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| Go Forward courtesy photobucket.com |
Our church service was different today as we met seated at small tables in the fellowship hall.
Today was to be conversations in small groups about the future of our church.
Consider the questions we were asked and explore for your own personal answers.
Pastor Jerry began by reading
from Philippians 3:13-15 Beloved, this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be
of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God
will reveal to you.
It
is certain and without a doubt that there will be challenges in life, and in
our church.
Jesus
gave us the Great Commission which was to go forward to conquer, teaching and
making disciples. His promise was that
he would supply our needs and protect us.
If
you stand on the overpass of a busy highway, you can see from a different
perspective. You can see the large view
of things.
We must take another look at
God’s Big Picture.
What
is God calling us as a church to do for our future?
Pastor asked one of the
ladies to pass out page one, for our personal consideration. It was to be an introspection of our self as
a Believer, for private and individual discernment.
How would you answer personally these questions?
How would you answer personally these questions?
1.
Have I accepted
Jesus the Christ as Lord and Savior of my life?
Does this happen only once, or is this an ongoing life-time relationship?
2.
Jesus came to
bring new life. What does it mean to be
made new?
3.
This new life
means change, and do I even want to be changed?
4.
What does it mean
for me to Follow Jesus?
What does going forward using the rear view mirror mean to you for the churches future?
Are we doing the same thing
over and over and expecting different results?
The third paper was given out
and we were to move to a new group of three or four.
1.
How do we grow as
a church? OR Why should we grow as a
church.
2.
What does it mean
to invest in “Ministry to people?”
3.
Does the fear of
giving up something in church life discourage exploring new ministries?
4.
Can letting go of
the old, allow new energies for the new?
5.
Can we let go of
favorite projects while holding fast to God’s promises?
6.
What are God’s
promises for our body of believers and our local church?
This post is shared with
Charlotte’s Spiritual
Sundays
This post is also Linked with
Michelle’s Hear
it on Sunday Use it on Monday
4 comments:
I love hearing about churches who are willing to try new methods. Too often our churches want to stay in their comfort zone and want the methods of the past to reach 21st century people. After much prayer over a church we have attended 10 years we made a change. It's difficult but it's also a joy to worship with those who are passionate about winning souls and discipling new believers.
Ooh, what an awesome Sunday! You are a brave church. I applaud your trust in the Lord to "break tradition" and spend time doing this exercise. Sounds like something I would love to be a part of. I'll look forward to hearing the results from this!
Wonder what would happen if more churches were open to this sort of exploration. As with anything a evaluation is needed from time to time.
"Doing the same things over and over expecting different results." Man, that pegs us as the modern church doesn't it? Great questions to spark the heart and soul. Sounds like a great service and new start.
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