To Become A Team That Works Together To Reach People For Christ
In 12 words, that is the vision for our church. I dream that we would be a team of people who work together to reach our friends, co-workers, neighbours and family for Christ.
Being a team means that each one of us is involved. Each of us has a part to play and each of us working together are far more powerful than any of us individually.
Working together means that there really is work to be done. The church is not a club to hang out at and vegetate. It is a mission station to be sent from to get real work done. Being a part of the Victory team may not be easy, but it will be a challenging adventure.
Reaching people for Christ means that we genuinely believe that Jesus is working in and wants to continue to work in the life of every person in Moose Jaw. Each Moose Javian is on a spiritual journey and God is reaching out to them. We want to help facilitate their journey towards God through Christ.
But it doesn't end there. Reaching a person for Christ only begins when they find Him. The next step is for them to change their lives as they respond to God's word and bring every area of their lives under the Lordship of Christ. When this happens they find themselves living more and more free, joyful, loving lives, or another way to say it is that after they find Christ, they need to discover how to flourish in Christ. Finally, reaching people for Christ includes helping them discover their unique purpose and calling in God's kingdom. Each and every person can know the thrill and joy of being an instrument in God's hand to bring His love to others. This I call being fruitful. So...I know this part is a little more wordy but I summarize reaching people for Christ as helping people find Christ, flourish in Christ and be fruitful for Christ.
Imagine if there was a team of people radically committed to allowing God to use them to reach their friends, neighbours, co-workers and family for Christ. Imagine if God used us to help hundreds of people find Christ, flourish in Christ and then be fruitful for Christ.
God would get glory. Lives would get transformed. The church would prevail.
Want to join our team?
Showing posts with label teams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teams. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
So...You don't like books? How about the power of "together"?
OK, so my book craze is a bit over the top, I admit it. You are probably wondering when I am going to give this stuff a rest and blog about something else. Well, today is your day. I will return to the bookish blogs after a few blogs about something...anything other than books.
Today I am reflecting on the power of shared experiences. When we pray together, build a vision together, make a plan together, enjoy a victory together or endure a trial together, somehow the experience takes on far more meaning. Any of those things can be done independently, but doing them together has so many positive benefits it's hard to think of or name them all.
One of the benefits I love is that there is a shared sense of ownership. If I get some vision or plan on my own and try to convince you of it, I use up my influence points and you may feel manipulated or pressured into the whole thing. On the other hand, if we develop the vision or plan together, or if we pray through it together, or go through things together, there is shared ownership. We both feel excited about it and don't need to use up energy trying to convince each other to be a part of it.
Today I am reflecting on the power of shared experiences. When we pray together, build a vision together, make a plan together, enjoy a victory together or endure a trial together, somehow the experience takes on far more meaning. Any of those things can be done independently, but doing them together has so many positive benefits it's hard to think of or name them all.
One of the benefits I love is that there is a shared sense of ownership. If I get some vision or plan on my own and try to convince you of it, I use up my influence points and you may feel manipulated or pressured into the whole thing. On the other hand, if we develop the vision or plan together, or if we pray through it together, or go through things together, there is shared ownership. We both feel excited about it and don't need to use up energy trying to convince each other to be a part of it.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Strength and Weakness In Community (or Life in the Spirit)
I have been thinking lately about an aspect of community that blows me away. In true community we learn to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses and the strengths and weaknesses of those around us. (This is part of what I define as the first component of community...”to know and be known”.)
Now here's the cool part... in Jesus' kind of community we overlook others' weaknesses instead of criticizing or being irritated by them. Next, we draw out their strengths (or in other words...we are encouragers); in doing this we don't just tell them their strengths as a kind of fake compliment. Instead we genuinely recognize and become thankful for their strengths, we are glad they are in our community and a part of our lives because of what it is they offer and bring to the table.
Okay, the next step is to recognize my own weaknesses, expose them rather than covering them up (opposite of what we do with others...with others we cover up their weaknesses but with ourselves we expose our weaknesses), and invite my community and God to love me in spite of them and help me overcome them so that they do the least amount of damage possible. Finally, I develop my strengths and joyfully use them to serve as a part of my community.
