What does it take to fulfill the Great Commission?
It’s not that complicated.
On a very basic level it takes love and compassion, time, and a willingness to meet people where they are. Having a little creativity is a bonus!
In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, the Apostle Paul speaks to this. In verse 22 he says, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” Paul goes on to say that he does this for the sake of the gospel, so that he may share in its blessing.
Harvest Church Petroleum Valley Campus experienced this blessing when they took the creative step to meet their community during an Easter egg hunt that was funded, in part, from an evangelism grant provided through the Baptist Resource Network.
The congregation grabbed hold of the vision and spent weeks preparing–packing eggs with treats. This enthusiasm remained through event day activities as they eagerly served and interacted with guests.
Pastor Michael Harvey shares the story of one of those interactions. “One of our members shared with the church following the event that they had a number of conversations with people, but the one that really stuck out to them was a gentleman who said that he “was raised in the church but church was just a list of do’s and don’ts.” He never remembers the church “reaching out in the community or doing something as ‘fun’ as an Easter Egg Hunt. It was always taboo to talk about the ‘Easter bunny,’” says Harvey.
Harvest Church became ‘fun’ and shared the love and message of Christ. When the event was over they had done so with the help of serving about 8 gallons of coffee and chocolate milk, hiding over 4,500 plastic eggs and taking over 100+ pictures of kids with the Easter Bunny.
The success of Harvest’s first community outreach has them talking about ways to reach back in and build deeper relationships surrounding the truth of the Gospel.
Easter was also a busy time for Paoli Community Church, which included completing their biannual food drive for Pottstown Bible Church.
The church became the arms of Jesus for the Green Meadow Nursing Home in Paoli by baking 25 dozen cupcakes, assembling 150 scripture-based snack packs and providing 150 Easter devotionals for the 140 patients plus staff.
Paoli and Harvest are creatively reaching the lost. There are 14 million people in PA/SJ who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. What are you willing to become in order to introduce them to Jesus Christ?
