“What do you think Nate?” I asked as we sat and watched pyrotechnics go off in a church sanctuary we were visiting while on vacation. “It’s a bit much dad,” he replied. Yeah, maybe. But sure was entertaining to watch. I kinda wanted to see the worship leader catch on fire, but pretty sure that wasn’t the point of the effects. Maybe next time…
Primary Calling
“How many oars are necessary to row a row boat?” I hadn’t really thought about it before but it seemed like two was a good idea. This was a question our church leaders were asked at a conference several years ago. The point the presenter was trying to make is that as followers of Jesus, we all have primary callings to fulfill in secondary settings.
Forfeiting the Dream
God has a church for His mission in the world. He has a Church to fulfill His big dream of seeing every nation, tribe, people, and language in heaven one day (Revelation 7:9-10). Yet we, as the church, have seemingly forfeited God’s big dream in three major ways. I’ll address the first one in this article, but list all three for consideration.
The Rescue Mission
“Missio what?” Before our family went overseas, we took a class on the Missio Dei, the mission of God. It was the first graduate level class I had taken and if Latin was required for advanced degrees, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to have what it takes to complete one. Good news was, this turned out to be the only Latin term in the course :-). In this class, Shellie and I learned about the Bible’s grand narrative. We learned how God means to fulfill His big dream of seeing every nation, tribe, people and language in heaven one day (Revelation 7:9-10).
God’s Big Dream
While Jesus was here on earth, He made some incredible statements. We find in John 10:10, that Jesus says He came to give people rich and satisfying lives. In John 14:12 He says that those who believe in Him will not only do the same works He did, but that they will actually do greater works!
Making World Changers
“What are you going to change at Connection Point?” This was a common question we heard as we became the lead pastors of this great church in West Lafayette, Indiana. The initial response we gave was, “We’re not sure anything needs changed, but we like the instructions Jesus gave Paul during his Damascus road experience, ‘go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’” (Acts 9:6) We were confident God would show us what to do as we began to lead.