PointGroups

By Jonathan | August 4, 2016

This is the third in a series of blogs about the discipleship strategy and programming here at New Lisbon Christian Church. If you’d like to read the others, you can find them here and here.

Our Church’s mission statement is to “Love God, Love Others, and Make Disciples.” Previously we spoke on how we love others in NeighborhoodGroups. Those groups are for fellowship and outreach. Our aim is that those groups would be the front door for our church as the groups go and do the work of the Kingdom. They invite new people to their group and they get assimilated with Christian people.

Now, what do we do with those new people once they get in our doors and attending our church services? In order to answer that question I need to tell you about PointGroups and the Point Ministry.

Let me start with the later and it will reveal how the former works. The Point Ministry’s primary mission is to, quite literally, point people where they ought to go next in their walk with Jesus. This ministry breaks down into three sections.

FirstPoint – FirstPoint are all the initial interactions we have with visitors to our church. It begins with our website. Anywhere from 7 of 10 to 9 of 10 visitors will check out the website of the church before they walk through the doors. Therefore, our Website is engineered with the visitor in mind. They have quick links to important facts like location, service times, what to expect, and the programing we offer at NLCC. Next we have greeters who welcome every individual into our doors and gives them a bulletin. After that, we have a second wave of greeters called Lobby Hosts. The Lobby Host’s job is to intercept visitors or newer people to help them find where ever it is they need to go. The Lobby Hosts are currently being directed and run by our Deacons and are stationed next to the welcome center (which is coming soon) in the lobby. This leads me to the next part of FirstPoint, the Welcome Center. The Welcome Center is a place dedicated to a similar purpose as a receptionist/kiosk in a building. It is where you go to get all of the information you need to be successful at our church. It will only contain information that is for our visitors. The members will have a Information center inside the Worship Center in order dispense information pertaining to them. Finally, there is the Zone Host. A Zone Host is someone who pays attention to the people around them inside the Worship Center and notices who is new, who is missing, and tries to be a welcoming cheerful face for people around them. They make sure everyone who is new has been to the welcome center and have been told about StartingPoint.

StartingPoint – This is when new people begin to be placed together to go on a journey with NLCC. StartingPoint is a one time event that is hosted several times throughout the year. It is offered after church and lunch is provided. It lasts an hour long and in it two things happen. First, existing mature Christians mingle with who is new to establish relationships that could lead to one-on-one disciple making. And second, the guests are able to see how NLCC can help them in three primary areas, (1) their walk with Jesus and growing in spiritual maturity, (2) their kids/grandkids and how we are helping the next generation become responsible Kingdom Workers, and (3) how we are impacting the world around us. After the 30 minute presentation, they are able to ask questions about anything pertaining to the church. Of course I will also answer questions as to why I’m a Michigan fan from Ohio living in Indiana, but that is typically off course. At the end of StartingPoint the guests are given a card that can help them see what areas of the church they may wish to engage pertaining to three areas, (1) God, (2) God’s People, and (3) God’s mission. Under each category are two to three options. Everyone is prompted to attend WayPoint.

WayPoint – Those who respond affirmative to the invitation to WayPoint are agreeing to a 4 week PointGroup series that covers four important topics. In the first week, they are shown the story of the Bible from cover to cover highlighting the over arching movement of God responding and acting through his created order to bring about a path for salvation and entrance into his Kingdom. We encourage people to ask questions they’ve always wanted to ask about the Bible but maybe were too afraid. In the second lesson, we cover the story of Jesus’ life and specifically breakdown the message and mission of Jesus in each major section of his ministry. We point out that he started a movement of making disciples early on in the challenges he gave his disciples. In week 3, we talk about the birth of the church, a brief history of the restoration movement, our church’s specific history, and our core beliefs. Finally, in the last week, we discuss who their identity is in Christ, Spiritual Gifts, and their Personality Profile according to the DISC assessment which you can read about here#. At the end of WayPoint, we help them find groups that best suits their needs and where they are in their walk. All the while, we have “Disciple-makers” who will sit through StartingPoint and WayPoint with the visitors so they can rub shoulders, make new friends, and help those visitors feel accepted into the church congregation.

That is the Point Ministry. Now, PointGroups are admittedly not as clearly defined as they are in say NeighborhoodGroups. Yet, they are those groups of people who move through this three phase assimilation ministry together. They are the people who sit through StartingPoint and WayPoint together.

We find that people who do go through the Point ministry together end up building bonds and relationships that will flourish as they get more evolved in other areas of ministry.

All through this ministry and NeighborhoodGroups, they are being brought closer to God through the discipling they’ve received from others. In NeighborhoodGroups, they may have been reached through Kingdom work or been invited to come and see what God’s people are all about and began participating in them. Then, they eventually find themselves in the Point Ministry and invited to follow Jesus at NLCC. All the while, they are keeping in close contact with disciple makers who are building relationships with them and showing them where they can go next. So our programs are designed with God’s people discipling God’s people in mind.

So now that we have shown you the process of perhaps a non-Christian coming to our church via a NeighborhoodGroup and the outreach that group has done to spreak God’s kingdom, and the process they walk through to be introduced to who we are as a church we next want to help them grow in their understanding of who God is and his revealed word. This leads to the next blog, which is about StudyGroups.