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Posts Tagged ‘outreach’

Seven disciplines for joining in God’s mission

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on April 4, 2017| 1 Comment »

Some of what I will share with you today will be familiar. And that for two reasons:

  • Back in July I taught on this topic of joining in God’s mission.
  • And since then, I have refocused the teaching and have been putting it up on the screen before our services for the last several months.

I want to share it in this form, this morning as we relaunch, as it were, our efforts to connect with our neighbors and others.

I am taking a cue from Peter when he says in, 2 Peter 1:12 – “I intend always to remind you of these (things), though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.” And so I am here this morning reminding you of some things.

God’s mission

As we read the Bible we come to understand that God is on a mission, stretching all the way back to Abraham, through Moses, Israel, the prophets and culminating in the coming of Jesus. God’s mission is that every single person will be transformed and made whole through Jesus; that each person will become a part of his people and serve him, and eventually will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns and rules on this earth in righteousness and peace; when he makes all things new. And God’s mission is to be our mission, for we are his people; it’s to be our priority.

The title says, “disciplines” of joining in God’s mission. And that’s because –

It takes work!

– to accomplish God’s mission. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 3:6-9. Here Paul is talking about how he and Apollos are both working together on the same team, fulfilling God’s mission to the world. And notice the language that’s used. Paul speaks of “planting” and “watering;” that is, farming language. He says in v. 6 – “I planted, Apollos watered.” This continues in vs. 7 and 8. And then in v. 9 he says of himself and Apollos that they are “God’s fellow workers.” Being a part of God’s mission is real labor and it is hard work and toil.

And so what I am sharing with you are seven disciplines for joining in God’s mission. These are practices that we have to work at for sure, but they allow us to be used by God to accomplish his mission in this world.

1. Let your life be a witness to others

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14, 16

And who wants to hear people ‘go on’ about a topic when you know full well that they don’t put those things into practice themselves? The way you live your life is foundational. No Christian is perfect, but we must be about the business of living the Christian life ourselves, to join in God’s mission. And then if you fail, be a model for others about how to confess, repent and get back on your feet.

Our lives are our most basic witness to what we believe about God and the saving work that he is doing through his Son, Jesus. Let your life be a light to this. Be disciplined in your walk with God.

2. Build relationships with the lost

Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners – Luke 15:1-2. He engaged those who needed God’s love and grace. As he said in Matthew 9:12 – “those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

And we must also relate to those who need God’s saving grace, and not just fellow believers. But this takes time to invest in people’s lives. It means making room for them in your life – beyond your family and current friends to love them and to serve their needs.

And everyone is so busy today! Will we make the effort? Will we make the time? This takes concerted effort.

3. Regularly ask God to give you compassion for the lost

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” – Matthew 9:36.

We need Jesus’ compassion in our hearts. This should be our true motivation. We should not be motivated by just getting people to come to our church. Who knows where they might end up? This church won’t be right for everyone we relate to.  The point is that we care and love those we relate to and seek what is best for them.

We also need Jesus’ compassion because we easily fall into self-righteousness. Some people’s struggles and failure we judge and then we hold them at a distance. But Jesus has compassion on each of us no matter what our struggle; and we have all failed God terribly.

This will stretch us; but it’s the same grace that allowed us to be saved and to be a part of his people. And so we must give it to all.

4. Regularly pray for someone who is lost

Pray for God’s will, who “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” – 1 Timothy 2:4.

Ask God to bring about his will that all people be saved. This is what prayer is all about. As Jesus says in the Lord’s prayer, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Prayer brings about God’s heavenly purpose here on earth.

Ask God to put someone, or several people on your heart. Who does God want you praying for regularly?

5. Be alert for opportunities to share

“Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” – Colossians 4:5-6

 God is working all around us, and we need to open our eyes so we can join in and contribute to God’s work in the lives of others. God wants to work through us. So we need to hear and be led by the Spirit.

Ask God to show you even this week, someone to get to know; someone to share with.

6. Invite people to be a part of the kingdom

Jesus said, “Go out to the highways and hedges and urge people to come in, that my house may be filled” – Luke 14:23

I recently gave a whole message on this passage. So let me share with you a short video on inviting people, focused on Easter.

