I’m certain you have noticed a few changes around Southwest lately. I want to assure you that the changes made were not for the sake of change. There has been a lot of prayer, preparation, and anticipation that has gone into the changes you see – and through it all we’ve used a few principles to guide us.

The first principle is, “Think like a guest.” Going anywhere new can be intimidating – especially if you’ve never been to a particular church, or even church for that matter. We have tried to look at everything from a perspective of reducing the uncertainty that may come from entering our doors.

The second has been, “Be proactive and not reactive.” I was the youth minister at a church that experienced rapid growth, and by the time we addressed the growth, it was too late. We are anticipating more new faces at Southwest, and we want to be prepared to minister to them as best as we can.

The third principle, “A spirit of excellence.” In all things we want to give our very best to the one who saved us from sin and death. I’m reminded of what Paul told the Christians in Colossae, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:22-24).

These principles have led to a mountain of work that has been accomplished this year. The welcome desk and television in the foyer. The relocation of the church office and the creation of a secured weekday entrance. The addition of signage throughout our building. The remodeling of the nursery. A major upgrade to our sound system. Improvements to our livestream and website. The list could go on, and the list of folks I’d like to brag on could fill an entire page. However, from the weekly giving, the monies and materials and equipment that has been donated, and all the folks who worked so hard to make these things happen – WE ARE BLESSED!

Looking Ahead to 2025 – A Year of Growth

In my opinion I think there has been a shift in the Church here in our country. And by that, I mean, we have done well to grow churches but have struggled to grow Christians. The elders, ministers and staff at Southwest want to grow Christians, that is our number one priority – and if we succeed in doing so, our church will grow in number as a result.

This year we look forward to bringing about a strategy called “Beyond Sunday.” Beyond Sunday is a plan and a process that will enable us, all of us, to pass on the legacy of faith that exists here at Southwest Church of Christ. Over the next several months I will be unveiling this strategy, right here in this newsletter article. So, stay tuned Southwest, 2025 is going to be an amazing year!

Love,

Mike Hawkins

Whether it’s a business, a civic organization, a church, you name it – an organization without a mission is a like a ship without a rudder. There has to be something to keep the ship headed in the right direction. This is why many organizations, including churches, have created “mission statements.”

I’ve had the question posed to me before, “Why does a church need a mission statement? Doesn’t the Bible give us our mission?” To the latter I say you are right, our directive comes clearly from scripture. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31 ESV).

So, how do you do that? How do you love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength? How do you love your neighbor as yourself? The sky’s the limit, isn’t it? There is a myriad of things one could do to “love God” and “love neighbor” but I believe Jesus gave us a more refined way to do just that. In His final address to His disciples, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV).

Can you see how this, the Great Commission of Jesus, demonstrates “loving God” and “loving people?” If we love God, we are going to make disciples and add to His kingdom. If we love people, we are going to help save them from Hell and teach them how to live God pleasing lives. And what’s beautiful about this commission, is that it’s cyclical. People who have been rightly discipled, will in turn disciple others. If I were to sum up this “commission cycle,” I would say we are to make disciples, who make disciples.

Although refined, again I ask, how do you do that? And again, we could come up with a myriad of ways. So perhaps a better question would be, how do we do that effectively? Thus enters the mission statement.

Ken Braddy of Lifeway Research developed a process for disciple-making that promotes and preserves this “commission cycle.” We have adopted portions of his research to form a new mission statement for Southwest. A statement that gives us practical steps for reaching our goal of making disciples who make disciples. Our new mission statement is this:

“We want to connect, grow, serve, and go beyond Sunday.”

Stay tuned because in next month’s article, I will break down what it looks like to “connect, grow, serve, and go beyond Sunday.”

Keep up the good work Southwest,

Mike Hawkins

Dear Southwest Family,

Over the past couple of months, I have been presenting the “Beyond Sunday” approach to discipleship. If you missed the previous article(s), or need a refresher, you can read them in the expandable sections above.

A Mission That Makes Disciples

As was discussed in last month’s article, the mission of the Church of Christ was clearly given in Mark 12:30-31 (“Love God, Love people”) and in Matthew 28:19-20 (“Lead people to Jesus”). But how can we do this in a practical and effective manner – utilizing the gifts, talents, and resources that God has given us?

