Dear Friends,

I wanted to write to you to let you know what I (and Cobblestone) believe outreach is. This question was asked of me in my first committee meeting as Director of Outreach for Cobblestone. It is such a critical question, that I feel answering it for all is relevant. My answer now is the same as then. That is, outreach, to me, is simply showing Christ’s love to others. This does not mean doing good, but rather actively, consciously showing Christ’s love as the specific choice in what you are doing (“But someone will say, ‘You have faith: I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do” James 2:18).

What does this mean? Let me give you a couple examples…

1. •        Let's say you are at a restaurant. It's busy, so the server is having a rough time taking care of you. What do you normally tip….10%? So service wasn't up to par….do you reduce that to say 5%? What is the likelihood that either of these tips will do anything to impact the server. What if you actively chose to follow Christ's example and reward the server with a 25% or greater tip? Not necessarily because they deserved it, but because you recognize that they did serve you, and you want to show God's unconditional love. What if you also left one of our "You work hard for your money…." cards that let's the server know that God cares for their every need? What kind of impact could that have on the server individually? What kind of impact could that have on the next customers that server dealt with? What if the server mentions it to their colleagues? The chain reaction that you never see, could be immeasurable to the growth of the server and others in God's kingdom.
   

2. •        How about going to the grocery store…ever go at a busy time and you are in a hurry? The lines are long and you’re jockeying for the shortest line. It’s between you and another person. Do you rush to get ahead of them to keep going? Do you allow them to go in front of you? What if you made an active choice of letting the other person go ahead of you because of Christ’s love? I believe this third choice yields the best results.
   

Although these are very simple examples of what I believe outreach is, I believe they reveal what it really means to be a Christ follower. That is, a fundamental shift in how we behave 24/7 (keeping in mind that we are human and we will fail, but to keep this attitude as a goal). Being a Christ follower is something we need to embrace on a more regular basis than just Sunday mornings. I believe that if you embrace a full time attitude of outreach (“showing Christ’s love to others”), not only will you be growing in Christ, but you will be planting and or watering the seed of Christ in others.

If you ask me “How does showing Christ’s love by letting someone in line in front of me, plant/water the seed of Christ in others?”, my answer to that is that you never know when your actions may be a witness to others. Take the grocery store example again. What if you happen to be wearing a Cobblestone logo article and you chose to rush to get their first? How would that reflect on you? Cobblestone? And Christ by association? How damaging could that be to someone who may have been considering following Christ? Now assume you did consciously show Christ’s love and let them in…maybe the person you let in doesn’t notice your attitude in action. But maybe the cashier who normally sees the cut throat human nature does. Maybe they notice and don’t comment to you about it. You have still witnessed. But maybe they DO comment to you about it. You simply respond that “I’m just trying to show Christ’s love”. Now, how powerful was your simple example of showing Christ’s love?

As a committee, the outreach team’s goal is to foster in you this attitude of showing Christ’s love. To that end, we will work to give you generally large scale “easy” opportunities to show Christ’s love as a starting point in this outreach venture. Some examples of things we’ve done in the past are:

1. •    Hamilton Meal Center service – monthly service on every fourth Friday
   

2. •    Weekly help and prayer for local area
   

3. •    $1.00 Car Wash – we give away $1.00 and wash cars
   

4. •    Community Clean up and Block Party
   

5. •    Item give aways (water/pop, gum, light bulbs, etc…)
   

6. •    Halloween Trunk ‘r Treat
   

7. •    Leaf raking for those in need
   

In addition to these large scale opportunities, there are three other things we will do…

1. 1.We will give you ideas that you can implement in everyday life.
   

2. 2.As a church, Cobblestone has small group materials that help teach outreach
   

3. 3.I personally will offer to meet with you or your group to discuss other options
   

Bottom line is that Cobblestone Community Church is committed to loving others into life changing encounters with God. Outreach is one critical piece used to accomplish this goal. We believe that taking on this attitude on an everyday basis will not only expand God’s Kingdom, but it will also grow you in Christ Jesus.

Your Brother in Christ,

Gary M. Antonius, Director of Outreach