How to Walk Into Church (By Thomas Hill)

When we understand what the church is and what happens when it gathers, it impacts the way we walk into the gathering. Tony Payne explains: “We’re walking into a gathering that God himself has called together, as part of his majestic plan to save and gather his people around the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re walking into an outpost or foretaste of the great spiritual, heavenly assembly of the people of God.”[1] How we walk into church, then, matters.

Paul also taught the same thing. He urged the Ephesian believers to approach the church’s gatherings with purpose: “Look carefully then how you walk …  be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:15–21). The Lord desires his people’s Spirit-filled participation!

Let’s take a few moments to reflect on how we walk into the church’s gatherings each Sunday.

Before You Walk Into Church

• Decide to go—prepare on Saturday to worship on Sunday.

• Pray for those who will come and what we will do together on Sunday. Pray for fellow members by name. Pray for guests who will join us.

• Prepare for what we will do together. Read the sermon text several times (Sermon schedule). Learn the songs we will sing (Spotify link).

• Arrive early.

• Pray about where to sit. How does your seat selection facilitate worship and loving one another?

After You Walk Into Church

• Care for guests by making sure they have anything needed, such as a bible or an info guide.

• Assist with nuts and bolts. If something needs to be done, take the initiative to help.

• Pray, sing, and enthusiastically. Own prayers personally by agreeing with a hearty “AMEN!.”

• Listen to the sermon attentively. Have your Bible open and heart engaged. Make sure your phone is not a distraction.

• Consider your life. How will you think, believe, and act in light of the sermon?

When Church Finishes but Doesn’t

• Linger in conversation for 10-15 minutes after the service.

• Greet guests first. Introduce yourself to someone you don’t recognize.

• Trigger spiritually helpful conversations by bouncing off the sermon: "That was really interesting what the pastor said about _____. What did you think?"

• Ask others how they came to salvation in Christ: “Phil, I don’t think I remember how you came to follow Christ. How did it happen with you?

• Ask others how you can pray for them & pray for them at that time.

How to Walk Out of Church

• Go to lunch with others.

• Apply the sermon to your life.

• Remain connected to the church during the week.

• Plan to invite non-believers next Sunday.

• Check in on anyone you noticed was absent.

BIG PLANS THIS SUNDAY

This Sunday, May 18, we will meet as usual at 10:30 am for gathered worship. In addition to singing, praying, and preaching, we plan to baptize Diane Robinson. After the service, we will move into the fellowship hall for a covered-dish lunch. Please bring a dish or two to share (the church will not provide meat, so please bring main dishes, too). Toward the end of the meal, after everyone is served, we will observe the Supper by partaking of the bread and cup. The church will provide elements. Following the meal, we will begin the members meeting. Please prioritize this gathering by keeping your calendar clear until after 3:00 pm on Sunday.

For His Glory,

Pastor Thomas

[1] Adapted from Tony Payne, How to Walk Into Church (Mathias Media: 2015).

Rolling Out New Initiatives (By Cole Barnes)

One of my primary roles as a pastor of Crestview is to help equip the saints for the work of ministry. Over the last few weeks, I have been considering ways to develop and strengthen our efforts in family ministry and worship ministry to do exactly that. Here are a few ideas we will be rolling out in the upcoming months to enhance these areas:

Family Ministry Parent Meetings
In an effort to train, equip, and involve parents in our kids and student ministries, we will begin having Family Ministry Parent Meetings right before the start of each quarter. These meetings will take place on Wednesday evening, immediately following discipleship gatherings, and last 20-30 minutes. They will include a training time focused on encouragement in parenting, family worship, discipling children, and current issues among teens and children. Additionally, I will make good resources available, including articles, podcasts, and books on these topics. The second part of the meeting will focus on upcoming teaching plans for student and kids' ministries, events and registrations, and ministry needs that parents can be involved in. If you have a child involved in our kids' or student ministries, please mark your calendars with the below dates:

