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September 2025 Pastor’s Corner — 3 Circles
And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” — Luke 10:2-3
Last fall we had a couple of town hall meetings to discuss the state and future of our church. To recap: like many churches, we have seen a significant decline in worship attendance and engagement in the life of our church. While for the most part our income has remained steady, it is also declining. Up until last fall, we had seen very few visitors to our church, and those who did visit usually did not return. It seemed as if, while we love our church and what we offer, it wasn’t resonating or connecting with others in our community. Our circumstances seemed discouraging, to say the least. One year later, we’ve often been asked about where things stand and if we are as concerned as we were.
When you look at the practical numbers — worship attendance and income — not much has changed. Our average worship attendance is about the same as it was last fall, and our income is just slightly lower. But those numbers only tell one part of the story, and not the most important part. Since last fall we have had a steady increase in visitors to our church, which led to our largest Inquirer’s Class in the past 8 years. One new regular attender commented, “I didn’t know churches like yours existed any more.” Where we often wonder if our church is declining into irrelevance, another visitor sees a community that has deep faith and deep relationships, the very things she has been needing and looking for.
Where did these new visitors come from? In almost every case, the answer is the same: Someone invited me. In fact, when you boil every church growth and evangelism strategy down to its core, it’s always about some form of personal invitation. It’s how the Gospel spread in the very beginning, and it’s how the Church has grown ever since. Telling others about Jesus is something that all believers are called and invited to do. As Jesus and the Holy Spirit change and transform us, we are invited to share that transformation with others.
The most important part of our life of faith is for us to be looking to see how we are growing as disciples of Jesus Christ, paying attention to how the Holy Spirit is making us into new creations, formed in the image of our Savior: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Think about it this way: when something good happens in our lives or when we have good news to share, we naturally and instinctively want to share that with the people around us. When we see how Jesus has changed us, we want to share that change with others. This change is a process that happens throughout our lives on this side of Glory. Look for how the Holy Spirit has changed you and how you are growing as a disciple. If you aren’t sure how that change is happening in your life, consider asking what the Holy Spirit might be inviting you to change or do differently so you can experience the change He wants to bring about in you.
Sometimes, though, even when we know how we are being changed, we hesitate or aren’t sure how to share that with others. We know Jesus has told us to tell others about the good news of God’s grace, but don’t want to be pushy or offensive. In fact, this is one of the most common questions we’re asked: I know I’m supposed to tell others about Jesus, but I don’t know what to say. To that end, we are going to spend time in September talking about a model for sharing your faith called “The Three Circles.” This is a slightly different model than others you might already know. The emphasis with The Three Circles is helping you learn how to turn everyday conversations into Gospel conversations. We’ll introduce the Three Circles in a three week sermon series, which will be followed by a six week Sunday School class.
If we want to see Northminster grow, it simply comes down to telling others about Jesus and inviting them to church to learn more about Him. The elders and I encourage everyone to join us for worship and plan to participate in the Sunday School class. We’re excited about how the Lord will use the Three Circles to help us share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our friends, our family, and the community around us. Find more information about the Three Circles Sunday School class on page seven of the newsletter, or by clicking here..
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” — Romans 10:14-15
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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MILLS’ MUSINGS – ANOTHER BIRTHDAY?
On January 28, the Roman Catholic Church annually observes the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas. This year, that festival celebrated the 800th anniversary of his birth.
I use that admittedly awkward phrasing because no one knows his actual birthday. From existing records, we can tell he was born either in late 1224 or early 1225. However, 13th-century Italian officials in the city of Aquino weren’t terribly fastidious about the exact dates children were born to minor noblemen. Nonetheless, the providential timing of his birth helped Aquinas become one of the most important theologians in the Christian Church and one of humanity’s most influential philosophers.
Aquinas lived and worked at a hinge point in Western culture. Europe was on the cusp of the Renaissance. Just 25 years before Aquinas’ birth, the University of Paris received its royal charter. Paris was the first university in the sense that we now use that term: an institution that teaches a variety of disciplines to both undergraduate and graduate students. And with the rise of educational institutions not run by the Roman Catholic Church, the relationship between Christian faith and human reason was undergoing its first major reevaluation in nearly a millennia. Aquinas would play a key role in that project.
As a monk in the recently formed Dominican order, Aquinas spent most of his ministry as a teacher, including at the University of Paris. A great deal of his work, in the classroom and his writings, intended to show the Church and the world that the truths of human reason, those demonstrable by the observations of the senses and the exercise of logic, are compatible with the truths of revelation, those that have been divinely disclosed by God to his human creation.
Today, Aquinas is also recognized as the culminating figure of Scholasticism. The primary aim of the late-medieval Scholastics, who were both philosophers and theologians, was to correlate Christian doctrine with human reason. The Scholastics wanted to show the reasonableness of God’s teachings. They also wanted to explain why those doctrines were important to the daily life of every Christian regardless of occupation or level of education. The Scholastics recognized Christian religion and contemporary science aren’t enemies. Rather, they saw them as complementary ways of learning about God and his world.
And yet, from the Renaissance through the Enlightenment and the Modern era, powerful forces have been trying to separate religious faith from human reason. Those forces are now waning and their centuries-old project is in peril. Most notably, the farther back in time scientists are able to see, the more their observations begin to sound like Aquinas’ articulations of his arguments for the existence and nature of God.
