Why Vegas
Las Vegas centers around an area called “The Strip.” There are churches in the suburbs surrounding downtown, but nothing on the strip. Although the neon lights shine brightly on the Strip, this area is one of the darkest spiritually in our nation. We must not blame the dark for being dark, but instead need to blame the light for not shining on the darkness. It’s time for all of that to change. It’s time for the people who live and work on and travel to the Strip to have Isaiah 9:2 become a reality, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost,” and Jesus called us to go into the darkness, to meet people where they are at, and to save the lost. For this very reason we have decided to bring XXXchurch to the strip. Something new, something different, something totally unexpected for those who live and work around the strip and the millions of people who visit Las Vegas each month.
Not convinced...a few more reasons:
*Nearly 40 million people visit Las Vegas every year.
*Tourism in Las Vegas takes in 41 billion annually.
*The sex industry in Las Vegas rakes in over 6 billion dollars a year.
*10,000 prostitutes work in Las Vegas
*Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the United States.
*There are 42 legal brothels in the state of Nevada
*Nevada is one of only two US states where prostitution is legal
*140 pages of the Las Vegas yellow pages is devoted to Escort Services and “private entertainment”
*Las Vegas is the epicenter of North American sex trafficking and prostitution.
*Las Vegas is called “sin city.”
The number of people going to church today is about 8 million less than it was 20 years ago.
The percentage of people attending church in the United States has dropped from the 40’s to about 16% - experts tell us we’re following the same path as many European countries where the percentage of people in church is now 2 to 5%.
The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey said that more than 29.4 million Americans have “no religion” which is double the number just eleven years earlier.
If the present trends continue, the percentage of the population that attends church in 2050 will be almost half of what it is today.
The increase in the number of churches (between 1990 and 2000) was about one eighth of what was needed just to keep up with population growth.
H.B. London wrote, “In the past 15 years the church in America has spent 500 Billion dollars on domestic ministry and for it has shown NO appreciable growth.” (H.B. London, Pastor’s Briefing, February 22, 1999)
Repeatedly Jesus explained the reason his Father sent him, His reason for coming: “I have come to seek and save the lost.” He wept at the sight of people who were “like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus commanded His church: “Preach the good news to all creation.” “Make disciples of all nations.” “Be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth.” The dream of God, the heart of Jesus is for the lost It’s of a church that helps lost people find their way back into the arms of their Heavenly Father.
"Some want to live within the sound of the church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
-C.T. Studd (1860-1931)
