(I received this from my friend Gregg today, not sure where it came from but here it is)
Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival, Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that, let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. Not just during Christmas time, but all through the year. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions and words that you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love.
And remember:
I LOVE YOU,
-Jesus
Thursday
Sunday
Make the Vision Plain to See!
And then God answered: "Write this. Write what you see.Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming.It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie.If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on its way. It will come right on time. - Habakkuk 2.2-3
We are finally at the starting line... In the new year we will be starting a Saturday evening meeting that we are calling "Church Unusual." Our goal is to "do" church differently. We are laying a foundation with a core group of people that we trust God will build into a critical mass with which to start a mission church ( that's Nazarene-speak for a church plant).
As the prayer process has been going on, I believe God has challenged me to write down what He has revealed to us. So, what follows is my best effort, so far, to write down what God has placed in my heart about what our congregation is to be.
Our mission is to build an alternative community of faith, having a distinct set of values: Relationally motivated and people focused; Demonstrate a new sense of unity amongst the community of believers; Engage the culture and love beyond it; To be messengers of hope, peace and grace in the lives of those we intersect.
Equipping believers to be ministers – Scripture shows us that all of us are called to "ministry," the 5-fold gifts were given for the equipping of the saints: Ephesians 4.11 – 12: 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
Equipping missionaries to go out into our community – Our local community is the Mission Field. Our goal is to reclaim the phrase "Think globally, act locally." We have all been given the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciling brother to brother, sister to sister as well as reconciling man to God, through Christ: IICorinthians 5.17 – 18: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
Journey focused and process orientated – Life is lived in the dash between the date we were born and the day we die. This is where we find salvation and the ability to share our journeys with one another. Romans 12.1 – 2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
It is a change of focus from the traditional church:
We are finally at the starting line... In the new year we will be starting a Saturday evening meeting that we are calling "Church Unusual." Our goal is to "do" church differently. We are laying a foundation with a core group of people that we trust God will build into a critical mass with which to start a mission church ( that's Nazarene-speak for a church plant).
As the prayer process has been going on, I believe God has challenged me to write down what He has revealed to us. So, what follows is my best effort, so far, to write down what God has placed in my heart about what our congregation is to be.
Our mission is to build an alternative community of faith, having a distinct set of values: Relationally motivated and people focused; Demonstrate a new sense of unity amongst the community of believers; Engage the culture and love beyond it; To be messengers of hope, peace and grace in the lives of those we intersect.
Equipping believers to be ministers – Scripture shows us that all of us are called to "ministry," the 5-fold gifts were given for the equipping of the saints: Ephesians 4.11 – 12: 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
Equipping missionaries to go out into our community – Our local community is the Mission Field. Our goal is to reclaim the phrase "Think globally, act locally." We have all been given the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciling brother to brother, sister to sister as well as reconciling man to God, through Christ: IICorinthians 5.17 – 18: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
Journey focused and process orientated – Life is lived in the dash between the date we were born and the day we die. This is where we find salvation and the ability to share our journeys with one another. Romans 12.1 – 2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
It is a change of focus from the traditional church:
From programs to processes
From demographics to discernment
From models to mission
From attractional to incarnational
From uniformity to diversity
From professional to passionate
From seating to sending
From decisions to disciples
From additional to exponential
From monuments to movements
Our desire is to build a congregation where people are exploring and rediscovering what it means to be Jesus' sent people as their identity. Engaging WITH the culture and BEING Jesus to them. Bearing the gifts of strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow; changing the world one life at a time.
The love of Jesus compels us to follow his example to love others; not as the world does, for what they can get from others, but instead for what we can give away to them... New life in Jesus.
Grow the saved, save the lost, care for the downtrodden!
Wednesday
Giants in the Land!
Numbers 13 is a great example of being called to go somewhere you've never been and do something you’ve never done. Equipped for it with God’s presence and encouragement but not doing it because of fear and self-disqualification.
Look at it, beginning with verses 1 and 2:
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders…
Now, skip down to verse 17 : Moses gave them specific instructions:
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.
19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they un-walled or fortified?
20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
They spent 40 days there… and came back to report what they saw!
Read from verse 26 on… The report has 2 very distinct parts:
Part 1 – (verse 26 & 27) – This is a land flowing with milk and honey!
What GREAT news… God is providing for our needs! Look at these grapes, for crying out loud! This is a land flowing with milk and honey! All we’ve had for the past couple of years is manna, quail and water – think of it! No more quail burgers, no more ba-manna-bread, no more manna-cotti...
Sounds AWESOME doesn't it? You can almost imagine Moses and the elders asking excitedly…What next? What other great news can you tell us?? Come on, let’s hear what next?? We can’t wait!!
Part 2 – BUT (why is there always a “but”?) – (verse 28 & 29) –
28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."
They named off every possible enemy (Specifically the giants) and excuse as to why NOT to go in and take the land (especially the giants)… if you look at the last verse in the chapter, you see that they thought little of themselves, let alone what others would think. “We are like grasshoppers in our own eyes…” They went so far as to say they’d rather go back to Egypt rather than enter the land.
