Opportunity
Colossians 4:5-6
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Time is precious. It is the most scarce and unpredictable resource for each and every person. The assorted uses of money and services aims to help save time. Just like firewood, once time is spent, it cannot be reclaimed for future use.. Therefore, time needs to be used in a way that is meaningful and recognizes the biblical observation of it’s vaporous nature [James 4:14]. Since time is so precious, disciples of Christ ought to spend time to pursue the goals of heaven. To quote from a dear friend and pastor: “only eternity matters”. In ecclesiastical fashion, all other pursuits apart from God have a temporary lifetime towards a permanent end. Conversely, the call to make and baptize disciples of all nations is a timeless mission that transcends human history in all seasons of life. In the meantime, let’s take a moment as 3Stone church to reminisce on the prior blessings of 2021 while looking forward on how to use the future to win hearts and minds for Jesus Christ.
The year 2021 bore a lot of challenges for 3Stone church. However, God blessed the church family and provided in so many ways. God was especially faithful in protecting the NYCAC and 3Stone church body from COVID-19. It is with great gratitude that many have done the due part to help prevent the spread while blessing others with the gift of presence. The deserved credit pointed to God for His nonstop watchfulness.Tremendous thanks is offered to the numerous servants that made sure the church activities ran live. These servants often ran their tasks with little to no personnel backup while conducting in-person and online gatherings. These individuals and teams stepped up during unprecedented times and to God be the glory for the regularity of effort and attendance.
God was also faithful during the rise of targeted crimes against Asian and Pacific Islanders. New York City was a hotspot of such attacks. This stoked fear among Asian elderly, women and people with children. Thankfully, the church family didn’t back down. By God’s grace, 3Stone was given a chance to work with Thrive Collective and the NYC government to host a mural unveiling on May 22nd. The mural was just the tip, but the collective partners, churches and authorities all did a major part to provide resources to the vulnerable neighbors nearby. Both moments aren’t perfect and replete with room to grow. However, God is still in charge and the outcome is already in His hands. There is still time and room to help heal and show the community God’s faithfulness through 3Stone.
For evangelism, 2021 was a bounceback year. With the help of our ministry partners we have reached out to 526 non-believers. That is an all-time high even in the middle of COVID. Thank God for teammates Jessica, Caleb, Timmy, Isabel and Harry for the constant help. Praise Jesus for the numerous volunteers and ministry partners that have pitched in to help bring Christ to the lost. We can celebrate that through assorted efforts, 2 sisters are baptized, 2 other individuals are seeking while 1 other person is seeking to get baptized. There is still a long way to go to help bring newcomers to seek, repent and pursue God in discipleship. However, there is an assortment of great chances to live out the Great Commission here at 3Stone.
For special events, early February has two awesome events to serve and participate in. Do you like sports? The Big Game Party is taking place on February 13th. Interested in food? Agape is having dinner together February 18th. More events are being planned in tune with COVID advisories.
For hobby-based events, there are the Plant Swap and the upcoming Board Game gatherings. These events are established by non-Evangelism team members who strive to introduce Christ through the medium of their passionate interests. Help for such events are greatly appreciated, and additional hobbies are welcome!
For regular events, there are regional life groups, large group gatherings. Regional life groups aim to make the church family more personal and local. It is where people can gather, collaborate and discover God together. If there is ever a chance to ask those silly questions or serve in a new role, regional life groups afford that moment. Large group gatherings offer worship and practical workshops. Both events lend a chance to evangelize to longtime friends and new seekers of Christianity.
When done well, regional life groups and large group gatherings pave the way for consistent weekday correspondence. While the Evangelism Team continues the special events and training, the bulk of the evangelism needs to take place between the Sundays by everyday 3Stone members. Through this, the aroma of Christ is experienced live by seeker friends with immense regularity rather than inconsistent scarcity.
Dearest church, I cannot underscore enough how grateful I am for the assorted servants that have stepped up in ways small and large. There’s already a lot of work to do and my heart echoes the same sentiments of 3Stone brothers and sisters like the way Nehemiah recognized everyone for their contributions to rebuild Jerusalem [Nehemiah 3]. I also need to emphasize how much growth still needs to happen to help evangelize and disciple individuals. I challenge that we do our part in inviting at least one friend to church this year. I also challenge you to hear out the 3Stone deaconess and deacons for their past year’s testimony and how you can help uplift them with their frequent extracurricular roles. My team and I will do our part to help equip and engage with you. 3Stone has a cornucopia of ministry opportunities both realized and unrealized. Like a buffet, there are a lot of choices and the invitation to partake is there. Are you in?
Citations:
New International Version. Biblica, www.biblica.com/bible/niv/genesis/2/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2020.
English Standard Version. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians+4%3A5-6&version=ESV. Accessed 1 Feb. 2022.
English Standard Version. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%204%3A14&version=ESV. Accessed 1 Feb. 2022.
English Standard Version. Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=nehemiah+3&version=ESV. Accessed 1 Feb. 2022.