1 What ’ s Fishing Got to Do with It? Rev. David H. Best c. July 2008

2 "As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him." Mark 1:16-20

3 In the last 30 seconds: 125 people were born in the world 53 died 36 of whom did not likely know Christ In 2007 approximately 3.8 million people died who likely did not know Christ Outreach Jan/Feb 2008, p. 14

4 There ’ s Plenty of Fish

5 Getting Ready to Fish You ’ ve Got to Get Ready You ’ ve Got to Understand the Lake and find the fish You ’ ve Got to know what they are biting and what lure to use You need to know who else is fishing and what lures they are using You’ve got to move quickly with a sense of urgency You’ve got to quit talking about fishing and go fishing

6 Churches need to get ready Brac is coming Demographics are available for us to learn about our fish What is going to be your strategy? How can our churches become better at fishing? Some churches use the “ let ‘ em come if they want to ” strategy Most seem to be taking a nap in the boat God is bringing the world to us How will we respond?

7 Some General Trends for our Region

8 Trends Population to increase 40,800 (32,809 Cumberland County) Cumberland Cty projected 2013 Population- 396,529 Need for more schools Need for better roads and transportation Murchison Road will have a major upgrade Southwest Harnett County will experience growth Churches need to assimilate new members quicker as is a time of continued deployments

9 Fort Bragg is the largest Army post in the country Fort Bragg is the largest Army post in the country Growing to more than 65,000 soldiers and employees Growing to more than 65,000 soldiers and employees U.S. Army Forces Command and Army Reserve Command Headquarters (2,700) transfer from Atlanta U.S. Army Forces Command and Army Reserve Command Headquarters (2,700) transfer from Atlanta Pope AFB transfers to the Army in 2011 Pope AFB transfers to the Army in th Reserve Airlift Wing has arrived from Milwaukee 440 th Reserve Airlift Wing has arrived from Milwaukee

10 Education As a result of military- related growth, Cumberland County Schools—which had a K-12 enrollment of 53,660— will experience an enrollment increase of 3,000 students between the and the school years. The expected impact will be heaviest in the Jack Britt and Gray’s Creek areas, where some schools are already significantly over capacity.

11 Creates a potential shortage of schools, classrooms, and teachers Creates a potential shortage of schools, classrooms, and teachers Impacts on housing, roads, airports, workforce, infrastructure, public safety, medical and quality of life Impacts on housing, roads, airports, workforce, infrastructure, public safety, medical and quality of life Churches must also prepare Churches must also prepare

12 The composition of the school-age students are 47% elementary school age 24% middle school age 20% high school age The 6,300 increase is equivalent to : 3000 K-5 graders graders graders OR 5 elementary schools 2 middle schools 2 high schools (Bracrtf into 2/8/08) These new school needs are in ADDITION to the existing needs to absorb county’s normal growth! Schools (K-12) Facility Needs

13 New Students and Schools About 4,500 more students in Harnett About 3,000 more students in Cumberland

14 Transportation Critical Projects Extension of I-295 Closure of Bragg Blvd. and widening Murchison Road Detailed transportation study of access to Fort Bragg including park-n-ride and transit

15 Churches needed Approximately 300 churches (ARDA) in Cumberland County 1 church for every 1322 people If we would reach the whole county, and every church had 600 members, then we would need an additional 361 churches- Based on present then we would need 36 more churches. (Just to maintain with churches having 600 members each) Average Membership in Baptist Churches now is 311

16 Trends God is bringing the world to us We can have an influence on the rest of the world from here in Cumberland County Churches need to reach the unchurched 49% are unchurched 11% of present population claim to be Southern Baptists Of 396, ,285 are unchurched in the county. 16% of the population attends church on a given Sunday

17 84% of our Population is not in church on a given Sunday

18 Needs Every church needs to develop a strategy to reach the unchurched and go fishing We need more churches to reach them The Association and churches need a strategy to reach the unchurched

19 Help is Available Specific demographic information can be done for each church There are people who can come to your church and help them interpret the information from the demographics The Association will offer Intentionally Evangelistic Church Strategy Aug at Arran Lake Baptist Church. Other conferences will be in September

20 Invitation: Let ’ s Go Fishing! Make a commitment to go back to your church to encourage them to reach out to the unchurched all around us Pray for all the churches People may want to form groups in the Association to study the information and take it back to their individual churches Do you want to catch fish or sit on the bank in the shade?