They didn’t take into account that God was the one who promised them the land, and that if He was giving it to them that He would not just let them die, but He would show Himself strong and able to bring His word to pass.
Their rebellion and refusal to enter the land cost them another 40 years of wandering around the desert.
No, God didn’t desert them, He still dwelt among them in the Tabernacle; He still provided for them; He still led them with the pillar of fire by night and the cloud of smoke by day. Of all of those who left Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb went in to the land God promised the Children of Israel because they had a different spirit and were willing to go when God said to go.
How does this relate to today? As I've mentioned in previous posts, as a church, we are in the beginning phase of refocusing our ministry. It is a process that can be met with resistance even if it is approached with considerable prayer and preparation. Even if we face resistance though, we must move forward if this is where God is calling us to go.
Looking at the word refocus, it has no meaning if we don’t realize that we are OUT of focus in the first place.
I’d like to think of it like this - it’s like looking through a telescope towards a moving ship on the bay… Over time, as the ship moves closer or farther away it goes out of focus, you can’t tell what it looks like… we haven’t moved, but the ship did. So, we have to twist the knob to bring it back to focus.
As a church, we’ve moved through the seasons of life and time. So has our community. As things have changed, we need God to twist our knob as a church in order to bring us back INTO focus.
Now, here we are, as a church, with God pressing us towards the process of refocusing our ministry to be effective in our community. We can look at it much like they did in Numbers 13, with 2 ways to go:
1) To engage the refocus while our purpose is still in sight, looking towards the future and it’s fruit.
Or
2) To not engage the process, and watch our church lose relevancy in the community and ultimately lose sight of it’s purpose completely.
I leave you with two questions to think about today:
1) Do we look at our community as being the land of God’s promise?
Or
2) Do we look at our community as being a place to avoid because it’s filled with giants and the ground is hard?
Let's not be so quick to disqualify ourselves or those God has placed in our lives. When we are empowered by His Spirit and called to the mission, He will meet all of our needs, prepare the ground in front of us and change the people we meet. Though there are giants in the land we shouldn't be afraid. God is with us!
Let's keep loving people, and keep Chasing the Mission!
Look at it, beginning with verses 1 and 2:
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders…
Now, skip down to verse 17 : Moses gave them specific instructions:
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.
19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they un-walled or fortified?
20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
They spent 40 days there… and came back to report what they saw!
Read from verse 26 on… The report has 2 very distinct parts:
Part 1 – (verse 26 & 27) – This is a land flowing with milk and honey!
What GREAT news… God is providing for our needs! Look at these grapes, for crying out loud! This is a land flowing with milk and honey! All we’ve had for the past couple of years is manna, quail and water – think of it! No more quail burgers, no more ba-manna-bread, no more manna-cotti...
Sounds AWESOME doesn't it? You can almost imagine Moses and the elders asking excitedly…What next? What other great news can you tell us?? Come on, let’s hear what next?? We can’t wait!!
Part 2 – BUT (why is there always a “but”?) – (verse 28 & 29) –
28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."
They named off every possible enemy (Specifically the giants) and excuse as to why NOT to go in and take the land (especially the giants)… if you look at the last verse in the chapter, you see that they thought little of themselves, let alone what others would think. “We are like grasshoppers in our own eyes…” They went so far as to say they’d rather go back to Egypt rather than enter the land.
They didn’t take into account that God was the one who promised them the land, and that if He was giving it to them that He would not just let them die, but He would show Himself strong and able to bring His word to pass.
Their rebellion and refusal to enter the land cost them another 40 years of wandering around the desert.
No, God didn’t desert them, He still dwelt among them in the Tabernacle; He still provided for them; He still led them with the pillar of fire by night and the cloud of smoke by day. Of all of those who left Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb went in to the land God promised the Children of Israel because they had a different spirit and were willing to go when God said to go.
How does this relate to today? As I've mentioned in previous posts, as a church, we are in the beginning phase of refocusing our ministry. It is a process that can be met with resistance even if it is approached with considerable prayer and preparation. Even if we face resistance though, we must move forward if this is where God is calling us to go.
Looking at the word refocus, it has no meaning if we don’t realize that we are OUT of focus in the first place.
I’d like to think of it like this - it’s like looking through a telescope towards a moving ship on the bay… Over time, as the ship moves closer or farther away it goes out of focus, you can’t tell what it looks like… we haven’t moved, but the ship did. So, we have to twist the knob to bring it back to focus.
As a church, we’ve moved through the seasons of life and time. So has our community. As things have changed, we need God to twist our knob as a church in order to bring us back INTO focus.
Now, here we are, as a church, with God pressing us towards the process of refocusing our ministry to be effective in our community. We can look at it much like they did in Numbers 13, with 2 ways to go:
1) To engage the refocus while our purpose is still in sight, looking towards the future and it’s fruit.
Or
2) To not engage the process, and watch our church lose relevancy in the community and ultimately lose sight of it’s purpose completely.
I leave you with two questions to think about today:
1) Do we look at our community as being the land of God’s promise?
