April 2025 | 5
Be a Shining Light in Your Community – Get Involved! The largest towns in the Southeast Region top out at 25,000 people. Our hills are covered with small communi- ties and rural areas that need the gospel just as much as the bigger cities. By Josh Remy, Southeast Region catalyst
In the Southeast Region, we have church pastors, lead- ers, and members who aren’t just stuck in their offices at the church. We have volunteer firefighters, little league coaches, after-school tutors, city council members, nurs- ing home volunteers, football chaplains, and many other positions of service and leadership in the local community. There is so much to do in our towns that we should be able to easily find something we enjoy and are skilled at doing and use it to bring glory to God. Begin looking in your community for what needs to be done and challenge each other to step into those roles. That may mean lightening the load of church programs so there is time to serve the community. That may mean associating with people who don’t always have habits or language we are comfortable with. That may mean sub- mitting to other leaders that have a different vision or agenda. It will also mean some great conversations and meaningful relationships. God wants to use us out in our communities to shine his light. Let’s get out there! Northeast Ohio Leaders Learn the Ways of God with Richard Blackaby In Northeast Ohio, over 60 leaders gathered to learn how to understand the ways of God and not simply look for acts of God. Dr. Richard Blackaby, presi- dent, Blackaby Ministries, led us in three sessions that challenged us to seek Christ and his kingdom first. Dr. Bill Kirkwood shared how to plan worship that solely glorifies God.
It isn’t as easy as it used to be to engage the people in our communities with the light of Christ. What used to be a cultural expectation of church attendance has since passed away. The old, empty church buildings that dot our countryside demonstrate that small-town churches can no longer assume the “if you build it, they will come” strategy. Instead, we must go to them. One of the best ways to do that is to get involved in your local community. Small towns tend to lack enough people to fill the roles necessary to operate, let alone make it a brighter place. What if, instead of trying all kinds of programs to attract people to the church, the people of the church went to help the community in whatever way possible? Jesus gave us the ridiculous picture of a candle being placed under a bushel basket. Why would anyone do that? And yet, we so often hide our light under a church roof. Church leaders and congregation members should be out among the people of our communities. Here are a few things to think about as we get involved: Humbly serve and lead. Our communities do not need arrogant church people to come and fix everything. In - stead, we should learn from people who have been in the role before. We must also be willing to take on things that other people won’t and do a good job with them, just as Jesus was willing to take up the towel and wash feet. Be encouraging. Our communities desperately need people to build each other up. Very few people have a Barnabas in their life. It is so easy in a small town to crit- icize how things are going. However, there are also some people working very hard to make things happen that would appreciate someone telling them they are doing a great job. As we get involved in our communities, may we be people of encouragement. Balance the dual mission. Yes, we are going to share the Gospel, but if all we do is evangelize and push an agen- da, we will be seen as insincere. Yes, we want to improve our community and build relationships, but if we never tell people about Jesus, then we have settled for the tem- porary mission. We must find the balance of being in the world without being of the world. We should do things with excellence, as we were doing them for Christ, and then be ready to share when people ask about the hope we have. God has put us where we are for a reason. We are called to be lights in the darkness.
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