This Chapter has relevance in 2 areas of my Life.
1.) My Church is Also a Missional Church, similar to Bob Roberts- Northwood Church, Focused on reaching outside the 4 walls of our Church, to Reaching the world for Christ, locally, and globally = Glocally
My Home church is Lifebridge Church, In Fort Wayne, Indiana.
My Church’s Mission Statement is: Connecting to God, Each other, and the World thru Christ.
I have been a member of this church since the very beginning, but it has only been within the last 1 1/2 -2 years that i have begun to realize what our mission statement truly means. More than just connecting to God. More than just connecting to each other (which is not a hard thing for me to do by any means!), but connecting to the community, and the world, to help people find the life in Christ that we have!
When I first Re-dedicated my life to Christ, I had heard of the Great Commission, but it was a Foreign Concept to me.
Matthew 28:18-19 (NLT)
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
I read that and thought, “how am I supposed to do that??” But, I now realize that i am not necessarily supposed to do what that literally says, but by meeting others needs by reaching out and showing that you care, with no strings attached, it allows God to open doors that wouldn’t otherwise be opened. It allows God to transform lives and make disciples because it really isn’t about us at all! It’s about Him and weather we are going to allow God to use us to bring him glory, and now that I realize that, The Great Commission doesn’t Seem to be as foreign to me as it once did. When I love God and love on people, he takes care of the rest!
Making a Difference in the Local Community
The part of this chapter that resonated with me the most was in this part:
The Author heard a Question and asked it to his Congregation.
“If this Church were absent from our community, would anyone miss it but your members?”
The author said that he wanted his church to be a church That would be missed, and I think that any church that wants to focus on being a Missional Community needs it.
I have an AWESOME Pastor named Bill Campbell, who just recently preached a sermon called “Together We Can”
In this Sermon, Which was Quite Similar to this chapter,one of his points was that Our purpose was to function as a “Missional Community” and as a Missional Community we needed to make a difference in the World we live in, and how important that was. He stated why it was important, was because “IT ISN’T ABOUT US! (Recurring theme isn’t it?) Its about Being God’s Hands and Feet!
Matthew 25:34-36 Says this :
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation.35 And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,36 I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
“When we Allow God to use for his Glory, together we can produce lives that are changed so that they can find the Life in Christ that we have” -Pastor Bill Campbell
That’s what its all about! There have been SO many times I have felt God speak to my heart about this topic over and over; I have seen the Mathew 25 Verse pop up over and over. When that happens I know that this is something important that he’s trying to get across to me.
The Second Area that this Chapter that this Spoke to me on was Actually in my Job. I Truly Believe with all my heart that God has me working when I am for a Specific Purpose, and that Purpose I believe is to Learn to Serve Selflessly.
I work as a Team Member at a Chick-Fil-a. I can Honestly say that, this is NOT your Everyday Fast-Food Place!
I thought I knew how to serve others before I started working there, but boy was I wrong!
At Chick-Fil-A, they serve customers and expect customers to be served on a Whole Different Level!
S Truett Cathy The Founder of Chick-Fil-a,
“Illustrates to readers that significance and success come when one exhibits servant leadership in all areas of life, seizing everyday opportunities to help others” .
Working at Chick-Fil-A is not just a job to me. Its also a Ministry, and I really feel that its preparing me for the ultimate purpose God has for my life, which is to be used by God to Serve Others.
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When anyone serves me a chick-fil-a sandwich I feel so blessed! =D hehe.
Great post! I love that question, ““If this Church were absent from our community, would anyone miss it but your members?”
And thank you for giving us some insight on your personal experience where you work. I've really come to respect Chick-Fil-A and truly it must be an invaluable hands-on real-life lesson to learn even more what it means to be a servant-leader! It's a privilege and honor to be called by God to be His children and to be moved and changed by His love!
My church has a lot of great mission projects too, Bonnie, but the thing I have found lacking is the absence of encouraging people to get involved individually. Too often I just write a check and miss out on the amazing opportunity to be God's hands.
That's what this book is doing for me: opening my eyes to the possibility that maybe I can be part of a mission team. I never really entertained that possibility before. But yes, serving others has to go beyond our families, beyond our communities even if we take the Great Commission to heart.
Sigh. I'm praying about that. Love your openness in this post. I enjoyed reading it!
Thank you! We have an Opportunity to Be God's Hands and Feet Not this Saturday, But, Next! Our annual Missions weekend is that weekend, and we are doing something similar to Servolution, but, We are calling it Solution 2010. We are Going to Serve in a Variety of Places around our town. I cant Wait for it!
It IS an Invaluable hands on Real Life Lesson!! 🙂 I am Loving it!!! 🙂 Thanks For the Great Feedback:)