Or
2) Do we look at our community as being a place to avoid because it’s filled with giants and the ground is hard?
Let's not be so quick to disqualify ourselves or those God has placed in our lives. When we are empowered by His Spirit and called to the mission, He will meet all of our needs, prepare the ground in front of us and change the people we meet. Though there are giants in the land we shouldn't be afraid. God is with us!
Let's keep loving people, and keep Chasing the Mission!
Tuesday
From Ponderosa Mom:
** A quick note, please feel free to respond in the comments section and I will post your response and do my best to reply! -p
Ponderosa Mom Wrote:
Great stuff here! I hope I'm responding to the right post here(4/19?)Here's a question-and I hope more folks will chime in as my husband and I are trying to learn more about what God is showing us in this area-
What would the Church look like as missional and truly empowered by the Holy Spirit?
It seems like we can be a type of "missional"(at least as I understand missional so far) without the Holy Spirit. In fact we can (and do) accomplish a lot of "good" things without much dependence on God at all. Money, numbers of people and a common goal can accomplish a lot. And this is what our family has been struck by and struggling with lately.
I read this teaching by a pastor recently and the truth of it hit me like a ton of bricks. He was talking about how the Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing by himself.."Jn. 5:19 (And in the Greek the word nothing has a unique meaning--it means nothing, just like in English). Anyway, he goes on to talk about the distinctions of Jesus' humanity in that 1.He had no sin to separate Him from the Father and 2.He was completely dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit working through Him. Then what are the distinctions of our humanity as believers?--We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and through His sacrifice nothing separates us from the Father. So there remains only one unsettled issue--How dependent on the Holy Spirit are we willing to live?
So when you talk about what is different today--and that not much is different in human needs--something rose up within me and cried out wanting to add "Our dependence on the Holy Spirit!--We really look different from the first church in that." I don't even understand all of what this means--more of a heart thing God is burning into us now.Thanks for any response to my long-winded question(where's the smiley face option here???)
My reply:
P-Mom!
I really appreciate your thoughts and questions, I hope I am able to answer at least some of it…
A short answer to your question (well not really, but there is one...):
“What would the Church look like as missional and truly empowered by the Holy Spirit?”
A truly empowered church (the Ekklessia – Called Out Ones, not the building) could “look” like anything we can imagine or have faith for. I think the only limiting factor would be our willingness to engage the Holy Spirit and see others through His eyes.
Being missional is a heart thing. It implies action, not out of performance, but out of a love for Jesus that would motivate us to love others (see John 21, the exchange between Jesus and Peter; “do you love me? …feed my sheep”). **Notice He didn’t say "teach them the four spiritual laws." Jesus used the practical to lead him to the spiritual.
According to Galatians 5.22-23, when we are empowered by the Spirit, we produce the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This fruit then produces something else… seeds; seeds produce trees that produce fruit and that fruit produces more seeds… It is starting to look like a garden before long…
In Acts 1, Jesus tells His disciples to wait for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit… they did and one of the results was that 3000 were added to them in one day. Not that we need to be into the “numbers” game, but in this instance, the numbers represent the power of the Spirit to change a man’s heart.
As the church, we need to measure success differently. Not by the size of our buildings or by the number and quality of the cars in the parking lot or by the amount of money we have in the bank. Rather, we need to measure success by the lives changed and the fruit of that changed life.
We must be dependent on the Spirit of God for everything and in everything.
So, there is a short answer to your question and I think you may already know the answer:
A missional church, empowered by the Holy Spirit looks just like you and your family engaging God where you are and where He's leading you.
If you believe God has placed a vision in your heart, I want to encourage you to look at the following scripture and as James said, "be doers of the word":
Habakkuk 2.1-3 (The Message)
The Questions
1 What's God going to say to my questions? I'm braced for the worst. I'll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I'll wait to see what God says, how he'll answer my complaint.
God’s Reply
2-3And then God answered: "Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run.This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming.It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on its way. It will come right on time.
Keep loving people, and keep Chasing the Mission! -pete
Friday
How about now?
I received a great question on the blog today:
"How long did Saul (who became Paul) spend studying before he went out and spread the message?"
Acts 9 speaks directly to this question. After his experience with Jesus on the Damascus Road and after the 3 days of being blind, Saul spent several days being with the disciples in Damascus. It says in verse 20 "At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God."
It got me thinking. How long should we spend studying before going out to spread the message? I am a big advocate for education, but we also need to make room for the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, there is no better preacher than a new believer. Someone who has had a dramatic encounter with our Lord and Savior has the "At once" thing bubbling inside, exploding to get out!
Remember: People can argue with our theology, but they can never argue with our experience. What God has done in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit can be accepted or rejected by men, but it can never be changed by their opinion.
Today is the day! Are you wondering when you should answer God's call? How about now?
Be the Good News! People need to know that there is Strength for today and Bright Hope for tomorrow.
Keep loving people, and keep Chasing the Mission!
"How long did Saul (who became Paul) spend studying before he went out and spread the message?"
Acts 9 speaks directly to this question. After his experience with Jesus on the Damascus Road and after the 3 days of being blind, Saul spent several days being with the disciples in Damascus. It says in verse 20 "At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God."