 

Who can you invite???

 7. Welcome with love all who come

“Don’t forget to welcome outsiders. By doing that, some people have welcomed angels without knowing it.” – Hebrews 13:2. To be hospitable means to be warm and friendly, to make room for someone, to include someone among us.

Let me share this with you again: According to the experts a person decides if they like a church and will come back within their first 11 minutes, which may well mean even before the service starts.

So we need to be a warm and welcoming church. And we need to be proactive about this.

Again I say This is work! It can be hard to make sure your own life is right, to relate to new people, to be stretched to act with compassion, to pray regularly, to keep alert during the day for opportunities to share, to invite and to welcome. That’s why I am using the language of “disciplines.” These are things we do that are good, but don’t necessarily come naturally to us.

We have these kinds of disciplines in many areas of our lives. So, for instance, if you are in school you need to do things like attend class, study and finish your assignments, if you want to be a good student.

And with all disciplines, the point is that they become second nature, so that we don’t even think about it. They just become a part of who we are. We become people who are compassionate toward those who don’t know Jesus. We just regularly pray for those who are lost. We become inviters and welcomers and so forth. This is the goal.

Let me end by saying – 

It is God who gives life

Let’s go back to 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, because it also makes the point that, even with all our work, in the end it is God who counts, for God gives the growth.

“6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

God is the key. Nothing we do apart from him will yield any results; nothing of eternal value. But God does ask us to do our part because he wants to work through us to bring new life and growth.

So during this year that we have set aside to focus on connecting with neighbors and others let’s each one join in God’s mission and work hard at it. And let’s each pray that God will move among us to bring new life and growth.

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Several ways you can reach out (pt 1)

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on October 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Series on witness

By way of context and keeping the bigger picture in view, I am calling our congregation to spiritual renewal, and that in three areas:

The first has to do with our use of time and our busyness when we get caught up in too fast of a pace of life, so that we are too busy to serve the Lord and do what God has called us to do as a local congregation.

The second area has to do with becoming a more loving, caring and connected community. We want to be a congregation where resentments are dealt with, relationships are healed and our love for each other will be evident to anyone who comes in the door.

The third area has to do with being more outwardly focused so that we move from being comfortable, to where we are willing to take risks to reach out and include new people among us. And this last emphasis is where this series of messages comes from.

Today we are looking at several ways you can reach out, even if you are not gifted in this area or called to a specific ministry of outreach. We will begin today and then I plan to finish this up next Sunday before Communion.

Live a faithful Christian life

It matters how we conduct ourselves because others are watching. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

We are a witness by how we live our lives. For others will “see our good works” and by this means they can come to give glory to God. This is the testimony of our deeds and it is foundational to all else. Because without this it doesn’t matter what you say.

So let people know you are a Christian, and then live it out by your integrity, your work ethic, your love for others, by how you handle conflict, and by how you go through hard times trusting in God. People are watching and if your life reflects God’s work in you it will be a witness to the truth of Jesus.

*Think for a moment: What area of weakness or failure do you have that discredits your witness? What I am saying is that it is not just a matter of faithfulness to God, but also of your witness to others.

Share what God has done for you

I told the story recently of the man who had many demons and how he was out of his mind and he lived naked in a graveyard – and how Jesus set him free. Well this is what Jesus said to him at the end of the story – Mark 5:19 – “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

If the first was the witness of our deeds, this is the witness of our words. And we need both.

What’s your story? What has the Lord done for you? How has he had mercy on you? Every Christian has a story. This is what you share. And not just about when you first came to Christ, but how the Lord helps you and has mercy on you now. Learn how to tell your story so you can share it with others and then look for opportunities to do this.

*A story from my life in high school . . .

 Pray for the lost

The psalmist, in Psalm 67:2, prays for God to act, so “that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” We looked at this Psalm recently. As you will remember the writer wants those who don’t know God, to come to know God. And we should pray similarly.

So you can be in your prayer closet hidden to the world and still be partaking in God’s great kingdom mission in this world through prayer.

Who is on your heart – unsaved loved ones? neighbors? coworkers? SW Chambersburg? The Gambia? Who has God put on your heart?

