Taking the first step in our community

At this year’s church camp we were challenged by God’s Word to not merely be people who support mission or people who send missionaries.  God’s Word calls us all to be missionaries, and to live missionally.  We’re called to be ‘missionary’ in every aspect of our Christian lives – to see the Gospel of Jesus being brought to any and all who need to hear and submit to His Lordship.

In our suburb here in Burwood there are roughly 10,888 residences around us.  If we took the average family size to be 2 – 3, it would mean we have around 30,000 people in our local community. The census indicates that there are up to 31,000 people living in Burwood.  It wouldn’t be unrealistic to assume that most have not heard about Jesus, and most have not receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

As a church community, Gracepoint Burwood has to be more than just a church that ‘does evangelism’, but a church that sees itself as part of the Burwood community, serving the Burwood community, and making Jesus known in the Burwood community.  We want to be the redeeming presence of Jesus in the community as we bring the saving words and work of Jesus to the community.  As Jesus came bringing light to a world covered in the darkness of sin, my hope is that our community at Gracepoint will do likewise.  The gospel mustn’t be confined to our Sunday meetings, or in our small groups, or even in our homes. We want people to know that Gracepoint is a community where lives are changed, where grace and forgiveness reigns, where relationships are marked by truth and love, where compassion and service exists, where Jesus and his saving words and work is known.  We want to be a light for the gospel that cannot be hidden in our community here in Burwood so that others might see and be drawn to that light.  You and I are called to be light in this community, serving them and bringing Jesus to them.

Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Two weeks ago, some of our small group leaders met up for dinner and an evening of prayer where Pastor Euge shared on what we need to be doing.  The first step of what we’re planning to do is a major leaflet drop to every resident in the Burwood community (all 12,000 homes) – we want to let them know that a community of Christians exist and are meeting in Burwood.  We want to introduce them to our church community. This’ll be a great opportunity for us to share in this vision together to begin reaching our community, and get a first hand look at what our community is like as we drop leaflets in their letter boxes.  It’ll also be an opportunity for us to prayer walk those streets and those homes we’ll be leafleting, praying for God’s grace and mercy, and for salvation to come to those homes street by street.  We want to win Burwood for Jesus, street by street praying for each home, and this is only a first step.

For us to do this requires your prayers as a church community, and your partnership in helping make this first step a reality.  It’s time for us to all play our part as a missional community.  We’re looking to do this over two Saturdays (7th and 14th July), which will take a hour or so of your time (if we can finish it in one, that’ll be fine too!), which will also give us time to pray for our community and commit people in Burwood into God’s sovereign and loving hands, asking that he might open doors for the gospel for us. Amy is also organizing members from the Cantonese congregation to come with us as well – so it will also be a great opportunity for us to work in partnership with them as they try to reach the 7000 Chinese speakers in the local area. We want to win Burwood for Jesus, street by street praying for each home, and this is our first step.

Pastor Simon Wong