I had intentions of having this posted last week, but life happens. Anyway, here are the notes from Jon's message on Monday night. It was powerful. Enjoy!
There are two things that have to happen for a person to be saved. First, they are to realize that there is a problem. Second, they have to understand that Jesus is the only answer. We can get people to come together to sing or study the Bible, but we can't get them together to go witness. Pluralism is growing and so much that some "Christians" believe that Jesus is one of the ways to get to heaven. The church growth movement has robbed the church of changed lives Evangelism and discipleship have taken a back seat to self help. People are beginning to understand that there is a problem. When people are scared they call out for moral absolutes. We are back at a moment in time when it is easy to win people to Christ because they are longing and ready for change. This must be coupled with men and women who are not afraid about sharing Jesus Christ. What would happen if you made the decision to no longer be afraid to share the gospel? The new generation will find a god if we don't introduce them to Christ. We can't win a championship for Christ unless we do the hard stuff. Can we not celebrate the unity that there needs to be change and use that as a platform to introduce them to real change, who is Jesus? The power of God (Acts 2:41) falls on the ones who are desperate. That's why lost people won't listen to us, because we are not desperate enough for Christ. We are too desperate for ourselves and it pushes lost people away. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). It was not the masses who changed the world. The masses become the mob when they are not pleased. It's the inner circle who changed things.
I think the time has passed when we have to wait for the church to mobilize. If the church is going to mobilize then it must start with an "inner circle". It must start with a committed few who are passionate and desperate for Christ. In the old song "Pass It On" there is a line that says, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going." The inner circle must be the spark to get the fires of witnessing going in the church. If only a small group of passionate followers would get to the hard work of witnessing then this world could be change, not by the work of the people but by the power of God's Spirit. This is picture of crashing into life. Crash On!!
Showing posts with label engage xp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label engage xp. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Enjoying the Joy of the Lord
On Monday I got the opportunity to hear Randel Everett, the executive director of the BGCT, speak at the Engage XP conference in Belton. Here are the notes that I took from his message. Granted there is some of my own commentary mixed in, but the ideas came from Randel.
How do we come together as congregations and enjoy the joy of the Lord? It seems that when we come together anymore, it is more like business as usual, as mundane. It could be said that it is lifeless. It is lifeless people who have been gathered with the purpose of winning a lifeless people to Christ. In Luke 15 Jesus shares three significant stories. The joy of serving Christ is seeing the transformation in the lives of people by the power of Christ. Until we see life change, we will not experience the power of Christ or the joy of Jesus. If we would just understand Jesus' purpose, to seek and save, and His message, and do it, then we would experience the joy of Christ. Jesus says that He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19). In the parable of the lost son, we, the church, are the older brother. That son was invited to the celebration but it is not said if he joins the party. We have been invited to the joy of life transformation and celebrating life transformation. Will we accept the invitation? There is great rejoicing over one sinner who is saved. Is this happening among the church today? Is there celebration when one person comes to Christ? The church is faster to question genuine life change than to join in the celebration and join in growing this person in their new life. Just like the older brother, we become jealous over people coming to faith in Christ because the attention is no longer on us. Like a child, we reason that even negative attention is still attention. Can we not celebrate when someone passes from death to life? Would we not cancel the funeral if the dead person were raised to life? Of course we would!! Jesus spent His time among the dead. He spent His time amount those who were in need of salvation. People who needed real life that comes through genuine faith. Those people of "faith" looked down their nose at Jesus for this. We need to say, as the church, that Jesus' ministry is our ministry -- to seek and to save the lost. The difference is that Jesus cared about people, His sheep, and the church, the bride of Christ, does not. When we make our mission the same as Jesus, we will begin to care about people again. The key to Jesus' parables in Luke 15 is that the lost were sought out. There is diligence involved in the search. Are we searching diligently for the downcast sheep of our churches? Most of the downcast sheep in our churches are downcast for a reason. They are in need of someone to come and help them get back on their feet.
What a challenging message. This is what is at the heart of crashing into life. It is doing those things that are so radically different from the norm. That what Jesus did, and that is what Jesus calls his followers to do...crash into life.
How do we come together as congregations and enjoy the joy of the Lord? It seems that when we come together anymore, it is more like business as usual, as mundane. It could be said that it is lifeless. It is lifeless people who have been gathered with the purpose of winning a lifeless people to Christ. In Luke 15 Jesus shares three significant stories. The joy of serving Christ is seeing the transformation in the lives of people by the power of Christ. Until we see life change, we will not experience the power of Christ or the joy of Jesus. If we would just understand Jesus' purpose, to seek and save, and His message, and do it, then we would experience the joy of Christ. Jesus says that He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19). In the parable of the lost son, we, the church, are the older brother. That son was invited to the celebration but it is not said if he joins the party. We have been invited to the joy of life transformation and celebrating life transformation. Will we accept the invitation? There is great rejoicing over one sinner who is saved. Is this happening among the church today? Is there celebration when one person comes to Christ? The church is faster to question genuine life change than to join in the celebration and join in growing this person in their new life. Just like the older brother, we become jealous over people coming to faith in Christ because the attention is no longer on us. Like a child, we reason that even negative attention is still attention. Can we not celebrate when someone passes from death to life? Would we not cancel the funeral if the dead person were raised to life? Of course we would!! Jesus spent His time among the dead. He spent His time amount those who were in need of salvation. People who needed real life that comes through genuine faith. Those people of "faith" looked down their nose at Jesus for this. We need to say, as the church, that Jesus' ministry is our ministry -- to seek and to save the lost. The difference is that Jesus cared about people, His sheep, and the church, the bride of Christ, does not. When we make our mission the same as Jesus, we will begin to care about people again. The key to Jesus' parables in Luke 15 is that the lost were sought out. There is diligence involved in the search. Are we searching diligently for the downcast sheep of our churches? Most of the downcast sheep in our churches are downcast for a reason. They are in need of someone to come and help them get back on their feet.
What a challenging message. This is what is at the heart of crashing into life. It is doing those things that are so radically different from the norm. That what Jesus did, and that is what Jesus calls his followers to do...crash into life.
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