What kind of Church I want!

 

Favorite Scriptures Day 16

It has been 117 days of being on the TEAM at South Memorial Drive Church of God. Our life has been forever changed in ways we never expected. Stephanie and I love the people. We love the mission God has placed before us and the PEOPLE that join us on that mission. 

It is not really an anniversary, but every day I celebrate this church and am so amazed at the work God is doing. I thought about MY CHURCH because my next favorite scripture is my LIFE VERSE and it has everything to do with THE CHURCH I envision for SOUTH MEMORIAL. 

"All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer." (Acts 2:42, NLT)

That's it!

That is my prayer for SM. My ministry focus since retirement has been to follow this "FORMULA" in all of the things we do. This is the CHURCH I WANT. I want a church that focuses on the APOSTLE'S TEACHING through scripture, evangelism, and disciplemaking. I want us to FELLOWSHIP, to love each other and to be dedicated to each other just like the first century church. Just getting together for no other purpose than to celebrate our unity in Christ is a part of our mission. I want us to SHARE MEALS together including the celebration of the LORD'S SUPPER. Sharing a meal is an intimate event which always brings people closer together and sharing communion unites us under the headship of Christ. And I want a church that is completely devoted to each other in PRAYER. We need to share each other's burdens and the joys of life. That is done through the power of prayer. 

I want us to follow this  ACTS 2:42 prescription because I believe God blesses churches that focus on those four things. Listen to what happened when the early church followed this perfect plan:

"A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. All the while praising God and enjoying the good will of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." (Acts 2:43 - 47, NLT)

I love the mission God has given Stephanie and I. Serving a church should be as simple as Acts 2:42, but in our modern times CHURCH has expanded the simple definition of each of those pieces, teaching, fellowship, meals, and prayer. So many times we complicate it with the DETAILS, THE HOW-TO's instead of the WHAT AND WHY! But, in all my heart, I believe we need to keep our eyes focused on those four pieces from the Book of Acts. Each event, each moment the church doors are open, each time we gather, our focus should be simply those FOUR things and as often as we can, we need to fulfill each of those pieces to build the beautiful picture of the CHURCH God himself envisioned.