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SZNs

SZNs 1024 576 X Church

SZNs

SZNs

On January 27th, Pastor Tim talked about how he wants everyone to be involved in the life of our church.  Learn more about what “involvement” means and what this looks like for you and your family!

To hear the full conversation, you can listen to Episode Two of our X Church Podcast by clicking the link below!

X Church Podcast
We want everyone at X Church to be involved in the life of our church. What does “involvement” mean to people today?
Being involved in church to some just means showing up; people think just because they attend, they are involved.  But that’s not what being a part of a community is about.  In the beginning of the New Testament church in Acts 2:42 it says, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship.”  We are wired with the desire to be engaged in each other’s life and be together in a community, but that environment can be missed when you only pop into church here and there. Do you go to church or are you a part of the church?
We need community, but we want it on our own terms: with anonymity.  When we remain anonymous, we don’t have to open up and be vulnerable.  We don’t have to expose our sins and our flaws. But being vulnerable is what makes community real because otherwise there is an inauthentic church where we aren’t experiencing life together.
People ask nowadays, “what do I need the church for?”  But it’s not about what you gain from it, it’s about what you can offer to the church.  The Holy Spirit has put a gift in all of us, and as 1 Peter 4:10 says, you should use that gift to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace. While you at first might get connected into the church for your own faith, we should also get involved to help other people get on the path to God because we can do far more together than we can by ourselves.
Follow Jesus’ lead and love people by serving them. Do this by becoming a Servant Leader and really start engaging in the life of our church or joining a small group so you can start building relationships and friendships. When you don’t get fully involved, you miss the essence of community.
What did Pastor Tim mean when he said, “I don't want the church to be your life, I want you to be involved in the life of the church?``

Pastor Tim’s heart for our church is that he does not want us to be so consumed and wrapped up in church that we lose sight of the people outside of it.  We have to have a balance between being surrounded by church and church people and finding opportunities to speak and reach those who don’t know God. We don’t want to have so many programs that take up all our time when we could be engaging with people that need the hope and reason that’s within us. We have to ask ourselves “are the events we host advancing the spiritual life of someone, or are we just doing it to do it?” If we spend too much time in the church community, absorbed only by it and the people there, we can grow to become a clique; we become inward focused and new people don’t feel welcomed.  When that happens, aren’t we missing the whole point? There’s time to be a community and connected, but we don’t want the church to be our entire lives.

What’s the benefit of breaking our ministry year into SZNs?

When we break up the year into three separate SZNs, we are able to better plan and prioritize our ministry calendar and your calendar.  It creates a schedule where you can be prepared and know everything that’s going on. Our goal at X Church is to over communicate, and out of respect for people’s time, we are intentional about how the calendar is laid out.  We don’t want to ask too much of you all at once or with short notice. We all choose to make things a priority, and through SZNs, we can make being involved a priority.

What is the point of having an “Off SZN?``
Don’t be fooled; even in the Off SZN we are still having church Sundays.  With Off SZNs, it give us a chance to push pause. It creates a time to evaluate and make changes.  We get to ask “was this effective” and “is there a better way to do this” regarding our ministries. One of our standards here at X Church is that we evaluate everything.  The Off SZN allows for staff and servant leaders to assess the impact of what we do.
It also creates natural on and off ramps, so people have the opportunity to change directions.  Not loving your serving role? Having that Off SZN allows for you to evaluate so we can help you find your fit and purpose.  We want you to find the sweet spot of what you’re passionate about and where you will do it well and with excellence.
What is a SZN Party?

While the church might not be great at ‘partying’ or celebrating, we need to have fun together.  That is exactly what the SZN Party is for: at the end of each SZN, we can come together and celebrate what God has done.  The SZN Party is essentially replacing Awaken and Worship nights; they will maintain similar aspects such as extended worship and communion.  We will be changing the experience and adding new elements to build us together as a community and creating unique ways to engage with each other in prayer.  With the SZN Party, we each get to reflect and look behind us and see that God is in our midst and is moving. We will celebrate what God is doing in our church, and we will look back and be encouraged about looking forward at what is yet to come.

Find out what’s happening in this SZN by clicking the button below!

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