JCF exists to save the lost and make them disciples of Jesus Christ per Jesus’ great commission. I think about 10% of SLO people are involved in churches, but 90% do not. Most churches are focused on that 10%, but JCF focuses on those 90% who are not Christians and who are not attending any church. Most important people in our church are VIPs (people who are not Christians).
It is very difficult to evangelize these days and many churches grow by transfer growth where Christians from other churches join a particular church. I don’t think Jesus had transfer growth in mind when He told us to go make disciples of all nations. We do not invite Christians who are attending other churches to our church.
We are committed to reach out to the VIPs in our city (those 90% who are not Christians). We want to love them and help them to hear the gospel and experience the gospel through the House Church Ministry. When a Christian comes our church (they may have moved to SLO or they are not involved in any church), I want to have a meeting with them. This is where I explain House Church Ministry and how we would like to grow. I ask them to email me their spiritual journey. This is where I want to see a humble and sweet spirit. Another way to test for a humble and sweet spirit is their willingness to obey the following 3 things.
1. Join a house church right away and faithfully attend the house church.
2. They are to take the membership class and become a JCF member within first year.
3. They are to take the Living Life Bible study within the first 3 years as we offer this class once every year.
After the person is presented with these policies, if they say they would love to do all three, then we will accept them. They may take more time to fulfill the requirements due to their work schedule, but that will be fine if they are sincerely making their progress towards completing them. If they refuse to do all three, then we will respectfully ask them to look for another church.
Please remember this policy and uphold them. We want to grow by helping non-Christians to become Christians and helping to become a disciple making disciples. We want this to be our DNA. We have not done this well and we need to grow in this area. This is something new for us to implement and I thank you for your understanding and cooperation. It is not easy to build a church, but Jesus told us that He will build His church and it is well worth it. In the future, when we look back, you will be glad that you were a part of JCF as God is working in our midst to accomplish the great commission.
Your pastor,
pastor young su (PYS)