THERE ARE TWO GLARING NEEDS in our congregation. Project 52 will address them both. The first is Bible Study Every Christian in every church needs Bible study. So this isn't surprising. But we think Bible Study is extra critical at Tri County. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." The Message paraphrases this verse, "The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ's Word is preached, there's nothing to listen to." So, before we can really start exercising faith, living faithfully and acting in faith, we have to build a solid foundation using God's Word. There is no other way. And, to be blunt and honest: If you don't study His Word you're willfully negligent.
THE SECOND CRITICAL NEED is spiritual growth. We've, for the most part, maintained our congregation for many years. That provides for nice worship and close friendships. It has given us the opportunity to support mission and humanitarian causes, too. But, it hasn't done anything to meet the critical objective of the church: to make disciples.
PROJECT 52 will help us in both of these areas.
PROJECT 52 IS A WEEKLY MEETING during which time we will spend about 40 minutes in serious Bible Study and 20 minutes in outreach training. This is a BRAND NEW program and a brain-storm of our Pastor. We don't know of anything like it in any church anywhere. And, as we go along together in this journey, we may make adjustments along the way to make the best use of our time. But, as Pastor Randy said Sunday, "Just imagine the results. If this works as we plan, we could even write a book about it and help other churches, too!"
DURING THE BIBLE STUDY TIME we will use Precepts material. For those who want to take a deep dive (highly recommended!) there are workbooks and homework that keeps you in God's Word on a daily basis. For those who can't commit to the homework and daily study, then this class will still provide you with some very good Biblical education that will surely help you on your spiritual journey and, YES, grow your faith..
DURING THE OUTREACH TRAINING we will offer one new idea every week for sharing your faith. These will all be practical ideas, things we can all do. And, when we all do them, we would expect some very good results. And please understand, outreach is what churches do. Outreach is what Christians do. And, when you don't do those things, the church doesn't grow. Pastor Randy said it well on Sunday when he said, "God won't bless our hopes. He won't bless our dreams. He won't bless our desires. But, Scripture promises that He will bless our work." So, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!
WE HOPE THAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON at Tri County joins this meeting! It is designed for youth in middle school all the way through to adults. Will everyone at Tri County join? Realistically, probably not. But, it's certainly possible and that's our goal.
WE KNOW YOU'RE BUSY. We know that there are many demands on your time. But we also know that as critical as many of the things we do are, nothing is as critical as our salvation, the salvation of those we love, and the salvation of persons we don't even know. Surely, out of 168 hours in our week, we can find an hour for Project 52.
WHILE DISCUSSING THIS PROGRAM Pastor Randy explained, "I've entered a new phase of life. I have a daughter in baton with practice at least two days a week and occasional weekend tournaments. I have a son with soccer with practice twice a week and games every Saturday. I have a son with Robotics and I'm mentoring his team; practices 3 days a week. Add to that helping with school work, conferences, work and regular home life. BUT, I'm going to find a way to prepare well for this weekly class and I"m going to give it everything I've got. It's that important.
HE MOST DIFFICULT PART of our planning is to find a common time that is good for everyone, so we're going to do the best that we can. And we'll even set up two sessions if need be. It has been recommended that we meet before church during the traditional Sunday School time. That is a very real option, so if that would be good for you, please be sure to let us know.
WE NEED YOUR INPUT, THOUGH. Please use the link at the bottom of one of these sections to email us and express your interest. In the email, please include both times that would be optimal for you and times that will be impossible for you to attend. We will do the very best we can to accommodate as many as we can.
ONCE WE FEEL WE'VE HAD sufficient feedback from the people of our church, we'll set a time and let you know.