It got me thinking. How long should we spend studying before going out to spread the message? I am a big advocate for education, but we also need to make room for the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, there is no better preacher than a new believer. Someone who has had a dramatic encounter with our Lord and Savior has the "At once" thing bubbling inside, exploding to get out!
Remember: People can argue with our theology, but they can never argue with our experience. What God has done in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit can be accepted or rejected by men, but it can never be changed by their opinion.
Today is the day! Are you wondering when you should answer God's call? How about now?
Be the Good News! People need to know that there is Strength for today and Bright Hope for tomorrow.
Keep loving people, and keep Chasing the Mission!
Thursday
Let's spur one another on towards faith and good works-
(this is the long version of a sermon I preached recently. The group I spoke to was, predominantly, the elder population of our church)
Hebrews 10.23-25
23) Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
24) And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
25) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
My wife and I are starting a small group that meets on Friday nights. This past Friday night at the first meeting of our group, we began the search for the subject we wanted to focus on for the next few weeks.
We talked about many things (kids; jobs; life), then we talked about the purpose of the group
We eventually got to the subject of the purpose God’s church…
· Why do we have “church” and what does it mean
· Why do we need to come together in the first place… what is the reason for it all?
· How does it apply to today?
· How do we build it?
To see where God's taking us, we should look at where we've been
Being a student, I started looking for the church in the New Testament. The very first place it talks about “church” as such is in the book of Acts after the Pentecost day infilling with the Holy Spirit and Peter’s sermon (which by the way must have been some sermon as 3000 became believers that day).
Acts 2.42-47
42) They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43) Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44) All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45) Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
46) Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
CONTRASTING THE FIRST CHURCH WITH THE CHURCH TODAY:
What were they taught?
JESUS, Life/Crucifixion/Resurrection…
Sanctification and empowerment with the Holy Spirit
Teaching to REMEMBER
The only scriptures they had was the Old Testament
In reading Acts 1, you see that Jesus “opened their understanding” of the scriptures to them
Where did they meet?
Solomon’s Portico… the eastern covered area of the temple (referred to by name in Acts 3). They met at the most convenient place where they could all be together.
What did they do?
Told the story
Broke the bread – had communion to remember and ate meals together, etc…
Worshipped God
Built relationships
The Lord Added to them Daily – EVENGELISM…
They became Salt & Light. The tasty flavor and the beacon leading to salvation
The present: What do we do?
Has the message hasn’t changed?
No, we still preach Jesus Christ Crucified. Buried. Resurrected from death!
The world hasn’t changed!! we still have sin, poverty, pain
So, here we are 2000+ years later…
What’s different 2000 years later?
TV, Internet, Radio…
Are these things inherently evil? No, they are a means to communicate. It is us that isn’t using them to their full extent
People STILL need to hear the gospel
There is still sin in the world, we need Jesus
We still have the poor with us, they need Jesus
The addicts, etc…, they all need Jesus
Here we go… WE are the body of Christ, the anointed.
Anointed for what purpose? The same purpose to be salt and light and a beacon that leads people to forgiveness and salvation in Jesus!
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
Jesus tells us how in Acts 1, Jesus and the 11 disciples left having a meal>
Told them not to leave town.
Wait for the Promised Gift
He told them what it was… “John baptized with water… you will be baptized with the HOLY SPIRIT”
Gave them a JOB… and the power to do it…
Be my witness – FIRST in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then to Samaria, then to the ends of the world
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US TODAY?
Again, it’s the same…
We must be empowered by God’s Spirit
We must search out the call (JOB) He has for us to do
We must start right where we are, then go from there
MISSIONARY OR MISSIONAL?
So, am I saying that everyone is called to be a missionary? YES
Is everyone called to GO to a foreign mission field? NO
What did Jesus say?
FIRST in Jerusalem (where you are), then in Judea (where you live, the disciples didn’t live in Jerusalem) then to Samaria (where those who are aware of the truth but have walked away from it, i.e. backsliders, etc…) then to the (Personally, I like the Greek idiom best>) LAST OF THE LAND – Everywhere else…
What does it mean then that we are to be missionaries, actually EMMISARIES of God’s kingdom, but to not go to “The Mission Field”…. Well, it means that we are to, like Jesus said, start where you are.
Being missional means to look at life as a mission right where you are…
Doing the work of the ministry (WE ARE THE MINISTERS)
Being the hands and feet of Jesus to our neighbors
It’ll change how you view the person panhandling at Wal-Mart. Yes, Jesus loves him too!
There is a saying that has been credited to St. Francis of Assisi but no one is sure where it came from: “Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary”
We don’t know who really said it, but it is true none the less. People would be better served if we SHOWED them Jesus by our love rather than telling them they are in sin.
We are called to be salt and light to our world, remember the BEACON of hope, leading to the Hope Giver.
We can’t forget Jesus warning with that one – if the salt looses its flavor, what good is it?
Now let’s bring this even closer to home… Here is where the meddling begins!
Where in the bible does it say anything about retirement at age 65?
