Acts

As you can probably tell by some of my recent blog posts, I have pitched my tent in the Book of Acts for the time being. I have been lingering there, hoping to get some direction from the struggles and the example of the early church. I'm trying to learn about what it means to be a church by reading about the FIRST church. God's Word, as promised, has not returned void.

Perhaps you have already read about the early church and some of its characteristics. I wrote about them in a post called, strangely enough, Church. (Yeah, I  know. I like to stretch the envelope of creativity as often as I can) ANYWAY, there were several points in the blog post, directly taken from the Book of Acts (Chapter 2), by which a church should pattern itself - prayer, worship, communion, fellowship, etc. Well, this week I have another list for you, also from the Book of Acts, specifically chapter 11:19-30. This list came from a video message delivered by David Platt. The list also serves as a help for our pastors, leaders and members to follow as they run our churches because, frankly, some of us need it. So as you read this, examine yourself and your church. Are you/they doing what God intended of His church. This list is called . . .

Ten Exhortations from The Church at Antioch

1. Let's raise up ordinary people in the church who will do extraordinary things in the kingdom (v19-20). Every church has people who God has gifted with certain skills and talents. We need to find a ministry for these "ordinary people," stand back and watch God use them in extraordinary ways. You will be amazed what God can do!
2. Let's embrace suffering as a God-ordained means for the accomplishment of the Great Commission (v19, also chapters 7 & 8). No one has to tell the people in our community about suffering, especially lately with the death of a 17 year young girl in our community (Kameron). Times of suffering draw us closer to God and those that don't know Jesus, in a time of pain, are more likely to reach out in hopes of healing than when times are good.
3. Let's penetrate lostness through externally-focused, intentionally-faithful proclamation of The Gospel (Ch 11v20). The majority of church plants bring in people from other churches. We need to reach the lost, not build churches for other believers.
4. Let's not build our ministries on counting decisions but on making disciples (v22-26). The concern of the early church was spreading the gospel, not creating programs to draw people to themselves. They we out!
5. Let's lead and plant churches that not only go aggressively after spiritual needs but also give sacrificially toward physical needs (v 27-30). Churches gave to others, each according to their ability. We need to physically live out the Gospel, not just preach it.
6. Let's love the glory of God more than we love our own lives (Ch 13). Let's bless the Lord in our worship. People who love the glory of God will live to spread the word of God. There are 250 million lost people in North America!
7. Let's fast and pray in desperate dependence on the Holy Spirit (v3). The message we spread is foolishness to those who are perishing. Why would the lost believe us? We MUST depend on God's Holy Spirit! Without it we don't have a chance!! We need spiritual provision MORE than we need physical provision.
8. Let's commission brothers and sisters in the context of community (v 3). The local church is God's chosen means for the training and sending of pastors, church planters and missionaries. Let's stop bragging about seating capacity and start increasing our SENDING capacity.
9. Let's trust that intentionally making disciples inevitably leads to multiplying churches (v4-5). SO much of what we associate with the church today are no where to be found in the book of Acts - elaborate programs, exquisite buildings. We have the people of God and the Word of Gods. That is enough!
10. Let's leave a legacy of disciple makers, church planters and pastors, all across North America, for the fame of God's name.

I have a question for you today. I would like you to think about the question and pray about it before you answer it. The question, simply, is this, "If God gave you everything you asked for today, what would you have?"

Interesting . . .

Let us not underestimate what our God can do! The formula is simple. It's right there in the Book of Acts! We are God's people. We have been given God's Word. The only thing left is for us to spread the Gospel. God will take care of everything else. Let us be a people who make disciples. That is what we are called to do! By Jesus!!! Who are we going to reach today with the message of God?

The Church of Antioch in Acts 11 by David Platt (The full message)

Missions

I have been on several mission trips. How about you? Have you ever traveled to a remote location
and served God by serving others? I've been to Mississippi, Louisiana, and northern Minnesota. Others I know have ventured as far as Venezuela, Romania, Turkey and even Iran. Mission trips can be a wonderful experience. But do we need to travel large distances to make the experience worth it? Interesting question.

The church I am currently attending has determined that taking a trip to Northern Minnesota is not worth the distance traveled for the result gained. Yet every year or so we choose to send a group of adults and teens to Venezuela. What's the difference? Why is one destination more important than another? I'm not complaining, just wondering.

I attended an area church recently - one of those larger ones where nobody really knows your name. It wasn't until after the worship service, as I was leaving the building, that I noticed the sign over the doors. "You are now entering the mission field."

I stopped and stared at the sign, letting the message soak in, as dozens of people flowed around me like I was a rock in a river. I am now entering the mission field . . . . hmmm. "The mission field is right outside these doors?" I thought to myself.

In the Book of John there is a story entitled "Jesus and the Woman of Samaria" - aka The Woman at the Well. You can read it here. Jesus went on a trip to Judea and was headed for Galilee next. To do so he had to travel through Samaria. Jews and Samaritans did not get along to well from what I read so why even go through that area? But that didn't stop Jesus. He was on a mission . . . a mission trip. His entire LIFE was a mission trip! But let's focus on this one part for a moment.

After Jesus had spoken to the woman at the well he was talking to his disciples who had just returned from their search for food.

"34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest."

The entire world is a mission field. It's where you work. It's where you go to school. The mission field not only exists outside the very walls of your church but within them as well. And the people we are to reach are ready (white) for the harvest. (grains of wheat turn white when they are ready to be harvested). People have BEEN ready for thousands of years! There are ALWAYS people waiting to hear the gospel. "The POOR you will always have with you" (Mark 14:7)

So why do churches travel great distances to "reach people with the gospel" when those just outside the doors of our church are hungry for the word of God? Good question. Could it be that "the journey" is what makes the destination more meaningful? Again, not complaining here. Just asking a question.

If we say, "My church went to South Dakota this year to spread The Word." Why is that more important than,  "I went and talked to a homeless guy living under the railroad bridge behind WalMart."

Maybe I am wrong but I think many mission trips these days are more about "us" than they are about "them." I feel mission trips serve a purpose, especially youth-based trips, but are those ON the trip more important that those encountered along the way?

The point of this blog post is NOT to bash mission trips. But the intent IS to make sure that the "mission" of the trip is spreading the Gospel, WHEREVER the mission field is.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," - Matthew 28-19

If we are to "make disciples of all nations" that obviously will involve a little travel. But let us not forget those in our own communities who need to hear the Good News we have in our hearts. That we are born sinners and therefore eternally separated from God, who demands perfection. We can never provide that on our own. "But in stepped Jesus." (See Propaganda video below) The only way we can make amends to a Holy, Righteous God is through a sacrifice - the sacrifice of a spotless lamb. Jesus WAS that lamb and He was sacrificed for our sins. That gift, that grace, is available to ANYONE who believes in Him, the Son of the Living God.

So, wherever you are, wherever you go today, think of yourself as being on a mission trip for Jesus. Who will be your "Woman at the Well? And what will you say? Who will you speak to about Jesus? Because THAT should be the TRUE meaning of ANY mission trip. Jesus!

The G.O.S.P.E.L. - by Propaganda