the church has left the building

NewPointe’s second Community Impact Day is scheduled for August 2. Community Impact Day is one of my very favorite things that we do at NewPointe. I recently submitted a column to Light and Life Magazine about last year’s Impact Day. The following article won’t be published till the July issue but because you read my blog, you get a peek at some of it two months early! Check it out:

Last summer the church where I serve closed their doors on Sunday. Yep…no services…no preaching…no kids’ classes—absolutely nothing happened inside the building on Sunday morning, August 3, 2008. And God was pleased.

Instead, families, small groups, and serving teams gathered in dozens and dozens of locations all over our county to roll up their sleeves and serve our community. They met at schools to paint and landscape. They met at other churches to do clean up and repair. They met at nursing homes to minister to residents. They met in parking lots to offer free, no-strings-attached car washes. They met at firehouses to deliver food and gifts to firefighters. They met on highways to collect trash. They met in homeless shelters to cook and clean. They met everywhere but church on that Sunday. And do you know what I find interesting? Though we didn’t meet in church that Sunday, we looked more like the church than we ever have. That’s because instead of attending church on that day, we actually went out into our community and we were the church.

Here’s another thing I find interesting: The single most talked about and cherished day of 2008 at NewPointe Community Church was that day. When we look back on last year, that’s the day that nobody will ever forget. Why is that? It’s because we’re the most like Christ when we’re serving others. As a church, as a small group,  as individuals, we have the greatest impact on others when we serve them. Furthermore, we experience the greatest spiritual growth when we serve others.

I find it interesting that one of the big reasons people want to get involved in a small group is because they want to grow spiritually. Yet so many small groups do not intentionally serve others together.

So what can your small group do? What would happen if you “skipped church” one Sunday and instead took the church to your community? Plan to serve together. You and your small group will never be the same.

So mark your calendars. NewPointe Community Impact Day: August 2, 2009. The church will leave the building!