It is hard to believe that it has been ten years. I started this blog ten years ago! In fact, here is my second blog entry, about purchasing our first sound equipment, to be used for our launch service in the movie theater. (remember that equipment, John Crawford?) It had a merciless HUM that we couldn’t stop no matter what we tried. UNTIL God sent us John Crawford, who was able to cure it for us!
A really big THANK YOU to everyone who helped out with Sunday’s party. It was really awesome. We had the chance to look back, to celebrate what God has been doing, and to look forward to what He might be up to next! If you didn’t see the video that we made to tell the story, you can watch it below!
New Series This Sunday
I recently changed up my message series plan, because I am really feeling that practically everyone I know is just overloaded with all the responsibilities and obligations that they are trying to keep up with in their lives right now. Everyone seems to be at the end of their strength, patience, time, and abilities. We need help creating space in our lives! Me too! So, this series begins on Sunday. I hope you’ll be with me, and that you’ll bring someone with you.
Discussion: Partners In Ministry
Did you play sports or do any extra-curricular activities in high school? What were they?
Why did you do those?
What did you love about them? What did you hate about them?
When my daughter was in school, she was a cheerleader, and she played soccer. She LOVED soccer, but she HATED cheering. I don’t know what other cheer squads are like, but hers was… Difficult. Those girls honestly never had any idea what was happening on the field during the game… They just knew they were supposed to cheer when the crowd gets loud. The cheerleaders did not play any games, and did not have any rivals to defeat. So they fought each other! That squad was full of drama and infighting and pettiness.
The soccer team, on the other hand, ran drills and practiced together. They used each other’s strengths to fight together to accomplish one thing: winning! They ran, kicked, sweat, bled, fought, won, and lost together as a team. They had a common goal that they all rallied around and celebrated together whenever they won. As a result, those girls were all tight with each other. I still love bumping into some of them from time to time.
Okay.. You might have to think about this for a minute. How is the typical church today more like cheerleading than soccer-playing?
Have you been in one of those? What is that like? (I am thinking about committees, power-families, traditionalism, etc.)
I think the concept of local church membership is partly to blame for this. I don’t believe in local church membership.
First of all, I believe God has been clear with us that local churches don’t make us members… JESUS makes us members. See this in Ephesians:
Ephesians 2:19–20 (NLT)
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
Nowhere in the New Testament do you find a verse, instruction, appeal, or command to become a member of a local church.
However, ALL THROUGHOUT the New Testament you find believers who are deeply connected to a local church. In fact, you ONLY find believers that are connected in a deep relationship with the local church. There is no “lone ranger” christian in God’s Word. That is a foreign concept.
The apostle Paul planted a bunch of churches, but there was one church he had a very special connection with. It was this church, the church at Phillipi, which took care of Paul. They funded his mission trips, prayed for him, encouraged him, sent people with him, and saw themselves as an integral part of making the gospel relevant to the world. Paul referred to this church in a unique way:
Philippians 1:4–5 (NLT)
Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
Paul encouraged his people to stand together. He was clear with them that they were all citizens (members) of heaven, but that they were also connected to each other locally…
Philippians 1:27 (NLT)
Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.
Philippians 2:2 (NLT)
Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
How does Paul imply here that they are to be more like soccer players than cheerleaders?
I think a lot of times, we get focused in on our own little pet projects. I see it in churches when they fight over the new hymnals, or whether to wear choir robes, or what color the carpet ought to be. We hate that, don’t we? But, Paul encourages his partners to live with a much bigger picture in mind:
Philippians 3:20–21 (NLT)
But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Why is it important for us to live with this bigger picture in mind?
At The Orchard, we’ve identified five different levels of leadership development. Everybody is in one of the five stages. Do you know yours? We think that someone choosing to partner is one of the marks of spiritual maturing. In fact, when considering someone for a key leadership role, leading teams and leaders, the individual’s partnership status is one of the first factors we consider.
As partners, we are working together to accomplish something far bigger than ourselves… So we live our lives as an example to others around us. Like Paul did…
Philippians 4:9 (NLT)
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Clearly, the Bible places a high level of importance on partnering together. Have you partnered with us for this year? We are out to win this.
PARTNER HERE