One of the things I hope to accomplish through the three year strategic plan we are developing is to change our focus from a conventional ministry model to a missional model. A conventional model usually makes the weekly worship service(s) and the building the organizing principle of the church with evangelism and outreach designed to recruit people to the worship services and the other organized programs.
Don't get me wrong here. I am not saying worship and programming in unimportant. We need both and growth in both areas is essential to the efforts of WHFC. What we need to embrace however is that natural church growth will occur through our missional endeavors for Christ.
As a missional church we will no longer view missions, evangelism and discipleship as just a function of the church but as a principle related to who we are as Christ followers. They will be a natural impulse because of who we are. It is the Holy Spirit sending us out into the world to declare the lordship of Jesus Christ in all and over all of creation while at the same time working in us to will and do His good pleasure (Eph. 1:23 - "The church is to bring the fullness of Him who fills all in all"). It will involve sharing the Gospel, planting churches, feeding the hungry, working against injustice, etc., in community with one another. Our goal is to infiltrate every level/aspect of society and stake a claim for Jesus; viewing every moment of our existence as holiness unto the Lord and leading to our transformation into Christ likeness.
In Ephesians Paul talks about how the Church is a part of God's eternal purpose. "Through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that He has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord" (3:10-11). What is Paul saying? That the fullness of God is not experienced/seen until the Church is unleashed in the world. Only then is the wisdom (or knowledge of) God revealed in both heaven and on the earth. (Wow, did Paul really say that?)
Today's world will not know of Christ through conventional means. We must organize and mobilize ourselves missionally over the next three years. I trust our leadership and attendees will follow God's lead on this matter. Let's double clutch, grab a new gear, and go!
Thanks for stopping by!
------
Adrian
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The role of the "Church" in America is being redefined. The social welfare ground that once belonged to family, church and philanthopy was been given to the Government decades ago. Roosevelt started the ball rolling in the 1930's and here we find ourselves with a President that believes government is the solution to our problems and will provide our basic needs.
ReplyDeleteThe time has come for the People of God to take our place in the arena of public discourse and stand toe to toe with the giant that is usurping the basic rights of the people.
The fundamental truth that our freedom comes from our Creator has been and is aggressively being undermined by our leaders.
God has placed these tyrants over us for a reason. I believe it is to show us where He wants the Body to impact the world. We can't compete with the welfare state, there isn't enough money. The immoral confiscatory taxation Americans are under limits our ability to give. The truth is there simply is no reason anyone should be hungry, homeless, thirsty, naked or alone in this nation, save one. Government corruption and malfeasance. There is billions of dollars taken by the "beast" for the purpose of addressing these issues and yet the people are constantly being squeezed for more.
I believe the Church should stand as an advocate for freedom in the face of an oppressive Government that must be held accountable for its actions and be confronted for its failure in meeting its responsibilities.
Only God can engage the Beast, we are His ambassadors.
Carry on!
“The church”
ReplyDeletea. A meeting place where people can....
b. The collective body of Christ followers.
c. Two or more gathered in His name.
The questions are,
a. “Who is sitting in the chairs when we hold service?”
b. “Why do a certain percentage of those people not exhibit what we would define as behavioral Christ –likeness (missions, evangelism and discipleship)?”
c. “If we are have discerned that missions, evangelism and discipleship are not ‘up to par’, what is the solution and who has the ability to change those patterns?”
Solution,
a. We must recognize; that if our goal is to increase the percentage of current attendees who exhibit the above mentioned Christ-likeness from within our current group of attendees, (and thereby becoming the model of the Ephesians/Paul defined church), then evangelism would be a fundamental cornerstone in building those numbers.
You see, to me, the primary passion in my heart if for the attendee who comes to our fellowship seeking something, (sometimes week in and out) and leaves without engaging the relationship that so many of us testify too, (through word and action) as being the defining point of our lives. Anyone’s passion for planting churches, feeding the hungry, working against injustice, etc, is simply Jesus living through us and I believe that evangelism within our weekly service structure is still a viable, needed, and fundamental way for Jesus to present Himself, change lives, and subsequently implement the very passions we discuss here.
Paul sums it up by saying in Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
"You see, to me, the primary passion in my heart if for the attendee who comes to our fellowship seeking something, (sometimes week in and out) and leaves without engaging the relationship that so many of us testify too, (through word and action) as being the defining point of our lives."
ReplyDeleteWow .. this is the first bit of non-noise (1 Cor 13) I have seen on this forum in quite a while .. someone actually caring about what the human next to them in the pew or chair or car or seat might be experiencing in their live. The Christian revolution will begin when we stop talking about 3 year plans, 2nd sanctification, political voicing to slay the Beast ... and break out of our tight knit groups of close friends that are actually closed to anyone new .. and begin to Love the people that the Holy Spirit causes us to encounter in our everyday walks at work, at the store, in the neighborhood and even at the meetingplace. All interaction that can possible influence another human takes place when one human interacts with another human and the Holy Spirit anoints it. It is all about Love brothers and sisters, and the relationships which WILL come to pass if we Love one another ... everything else is just noise !!