Outreach vs. Evangelism

I looked up the word "outreach" and it wasn't until definition #6 that I got the one I believed "outreach" to be. It says, "the act of extending services, benefits, etc., to a wider section of the population, as in community work."

Our church held a Block Party today in the sub-division where a couple of church members live. It just so happened that David and I live in the same sub-division but I think the reason it was held here was because it's the closet one to our church. We had a great time. Hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, potato salad, drinks and all the trimmings. The burgers and dogs were cooked on a huge charcoal grill that smelled up the whole neighborhood. Some of the residents brought desserts and we all brought chairs.

We had been "trained" in the block party idea so as not to evangelize as we met new friends. In fact, there was a thought that David and I might not need to go so folks wouldn't feel as if this was, in fact, an invitation to come to our church. But, as it turned out, only one couple knew who we were and what we did.

As the afternoon went on, a live band from our church played on the porch of the hosting family and I think everyone had a good time. There was even a little shaggin' going on in the grass and face painting on the side. Baptists dancing? OH MY.

All this to say, outreach is a great way to exhibit the command given to us by Jesus in that we should love one another and reach out to those that might not know him and we can do it without saying a word. As a result, a couple asked us about our church and will be attending tomorrow.

"Ain't" God good?

Planning/Budgeting Retreat

This year our Youth Council and their parents headed to the beach for a Planning/Budgeting Retreat. Our church year, like most church years, start in October so we needed to decide what we wanted to do for the coming year.Coming up with the activities wasn't a problem, but we had to figure out how to pay for our play so we did a little budget planning as well.

We spent our days playing either outside on the beach or inside playing board games, reading books, or watching TV. It was a time to do just exactly whatever made you happy (within the confines of the beach house or on the sand in front of the ocean front house) as long as it was relaxing and stress free.

We got our planning done and figured out how to pay for it so I thought I would share a few of the wonderful shots of just how we spent our time:


Oh, by the way ... we do live at the beach but so seldom do we get to relax and enjoy what's in our own backyard. Needless to say, this retreat was put on the calendar for next year as well.