In his 1978 book God and the Astronomers, Robert Jastrow, founder of NASA’s Goddard Institute and an atheist, explained:
For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.
Aquinas, I suspect, has a seat on the front row. Christians from all traditions, along with those who share his concerns if not our faith, can continue to learn from his work and celebrate his life – even if we’re not quite sure about his birthday.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, August 31, 2025
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 7PM
The Women’s Bible Study will meet this Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the church. We will be studying the last chapter of our book, “God’s Unconditional Love for Us” in The Love Stories of the Bible Speak by Shannon Bream. Please read the chapter and complete the questions in your workbook. Come prepared to share what you got out of the reading and any questions you might have. (And if you don’t get a chance to read it, come anyway!)
HELPING HANDS OFFERING – THIS MORNING
Each 5th Sunday, any undesignated offerings placed in the collection plates go to Helping Hands, a ministry of churches in the Madison Heights-Elon area of Amherst County to help residents in need. It is administered through Madison Heights Baptist Church. Thank you for helping us meet the needs of those in our community!
MISSION FOCUS FOR SEPTEMBER: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Our mission focus for the month of September is Amherst County Habitat for Humanity. We have partnered with Amherst County Habitat for Humanity for many years. Recently, we helped fund three houses in Amherst and provided volunteer support for two new homes off Coolwell Road. Learn more about Amherst County Habitat for Humanity in this month’s newsletter. You may make a donation by specifying Habitat for Humanity on your check memo line.
COLLEGE & CAREER BIBLE STUDY – NEXT SUNDAY, 6PM
Coming Soon
3 CIRCLES EVANGELISM TRAINING – BEGINS SUN. SEPT. 28
You are encouraged to sign up for the 3 Circles: Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations training class. 3 Circles is a simple way to have gospel conversations. This begins on Sunday, September 28th and will meet weekly for 6 weeks at 9:30 am. Sign up today by going to npcmh.churchcenter.com.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, August 24, 2025
WOMEN’S BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 10 AM
The Women’s Book Club will meet this Thursday, August 28 (rescheduled from last week) at 10:00 a.m. at the church. This month’s book is The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner. Please bring a snack to share and as always, bring a friend. We look forward to seeing you next Thursday, whether you’ve read the book or not!
HYMNS THAT CALL US HOME COMMUNITY WORSHIP SERVICE
Join us at Madison Heights Baptist Church tonight at 7pm for a community worship service. This will be a Gaither-style hymn sing and is a wonderful opportunity to worship together with our brothers and sisters throughout Madison Heights and Amherst County.
HELPING HANDS OFFERING – NEXT SUNDAY
Each 5th Sunday, any undesignated offerings placed in the collection plates go to Helping Hands, a ministry of churches in the Madison Heights-Elon area of Amherst County to help residents in need. It is administered through Madison Heights Baptist Church. Thank you for helping us meet the needs of those in our community!
MISSION FOCUS FOR AUGUST: DOWNTOWN PRESBYTERIAN
Our mission focus for the month of August is Downtown Presbyterian Church, a new EPC church plant in downtown Lynchburg. Rev. Rich Brown, who preached for Pastor David a couple of times last year, is the pastor and will be with us on Sunday, August 17 to share more about the exciting things God is doing just across the river. You may make a donation by specifying Downtown EPC on your check memo line.
Coming Soon
3 CIRCLES EVANGELISM TRAINING – BEGINS SUN. SEPT. 28
The question we’re asked more than any other is, “how do I tell others about Jesus?” If that’s you, then we invite you to sign up for the 3 Circles: Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations training class. 3 Circles is a simple way to have gospel conversations. This begins on Sunday, September 28th and will meet weekly for 6 weeks at 9:30 am. Sign up today under the Groups tab of the Church Center app or npcmh.churchcenter.com.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, August 17, 2025
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:30-10:30. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
Please join us on Wednesdays at noon for a time of prayer in the sanctuary as we bring our needs before our loving God.
WOMEN’S BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 10 AM
The Women’s Book Club will meet next Thursday, August 21 at 10:00 a.m. at the church. This month’s book is The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner. Please bring a snack to share and as always, bring a friend. We look forward to seeing you next Thursday, whether you’ve read the book or not!
HYMNS THAT CALL US HOME COMMUNITY WORSHIP SERVICE
Join us at Madison Heights Baptist Church on Sunday, August 24 at 7pm for a community worship service. This will be a Gaither-style hymn sing and is a wonderful opportunity to worship together with our brothers and sisters throughout Madison Heights and Amherst County.
MISSION FOCUS FOR AUGUST: DOWNTOWN PRESBYTERIAN
Our mission focus for the month of August is Downtown Presbyterian Church, a new EPC church plant in downtown Lynchburg. Rev. Rich Brown, who preached for Pastor David a couple of times last year, is the pastor and will be with us on Sunday, August 17 to share more about the exciting things God is doing just across the river. You may make a donation by specifying Downtown EPC on your check memo line.
Coming Soon
3 CIRCLES EVANGELISM TRAINING – BEGINS SUN. SEPT. 28
The question we’re asked more than any other is, “how do I tell others about Jesus?” If that’s you, then we invite you to sign up for the 3 Circles: Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations training class. 3 Circles is a simple way to have gospel conversations. This begins on Sunday, September 28thand will meet weekly for 6 weeks at 9:30 am. Sign up today under the Groups tab of the Church Center app or npcmh.churchcenter.com.
Read more...
