We are living out Connecting People to Christ’s Love here at Barnitz and Mt. Zion more and more, which is great to see. One of the things we are doing to live this out is spending some time focusing on our values. We seek to live out Connecting People to Christ’s Love because of who we are, our values:
Genuinely WelcomingGenerously GivingGraciously RelatingGloriously Praising
We confess. We are not perfect. There are days we will live these out better than others. However, we seek to make these be more and more who we are and why we do what we do. The first value we are highlighting is Genuinely Welcoming, which is defined as:
Barnitz and Mt. Zion are comfortable, friendly places where everyone is welcome and everyone matters.When people visit our churches they are made to feel comfortable, wanted, and valued.3 John 1:5 – “Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.”Luke 9:11 – “…He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God…”
This past Sunday we talked about how we can think of Genuinely Welcoming as “plus 1 welcoming”. “Plus 1 welcoming” is doing a little more than you might typically do. Instead of “just” saying hi, greet someone and help them find a seat.
Karl Vaters has a great acronym that ties in really well with this idea of welcoming, even “plus 1 welcoming.” You can find his full post here 4 Steps to a Friendlier Church (The G.I.F.T. Plan) on Christianity Today’s website.
GREET someone you’ve never met before. INTRODUCE people to each other. FOLLOW UP on someone you met recently. THANK someone who did something you appreciate.
Join us at one of our times and locations and allow us to welcome you.
Blessings,
Pastor Matt
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