A Special Invitation from Pastor Brian

Please watch this quick message from Pastor Brian that was sent out as part of an email blast last week. The content of the email is written below. Thank you for being part of our Compass Community!

Dear Compass Family and Friends,

Pastor Brian here! The New Year is quickly approaching, so I wanted to reach out to you with a very important letter. We are so excited about a new series starting in January called THE EXPLORATION. Essentially, this is a membership series, unlike anything we have ever done before! In this series, we will be looking at the 4 E’s of Exploration. For four weeks, we will study the Bible to see what Scripture says about the Church, the mission and purpose, the Biblical model, and our vital and essential role as members of the Body of Christ!

Week 1 (January 9th): Explore the Faith
Week 2 (January 16th): Embrace Community
Week 3 (January 23rd): Engage in Service
Week 4 (January 30th): Empower Disciples

1 Corinthians 12:12, 27 says, “12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 27 Now you are the Body of Christ and individually members of it.”

These last two years have been very hard for all of us, as you know well. As we look at the American Church post-COVID, we see, across the board, a widespread change in church attendance and engagement. Researchers are working hard to determine whether that is mainly connected to people’s fears over the virus or simply a change in habits and choices based on most people’s online engagement these days. My assessment is that it is both. Some people’s connection to Compass has remained strong online. Others have made new lifestyle choices that have left them not connected to any church these days.

This situation has prompted many church leaders and pastors to ask, “Who is still here?” I am one of the leaders asking that question for several reasons. First, I love our Church, and I love you! I want our staff to be the very best we can at caring for the members of Compass Christian Church. That is not easy when we don’t entirely know who is still here with us. Second, we have a mission that Jesus gave us that we need to fulfill! People’s eternal lives are at stake! And it is hard to catalyze the body to be on mission for Jesus when we are not sure who that includes.

So, I am reaching out to 4526 of you! That number includes our members and regular attendees who are in our database. YES…this is how many we would have, minimum, every weekend if we all showed up! :0) I am asking you to make your best effort to attend these four services in January. First of all, we will all grow in Jesus; we will know Him better and love Him more in 2022? Secondly, I want you to make every effort to attend because we will re-clarify what it means to be a Christian member of the Body of Christ, just like the Apostle Paul described in the verse above. We will raise the bar and strongly invite people to go ALL-IN like we have done many times over the years at Compass.

Compass needs you! Jesus needs you! Yet, more importantly, we need each other. We need community. We don’t even realize how much we need the connection that comes from gathering together as the Church did every week in the New Testament. Hebrews 10:25 says, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Gathering the Church together for worship, service, and mission is NORMAL and commanded in the Scripture.

This year will be an exciting time in the life of our Church! God has blessed Compass Christian Church for almost 100 years. Our great desire as church leaders is to set Compass up for another 100 years of mission and ministry, literally all around the world. So, please pray about these things. Pray about your commitment to Christ and His Church, the Church He was willing to give up His life for as His Bride! Pray about these things, and then plan to attend all four weeks of this new series. It will be fun! It will be inspiring! And most importantly, as we lift Jesus and honor the Church He established with His blood, we will be brought together in unity like never before, to care for each other well, and to fulfill the mission Jesus gave us in this community and beyond!

I love you, and I hope to see your smiling faces very soon! God bless!

In Christ’s Love,

Pastor Brian Jobe