Praying for Just One
As we begin a new month and a new ministry season that leads into Christmas, I’ve been thinking a lot about our goal to see 1,000 new followers of Jesus in the next ten years.
During meetings last month with Assist Church Expansion, we were challenged to begin to think about the “how” behind our desire to see new believers and followers of Jesus in our churches.
Pastor Michael shared how he asked his people “How do you envision people making a decision to follow Jesus for the first time?”. The responses ranged from:
“In a church service during an altar call or response time”
“After being led to pray the prayer of salvation with a friend”
“While reading the Bible on their own”
These are all correct answers. Different people experience conversion at different times and different ways. There is no single “right way” to decide to follow Jesus.
As churches who have committed to the Great Commission to make disciples, we are going to need to look at ways we can be effective in all these ways for people to come to Christ. We need to create spaces and opportunities where people can hear the gospel, encounter Jesus, and respond to Him.
As the pastor, I think a lot about our gatherings on Sundays. Primarily, these gatherings are for those who have already decided to follow Jesus. They for “equipping the saints for the work of the ministry”, so to speak.
But if we are going to steward a revival; an army of new followers of Jesus coming to faith in Him, then our Sunday mornings also need to be a place where those that are still lost can be found by Jesus.
And this is the gut check for me:
It's been years since we’ve seen someone profess Christ for the first time because of the Sunday morning worship gathering at our church.
We’ve had folks make decisions, for sure. I think of Greg, who I met on a Monday and confessed Jesus for the first time at Panera. Or Christian, who made a first time decision this summer at Momentum.
But I couldn’t tell you the last time that happened on a Sunday.
Recently I heard a pastor say “we need to stop asking “what’s next” in our ministry and start asking “who’s next”.
That question has stuck with me.
What if, instead of only asking what we should do next, we started asking God to show us ‘who’s next’?
So that’s where I stand today, on September 1st. What if we just asked God, not for 1,000 new followers, but for one.
One person who needs to confess Jesus.
One person who needs to be born again.
One person who receives their citizenship in the Kingdom.
One person who walks into our church this Sunday carrying the weight of sin and shame and walks out having found Jesus.
One person, on Sunday morning, this month.
So that’s my ask: Would you join me in praying this month, that God would move in our worship services and bring just one person from darkness to light.
We’re praying for 1,000. But this month, I’m praying for just one.