Is there a “Spiritual Security Retirement” program that kicks in when you reach 65? How about 70?
Not that I’ve found, and believe me, I look for loopholes.
Moses as and example:
At 40, he heard God’s call to free the Israelites.
Took matters into his hands (didn’t wait for God’s timing or empowering) and murdered a man. He then ran away to the desert where he waited. At 80, God spoke to him again, this time giving specific instructions. He led the children of Israel through the wilderness, heard God and did many great things (like writing the bible), and many miracles were done through him for the next 40 years!
The Gospel hasn’t changed, the Mission hasn’t changed. Maybe we have?
So. To bring things back to the my intention today –
“To provoke one another on toward love and good deeds” I really like the King James word PROVOKE
How can we get beyond the thing in all of us that wants to kick back and say “we’ve done our part” or “I’ve paid my dues” or “let someone else do it, I want to ‘retire’”?
This is what Oswald Chambers said about RETIREMENT:
WE are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is, our one object is to secure retirement. The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of provoking one another and of keeping together – both of which require initiative, the initiative of Christ-realization, not self-realization. To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus taught it!...
(*NOTE: Antipodes is a geographical opposite i.e. Australia is the antipodes of England)
….The danger of spiritual sluggishness is that we do not wish to be stirred up, all we want to hear about is spiritual retirement. Jesus never encourages that idea of retirement – “Go tell my brothers”
(as in Mt 28.8,9 - So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.")
Think about it…after Jesus went to the cross, the disciples were alone for those 3 days wondering what the last 3 years were about. They must have felt absolute loss and defeat. They just wanted to go home and give up… retire from ministry as it were..
What did Jesus say when he rose from the dead? Go and tell my brothers… don’t retire just yet!!
Remember, we have the advantage here. We get to read the book and we know how the story ends! We know that Jesus did exactly what He said He would do. He rose from the dead. They didn't have time to put all the clues He spelled out for them together.
Questions for today:
Are you just hanging on until Jesus takes us home?
Have you “retired” from your job? Ministry too?
If Jesus were to call you to engage again, would you?
In man’s society, the older generation hands off the running of things to the next generation behind them and go off to RETIREMENT, giving up the responsibility.
In God’s society, we honor our elders and look to you for guidance.
We need our earthly “GRAND-parents”
Your wisdom
Your mistakes
Your heart
We need your dreams, hopes and aspirations…
Why did you build your church to begin with?
What are your abilities?
What has God given you the ability to do?
Physical infirmities only limit your body, not your imagination or your spirit.
Romans 12.4-13
4) Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5) so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
6) We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
7) If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
8) if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
9) Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
10) Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
11) Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
12) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
13) Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
What has God called you to?
Are you chasing it?
Have you backed away from it?
Can I provoke you today to chase after God’s call and purpose in your life? We need our spiritual parents and grandparents, those who’ve gone before us and blazed the trail we now walk on. We need your prayers, your encouragement, your skill and wisdom. We need to learn from the mistakes you’ve made along the way because, quite frankly, we don’t have the time to make them all ourselves.
So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Hebrews 10.22-25-The Message
(this is the long version of a sermon I preached recently. The group I spoke to was, predominantly, the elder population of our church)
Hebrews 10.23-25
23) Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
24) And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
25) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
My wife and I are starting a small group that meets on Friday nights. This past Friday night at the first meeting of our group, we began the search for the subject we wanted to focus on for the next few weeks.
We talked about many things (kids; jobs; life), then we talked about the purpose of the group
We eventually got to the subject of the purpose God’s church…
· Why do we have “church” and what does it mean
· Why do we need to come together in the first place… what is the reason for it all?
· How does it apply to today?
· How do we build it?
To see where God's taking us, we should look at where we've been
Being a student, I started looking for the church in the New Testament. The very first place it talks about “church” as such is in the book of Acts after the Pentecost day infilling with the Holy Spirit and Peter’s sermon (which by the way must have been some sermon as 3000 became believers that day).
Acts 2.42-47
42) They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43) Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44) All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45) Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
46) Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
CONTRASTING THE FIRST CHURCH WITH THE CHURCH TODAY:
What were they taught?
JESUS, Life/Crucifixion/Resurrection…
Sanctification and empowerment with the Holy Spirit
Teaching to REMEMBER
The only scriptures they had was the Old Testament
In reading Acts 1, you see that Jesus “opened their understanding” of the scriptures to them
Where did they meet?
Solomon’s Portico… the eastern covered area of the temple (referred to by name in Acts 3). They met at the most convenient place where they could all be together.
What did they do?
Told the story
Broke the bread – had communion to remember and ate meals together, etc…
Worshipped God
Built relationships
The Lord Added to them Daily – EVENGELISM…
They became Salt & Light. The tasty flavor and the beacon leading to salvation
The present: What do we do?
Has the message hasn’t changed?
No, we still preach Jesus Christ Crucified. Buried. Resurrected from death!
The world hasn’t changed!! we still have sin, poverty, pain
So, here we are 2000+ years later…
What’s different 2000 years later?
