Zion Lutheran Church of Dallas is an example of a congregation that has decided to stay put in the city. When many congregations have moved, either through dislocation of their physical addresses or member residences, Zion has decided to stay and expand. It is a regional congregation with a local
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Is it possible to make mission inroads into the wild, remote and independent communities of West Texas? Through the work of Dr. Margaret Peterson, God is opening doors by opening books. Throughout this year, Margaret has been looking at West Texas communities from a missionary perspective. Through much prayer, the
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“I decided to go on the retreat because I need to let God back into my life.” My heart wanted to leap out of my chest when I heard Richard say those words six weeks into our first Alpha course! He had started the course at the urging of a
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How can you reach Millennials with the Gospel? It’s a question the church is asking as people born between 1981 and 2001 have become the largest age demographic in the United States. Under the banner of “Outreach IQ,” nearly 200 servants of Jesus gathered in Houston at the 2016 fall
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Several new communities are being reached with the Gospel of Jesus in the Rio Grande Valley through a variety of mission outreach efforts. One involves potatoes—yes, you read correctly: spuds, Idaho’s best, Mister and Missus, the raw material for French Fries. The Orphan Grain Train blesses the Rio Grande Valley
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“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7 How exciting it is to witness a person coming to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit! We
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A few years ago, I sat down with the manager of the athletic complex we hoped to use as our first worship venue. He asked me, “So, why do you want to start a new church? I mean, this is Central Texas, don’t we have enough churches already?” Immediately, my
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Not long ago I was driving and saw an old, broken-down, pitiful representation of an automobile. It was a Lexus. Yes, I said Lexus. Even luxury cars get old. They get dented, dirty and worn out. Everything WE make gets old. This includes ways we’ve created to share the Gospel.
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The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (it wasn’t called this at the beginning) has always had an emphasis on planting new congregations in the United States. The Synod was organized in 1847 and in a short period of seven years had to create four districts because of the growth in membership and congregations. This growth pattern continued, with a couple of down periods, all the way
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Wherever I go, I find people of God who want to be better equipped to witness. They long to be able to tell people the good news of Jesus. But they lack confidence. They feel unprepared. They are afraid. What is wrong? I have found that the core to our
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