Building One Another - Vol. 10, No. 24 | |||||||||
Dear Friend, Yesterday I realized I was following a car whose license plate said, "His W1ll." I thought, "That's nice" and drove along until it hit me that at this moment in my life I was actually following His Will! As we flowed along a pleasant suburban street it was fun to think about that. Until the driver chose to drive below the speed limit for awhile and I wanted to go faster than His Will. I chewed over the times I have wanted to do just that! The pivotal moment came when the driver signaled a right turn at a stop light. Was I going to drive straight on to my destination (home) or follow His Will? I followed His Will. Another driver inserted himself between me and His Will. I thought about other times I have permitted that to happen. As I finally drove home along a route that was unfamiliar to me it was good to realize that the Lord who loves us more than we love our next breath has a will for our lives that is good and wonderful even in the moments that are the most challenging for us. May you find joy as you follow and trust in the will of our good Lord! “We know that all things work together for good*for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28* | |||||||||
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Following
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A Transformational Defining Vision, Part One
A few years ago, the church where I serve adopted our church vision: Worship God, Prepare Disciples, Serve the World. It is similar to the Acts 16:5 Initiative focus of glorifying God, making disciples, and meeting human need. Since most of us in churches are starting a new program year, I thought it would be helpful to revisit the vision and see how it is playing out in three areas: our personal lives, our ministry teams/groups, and in our congregations. In three blog entries, I’m going to ask a series of questions that I invite you to pray about and to act upon from the standpoint of where your congregation is. In this article, I invite you to reflect on these questions in regard to your personal life.
In Personal Lives:
1) Are you taking time to glorify God in your own life? Are you attending worship
services on a regular basis? Are you taking time to worship God daily?
Are you reading the Bible and spending time with God? Are you inviting
others to worship with you or to attend a worship service with you? What
worship service in the last six months really got your heart pumping in
God’s holy presence?
2) In what part of your life are you being prepared as a disciple? Are you in a small
group, a study group and/or a church school class? Are you not only reading the
Bible but also studying it? With what portion of your life are you devoting
and developing mature faith in Jesus Christ? Who are you inviting to walk
with you in discipleship? Who are you discipling in the Christian walk?
3) How are you meeting human need? How do you offer service in Christ’s name to
others? When is the last time you participated in a service ministry of the
church or in a community organization? To what form of mission is God
nudging you to pursue?
It might be overwhelming to read all these questions. You may have answers to some of them and not to others. I encourage you to pray about these questions and, then, to write answers to them in a journal or record them in the notes section of your smart phone. Later you can go back and see what movement you have made, with God’s help. Perhaps the vision doesn’t fit with where you are in your personal life. You may want to form your own vision. Whatever your vision is, God gives all of us opportunities to glorify God, make disciples. and meet human need every day. It’s a vision that offers us a great adventure in faith.
Vital and energized people create vital and energized churches! That is what God has called us to be and d0. May we reflect our love of God in the way we personally live and fulfill God’s vision.
Anne Clifton Hebert
Saturday, September 3, 2011
God Sized Vision
“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations were around us were afraid… for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.” Nehemiah 6:15, 16
Nehemiah’s calling was bigger than his ability. The scope of what God wanted to do in his people was greater than that people’s treasury. What people though impossible, God accomplished through weary people in fifty-two days. What the church needs is God sized vision.
It was about a year ago that I was moved to begin to pray a very specific prayer for the congregation I serve. As I looked at all of the activity of our congregation, I saw a lot of hard work coming to fruition. People were joining the church in impressive numbers. The congregation had unanimously approved the search for an associate pastor of family ministry. Our bottom line was well in the black. Ministries were going well across the board. Attendance was up in every facet of church life. There had been very positive “same-minded” discussions around where we were headed as a church. I was very busy planning, teaching, leading, and visioning toward a bright future.
Then, in a time of prayer and reflection one morning I was overcome with conviction. I had been busy and prayerful concerning things within the ministry over which I had a lot of control. Most of my prayers involved God using me for His purposes in the life of our wonderful community of faith. Never one short on vision, I saw God answering those prayers faithfully. But with this wave of conviction I was moved to pray in a different way. I felt God was moving me to begin praying for something over which I would have no control.
Books I had read, passages of scripture, and a sense of smallness flooded my conscience at once as I became aware that I ought to be praying for something much more significant than what God could use me for. I was used to being pretty specific with God about what I wanted Him to do through me. But here I was, at a loss for words, as I was moved to pray for God to begin an awakening that at the end of the day couldn’t be credited to good leadership, a healthy budget, creative preaching, or a forward thinking session. I was moved to begin praying that God would do something that only God could get credit for; something beyond my ability to vision or bring about.
