Richmond Road Campus Blog

In the gospel of John it says, “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) I’ve always liked the way that reads. Jesus didn’t just come and sit; he hung out with us. He didn’t just house himself in a building in the suburbs; he “dwelt” among people like you and me. That’s a great model for His church, and we are His church!

I don’t know a lot about football but I do know this: If you don’t come out of the huddle you’ll never win the game. Perhaps today’s church is too much into huddling. We huddle on Saturday and Sunday. We huddle for midweek services. We huddle for nights of worship. We huddle for Bible studies and Life Groups, for men’s and women’s ministries and youth programs. Did you ever think that sometimes the world might be asking, “When are you folks gonna come out of the huddle?”

It’s time, folks! Time to go dwell among people! And we plan to be intentional about that on the east side of town! We’ll dwell among black people, white people, sick people, poor people, irreligious people, political people, homeless people, hungry people, immoral people, abused people, weak people, marginalized people, frightened people, scarred people, hopeless people, helpless people, broken people and needy people! This is the ministry of Jesus Christ and this is the ministry of His Bride, the Church.

Yes, it’s time to dwell, not huddle. People will not listen to you until they trust you. And they will not trust you until they know that you love them. And they will not know that you love them until you serve them. That’s our call! That’s the mission on all our campuses. Let’s get busy. It’s time to get in the game!

Gary Black, Richmond Road Campus Pastor

About five years ago we began to ask the question, “if Southland closed its doors tomorrow, would anyone in the Community miss us? Would people not affiliated with our Church be devastated? Would our absence leave a huge void among the poor and the disenfranchised?”

The answer was, “No.”  We realized that we were too internally focused, and we realized that this wasn’t consistent with the call of God for Southland,  so we began to change. We began mentoring in the public schools. We started medical clinics. We reached out to teachers. We mobilized people to go door-to-door in impoverished communities to see what we could do to help. In essence, we moved outside the walls. There’s much more to do and the Richmond Road campus will be an additional springboard to launch community service initiatives.

But can I ask you something? Could I enjoin you to personalize the original question we asked of ourselves as a Church?
What if you left?   Would you  be missed if you left town and moved somewhere else? What would change in our community? What ministry would stop? Who would miss your compassion and love?”

Basically I’m asking this, “What difference does your presence on this planet make on a daily basis?” Let me phrase it another way, “If everyone at Southland were as committed as you are, what would our influence look like? If everyone gave their time, talents and treasures in a way that was commensurate with your commitment, how strong would we be? If everyone served and prayed like you, would the Church be healthy and empowered, or be weak and insipid?

We are each given spiritual gifts to serve others (I Cor. 12:14, Eph. 2:8-10). How are you using your gift(s)?     

Friend,  it’s really not about what God is doing for you, but what God is doing through you. When you think about going to Richmond Road please think about going to work. Think about going to serve! We are most fully alive when we are loving others and giving ourselves away. That’s why we’re here. That’s what we do. And that’s why we’re launching this new campus!