It was great to recently spend time with Rob Hager, pastor of Jacob’s Well Baptist Church of Oswego, IL. Although I didn’t get to visit his church (I’m looking forward to preaching there soon), we had a great time discussing some of the ways God is using the Jacob’s Well congregation to reach the community.
Rob’s heart is for discipleship. He meets regularly with 4-5 men in the church for Bible study and life-on-life ministry. One of the men Rob has invested in is getting ready to launch his own discipleship group. It was exciting to hear how God is multiplying disciples!
Rob’s wife Christy leads the children’s ministry of the church. Christy’s experience as a children’s ministry trainer for Group publishing has been an asset for Jacob’s Well. She employs creative teaching methods to help children retain what they learn for life. Rob explained how some parents had first visited their church because their children came home on a Sunday afternoon sharing what they had learned in Sunday School. What a blessing!
Every summer, the church participates in the Yorkville county fair by providing free water bottles and a diaper changing tent. Rob explained that the motivation is first of all to love their neighbor as Christ commands. At the same time, the fair has become a great way to meet new people in the community and share about Christ and the church.
Jacob’s Well began as a church plant six years ago. One of my favorite things about their congregation is the heart they have for other church plants. In fact, they are planning to send a team to Nixa, Missouri to support a church planting team in the near future.
Pray for Rob, Christy, and the entire congregation of Jacob’s Well.