Friday Spiritual Column: The gateway ministry
Posted on: October 11, 2013
BY HEATHER GOBLE-SORRELLS
By choice, my husband and I flew under Northview Church’s radar for the first 3 years we attended, until Alpha, when our life of service really began. Previously, we came to weekend services, shook folks’ hands and sang with the worship band. We didn’t get involved, didn’t meet anyone and felt no real pressure to connect (despite the Northview Mission: Connecting People With God and Connecting People With People). We were seat warmers, boring and stagnant in our walks with Christ.
The incentive to try Alpha really started with the advertisement that there was childcare for our then only-child and they fed us a meal. We had questions and we might have been willing to admit we were finally ready to meet people, but the thought of someone else cooking us a meal was priceless!
When we were on our way to the very first Alpha, we were nervous and unsure of how the night would go. Questions crossed our minds, like: Were we dressed okay? What would we talk about? Were we Christian ‘enough’ to be there?
But when we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised. The guests were dressed in all sorts of styles – some going for comfort, others dressy and no one was judging us in our jeans and t-shirts. That first night we met a couple we instantly connected with, both of whom are still really good friends of ours today.
Ultimately, what we walked away with from that first night of Alpha, which is still true today, is that we were just as ‘Christian’ as the next guest. We are all on various stages of our walks with Christ, some nonbelievers, some long-time believers and others somewhere in between. Regardless, we were all accepted and welcomed into Alpha from the very first night.
The basic set up of Alpha for those who haven’t experienced it – arrive, eat lots of food with other guests, watch a sermon-like talk via video and break into small groups to talk about the video. These small groups are yours for the remainder of Alpha.
Our small group was an eclectic group of misfits, wanna-be’s and know-it-alls (aren’t we all?) who loved Christ and wanted to know more. Before Alpha, a life group sounded horribly uncomfortable and awful, but having experienced a faux life group through Alpha, we were ready. So we signed up for a Life Group at the next Spiritual Growth Campaign.
After our Alpha experience was over, we came back and served food to guests for the next several courses. This was our first real experience with volunteering in life, ever. This was an 8 week commitment that required punctuality, a pleasant attitude and a server’s heart. Some days these serving necessities did not come naturally since life gets in the way with traffic delays, hard days at work, challenging kids, sickness and just being grumpy. Thankfully God helped us through and allowed us to put on our ‘Alpha Face’ when we walked in the door.
Being around the other servers, seeing their smiling faces and giving hearts truly was infectious. We have met so many amazing people just by serving in Alpha which has helped us get connected. It’s helped our mega-church feel much smaller. Our prayer network and support system is larger than it would have ever been had we ignored God’s nudge to begin Alpha in the first place.
For us, Alpha has been the gateway ministry leading us to other ministries which we shied away from before. Alpha brought previous uninvolved, non-servers in and lit a fire of yearning we didn’t know was possible – a desire to get involved and serve regularly.
A wise “Alpha-holic” once said – we serve others because Jesus served us first. If we get out of the way and let Him, God is all about putting us outside of our comfort zones, because inside our nicely protected bubbles of our own life we are not growing spiritually and we are not connecting with His people like He’s called us to. Is God nudging you?
The Friday Spiritual Column is entirely the opinion of this week’s writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Northview Church as a whole.
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