*Let’s pause for a moment to pray for someone who is already on your heart, or to ask God to put someone on your heart.

Pray for outreach workers

People that have spiritual gifts and talents that make them effective at this, and also those who are called to have special roles like missionaries and evangelists. Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 9:37-38 – “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Not only are we to pray but notice, we are to pray earnestly. Do you pray regularly for this?

*Let’s pause for a moment to pray for Gary and Denise, for the outreach ministry of our congregation and for God to raise up others among us to reach out.

Now that we have prayed let me just say I hope you will be open to being the answer to your own prayers, as the disciples were, when right after Jesus spoke of the need to pray, he sent the disciple out into the harvest to work.

And then finally for today . . .

Support those that are called to reach out

That is, those who have a regular ministry in this and are gifted and called by the Lord to this – missionaries, local evangelists, pastors and other leaders.

In Luke 10:7 Jesus says this talking about those involved in ministry receiving financial support. He says, “the laborer deserves his (or her) wages.”

We need to understand that there is a mutual relationship between someone who is called to reach out and those who support them. The first is obvious – the one who ministers needs to be able to be free to do the work of the Lord, and so they need support. But also note that the one who gives shares in the reward of the work they do. (Mark 9:41; Matthew 10:41.) So that’s a good deal for you. Through your support of their work you share in the blessings that will come both now and on the final day.

And certainly those who minister need more than just financial support to do their work. They also need love, encouragement and prayers.

*This is a missionary couple . . .. Let’s take just a moment now to write a check or gather up some cash for their ministry, which you can give on your way out of church today.

William Higgins

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Let’s Grow!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Now, my title today isn’t meant to refer to what will happen when we eat our fellowship meal today. I’m talking about growing deeper in our Christian lives and as a church body.

As your pastor I carry a very real concern for our congregation. I think and pray hard about the direction we are moving, our health as a congregation, our ministries and our faithfulness to God. And I will confess that thoughts about such things are never far from my mind and heart. You know, How are we doing? What needs to be focused on? Where are we weak? Where are we strong? What needs to change?

As I reflected this week several things came to mind in terms of areas of emphasis and areas of growth for us. And I thought it would be good to share these with you and to invite you to pick up the challenge to move forward in these areas, so that we can grow as a congregation. So here we go.

1. Let’s grow in our love for one another

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34. Paul said to the Romans, “Love one another with brotherly affection.” Romans 12:10. Peter said, “Love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” 1 Peter 1:22.

Paul said to the Thessalonians, “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another . . . But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more.” 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10. I like this last phrase. You have love for one another, but do this “more and more.” In the same way, we do have love for one another here at Cedar Street, but we are to do this “more and more.” We are to grow in our love for one another.

What do I mean? Let’s work at getting to know each other more. Let’s build our relationships with each other. Branch out beyond those you already know. Do things together.

I mean encouraging one another, praying for one another and helping one another. I mean being kind and gentle with each other. And outdoing each other in showing respect and honor to one another.

Here are two specific suggestions: If you don’t already, come to Sunday school. This is a place where you can get to know others. And also, if you don’t already, be a part of a share group. We have four right now, but if needed we can always start another one. This is a place where you can build relationships, and get support.

2. Let’s grow in our maturity in handling our differences

We are held together by our common faith in Jesus and our commitment to follow him, and this is summarized in our church covenant.

Paul says it this way, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:4-6. Notice the seven “ones”: We are all a part of one body of Christ, the church. And we all share in one Holy Spirit who dwells within us. We have one hope, one Lord, one faith in Jesus, one baptism and one God the Father.

Yet, all congregations have differences also. Certainly we do. And this is perfectly normal. We have different gifts and callings that give us different things to focus on. For instance if you are an evangelist, you are gonna focus on evangelism and want everyone to do this. Or, if you have a gift of worship, you are gonna want everyone to make this the focus. And so on.

We have different levels of maturity and understanding among us. We have generational differences. This impacts all kinds of things, for instance how we might prefer to worship.

We have different personalities, which affect how we approach everything we do. We have differences of opinion on all kinds of things, including politics, which if we focus on will lead us all in different directions.

We come from different backgrounds – city, rural, suburbs – we have it all. And we have different church backgrounds, some were raised Mennonite, some have no church background and everything in-between.