TV, Internet, Radio…
Are these things inherently evil? No, they are a means to communicate. It is us that isn’t using them to their full extent
People STILL need to hear the gospel
There is still sin in the world, we need Jesus
We still have the poor with us, they need Jesus
The addicts, etc…, they all need Jesus
Here we go… WE are the body of Christ, the anointed.
Anointed for what purpose? The same purpose to be salt and light and a beacon that leads people to forgiveness and salvation in Jesus!
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
Jesus tells us how in Acts 1, Jesus and the 11 disciples left having a meal>
Told them not to leave town.
Wait for the Promised Gift
He told them what it was… “John baptized with water… you will be baptized with the HOLY SPIRIT”
Gave them a JOB… and the power to do it…
Be my witness – FIRST in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then to Samaria, then to the ends of the world
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US TODAY?
Again, it’s the same…
We must be empowered by God’s Spirit
We must search out the call (JOB) He has for us to do
We must start right where we are, then go from there
MISSIONARY OR MISSIONAL?
So, am I saying that everyone is called to be a missionary? YES
Is everyone called to GO to a foreign mission field? NO
What did Jesus say?
FIRST in Jerusalem (where you are), then in Judea (where you live, the disciples didn’t live in Jerusalem) then to Samaria (where those who are aware of the truth but have walked away from it, i.e. backsliders, etc…) then to the (Personally, I like the Greek idiom best>) LAST OF THE LAND – Everywhere else…
What does it mean then that we are to be missionaries, actually EMMISARIES of God’s kingdom, but to not go to “The Mission Field”…. Well, it means that we are to, like Jesus said, start where you are.
Being missional means to look at life as a mission right where you are…
Doing the work of the ministry (WE ARE THE MINISTERS)
Being the hands and feet of Jesus to our neighbors
It’ll change how you view the person panhandling at Wal-Mart. Yes, Jesus loves him too!
There is a saying that has been credited to St. Francis of Assisi but no one is sure where it came from: “Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary”
We don’t know who really said it, but it is true none the less. People would be better served if we SHOWED them Jesus by our love rather than telling them they are in sin.
We are called to be salt and light to our world, remember the BEACON of hope, leading to the Hope Giver.
We can’t forget Jesus warning with that one – if the salt looses its flavor, what good is it?
Now let’s bring this even closer to home… Here is where the meddling begins!
Where in the bible does it say anything about retirement at age 65?
Is there a “Spiritual Security Retirement” program that kicks in when you reach 65? How about 70?
Not that I’ve found, and believe me, I look for loopholes.
Moses as and example:
At 40, he heard God’s call to free the Israelites.
Took matters into his hands (didn’t wait for God’s timing or empowering) and murdered a man. He then ran away to the desert where he waited. At 80, God spoke to him again, this time giving specific instructions. He led the children of Israel through the wilderness, heard God and did many great things (like writing the bible), and many miracles were done through him for the next 40 years!
The Gospel hasn’t changed, the Mission hasn’t changed. Maybe we have?
So. To bring things back to the my intention today –
“To provoke one another on toward love and good deeds” I really like the King James word PROVOKE
How can we get beyond the thing in all of us that wants to kick back and say “we’ve done our part” or “I’ve paid my dues” or “let someone else do it, I want to ‘retire’”?
This is what Oswald Chambers said about RETIREMENT:
WE are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is, our one object is to secure retirement. The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of provoking one another and of keeping together – both of which require initiative, the initiative of Christ-realization, not self-realization. To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus taught it!...
(*NOTE: Antipodes is a geographical opposite i.e. Australia is the antipodes of England)
….The danger of spiritual sluggishness is that we do not wish to be stirred up, all we want to hear about is spiritual retirement. Jesus never encourages that idea of retirement – “Go tell my brothers”
(as in Mt 28.8,9 - So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.")
Think about it…after Jesus went to the cross, the disciples were alone for those 3 days wondering what the last 3 years were about. They must have felt absolute loss and defeat. They just wanted to go home and give up… retire from ministry as it were..
What did Jesus say when he rose from the dead? Go and tell my brothers… don’t retire just yet!!
Remember, we have the advantage here. We get to read the book and we know how the story ends! We know that Jesus did exactly what He said He would do. He rose from the dead. They didn't have time to put all the clues He spelled out for them together.
Questions for today:
Are you just hanging on until Jesus takes us home?
Have you “retired” from your job? Ministry too?
If Jesus were to call you to engage again, would you?
In man’s society, the older generation hands off the running of things to the next generation behind them and go off to RETIREMENT, giving up the responsibility.
In God’s society, we honor our elders and look to you for guidance.
We need our earthly “GRAND-parents”
Your wisdom
Your mistakes
Your heart
We need your dreams, hopes and aspirations…
Why did you build your church to begin with?
What are your abilities?
What has God given you the ability to do?
Physical infirmities only limit your body, not your imagination or your spirit.
Romans 12.4-13
4) Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5) so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
6) We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
7) If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
8) if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
9) Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
10) Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
11) Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
12) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
13) Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
What has God called you to?
Are you chasing it?
Have you backed away from it?
