At Live Oak, we are gathered to strengthen our souls, and sent out to strengthen the world. This Sunday, I’ll be talking about what we can do to strengthen our souls, and at Wednesday night’s Giant Outreach Brainstorming meeting, a bold new way of how Live Oak can strengthen the world emerged from our discussion.

Our plan is to have three different areas of how we view outreach, in order to maximize our effectiveness, while also encouraging all of the “passionaries’” – individuals with a passion for a particular issue.

Our three areas:

Burning Coals. We want to encourage all of our members to find their unique calling to making the world better, and equip them to make their dream reality. We’ll be asking them, “What do you need to learn? What is the emotional or spiritual help we can provide? How can Live Oak make you feel cheered on in your endeavor?”

Church-sponsored Outreach. We’ll be setting up the criteria for what would make something an officially Live Oak sponsored outreach, such as a minimum number of church members involved, fitting the mission of the church, etc.

Live Oak Signature Projects. Along with supporting individuals or small groups with their efforts, we want to have two large projects per year that the entire church can participate in together. These projects will be front and center at the church, with worship and religious education integration, awareness activities, and direct action.

How do you want to strengthen the world?