So what do we do with all this? It can discourage us, weigh us down or even tear us apart. But it doesn’t have to. We need to learn to discern what God requires – and then be flexible with the rest. We need to be able to tell the difference between Gods’ will and just what we prefer or want, as opposed to others who see things differently. And in the part that God does not require of us, we can learn from each other and try different things.

Here’s an example. Some prefer it when we use flat bread for communion. The Lord’s supper, after all was a Passover meal with unleavened bread. And it is nice to use the same kind of bread that Jesus used. But some prefer to use regular bread, the kind that we call “bread” in our everyday lives. It has a different feel to it and breaks differently. So we can learn from each other here, and be flexible by using both, taking turns.

And then, when we can’t seem to agree on an issue, or come to an easy resolution, we need to be mature Christians about it, as we have been, and are learning about in our conflict resolution class Sunday school class. Right?

  • Don’t pull back and just drift off if you are in disagreement about something, grumbling like the children of Israel in the desert.
  • And also on the other hand, don’t strike out and tear down others.

Rather, we are to love each other, look to God for help and work toward peace. As Jesus has taught us, “Be at peace with one another.” Mark 9:50.

3. Let’s grow in owning and using the gifts that God has given us

Paul said to Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have . . ..” 1 Timothy 4:14. He also said to him, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you . . ..” – 2 Timothy 1:6. We are to discover and use the gifts that God has given us.

Just like in the realm of physical health, it’s not healthy to be a Christian and not be active, doing nothing. Don’t be a pew potato! Don’t just come and sit here once a week and feel like that’s what it’s all about.

Exercise your gifts. Be active and engaged in serving God. We have focused on this before, but I am reminding you here again today.

I think there are two really big obstacles here. The first is time. We live overcommitted lives. We are overbooked, overscheduled and overwhelmed. And often it is serving God that gets cut out as we try to make time for all else that there is to do today. We are trying to do too much, too many good things, and we end up making idols of these things as we devote ourselves more to them than to serving God and working for the kingdom.

The second obstacle is that you might feel you have nothing to share. Maybe you think you are too young. Or maybe you think that you have already served God and are “retired” now. Well, the truth is that everyone has some way to serve God. Paul says, “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” 1 Corinthians 12:7. And this is not restricted by age.

So, find out what your gifts are and use them! Next year we plan to have a Sunday school class focused on this. But, you don’t need to wait, try some things and see what you enjoy, see what you do well. And if you need help, talk to me and I will plug you in somewhere.

4. Let’s grow in our emphasis on outreach and hospitality

It’s easy to be comfortable as Christians. Comfortable with just hanging out with other Christians. (Some don’t even know unbelievers very well.) Comfortable with just talking to those we already know when we are at church.

But Jesus calls us to something more. He said, “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10. This is why he came. And he calls us to follow his example, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19.

Now, I am certainly grateful for all those working in the areas of outreach and hospitality in our congregation, using their gifts, but these are things that each of us need to grow in.

And I’m not talking about being artificial or forcing things. I mean just being a Christian in your everyday relationships and looking for opportunities to share what God has done. I mean being friendly and welcoming to those who are new to the congregation. That’s all.

In our Sunday school coming up soon, we will have chance to focus on the outreach part of this. And I hope this will spur us in this emphasis.

5. Let’s grow in our desire for more of what God has for us

I want to instill a yearning for more in each of your hearts.

We can see what God wants for us by looking at the picture of the church in the New Testament, especially the book of Acts. They had great love for one another, the Spirit moved in power among them, they willingly suffered for their faith, they shared deep fellowship with each other, they boldly witnessed for Jesus.

As we look at this, we can see that God has so much more for us. We talk about revival and renewal, well this is what we are talking about – getting back to this.

And the problem is not on God’s end. Instead of being satisfied with where we are, we need to be seeking this. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8. James said, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” James 4:2.

We need to ask for this, seek and knock. Life isn’t long! What are you waiting for? This is our chance. We can be a community that embodies Jesus and serves him in powerful ways.

Don’t be satisfied with what we have, as good as it might be. Let us press on for more of what God has for us.

William Higgins

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