Can I provoke you today to chase after God’s call and purpose in your life? We need our spiritual parents and grandparents, those who’ve gone before us and blazed the trail we now walk on. We need your prayers, your encouragement, your skill and wisdom. We need to learn from the mistakes you’ve made along the way because, quite frankly, we don’t have the time to make them all ourselves.
So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Hebrews 10.22-25-The Message
Tuesday
Questions to think about:
Is “missional” a real word?
Yes. It may not be in every dictionary, but the Oxford English Dictionary says the word has been around for almost 100 years. Missional is an adjective that describes the way in which we do all of our activities rather than identifying any one particular activity. Within the last few years it has come into more common use. To be missional is to align all of the program, function and activities of the church around the mission of God in the world.
What is the difference between a missional church and a church with a mission program?
A church with a mission program usually sees missions as one activity alongside many activities of the church – Sunday school, worship, helping people, hospitality and other programs. A missional church focuses all of its activities around its participation in God’s mission in the world. That means: It trains people, it worships and it practices mutual support and serves the community around it while the world watches. A church with a missions program sends others to witness on their behalf. A missional church understands that it is the congregation itself that is sent by God to proclaim and to be a sign of the reign of God. Just as God sent Jesus, now Jesus sends the church.
What’s so new about the missional church? Aren’t we already missional?
Many local congregations have already begun the journey to become more missional, but have never recognized themselves as such. Some congregations are becoming more missional and are eager to share the story of their journey. Other congregations make a distinction between witness outside the church and the rest of congregational life. The vision of a missional church invites all of the being and doing of the church to become shaped by what God intends for the world.
Does being a missional church mean starting a lot of new activities? We’re already so busy.
A missional church does not necessarily do more outreach activities. In fact, a missional church may do fewer things, but do them better. To be a missional church means to discern how this particular congregation’s calling is aligned with God’s mission in the world. To be a missional church means to orient all of the life of the church around God’s mission.
Isn’t this just another church growth thing?
Many missional congregations are growing in numbers. But the missional church vision is not a technique or a way of increasing market share; it is a way of understanding the true calling of the church. It is a way of life for the church. Rather than merely focusing on a congregation’s size, the missional church vision calls us to focus on God's kingdom and calling. For a congregation, that means to be a living sign and foretaste of God’s new creation. It also means inviting people to become a part of God’s new community.
Does being a missional church mean that evangelism is more important than Christian education?
No. It would be a mistake to invite people to become citizens of God’s kingdom without equipping them for life in it. The purpose of the church is to proclaim and be a sign of the reign of God. A missional church is intentional about both its witness and service to those outside the community of faith and how its life together gives people a glimpse of God’s new reality.
What connection does the missional church concept have with the unique situation churches are facing in North America?
Key to the identity of a missional church is being an alternative society within the dominant culture. When the church proclaims and is a sign of the reign of God – whether by loving enemies or welcoming those on the margins – it will be a contrast community in the eyes of the world. Many Christian traditions that had previously enjoyed a privileged status in the dominant North American culture no longer do. The missional church perspective offers important clues on how to be the church when not at the center of things.
Can the church simultaneously be both nonconformed to the world and engaged in witness to Jesus Christ in the world?
Yes. Missional congregations demonstrate full engagement in witness to the world, but in a way that is different from the world. That witness is grounded in Jesus Christ, who calls us to be “in the world… but not of it”
Isn’t that risky?
It usually is. Churches that are in the world, but not of the world, take a lot of risks – physical, financial, social. They are not universally liked. These churches are able to take risks for the sake of the reign of God because they depend on the Holy Spirit for power to serve and to witness. These chruches spend a lot of time praying. They also know that, even if they experience rejection in the short run, the final victory belongs to God.
GROW the saved, SAVE the lost, CARE for the downtrodden!
Is “missional” a real word?
Yes. It may not be in every dictionary, but the Oxford English Dictionary says the word has been around for almost 100 years. Missional is an adjective that describes the way in which we do all of our activities rather than identifying any one particular activity. Within the last few years it has come into more common use. To be missional is to align all of the program, function and activities of the church around the mission of God in the world.
What is the difference between a missional church and a church with a mission program?
A church with a mission program usually sees missions as one activity alongside many activities of the church – Sunday school, worship, helping people, hospitality and other programs. A missional church focuses all of its activities around its participation in God’s mission in the world. That means: It trains people, it worships and it practices mutual support and serves the community around it while the world watches. A church with a missions program sends others to witness on their behalf. A missional church understands that it is the congregation itself that is sent by God to proclaim and to be a sign of the reign of God. Just as God sent Jesus, now Jesus sends the church.
What’s so new about the missional church? Aren’t we already missional?
Many local congregations have already begun the journey to become more missional, but have never recognized themselves as such. Some congregations are becoming more missional and are eager to share the story of their journey. Other congregations make a distinction between witness outside the church and the rest of congregational life. The vision of a missional church invites all of the being and doing of the church to become shaped by what God intends for the world.
Does being a missional church mean starting a lot of new activities? We’re already so busy.