Over the course of 2024, the leadership of Southwest sought to carefully answer that question. After much research, consultation, discussion, and prayer, what resulted was the creation of a new Mission Statement for our church. That statement is this, “We want to connect, grow, serve, and go beyond Sunday.”

As was teased in last month’s article, I’d like to take a moment to explain the steps of this new Mission Statement:

CONNECT – We want people to connect with our church beyond Sunday morning. We have multiple opportunities to do just that built right into our weekly event schedule. All we have to do to get people connected with our church, is invite! Take a look at Hebrews 10:24-25.

GROW – After having connected with our church, we want folks to go deeper. This step goes beyond our Sunday gatherings and the opportunities mentioned in the CONNECT step. The GROW step involves planned discipleship in the form of a “Next Steps” class, “Grow Groups,” and “Share The Light” events. Take a look at Ephesians 4:11-16.

SERVE – As an offshoot of the GROW step, we want people to serve beyond Sunday. I am a firm believer that cultivating a heart of service can and will defeat a consumer mindset. As a part of making disciples, we want to instill, early on, the Biblical principle of serving others. This service can take shape by way of serving our community, getting involved in a ministry here at Southwest, blessing our widows and our senior saints, or participating in a mission trip. Take a look at Matthew 20:28.

GO – We want people to go beyond Sunday. Years ago, I learned a great method for teaching, and I’m sure you’ve been shown it too - “I’ll show you how to do this, then we will do this together, and then you will do it yourself.” That best describes the GO step. Having been faithfully discipled through the GROW and SERVE steps, the GO step is the mentored taking on their own mentee. Take a look at Matthew 28:19-20.

Hopefully you can see that our new Mission Statement is not a departure from our previous – we still are commanded by scripture to “Love God, Love People, [and] Lead people to Jesus.” Our new statement just takes those commands a step further, explaining how we can practically do those things.

In next month’s article I will expand on the steps that I just mentioned, explaining in greater detail what that will look like here at Southwest.

Keep up the good work Southwest,

Mike Hawkins

Dear Southwest Family,

Over the past couple of articles, I have been discussing our new Mission Statement, “We want to connect, grow, serve, and go beyond Sunday.” My hope is that you can see how our new Mission Statement is not a departure from our previous – we are still commanded by scripture to “Love God, Love People, [and] Lead people to Jesus.” Our new statement just takes those commands a step further, explaining how we can practically do those things.

Beginning with this article, I would like for us to dive deeper into each step of our new Mission Statement, beginning with the idea that we want to connect beyond Sunday.

There has been a longstanding debate over what connects people to the church – programs or relationships. I usually don’t engage in this debate because, to me it’s not a matter of programs or relationships. Instead, it’s a matter of leveraging programs to build relationships.

So, how can we leverage weekly or bi-weekly programs to connect people and build relationships?

We have several Bible studies and peer groups that meet each week at Southwest. These are great ways to get folks who are familiar with the “church” to connect to Southwest.

But what about those who are not familiar with “church”? Maybe they went to church as a kid, but that was years ago. Maybe they have some apprehension about darkening the doorway of a church. Maybe they were genuinely hurt by someone who was a churchgoer and are leery of the church altogether. And what about those who have never been to church?

Currently, every other Thursday, Southwest hosts a game night. I think game night is an incredibly easy way to get those outside of the church to know our church. There are typically snacks and a Euchre tournament at these game nights. But if cards isn’t your thing, bring a board game or dominos and someone you want to introduce to Southwest.

In addition to this, we are discussing other ways to possibly connect people to Southwest. It has been my experience that the home is one of the least threatening environments for people to get to know one another. As a result, the idea of a “Supper for Six” program is in the works (we’re still working on the name though). The premise is simple: one family provides the home, another provides the meal, and the last provides dessert. Then, you rotate within the group.

The beautiful thing about weekly and bi-weekly programming is that it only requires one thing from you, an invite – the church will take care of the rest.

Keep up the good work Southwest,

Mike Hawkins