{"id":11806,"date":"2018-09-25T08:57:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T13:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=11806"},"modified":"2018-09-25T08:57:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T13:57:42","slug":"book-review-people-are-the-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=11806","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: People are the Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B072TMV9N9\/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-11807 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/51bhQR9tGsL._SX326_BO1204203200_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"328\" height=\"499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/51bhQR9tGsL._SX326_BO1204203200_.jpg 328w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/51bhQR9tGsL._SX326_BO1204203200_-197x300.jpg 197w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 328px) 100vw, 328px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It has been a joy to serve as part of our Greeter Team at Cedarcrest Church for the past year or so.\u00a0 Serving on this team has stretched me a bit.\u00a0 I tend to be an extroverted introvert and see that play out when my heart starts beating a little faster when someone I don&#8217;t know comes up to start a conversation with me.\u00a0 This has been a good stretching!\u00a0 Particularly when I consider that the way that I greet a guest is a HUGE part of ultimately sharing the gospel with them.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B072TMV9N9\/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1\"><em>People are the Mission: How Churches can Welcome Guests without Compromising the Gospel<\/em><\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/dfranks.com\/\">Danny Franks <\/a>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitrdu.com\/\">Summit Church<\/a>) is a great resource for anyone who wants to grow in their ability to really help people understand what it means to be hosted and welcomed in the name of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We don\u2019t strive to excel in hospitality because it brings people back to our church, but because it best reflects how Christ treated us. Location: 120<\/li>\n<li>Your church\u2019s preaching and worship styles may draw a crowd, but to keep a crowd, people must sense that you love them, that you expected them, and that you can\u2019t wait for them to return. Location: 129<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t label people as visitors, honor them as guests. As Gary McIntosh wisely puts it, \u201cThere is a difference. . . . Visitors are often unwanted; guests are expected. Visitors just show up; guests are invited. Visitors are expected to leave; guests are expected to stay. Visitors come one time; guests return again.\u201d3 Location: 205<\/li>\n<li>No matter where you fall on the scale, someone believes you\u2019re somewhere different on the scale than where you believe you are. Location: 266<\/li>\n<li>Honoring the stranger doesn\u2019t stand at odds with honoring the Savior. People are indeed the mission that Christ has called us to, and if we focus on people, we can help people focus on the gospel. Location: 297<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m not sure when it became fashionable to get our collective jumpers in a bunch over every potential disagreement that\u2019s out there. Location: 355<\/li>\n<li>In an age of outrage, we\u2019ve forgotten the subtle, fragrant aroma of graciousness. Location: 403<\/li>\n<li>If people are the mission, then dealing with those objections and offenses are all a part of the mission. Location: 449<\/li>\n<li>if we are ministering to our guests out of a gospel-centric mind-set, we won\u2019t just react. We\u2019ll lead with grace in an attempt to demonstrate the kindness of Jesus. Location: 470<\/li>\n<li>Flashy programs and sparkly Sundays will only last so long. As pastor and author Mark Dever says, \u201cWhat you win them with is likely what you\u2019ll win them to.\u201d Location: 610<\/li>\n<li>Seek to create the kind of environment where your guests will say, \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily agree with what I heard, but I\u2019ll never forget how graciously I was treated.\u201d That hospitality-soaked environment can eventually turn cold hearts warm and lead people to Christ. Location: 634<\/li>\n<li>Biblical hospitality doesn\u2019t need a spot on the staff organizational chart or a line in the annual budget to thrive. Simply take God\u2019s kindness toward you and begin translating that into the lives of others. Location: 915<\/li>\n<li>Next steps. What happens after the service? Where does a guest go if they have more questions? Who does a person talk to if they need prayer or want to make a decision? Do you have clear action steps from the sermon? Do you know what you want guests to do as a result of their first visit? How do they know what you want for them? Location: 963<\/li>\n<li>What we\u2019ve had to learn is that our resources may get us in the door, but only humility and persistent service will lead to a relationship. And many times it is that relationship that causes our neighbors to pursue a greater relationship with Jesus many months or even many years later. Location: 1,241<\/li>\n<li>We Should Not Choose between \u201cGo and Tell\u201d and \u201cCome and See.\u201d Do Both. Location: 1,659<\/li>\n<li>When I\u2019m engaged in my day-to-day, weekly responsibilities, I sometimes forget the reason behind the activity. We can polish the experience and look for ways to improve our systems, but in doing so we can also miss the mission. Location: 1,770<\/li>\n<li>Jesus commissioned us to make disciples. He commanded us to preach the gospel and point to the cross. He demonstrated what it means to call sinners to repentance. And when we forget this, our bells and whistles just become smoke and mirrors. Location: 1,777<\/li>\n<li>Andy Stanley warns that the gravitational pull of the church is always toward insiders. Location: 1,968<\/li>\n<li>To preach the gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. . . . You can be sure of one thing, though: When you set yourself to seriously pursue holiness, you will begin to realize what an awful sinner you are. And if you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself every day, you will soon become discouraged and will slack off in your pursuit of holiness. Location: 2,007<\/li>\n<li>If people are the mission, we must stick to the mission. But how do we keep the mission central to all that we do? By relentlessly, unapologetically, and consistently putting our own agendas to death in pursuit of a greater vision and purpose. Location: 2,094<\/li>\n<li>seeking the lost forces us to remember that there is always room at the table. Location: 2,535<\/li>\n<li>What we do on the weekend has echoes in eternity. Souls are at stake that are far more valuable than our cherished traditions, our personal preferences, our comfort zones, or our older-brotherness. Location: 2,551<\/li>\n<li>People were the mission of Jesus, and people are still our mission today. Let\u2019s love them because we understand just how much he has loved us. Location: 2,566<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been a joy to serve as part of our Greeter Team at Cedarcrest Church for the past year or so.\u00a0 Serving on this team has stretched me a bit.\u00a0 I tend to be an extroverted introvert and see that play out when my heart starts beating a little faster when someone I don&#8217;t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,22,16,23,28,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-cedarcrest-church","category-family","category-generosity","category-integrity","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}