I Wonder Which Church We’ll Be

I am already getting excited and preparing for 2009. In 2009 I will be preaching through the book of Acts and our focus will be on “Sharing the Word – Missional Living.”

As I read through Acts each week, I see two models of church. There are certainly more of course, but there are two that are striking to me. There is the church at Jerusalem and the church at Antioch.

The church at Jerusalem started with a bang, but then got comfortable. They got into an institutional mode. They stopped living as an organic body and settled into an immobile structure. The church got off of the ground great, but then lost its sense for urgency. The people got used to grace and stopped sharing it. They got satisfied with the fact that they were saved, but lost interest in those that had not yet heard of Jesus. God had to bring a Saul into their world to persecute them (Acts 8:1) to stir the church to go as God commanded them to in Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8.

The church at Antioch got started and kept their organic urgent attitude. This church was living as a missional community. They didn’t seek mere stability. They sought to honor Christ and the mission He’d given them. They were the ones who first sent out Paul and Barnabas on their mission journey (Acts 11). This church understood that their church didn’t exist to make the converted comfortable. They understood that the church exists to make Christ known. They understood that the only time a church should be comfortable is when each member is living as a missionary and are sacrificing and surrendering their lives so that those around them might know Christ.

So, what about us? Is Living Hope a Jerusalem church or an Antioch church? We need to be like Antioch - on mission. The only way that will happen is if each member of our church realizes they are on mission for God and that their primary role in life is helping people Get to God. After we share Christ and baptize them, each member is to help the person they led to Christ to Grow in Christ and get them involved in a small group or ABF and participating in personal devotions. At the same time each member must help the person they led to Christ Give to Others and share their faith and serve the church. That is our process. Our mission is the discipleship process. This process is what we need every member involved in.

Fortunately, some of our people are living on mission. But we need all of our members to live as missionaries. This is more than a core value. This is a must for us.

The days of people coming to Living Hope only because of good preaching, a relaxed atmosphere, and upbeat blended worship are over. We need to get busy living on mission or get busy becoming irrelevant and unnecessary to the Kingdom of God, our city, nation, and world. The choice is ours.

Get on mission and help someone Get to God, Grow in Christ, and Give to Others this week!