Isn't it interesting how people who are seemingly avoiding God still see signs from God?
2. Church Planting forces us to get creative. Being at the farmer's market, with those animal balloons again, opened up that door to people who wouldn't normally give the church a shot.
3. Words need to be met with action. You can't simply say that you're a welcoming church, you have to prove it.
When you pray for us, please ask God for these things:
Pray for our FIRST online service on June 14th (We'd love for you to watch on Facebook!) We are currently in the process of filming and editing this week and next. Pray that people would come and be impacted by the worship & message, "Hope Dealers."
Nick married his first couple last week in the park. Pray for them as they begin their life together! Pray for our online presence. We're hoping to meet people via videos and posts.
Praise God for our newest Launch Team member, Prashasti!
Pray for our groups to connect amidst the social distancing. We're finding that we are connecting with people but we'd really like them to connect with each other. We have a group on both Mondays and Thursdays now.
Pray for us as we are getting tired of screens all day instead of seeing actual people. We're finding it can be exhausting some days. Pray for continued optimism. Pray for people to come to know Jesus in this time of social distancing.
We're so thankful for you!
~Hannah and Nick
