Magnetic Church

The Medical Mission Sisters, an old Catholic congregation, had as their tagline: the care of the soul and the care of the body are made one in the medical mission. What they meant was that their way of sharing Jesus was all about how they could help people.

By training as doctors, nurses, health managers and clinicians, these nuns wanted to bring together their passionate desire to see people know Jesus with what would physically help people.

Doing evangelism is not only about telling people the good news that Jesus loves them, that he wants to build relationship with them and that they can respond to him - its also about joining in with how God is restoring his creation.

The gospel of Jesus Christ comes as news within a larger story. It points to a wonderful new future...some Christian teachers have exchanged good news for good advice.

Tom Wright, Simply Good News

Mission is not just giving advice to people about how their lives could be better if they knew God; it is JOINING IN with God’s incredible work to transform His world into something more beautiful, brighter and hopeful.

That’s the good news of Jesus - that God is making us and our earth new. So what does it mean to get involved in that?

Well, it certainly could be telling your friends about what difference Jesus has made in your lives. But it also could be setting up a charity appeal or a men’s health night or a sponsored marathon.

These are not separate from our ‘evangelism’ they are part of it! Through doing good and living well, our lives point to the good that Jesus is doing in our world. 

All this will help your NWC become magnetic, because when people see that you are practising what you preach, they will become more interested.

Whether Christian or not this can also be a great way to get people involved in your NWC who might not be ready to join in a ‘service’. 

Team Exercise #1 (2 hours):

Prep - Spend an hour walking around your local area praying for it and taking notice of what people need. 

Discussion - Read Isaiah 58, which challenges us to look after those in need, and help the homeless and hungry. Chat about what you think that could look like in your community. 

Response - Make a plan about what you could do as a team to help people locally. Keep it simple, maybe just one small event would go a long way. You don’t have to commit to doing absolutely loads. Get started. 

Team Exercise #2 (1 hour):

Prep - Spend 20mins searching online to find out where poverty is in the world today - use the Tearfund website or Christian Aid or Compassion if you need help. 

Discussion - Read Amos 5 - What do you think? Notice the key line in verse 24 (which was Martin Luther King Jr.’s favourite - 'Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters’). God is furious at injustice but he declares that His goodness will prevail. 

Response - Where is there injustice in the world today? Pray about which key places you noticed. Perhaps consider donating to one of the charities that is helping that area or those people.