GO

This past Sunday, we had our "soft launch" of Nativity Crowne Plaza, a worship service that is specifically for people who don't go to church and might not even like church.

It went very well. There were definitely areas we can and will improve, but overall, it was a great first showing. I attribute this to God's grace, which includes the gifts he has given our terrific ministry team at Crowne Plaza. They were very excited before and even more excited after we finished. They provided great feedback and positive reinforcement for this Sunday's second "soft launch." We have three "soft launches" before we go live on February 21.

I've been asked, "why are you doing this?" If you know Nativity, then you know we are full at prime church time, on Sunday mornings. We can't welcome more people to our Ridgely Road campus and hope they have an irresistible experience given the current crowds. We need to start finding ways to deal with this (good) problem.

Also, and really more importantly, when Christ spoke to his followers before he ascended into heaven, he didn't say "go and make disciples until your pews are full," or "go and make disciples until you get complaints about crowded parking lots," or "go and make disciples until you get a group of satisfied, complacent customers." He said, "go and make disciples of all nations."  Mt. 28.19. I think his use of the phrase "all nations" probably means he wasn't interested in people stopping discipleship efforts when there was no more room in the building.

Do you know someone who doesn't go to church, and might not even like church? Help us reach them. Help them change their mind about church. Click here to get the details.

Go.