by Pastor Dan Baumgartner

Okay, it’s a new year. As a congregation, there are some things we already know about 2010. We already know that this year will see us moving ahead with major fundraising and a required seismic retrofit of our old building. We already know of worship services, classes, mission trips and partnering in ministry that will go on through our Bethany community.

Okay, it’s a new year. As individuals, our heads are perhaps full of resolutions and goals for 2010. Lose some weight. Be on time. Read more. Watch less television. All worthy goals, but I’m going to get really crazy.

It’s a new year. Let’s do something totally different. What if every single one of us at Bethany picked one person in our lives that doesn’t know Christ, or only knows Him from a distance…and committed ourselves to them for one year? One year. What if I committed for one year to praying daily for one person, to look for opportunities for conversation with them, to serve them, to encourage them to follow Jesus in 2010? What if every one of us reached out for a solid year to just one other person in our workplaces or schools or neighborhoods or retirement centers or families or circle of friends?

There are roughly 700 people active in our community at Bethany. What if by December 31, 2010 there were literally hundreds of stories we could tell about people coming to faith or going deeper or relationships of trust that had been started?

Now, for some of you reading this, it’s a very gentle challenge. You are experienced in these things already. But for many of us, it is a scary thing, for a number of reasons:

• Fears of rejection, of pressuring people, of not knowing enough information (note: evangelism is much more than just information), or of just committing to something for a whole year.
  
• Others wonder if it’s even right anymore to want to share Christ with someone because it’s a personal thing, and what’s right for me may not be right for someone else (note: Jesus didn’t seem to share this hesitation in the New Testament).
  
• You feel like you have few relationships with non-Christian people.
  
• Choosing a person as a project feels funny (note: I agree. Choosing a person to intentionally love and ask God to give you a heart of love for them is closer to the mark).
  
• And still other people are afraid of being looked at as strange. Rightly so. Flannery O’Conner once famously said “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you…odd.”

These are all very valid concerns. And I guess what is worth thinking about is what you personally have found in a walk with Jesus Christ. If it is a lifestyle or a set of morals, probably the above objections will win the day. If it is a relationship that invites you to joyously live out the Kingdom of God in this world…you might be intrigued enough to pray about it.

There will be all sorts of things at Bethany that could help with this challenge. In January there is a class with Mark and Linda Cutshall called “Unfinished Stories: Pathway to God’s Heart.” These four informal gatherings are designed to help you see how the Lord has met you and continues to meet you.

In February we have an amazing team gearing up to run an Alpha class, a great place to bring a friend and explore faith with them in a safe and conversational environment. Many people have remarked that simply bringing someone to worship at Bethany often opens up a good conversation. And if you are in a home group, men’s group, women’s group or something else- ask them to pray with you.

These are all good resources. But they are merely supplements to you and me taking that intentional step that says “Yes. I’ll consistently pray for, talk to and encourage one specific person in faith in Christ in 2010.”

Get crazy. It’s a brand new year.