The Pointe

Little Philip, born with Down’s syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday School class with several eight-year-old boys and girls. Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences, according to an article in Leadership magazine. But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group, though not fully.

The Sunday after Easter the teacher brought Leggs pantyhose containers, the kind that look like large eggs. Each receiving one, the children were told to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol for new life, and put it in the egg-like container. Back in the classroom, they would share their new-life symbols, opening the containers one by one in surprise fashion. After running about the church property in wild confusion, the students returned to the classroom and placed the containers on the table.

Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one. After each one, whether flower, butterfly, or leaf, the class would ooh and ahh. Then one was opened, revealing nothing inside. The children exclaimed, “That’s stupid. That’s not fair. Somebody didn’t do their assignment.” Philip spoke up, “That’s mine.” “Philip, you don’t ever do things right!” the student retorted. “There’s nothing there!” I did so do it,” Philip insisted. “I did do it. It’s empty. the tomb was empty!” Silence followed. From then on Philip became a full member of the class. 

He died not long afterward from an infection most normal children would have shrugged off. At the funeral this class of eight-year-olds marched up to the altar not with flowers, but with their Sunday school teacher, each to lay on it an empty pantyhose egg.

Easter is just around the corner.  A day that represents the greatest event in history.  Come and be a part of NorthPointe’s Easter Celebration, march 23rd at 10am and get an inside look at behind the scene christianity and what it’s all about!

Do you ever feel like what you say is being received differently than the way you meant for it to be received?  It is always good to make sure people understand what you mean and not what they think you mean.  Here is an extreme example and I am sure you have your own stories.  Tell me what you think…   

A minister decided that a VISUAL DEMONSTRATION would add EMPHASIS to his Sunday sermon.

Four worms were placed into four separate JARS. The first worm was put into a container of alcohol. The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke. The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup. The fourth work was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of his lesson, the minister reported the following results: The first worm in alcohol—dead. The second worm in cigarette smoke—dead. Third word in chocolate syrup—dead. Fourth worm in good clean soil—alive.

So the minister asked the congregation, “What can you learn from this demonstration?”

A little old lady in the back quickly raised her hand and said, “As long as you drink, smoke, and eat chocolate, you won’t have worms!”

USAToday provides a story in today’s paper and on-line here. It is also on the their front page on the internet and is the most commented upon story.

The USAToday article focused on the views of the unchurched in a few key areas. The story is attracting a slew of comments in their feedback section.

The good folks at our LifeWay communications office have just released our story on the research here.

Our focus is more on the opportunities for people to share their faith:

Open to friends

Despite their negative opinions about the institutional church, most unchurched people are open to discussing spiritual matters with a friend. The research showed that:

–78 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to listen to someone who wanted to talk about their Christian beliefs. The number rose to 89 percent among adults 18-29 years of age.

–Only 28 percent of adults 30 years and older said they think Christians they know talk to them too much about their beliefs.

–78 percent of adults 30 years and older said they would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious and spiritual beliefs, even if they disagreed with the friend.

“Even though the unchurched have a confused view of God and a negative view of the church, they are overwhelmingly open to someone sharing about their Christian faith,” Stetzer said. “We think religion is a topic that is off-limits in polite conversation, but unchurched people say they would enjoy conversations about spiritual matters.”

From Scott McConnell:

“Eighty-nine percent of these unchurched people say they have close friends who are Christians,” he said. “We don’t have to search for the unchurched folks around us; we actually know them. It’s really a matter of starting conversations about spiritual matters with the unchurched people we know.

And one final thought from the article:

Stetzer explained, “There will always be the stumbling block of the cross. Yet our study shows that many are tripping over the church before they hear the message of the cross.”

We also have some interesting data contrasting the views between the younger and older unchurched. You can download the findings here.

This difference between age groups will also be the focus of my Catalyst Monthly column coming out soon.

Finally, we have more data that we have not released that will be shared in a new book called The Younger Unchurched and Churches that Reach Them. The book will be based on this and other research done at NAMB’s Center for Missional Research and LifeWay Research and will be co-authored by Richie Stanley, research director from the North American Mission Board, and Ed Stetzer.

#15 Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention

God has called into being many churches with diverse styles and strategies.  What will it take to win this generation to Christ?