The Adventist Church in Edmonds, Wash., is guided by its statement of purpose: “Our mission is to lead people into a maturing new life in Jesus Christ.” Venturing into new territory, the church participated in 40 Days of Purpose, an outreach designed to help believers and non-believers discover and develop their God-ordained vocations in this life.
“We followed the 40 Day paradigm rather closely,” remarked Pastor Larry Zuchowski, “complete with national simulcast, Sabbath morning worships to launch the coming week’s theme, small group fellowships during the week, and daily devotions from the book The Purpose Driven Life, written by Pastor Rick Warren.”
40 Days of Purpose increased attendance in both the 9:30 am Classic Service and the 11:15 am contemporary service on Sabbath mornings. Although Edmonds had already developed small-group fellowships, 40 Days boosted participation in this weekly ministry by more than 70 percent.
In February through April, 2004, the church focused its ministry through a series entitled Lord of All Things. Using the biblical book of Ephesians as a textbook the church formulated daily devotionals and small group leader’s guides.
“The most exciting aspect was to see six people accept Christ and join the church as a direct result of these back-to-back outreaches. God planted the seed during 40 Days and reaped a harvest during Lord of All Things, Pastor Zuchowski exclaimed.”
This October 2 through November 20 Edmonds will venture into a third outreach series, 7 Weeks with Jesus, in which we'll focus on the words and actions of Jesus. When asked to summarize the series Pastor Larry said: “The more I fellowship with Jesus and His body, the more I desire to follow Him in this world. As Adventist Christians we must know and understand the depth of His message of the Kingdom. What does His Kingdom message mean for us today? What does it say to us about reaching out in faith to others? Christ has commissioned us to make disciples worldwide. Edmonds believes this includes our local community.
“Edmonds desperately wants to make disciples. What we are doing is venturing out in faith, willing to risk, even stumble, if it means learning.”
For more information on upcoming events contact Edmonds Adventist Church at (425) 771-5302 or at www.edmondsadventist.net.
