This question still rings true thousands of years later. I have been asked many times over the years, “why run buses?”
The answer is simple. The bus ministry is about people. It is about reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I cannot point to a more effective tool in our generation in reaching more families and children with the Gospel then bus ministries!
We are living in perilous times where society is spiraling into spiritual anarchy. It is in a time of darkness that God’s people are needed the most to shine the glorious Gospel in our communities.
The Northeast region of the United States is the most densely populated region in the country and is home to over 56,000,000 million souls! What a mission field! Literally, men and women, boys and girls from the entire world are attracted to this bustling region. The question is not whether we should run buses, the question is WHY NOT?
The bus ministry contributes to the vibrancy and effectiveness of the church in so many ways, but I wanted to share several with you:
Vision
A bus ministry causes a church to engage the community with the Gospel like no other ministry. New churches will find their attendance impacted significantly within weeks!
An active bus route will reach dozens for Christ within months. It will give a church the opportunity to reach parents and extended family. Jesus said, “lift up your eyes and look on the fields.”
My Northeast brethren, this is the time, this is the place God has put you! Is there not a cause? Look on the fields! Thousands of people live within miles of your church waiting for you! Let’s not turn our communities over to the Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons. We have the truth of the Gospel! Let’s go get the harvest for the sake of eternity. Broken lives are looking for answers. There are hurting families seeking the truth. You can make a difference! I will forever be thankful for the impact and vision my pastor had to start a bus ministry over 43 years ago.
Do you have a vision for how God can use you?
Service
We have a responsibility to reach the world with the Gospel.
A bus ministry, especially in the Northeast, will give you the ability to reach people from every background, race, and language. What a picture of Heaven! We owe the Gospel to the lost!
It has been said, “We either reach the Northeast or lose the country!” As your workers go out into the highways and hedges you will find the church will be more compassionate for the needy, more missions minded and have a heart for the lost. What a great need in our day!
In this world of selfishness and apathy, the people of God need to take the Great Commission more seriously. What we do in the church is life & death! Eternity is on the line!
The Future
The bus kids you pick up for church are not just the “next church.” They are today’s church!
They can be your most faithful soul winners. They can be your most effective workers.
As a product of the bus ministry, I can testify that the bus ministry is a training ground for the ministry.
On your bus, this Sunday may be the next pastor. You are picking up future missionaries, pastors’ wives, Christian school teachers and lay people who will be the greatest blessing to your church today and in the future.
The apostle Paul after many years in ministry wrote to the church of Phillipi, “that I may know Him.”
I cannot think of a better way to know Him and to truly have the mind of Christ than to reach children and families for Christ, can you?
It is a joy to see new converts excited about church. It is exciting to see children ride the bus for the first time and respond to the Gospel.
Just this past Sunday, I observed 9 children and two adults receive Christ as Saviour through the bus ministry!
Go sound the horn, strike up the choir and KEEP THE BUSES ROLLING!
RUNNING BUSES STILL WORKS!