Changing the world is ultimately God's work. However, God has created, called and equipped us to work with Him in the effort to reconcile the entire world to Himself! As Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God) has instructed, our job is to ask this question, "God, what are You doing in the world and how can we join You in it?" If we are to join God in His reconciling work we must commit to obeying God by allowing these three foundational elements to be powerfully present in our daily lives:
1. Lead from our knees
This is committing to a life of prayer. Not just verbally offering up platitudes to God, but pursuing God's manifested presence in our life! Striving toward such intimate connection with God that hearing His voice and sensing His desires becomes one of our highest priorities! Consider reading about Daniel, King David, Nehemiah or many other biblical examples of leading first from our knees so that we can then lead from a position of spiritual strength and confidence!
2. Choose to lose
This is choosing to serve instead of expecting to be served. This is living out the words of John the Baptist when he said of Jesus, "he must become greater, I must become less". This is willingly giving up our need to be right, our ego, our pride, our desires, even our hopes and dreams, if it will further the expansion of God's kingdom! Read through the gospels and look at the life of Jesus. His entire life was an example of choosing to lose so that something greater could be accomplished!
3. Live to love
This is making the Great Commandment the centerpiece of our lives! To love God with everything that we are and then to love others and ourselves! Speaker Jared Jones recently said these words, "Your love for others is your love for Jesus gone public"! That's what God wants us to live! He wants us to learn to love Him with all that is within us! Then He wants us to let that love overflow out of us to a world that longs to be loved! Another key part is for Jesus followers to love each other. Jesus clearly said that the world would know that we love Him by how we love each other! It's not cliche to say that Love changes the world, because "God is Love"!
Pray - Serve - Love: These are the foundational elements to being a world changing church! There are many, many other things we can do, be and strive towards, but if we can begin with these three, we will be well on our way to being the agents of reconciliation that God longs for us to be! Let's change the world together...one community...one family...one person at a time!
In His Grip,
Pastor John
4 comments:
First post - EVER!
Sorry, had to do that. Someone might get a kick out of it.
Seriously, though, thank you for taking the time to reach out to those of us at the Mooresville Church of God before you are even employed here!
This my first blog post ever!
Seriously. I am slowly adopting technology. Forget the thought of texting the world, though.
Many of us at the church are experiencing God through this interim period. He is truly at work around us, and I look forward to joining Him in His work with Pastor John Crump.
Pastor John,
Welcome to the Mooresville area. While I am a member of another church in Mooresville, I welcome you to our community and pray that God will truly bless your ministry at MCG! We are all brothers in the Lord and working toward a common goal... that all might come to know our Jesus!!
1. Lead from my knees: I am realizing that everything I do on my own is doomed to fail. Instead, I am learning to let God be my compass directing me and my ministry. This is done through the life of prayer Pastor John spoke of.
2. Choose to lose: I am learning that it doesn’t have to be my way and particularly at church. In fact, it’s far better when it’s not my way!
3. Live to love: My job is to love students and spend a majority of my time ministering to them. Now I can make this simply an obligation or it can become an enjoyable experience. I am sensing God calling me to direct my attention to a group of students in particular. I am extremely excited about this.
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