Survival Of The Fittest

Picture this. Imagine applying for a job in which you had no experience. The corporation hired you knowing you lacked experience. You attend the new hire orientation where you learn about the vision and mission of the corporation. They also tell you the corporations history and how you're part of their future. They finally verify all of your information for their records. You go home with a feeling of excitement and nervousness about getting involved the next day. When you arrive to work you are provided with a handbook, given a welcoming reception and then everybody goes their separate ways. What do you do? Is someone going to train you? Where do you go? Are you able to survive?

Now think about this in context of the church. People come to church and give their lives to God. They attend a new members orientation. They are given a bible, greeted by other members and then they are left alone to survive on their own.

For the past few weeks our bible study has been used as the platform to develop our Gospel Outreach Community Church's "New Disciple Orientation." Our Director of Christian Education is leading the charge in giving new Christians an environment to gain a better understanding of the decision they made, strengthen the foundation of their knowledge of Christ and give them a peace of mid that they are not on this journey alone.

Churches need to recognize that this is not "every man for themselves", "survival of the fittest" or "Hunger Games".  This is a journey where mature Christians help new Christians to stand on their own two feet and become mature Christians themselves.


Besides a New Disciples Orientation, what could we do to disciple new Christians on their new journey?


Pastor JB Marshall
Email: pastorjbmarshall@gospeloutreachcc.org
www.gospeloutreachcc.org
www.twitter.com/RevJBMarshall
www.facebook.com/GospelOutreachCC

My Response To The People (Ferguson)

I first want to acknowledge the Brown family. This is a tough time in your life constantly reliving the death of your son, Michael Brown. In addition, you have to carry the weight of encouraging people to respond to the "no indictment" verdict in a manner that you have strongly and courageously done. For that, I commend you.

As a pastor of a community church, I feel it is my responsibility to respond to the actions of the community. Yes, I am not pastoring in Ferguson but the community I live in is definitely impacted by it as is most cities in the United States.

There are people who are angry with the final verdict being "no indictment".  They feel justice was not served. The officer did not get what he deserved. The problem with this claim is that our society has made "justice" to be subjective. Had there been an indictment, charge and conviction of the officer then the people supporting the officer would feel that they were cheated of their justice. So, the court of public opinion applies justice in a subjective and separate manner.

Because we are a divided people, it is only natural that our view on justice is divided. In our development as the United States of America, we have lost our way in being united. We successfully united the states but not our citizens. There's a divide ranging from social class to ethnicity. The separation is not in having rich and poor or black and white but in designating one as inferior to the other. Let's work at becoming a unified people.

I understand the anger people have with the verdict. I understand the frustration people have with the verdict. What I do not understand is why that anger and frustration is channeled at looting the stores of independent business owners or rioting? Is that justice for the store owners? Is that justice for the owners whose property was damaged?  Is that justice for the innocent people who were injured while attempting a peaceful protest? That certainly cannot be the justice that we are seeking.

Use that anger and frustration to create changes in our legal system. Hold peaceful protests. Develop organizations geared to bring exposure to our cause. Go and cast our votes during elections and attend town hall meetings. Get smart on proposed laws and force accountability to those making the decisions.

The bottom line is that we need to become a unified people and wisely work towards a standard of justice that is truly fair. This goes beyond the extent of our emotion because Ferguson will become old news to most of us. This must now become our passion. We need to commit to our passion.

Pastor JB Marshall
Email: pastorjbmarshall@gospeloutreachcc.org
Website: www.gospeloutreachcc.org
www.twitter.com/RevJBMarshall
www.facebook.com/GospelOutreachCC

This Time Next Year

We are now 365 days away from the launch of Gospel Outreach Community Church. This pre-launch phase we're in has been an adventure of ups and downs. However, it is an enjoyable calling that we're glad to be on.

We began our bible study series on March 4th and have held it weekly on every Tuesday. We almost canceled a few studies due to the weather but the snow melted just in time. Great things are coming out of our "On Your Mark! Get Set!! GO!!!" bible study series. We are learning more about God, faith and His call in our lives as we journey through the book of Genesis. 

God has allowed us to cross paths with great leaders within the community.  Our desire is be part of the community in order to show them that God still cares for the people in it. A wonderful community leader, Ms. Connie, connected with me to support the beautification on our neighborhoods. If you know her, you have access to the needs of the community. She is really a blessing from God to GOCC.

GOCC's web designer and webmaster, Ty Ownens, completed our website. It looks marvelous and we really appreciate her time and effort in putting it together. She worked some late hours and made all the recommended modifications. Her consultation and creativity are unmatched. You can visit the site at www.gospeloutreachcc,org. Take advantage of the sites capabilities. You can leave a prayer request, read or subscribe to the blog, obtain updated information on events, make a contribution/donation, view or subscribe to the Commercial Break Sermons and contact us for additional information.

We secured the Sharron Baucom (Dale City) Recreation Center to use from Oct 2014 to Mar 2015. We're having our weekly 7:30pm  bible studies in the Rec Center starting Oct 7th. We will start our monthly 2pm services on Oct 12th and every 2nd Sunday thereafter. Keep us in prayer as we continue to look for a more permanent facility to use as we lead up to the launch service in April 2015. And pray that God brings the help that we need. We're looking for singers, musicians, ushers, teachers, prayer warriors, hospitality and everything in between.

Our Marketing Committee is putting together various avenues that would open opportunities for GOCC and our partners to donate clothing, food, and school supplies to those in need of them. We want to be blessing to them. So be on the look out for those opportunities to a blessing to someone else.

In closing, Gospel Outreach Community Church will launch on April 5, 2015. This time next year, we will celebrate and thank God for the pre-launch phase that we were in and move into the next phase of our ministry.


Much love,

Pastor Jeremiah "JB" Marshall

GOCC website: www.gospeloutreachcc.org