[real-time connections] chapter 7: serving together
March 9, 2010 by Bonnie Irving
Filed under engaged in culture, ministry, the latest
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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government health care? why christians shouldn’t be surprised
August 11, 2009 by Dan King
Filed under featured, perspectives
This whole health care thing has gotten way out of control! And this is something that the church (that means us, the people, not the institution) needs to take notice of and do something about. But what I am about to propose to you may take you off guard.
First let’s take a look at the actual issue that is driving this whole thing. Basically, while many people enjoy the privilege of decent medical care, there are still over 40 million people in the United States that have no coverage whatsoever.
I could provide my own commentary on this and other numbers, but there is enough of that already. What I will say is that there is a big need in our country today as it relates to care for the sick. So the government responded.
With this response by the government, many in the church are expressing outrage over such a ‘socialist’ act! And that brings us to the point that I want to make…
Why is the church surprised? After all, isn’t the government simply doing something that the church should have been doing all along?
Personally, I’m still not sure what to think of the plan itself. But where there is an obvious need like this, I would prefer to see the church step up to meet that need. If we had, then there would be no problem that the government would feel compelled to fix.
Aren’t we (the church) called to take care of the sick? (Just in case you were wondering, the answer to that question is, “yes”.) Then how have the medical needs in our country gotten so bad? The only answer that I can think of for these questions is that we (the church) have not stepped up to the call.
The good news is that I know that it is possible for the church to meet needs like this. Things like relational tithe that are designed to help people in a community meet each other’s needs are solutions that could eliminate the need for socialized health care.
Whatever it looks like, if you want to fight things like socialized health care, then the best way to do it is by eliminating the needs that government feels obligated to address. As the church we should be leading the world in finding creative ways to meet the needs of the sick (and the orphan, and the widow, and… you get the idea). We should be a light to the world.
The church that Jesus called us to be is full of people who were created in the image of the most Creative Being in the universe! And we have been tasked with taking care of this place, and each other. For once I would like to see the church BE the solution, rather than complain about someone else trying to meet a need that we have failed to address.
[ministry spotlight] hpc midnight outreach
July 25, 2009 by bibledude
Filed under engaged in culture, featured, ministry
by Carole Turner, Healing Place Church, Baton Rouge, LA
The first time I walked into a strip club, I knew I was doing the right thing.
Sometimes I get to answer the question “what is midnight outreach?” I love talking about it because I think it is one of the most amazing outreaches I get to be a part of. What’s even cooler is I get to do it once a month.
Midnight outreach is to strip clubs, and the streets of north Baton Rouge. We go into the strip clubs (only ladies go into the clubs, men stay outside and talk to the bouncers and give them Chocolate) and we give every lady in the club a rose. Tied onto the rose with pretty ribbon is a business card from Healing Place Church which reads “We hope this small gift brightens your day. It is a simple way to say God loves you – no strings attached. Let us know if we can help you.” also on the card is the church web site address, map to the church, service times and church phone numbers.
The managers and owners of these strip clubs know what these cards say, they know we are from a church, Aliece (the leader of Midnight outreach) tells them who we are when she talks to them about coming into the clubs. They know we just want to be nice to the ladies, give them a rose and treat them like a daughter of the king, not a piece of meat. The patrons know who we are, we have on bright red shirts that say “HPC” on the front and “SERVE” on the back. We drive up in a big shuttle that has “Healing Place Church” on the side of it. So, for some supernatural reason, they let us come in and give a rose to every dancer, bar maid, and female patron there. We don’t give roses to any men, even if they ask for one to give a lady, we simply tell them we can only give them to the ladies ourselves.
About twice a year the team gets to go into the dancers dressing rooms and decorate them, like at Christmas and Valentines Day. Some of these girls get no gifts on these holidays, they are alone and they love that we give them gifts and treat them with dignity especially around the holidays.
I had wanted to go on Midnight Outreach for awhile before I actually did. Dean was afraid for me to go. Then he agreed to let me go as long as Summer went with me, within a few months Dean started driving the shuttle for every midnight outreach.
The first time I walked into a strip club I knew I was doing the right thing. I knew that first night that we were doing something completely unexpected in the spirit world. I mean, where is one sure fire place the devil knows he is safe from THE love of Jesus? Here are men treating a woman like a piece of meat, getting their kicks off of looking at a mostly naked girl completely torn down in her self worth to the point that she thinks all she can do for a living is take her clothes off for money. Girls so addicted to drugs that they feel they have to strip to get the money they need? When you walk in you can literally feel the darkness separating. The LOVE of Jesus does that. It’s like the Devil is confused by the angels that surround us. The bewilderment on the faces of the male patrons, The dancers who look shocked and puzzled by this free rose handed to her by a smiling, unintimidated face of love. The smile we give, the eye contact and the lack of fear, is all God reaching out to show love to someone living in hell.
After we go to the two local strip clubs we then head down to north Baton Rouge. We go to two different inner city night clubs and the Alamo Hotel to hand out roses and chocolates but here we also give out fliers for the Baton Rouge Dream Center church services. After that we hit the streets. I love the streets cuz’ we get to pray with people, talk to them, give them information about the church, the ladies roses and the guys chocolate.
We have had the privilege of praying with many prostitutes, drug dealers, crack heads, gang bangers, children, homeless people and just normal lost souls out late at night. And some of them have come to church, gotten saved and attend regularly.
After only 2 years of being a part of midnight outreach, we are becoming a constant in their lives, they are seeing that we are committed to showing them the love of Jesus, not condemn them or preach at them but love them and offer a place they can come for real hope.
I can’t think of anything more fulfilling in life than knowing I am walking into hell on earth to spread the love of Jesus.
THAT is midnight outreach.
About the author:
Carole Turner
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
41 yr old story teller, singer, artist, Orphan care advocate. Married 14 yrs to Dean. Mother of Evangeline, who has Juvenile Diabetes, miracle of birth. Steele, first adoption miracle and Abel our second adoption miracle from Ethiopia.
Follow my blog: http://www.thewardrobeandthewhitetree.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CaroleTurner
children of microfinance: fernando in bolivia
December 30, 2008 by Kelli Ross
Filed under engaged in culture
by Kelli Ross
Fernando is proud to walk to school in his brand new shirt and shoes. “My teacher said that I look really handsome — I love her a lot!”
Fernando in Bolivia
María, Fernando’s mom, started a knitting business in Tarija, Bolivia, with the help of a Five Talents’ partner, Semillas de Bendición (Seeds of Blessing), in order to provide her four children with nutritious food and clothing. The first loan she received was for $14.
“She had great talent in knitting, but her self-esteem was very low, so we encouraged her to start a business,” said Sara and Eva Mamani, Semillas de Bendición program managers. “She was quite fearful, but she decided to take a risk because the poverty in her family was very great. Now, she sells beautiful wool ponchos, and her husband is pleased because their sons are the ones who benefit the most.”
