"It's not the Great Suggestion!"  Those were the words of Lee Strobel as he started off the Contagious Evangelism Conference last week in Chicago.  I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago to be a part of this conference with a group of pastors and Lay people from Oklahoma.  There were many great ideas for strengthening the evangelism ministry of the church, but more importantly, there was a focus on what it means to be a growing, faithful Christian.
   John reminded us on Sunday morning that the essence of our faith is to love God and to love our neighbor.  These are not suggestions; they are the two Great Commandments that Jesus gave.  Jesus also gave what is known as, The Great Commission ("Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…").  This also is not a suggestion.  These great commandments and the great commission are essential for growing, faithful Christians.
   There are a lot of other important aspects of our faith as Christians, but these are the most important.  It is important to share your resources of time, talent, and money.  It's important to pray and read the Bible.  It's important to worship God.  But, I think that Jesus makes it pretty clear, true worship of God must include loving God, loving neighbor, and making disciples (which really is loving God and neighbor).  Remember, invite someone to church this week, talk to someone about your faith.  "It's not the Great Suggestion!" 

   The Civitan, along with Central will again host a dance for developmentally disabled.  The dance is set for Friday, November 15 from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m..  We are needing volunteers to bring cookies and two liter bottles of pop for the dance, on that day.