A missional church does not necessarily do more outreach activities. In fact, a missional church may do fewer things, but do them better. To be a missional church means to discern how this particular congregation’s calling is aligned with God’s mission in the world. To be a missional church means to orient all of the life of the church around God’s mission.
Isn’t this just another church growth thing?
Many missional congregations are growing in numbers. But the missional church vision is not a technique or a way of increasing market share; it is a way of understanding the true calling of the church. It is a way of life for the church. Rather than merely focusing on a congregation’s size, the missional church vision calls us to focus on God's kingdom and calling. For a congregation, that means to be a living sign and foretaste of God’s new creation. It also means inviting people to become a part of God’s new community.
Does being a missional church mean that evangelism is more important than Christian education?
No. It would be a mistake to invite people to become citizens of God’s kingdom without equipping them for life in it. The purpose of the church is to proclaim and be a sign of the reign of God. A missional church is intentional about both its witness and service to those outside the community of faith and how its life together gives people a glimpse of God’s new reality.
What connection does the missional church concept have with the unique situation churches are facing in North America?
Key to the identity of a missional church is being an alternative society within the dominant culture. When the church proclaims and is a sign of the reign of God – whether by loving enemies or welcoming those on the margins – it will be a contrast community in the eyes of the world. Many Christian traditions that had previously enjoyed a privileged status in the dominant North American culture no longer do. The missional church perspective offers important clues on how to be the church when not at the center of things.
Can the church simultaneously be both nonconformed to the world and engaged in witness to Jesus Christ in the world?
Yes. Missional congregations demonstrate full engagement in witness to the world, but in a way that is different from the world. That witness is grounded in Jesus Christ, who calls us to be “in the world… but not of it”
Isn’t that risky?
It usually is. Churches that are in the world, but not of the world, take a lot of risks – physical, financial, social. They are not universally liked. These churches are able to take risks for the sake of the reign of God because they depend on the Holy Spirit for power to serve and to witness. These chruches spend a lot of time praying. They also know that, even if they experience rejection in the short run, the final victory belongs to God.
GROW the saved, SAVE the lost, CARE for the downtrodden!
Saturday
The question... What is Missional and why is everyone talking about it?
My understanding of it is that a missional church could become an alternative community, having a different set of values from the "traditional" church, i.e. not being inward focused on programs and marketing to build numbers and to serve it's own membership. But being a church that has core values based on serving the needs of the community OUTSIDE the church, as in feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, etc...
It means looking at "success" in a different way. Rather than the size of the building, the number of attendees and how big is the budget for this program or that, but looking at what impact we are having on the community around us. Are we seeing the lost come to Jesus? Are there people around us that have needs that we can meet? If we can't meet them, can we network with someone who can? Are we equipping believers to be something more than someone who invites a friend to a meeting when we should be equipping missionaries to go out into our community? Are we carrying out the great commission?
I'll paraphrase from a book I'm reading called "Breaking the Missional Code" by Ed Stetzer and David Putman. Missional thinking is a shift in what we think as well as how we think it.
It is a paradigm shift:
Now, what does a missional church look like?? Pretty much anything you can imagine - A church where people are exploring and rediscovering what it means to be Jesus' sent people as their identity. Engaging WITH the culture and BEING Jesus to them rather than just sitting inside the building singing songs about it, while looking out the doors and saying "someone should do something about..."
I guess I could sum this whole diatribe up like this... DO justice, LOVE mercy, WALK HUMBLY with God. The good news isn't something we just talk about among ourselves on Sunday, because if it really is GOOD news, we will want to share it with everyone we meet!!
My understanding of it is that a missional church could become an alternative community, having a different set of values from the "traditional" church, i.e. not being inward focused on programs and marketing to build numbers and to serve it's own membership. But being a church that has core values based on serving the needs of the community OUTSIDE the church, as in feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, etc...
It means looking at "success" in a different way. Rather than the size of the building, the number of attendees and how big is the budget for this program or that, but looking at what impact we are having on the community around us. Are we seeing the lost come to Jesus? Are there people around us that have needs that we can meet? If we can't meet them, can we network with someone who can? Are we equipping believers to be something more than someone who invites a friend to a meeting when we should be equipping missionaries to go out into our community? Are we carrying out the great commission?
I'll paraphrase from a book I'm reading called "Breaking the Missional Code" by Ed Stetzer and David Putman. Missional thinking is a shift in what we think as well as how we think it.
It is a paradigm shift:
- From programs to processes
- From demographics to discernment
- From models to mission
- From attractional to incarnational
- From uniformity to diversity
- From professional to passionate
- From seating to sending
- From decisions to disciples
- From additional to exponential
- From monuments to movements
Now, what does a missional church look like?? Pretty much anything you can imagine - A church where people are exploring and rediscovering what it means to be Jesus' sent people as their identity. Engaging WITH the culture and BEING Jesus to them rather than just sitting inside the building singing songs about it, while looking out the doors and saying "someone should do something about..."
I guess I could sum this whole diatribe up like this... DO justice, LOVE mercy, WALK HUMBLY with God. The good news isn't something we just talk about among ourselves on Sunday, because if it really is GOOD news, we will want to share it with everyone we meet!!
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