Now here is one more thought that has been amazing me lately. My strengths and my weaknesses are usually related. They are cousins...they are kind of revealers of one another. Or another way to say it is that, for every strength there is an equal and opposite weakness and for every weakness there is an equal and opposite strength. The people in our community that are annoyingly loud, are also the greatest gifts to us in their bold and aggressive proclamations. The people in our community that wrongly avoid conflict also positively help us keep the peace. The people who tend to be controlling and power hungry can also sometimes be those used by God to passionately call us and rally us around a cause and they step up to lead when others won't.
So when I find myself irritated by a person's overly bold aggressiveness (their weakness) I can choose to appreciate their ability to step out in faith (the strength that goes with their weakness).
Imagine a team where all our weaknesses were diminished and our strengths drawn out and then combined together. (That's why hockey teams have defence and offence. The idea is that the offence players are better at offence and taking risks and stepping up on the rush, but they are worse at defence. So they play a position that magnifies their strength and minimizes their weakness. If a fellow player ever gets mad at them for their lack of defence he/she needs to remember their great offence, be thankful and help cover for their lack of defence.)
I think this in large part is what it means to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Check out these verses from Galatians in "The Message"
Gal. 5:25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.
Gal. 6:1-10 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.
4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
6 Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.
7-8 Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
9-10 So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
Now here's the cool part... in Jesus' kind of community we overlook others' weaknesses instead of criticizing or being irritated by them. Next, we draw out their strengths (or in other words...we are encouragers); in doing this we don't just tell them their strengths as a kind of fake compliment. Instead we genuinely recognize and become thankful for their strengths, we are glad they are in our community and a part of our lives because of what it is they offer and bring to the table.
Okay, the next step is to recognize my own weaknesses, expose them rather than covering them up (opposite of what we do with others...with others we cover up their weaknesses but with ourselves we expose our weaknesses), and invite my community and God to love me in spite of them and help me overcome them so that they do the least amount of damage possible. Finally, I develop my strengths and joyfully use them to serve as a part of my community.
Now here is one more thought that has been amazing me lately. My strengths and my weaknesses are usually related. They are cousins...they are kind of revealers of one another. Or another way to say it is that, for every strength there is an equal and opposite weakness and for every weakness there is an equal and opposite strength. The people in our community that are annoyingly loud, are also the greatest gifts to us in their bold and aggressive proclamations. The people in our community that wrongly avoid conflict also positively help us keep the peace. The people who tend to be controlling and power hungry can also sometimes be those used by God to passionately call us and rally us around a cause and they step up to lead when others won't.
So when I find myself irritated by a person's overly bold aggressiveness (their weakness) I can choose to appreciate their ability to step out in faith (the strength that goes with their weakness).
Imagine a team where all our weaknesses were diminished and our strengths drawn out and then combined together. (That's why hockey teams have defence and offence. The idea is that the offence players are better at offence and taking risks and stepping up on the rush, but they are worse at defence. So they play a position that magnifies their strength and minimizes their weakness. If a fellow player ever gets mad at them for their lack of defence he/she needs to remember their great offence, be thankful and help cover for their lack of defence.)
I think this in large part is what it means to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Check out these verses from Galatians in "The Message"
Gal. 5:25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.
Gal. 6:1-10 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.
4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
6 Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.
7-8 Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
9-10 So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Joining Forces
None of us can accomplish nearly as much individually as we can in groups. One of the problems is that we each have our own individual ego. Working together on the same project makes it necessary to lay down our own ego. If we want the glory and the credit, we will not accomplish much in life because we will always be working on our own. There are thousands of small endeavors that accomplish very little. Networking and teaming up for great endeavors would be far more powerful and effective.
What if we laid aside our differences to work on a common mission?
Our tendancy, when we hear about the power of teamwork, is to make our plans and then try to get others to join in. This does not work because we have not invited people along from the conception of the vision. What idea, vision, or plan are you currently pursuing that you have not first collaborated with others on? What would happen if you put your vision aside, joined a team at the grassroots phase and then teamed up together to change your city, family, church or world?
Lay aside our differences.
Lay aside our ego.
Let's find a Cause we can join forces on and then collaborate together from the ground up for that Cause.
What if we laid aside our differences to work on a common mission?
Our tendancy, when we hear about the power of teamwork, is to make our plans and then try to get others to join in. This does not work because we have not invited people along from the conception of the vision. What idea, vision, or plan are you currently pursuing that you have not first collaborated with others on? What would happen if you put your vision aside, joined a team at the grassroots phase and then teamed up together to change your city, family, church or world?
Lay aside our differences.
Lay aside our ego.
Let's find a Cause we can join forces on and then collaborate together from the ground up for that Cause.
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