We have been away from each other for quite a while now. It’s sad! I think I can speak for all the staff when I say that we miss you!
At FBC, our mission is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. But we believe that a strategy is essential to accomplishing a mission. It shows people where to go and how to get there – and our strategy that goes along with our mission is to Think Big, Think Small, Think In, and Think Out. We believe these four points help us most effectively accomplish our mission of leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ!
Since we have not been together in a while, I thought I would hop on and talk a little bit about our “Thinks” and the verses that tie them together!
Let’s dig right into it.
Acts 5:42 (emphasis added)
“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”
This passage is our foundation for our first two points - Think Big and Think Small.
Think Big refers to the “temple courts” portion and the “house to house” portion is where Think Small fits into this verse in Acts. Here is how we describe these two points:
Think Big - We engage in church life.
This can mean attending services, giving, serving, becoming a member, inviting others, etc. Thinking Big refers to the things we talk about all the time! These things help our church community grow and make disciples! Without your serving, we would not be able to host events and programs. Without your membership we would not be able to move forward as a committed community. Without invitations to others, our church would probably only consist of one to five people.
Think Small - We invest in one another.
Thinking Small is all about the personal relationships in your life. We want you to be connected and have community with each other in a meaningful way that promotes honesty, accountability, and love. Examples of thinking small would be being part of a small group, personal discipleship relationships (whether that be you being discipled or making disciples), building meaningful relationships with others, etc.
Now moving on to Matthew 22:37-39 (emphasis added)
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
This passage is where Think In and Think Out come from.
Think In - We pursue God passionately.
Thinking In is all about the personal aspect of your relationship with Jesus. We want you to be connected with him and know his deep love for you. Loving God with all of your heart, soul, and mind is going to flow into your actions, this is why we chose this passage for Think In. Examples of thinking in would be reading the bible, praying, getting baptized, or any other way you are growing your faith.
Think Out - We serve the world around us.
The “Love your neighbor as yourself” section is why this verse was chosen to display Think Out. Loving our neighbor does not just mean loving the person that lives right beside us, it can mean someone who is across the world, country, province, or city. This can look different for everyone. Here are some examples: personal evangelism (talking to a friend or co-worker about Jesus), serving in the community (via volunteer establishments or FBC outreach teams), or global missions (giving to those serving across the world or you personally serving across the world – short-term or long-term)!
All in all, I just wanted to take some time to refresh these concepts into our minds. I believe the global church is going through a really trying time right now. Not being able to gather has been difficult and has had a strain on our connections and relationships in lots of different ways. Bringing these concepts back into our minds may help to restore some of what has been lost in shifting the way we do church. Maybe it looks a bit different, yes. But it is still do-able. We are blessed to have the resources, technology, and front-line workers that we have and I keep holding on to that fact.