Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Prayer, Numbers, Systems, Work Hard & Faith - PART ONE

This week I've begun to shake down a few key issues related to doing what it takes to lead a Jesus centered church. That is a community of believers who are committed to following Jesus as He leads us to people to whom we give our love, our lives and share with them the truth about our Lord.
Fact One - Jesus loves people. And He has determined that it is His church that will undertake and complete His Mission of salvation with and for Him (Ephesians 3:7-12).
Fact Two - Jesus has determined that it is through the communication of the truth about Him (His Godhead, Life, Death and Resurrection) that we can become aware and confess our brokenness and our need for forgiveness... before we can enter into His eternal Kingdom of life (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
Fact Three - The Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Jesus) in His Eternal Wisdom has determined that some followers are given the specific gift of leadership.
Fact Four - Christ's love for us compels us to reach out and tell others the truth about Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
Fact Five - Our Competence to undertake this Ministry comes FROM God through Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:4-6).
Fact Six - God's grace through Jesus not only qualifies, equips and compels me, it drives me to engage and work at sharing the truth of Jesus in culturally relevant ways with others... (1 Corinthians 15:10-11 & 9:19-23)
Fact Seven - All of this knowing that God's Grace and my work for Jesus is never in vain and, god willing, so some might also be saved (1 Corinthians 9:19-23 & 15:58).
Later this Week I will share a little of how I see all this Truth practically 'happening' in a western church plant.

1 comment:

Jeanne said...

Hey Will, so encouraged to jump on your blog every couple of days and read what you are learning...seems like so much!! So thrilled. Much, much love, Jeanne