Jesus summarized what it's all about:
37 “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
God commands us to have relationships grounded in love.
We will have a season of working on our relationships with God and people. It is a time of Spiritual preparation. We are waiting on the Lord. He will bring us to a place of greater unity, peace, and faith.
God has been working in our church to get our house in order. He has taught us much through months of the peacemaking process and the "Experiencing God" Bible study.
The temptation is to rush ahead and start doing something, but we need focus on "being" first.
There is a progression of "Being", "Doing", and "Having". "Being" is about our hearts, faith, beliefs, and strength of our group love dynamic. This is what motivates us to "doing". The "having" is our goal (for example, making disciples). God will mature us from one stage to the next. Trust in God's timing and wisdom.
God revealed this to me: We will move forward as a church by having right relationships with God and people through God-focussed prayer, praise, and proclamation.
Prayer. We will call on the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26)
Praise. We will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24)
Proclamation. We will share the Word of God. (Jeremiah 31:10)
Jesus said, "My house will be a house of prayer!" (Matthew 21:13). God prepared the disciples to reach the world for His glory after developing a strong relationship with them and having them pray until they were ready to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8).
The first century church was born in prayer (Acts 2). Our church will be reborn and revitalized in the same way.
Our relationship with God is also expressed in our worship. Jesus said, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." (John 4:23)
The Spirit leads us into truth (John 16:13). The truth is about freedom. He will show us how to worship the way that the Father desires. We must be willing to allow God to move us past worship that merely pleases us to what delights Him.
Our worship together is a time of corporate celebration that becomes sweeter as our fellowship grows. True love is expressed in compassionate prayer for one another.
Our relationship with God and people flows through a right relationship with His word. Love for God is shown through obedience to His word.(I John 2:4-6) The beautiful part is that the more we know His word, the better equipped we are to understand His will and serve Him together.
Pray. Praise. Proclaim.
Not a slogan, but it is a simple way to remember who we are, what we are about, why we do it, and how to approach God and the people He has placed in our lives. If we commit and submit to God to grow this in us, we will be the disciples who reach people for Jesus Christ.
I invite you to join us for our November sermon series, "To Be"
Explore and embrace:
"Being a Person of Prayer" NOV 13
"Being a Person of Praise" NOV 20
"Being a Person of Proclamation" NOV 27
May you be blessed as you do so.