Upcoming Meeting Dates:
May 7 @ 8:00pm
Aug 13 @ 8:00pm
Nov 5 @ 8:00pm

Student Ministry Evangelism Nights
The main emphases of our Wednesday night student ministry gathering are for our students to be evangelized, discipled, and to have fun together. In addition to these, I would like to increase the student's desire and vision for not only their own spiritual growth but the evangelization of their unbelieving friends. To this end, several nights a year, our regular Wednesday evening student gathering will be focused on evangelism. Students are encouraged to invite their friends, classmates, family members, teammates, etc. who are far from the Lord to our weeknight student gathering. The teaching that evening will be particularly evangelistic, and students will be called to repent and follow Christ. This gives our students an opportunity to extend evangelistic invitations to other students who may not be comfortable coming to church on a Sunday but would be willing to attend a student-focused event. Please pray for these evenings as the gospel is sown into hearts.

Upcoming Evangelism Nights:
Apr 23: Did the Resurrection Really Happen? Luke 24
Jun 18: What is the Gospel? Romans 3:21-26
Aug 27: How Can God Be Good If We Suffer? The Story of Joseph
More Dates TBA…

Worship Ministry Training Nights
A few Wednesday nights each year, I will be hosting a worship ministry training night for current musicians, singers, and members who would like to begin serving the church in this capacity. These events will take place directly after our Wednesday night gatherings, lasting roughly an hour. They will include a time of training in the doctrine of worship and music theory, as well as an extended time of playing music together. The goal of these evenings is to continue the development of our current musicians and singers so that our gathered worship is strengthened, as well as to provide an easy on-ramp for new members to get plugged in. If you would like to participate in these training nights, please mark your calendars with the below dates:

Upcoming Training Nights:
May 14 @ 8:00pm
Aug 27 @ 8:00pm
Oct 29 @ 8:00pm

For your joy and His glory,

Pastor Cole

Preparing for Gathered Worship

Church Family,

We place a high priority on gathering to worship as one assembly each Lord’s Day. Being ready for this weekly celebration takes a bit of looking ahead by each of us:

1) Read over the sermon text several times. We publish sermon cards regularly, so you know the upcoming sermon plan. You might use one of these as a bookmark in your Bible.

2) Familiarize yourself with the lyrics and melodies of songs we will sing together (Google, Spotify, and YouTube are helpful tools). We publish the song list each Saturday on Crestview's social media accounts (FB, IG, Twitter).

3) Pray for the church's assembly in general and individual members by name. Use the church directory to pray for one another. Print copies are available on the resource shelf. Download the directory file from the link at the bottom of Crestview Weekly Update.

When we prepare ourselves like this, we come with anticipation, and our gathering takes on fresh significance. You are needed!

Baptism This Sunday

We look forward to rejoicing as Addy Butler and Cooper McLean publicly identify with the Lord this Sunday. We are always ready to baptize more! If you know someone who needs to be baptized, encourage them to speak with me.

For His Glory,

Pastor Thomas

Reasons to Attend this Sunday

“And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples…” Acts 6:2

REASONS TO ATTEND THIS SUNDAY

There are many reasons you should be present this Sunday, but I want to encourage you with three. First, it is the Lord’s Day, and He is worthy of all worship and devotion. Your church needs your voice, service, hospitality, gifts, and involvement.  Second, we will be eating the Lord’s Supper together. Every believer who is physically able to do so should make attendance at the Lord’s table a priority. Let’s not take this lightly. Eating together as one assembly nurtures the church and is a way you continue to identify as a follower of Jesus and member of his church.

MEMBERS MEETING

The third reason to be present this Sunday is our quarterly members meeting immediately following gathered worship. When significant decisions were needed in the churches of the New Testament, the entire church was gathered to make them. Due to covid we had to postpone the February meeting, so this is our first one in six months. You will receive important updates on the life of the church, hear recommendations from the elders on several important decisions, receive new members, see others out of membership, and learn about plans to add additional seating in the worship center. If you are not present, you will miss something and we will miss you. We will move through the content as quick as reasonably possible so expect the meeting to take 30-45 minutes.

Thank you for planning ahead and being present this Sunday!

For His Glory,

Pastor Thomas