I had no clue what I was praying for. This prayer was unattached to programs, facilities, music, or events. I could not see what I was asking for God to do. It was pleasantly humbling to discover that God doesn’t need me to bring about the awakening he laid on my heart to begin praying for. I found myself saying, “Lord, you might not need me for this, but I want to see it when it happens.”
One of the dynamics of the Acts 16:5 Initiative is creating a hope-filled expectation of God sized activity in and through your congregation. If the hopes and expectations of a church are pastor sized or session sized, then we are expecting far too little of God. Nehemiah’s vision was a God sized vision. And at the end of the day God got the credit and the glory, even from His enemies.
Grace and Truth,
Scott Castleman
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The Trust Test
Building One Another - Vol. 10, No. 23 | |||||||||
| Dear Friend, When you face a challenging situation for which no resolution is apparent, what goes through your mind and emotion? Do you “get on the balcony” and think through new alternatives and try to solve it yourself (or yourselves)? Do you wrestle with feelings of hopelessness? A large crowd gathered around Jesus who asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” John 6:5b* The apostle John makes this interesting observation about Jesus, “He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.” John 6:6 For Jesus the resolution of the situation was never in doubt. He wasn’t anxious, nervous, uptight, confused, or upset. In fact, John reports that Jesus used the situation as an opportunity to test Philip. Philip has no clue what to do! “Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’” John 6:7 Neither did Andrew, “But what are they (five barley loaves and two fish) among so many people?” John 6:8b And neither looked to Jesus! Sometimes you and I have no clue what to do either! At this point in the story, Jesus takes over, has the people sit down, breaks the fish and the loaves into enough to feed everyone. In whatever situation you face, be alert to the equivalent of the five loaves and two fish our Lord has given you and trust him. Facing a huge enemy army, Jehoshaphat prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12b. He passed the trust test! | |||||||||
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Dwell in the Land
Building One Another - Vol. 10, No. 22 | |||||||||
Dear Friend, Riding to an airport with a friend and co-worker I asked what she would be doing the coming weekend. She replied, “I am going to dwell in the land,” just as the Psalm says, “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” Psalm 37:3* I love the thought. Dwell in the land! With all the stuff coming at each one of us it is so easy to find one’s mind and one’s anxieties consumed with coping and not with appreciating simply living in the land our Lord has given us. Dwell in the land. Enjoy your home. Love those who live with you and who spend time with you. Appreciate your community - its beauty, its people. Take pleasure in your work. Find joy in the current season of the year. Dwell in the Lord. Go to Jesus who said, “Come to me all you that are weary.” Entrust yourself to him who said, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Take joy in this Lord who said, “that my joy may be in you.” Receive the love of Jesus who said, “My peace I give to you.” Dwell in the land, dwell in the Lord and be glad. “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” Psalm 37:3 | |||||||||
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Voice
Building One Another - Vol. 10, No. 21 | |||||||||
| Dear Friend, Every voice is unique. You are the only person in all of time and eternity who sounds just like you. When I remember the voice of my parents and grandparents and many others I have known and loved, I can hear them speak in my head and every one of their voices is distinct and precious. When you close your eyes for the last time, when you breathe your last breath it would be a grace that the last words you hear are the words of one who loves you. My question is what sound do you want to hear next? What do you look forward to? What do you want to happen at the moment of physical death? Jesus speaks directly to this unique moment: “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” John 5:25* “Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice.” John 5:28 The refrain of Chris Tomlin’s song, “I Will Rise” begins with these words, “And I will rise when He calls my name.” I know what I look forward to and that is hearing the voice of Jesus call my name. That moment you hear his voice is the happiest moment of your life! My prayer is that you will hear his voice even now – through his Word (the Bible) and as the Spirit of God speaks to your heart. “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 | |||||||||
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Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Mood
Building One Another - Vol. 10, No. 20 | |||||||||
| Dear Friend, Do you ever find yourself sitting around feeling tired and someone walks up to you or phones you and you are just not in the mood to attend to them? Jesus seemed to have had that experience. John reports that Jesus and his disciples traveled into the region known as Samaria. “Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’” John 4:6-7 Certain things leap out. Jesus was tired. It was noon. It had to be hot. He was hungry. I know I would have been in no mood to engage a person in a serious conversation. A stranger walks up. Now it’s no surprise Jesus asks her for a drink. The fact that he would ask her, a Samaritan woman, for help was a surprise to her and she asks him why he did it. I can imagine just saying, “It’s hot and I am thirsty,” hoping for some water and then some leave-me-alone peace. Jesus takes another path. Mood or no mood to talk he engages the Samaritan woman in a fascinating conversation that gently and wonderfully leads her to faith and the woman’s whole life is transformed. Ministry is not a matter of mood but of opportunity and trust in the presence of the Lord who loves working through us in the lives of the people he positions near us. So whatever your mood may be this moment and every moment, ask yourself, who is near you or in your life and how will you allow the Spirit of God to touch those who are around you with hope and life? | |||||||||
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