A lot of Christian organisations would refer to a week like this as a "mission week", and there's not really anything wrong with that. I guess we haven't referred to ours in this way so that we avoid the pitfall of treating this as our only week of evangelism. In face, our very reason for existing as Christians (especially in the context of a CU) is mission, and so every week should be a mission week!
Some might opt to call it an "events week", which again is fine, but lacks something in terms of what we want to achieve through the events themselves. Yeah, we're putting on events, but not for the purpose of the event itself. We don't just want to put on a show - we want to meet with people, chat with them, debate with them, and ultimately have the chance to display Jesus to them.
Calling it a focus week is something I've grown to love. It appears a little cryptic, but in terms of explaining it I'd ask you to consider three things in your prayers:
Pray that the Christians in our CU and on campus as a whole would be united in their FOCUS on Jesus. A united front to display Jesus to others is a powerful thing, and so prayer that Jesus would govern in all of our decisions throughout the week would be awesome.
Pray that the FOCUS of both Walsall and City campuses as a whole is the Christian Union. If we're visible, our events are well publicised, and we'r getting people talking, then that's a great tool in order that everyone can have the chance to come and hear what we've got to say.
Pray that God would shift the FOCUS of non-Christians who come towards Jesus. We want God to make disciples! Ultimately that's the reason behind everything we do - we've got a cracking message of love and salvation, let's share it!
I'll blog about specifics of what we're doing when nearer the time. Thank you all for your prayers, they're very much appreciated.
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ReplyDeletePhil,
ReplyDeleteThanks for such a clear and simple explanation - it really does take away any fuzziness there might have been, and brings into focus what our commission is. Any specifics you have for prayer will be gratefully received - we're meeting to pray as a church on Thursday evening.
Every Blessing,
Neil Walker
Thanks so much Neil! There's a couple of practical things that need prayer at the moment - room bookings and speaker confirmations mostly - we're trusting God will sort them out on time! It's so encouraging to know we're being supported in prayer, thank you.
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