• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

Passion for God is One

Posted on March 11, 2011 by wtdavid

Knowing that fundamentally the church is the community of all those God has brought into His family, His body, then how do we describe what the church does, in other words, what are its functions, markers or expressions.

I think we would be hard pressed to not say that worship is a central expression or marker of the community of believers.  John Piper writes: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.  Worship is.  Missions exists because worship doesn’t.  Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.  When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.  It is a temporary necessity.   But worship abides forever.”  

When the community gathers, passion for God must be a central expression of that gathering.  Worship, then, cannot be confined to just one part or one “activity” of the community; it is to infuse the life of the gathered community.  But, passion for God is meant to also inflame our daily lives as the community scattered, for “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)

So, how then does the community work out this central expression, this critical function?  Through allowing grateful hearts, passionate hearts to find substantive outward expression.  Let me try to give an example.  People will often cite ‘singing’ as a key element of worship.  Certainly, singing can be a means of worship.  But if the ‘form’ is mistaken for the substance, then singing becomes an activity in the program, rather than a true expression of grateful hearts, passionate for the God they love.

This is certainly not an easy conversation, but remember that we are looking at “what we mean by “church” so that it provides a common base for all from which to work and which allows the functions of the church to take appropriate cultural forms where the church is established.”

Filed under: Church, Community, Worship | 3 Comments »

Universal … and Local

Posted on March 8, 2011 by wtdavid

God, by His initiative, draws us into His community; “the community of all true believers for all time.”  We quickly want to move on from this ‘universal’ concept to the more practical ‘local’ concept.  Communities of believers are both, but the universal concept highlights for us the reality that we are not alone, that we are not marginal.  The people of God are a community bigger than we think.

The Scriptures describe the people of God at numerous points as those called to gather or stand before the Lord (for example: Exodus 19; Isaiah 2:2-4; 56:6-8; Hebrews 12:18-24; and Revelation 5; 19:6-10).  Reading chronologically, this gathering becomes larger and larger.  In some way, when we come together as a community of believers, we gather in the presence of a much larger community.  

One author put it this way: “Our gathering together is not incidental – the church is the assembly of the people of God.  Moreover, as we gather we stand in the presence of the Lord.  We are in the company of the angels and of all believers.  We gather with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; with David, Elijah and Isaiah; with Peter, James and John.  Above all we come where Jesus our Savior is.”

In a very real way, when we come together as a community of believers, we gather in the presence of our Master Jesus. 

We also recognize that God’s drawing of His people into community, to stand in His presence, always give rise to a particular expression or response.

So, how are you doing discipling your Singaporean student to grasp the concept that ‘church’ is first of all a community of believers called to gather with Him, defined by their relationship to God and initiated entirely by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

Filed under: Church, Community | Leave a comment »

Hope And Prayer

Posted on March 7, 2011 by wtdavid

Thanks to Mark for today’s post:

“At a recent gathering of workers from the part of the world in which I serve I opened the sessions with a prayer for the group that we would experience community, joy, and hope. Hope, the great center point of the Gospel, is a reality of our pilgrimage with the Master Jesus, but is amazingly one of the least considered elements of prayer we Christians pause to consider.

When you think about it, hope is why we pray. At a minimum it will be difficult to pray if we do not believe, by hope, that God not only hears us (which is only the start of hope), but that he also responds to the cries of his people (the middle of hope), and finally draws together all our yearnings for him in the grand finale of our eternal life to come (in a sense the end of hope, for we will no longer need hope, since all will be revealed in the new heavens and the new earth). But to pray without hope is worse than difficult, it is impossible.

In chapter 24 of his book A Praying Life author Paul E. Miller reflects on hope in the context of family life and he strikes this same chord on the relationship between hope and prayer. “As we wait and pray, God weaves his story and creates a wonder. Instead of drifting between comedy (denial) and tragedy (reality), we have a relationship with the living God…”

Together with you and with our literary companion Paul Miller I want to say “yes!” The dynamic of the relationship between the Lord Almighty and us provides the terrain for hope to grow wild in our bodies, souls, minds, and spirits. And with hope we come again and again, daily, in our prayers to our God and we affirm: our hope is built on nothing less than you, Oh God!”

Filed under: Hope, Prayer | Leave a comment »

The Community Equals the Kingdom … NOT!

Posted on March 4, 2011 by wtdavid

Some of us can confuse multiple terms used in the Scriptures, and actually talk about them as if they are interchangeable.  Such is the case with the terms ‘community of believers’ [the church] and ‘the kingdom’. 

The kingdom refers to “primarily the dynamic reign or kingly rule of God, and the sphere in which that rule is experienced.”  It is God’s Trinitarian work to bring our hearts in line with Him, under His mastership, individually and corporately. 

So, the church, the community of believers is not the same thing as the kingdom. 

Rather, the King of this kingdom enters us into community.  He draws us to acknowledge His rule or reign, and as a result brings us into community.  What is amazing is that He chooses, through that community, to see His rule or reign worked out in greater ways in our individual lives. 

In response, the community witnesses to this King and His rule in our lives; they become God’s instrument to demonstrate the values that our Master has worked, and is working, into our hearts.

Communities of believers.  It is all of God, initiated by God, lived in God’s presence, to draw us and others back to God.

So, let’s consider this situation again: A Singaporean teenager comes to Christ next week through a study which you facilitate.  How, and by what means, will you help her/him begin to grasp the concept that ‘church’ is first of all a community of believers defined by their relationship to God, that is initiated entirely by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and where the values of our King are worked out and lived out?

Filed under: Church, Community, Kingdom | Leave a comment »

It is God’s Work First

Posted on March 3, 2011 by wtdavid

God unites us to Himself, draws into relationship with Him.  We become part of the community of believers, the church, because of His work in our lives.  Relationship and initiative, His initiative, become primary when we talk about the assembly or community of God’s people. 

When Jesus said to Peter, “and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” (Matthew 16:18), the emphasis was clearly on God’s initiative: “I will build my church.”  We were lost, but now are found.  We were once not God’s people, but now are the people of God.

That initiative on God’s part is very much a Trinitarian one as well; for we are the people of God, the body of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit. 

Recognizing that God is behind this whole work, that we are drawn into His community by His initiative of love, immediately frames the expression of this fellowship that should follow.

So, let’s consider this situation again: An older Central Asian man comes to Christ next week through a study which you facilitate.  How, and by what means, will you help him begin to grasp the concept that ‘church’ is first of all a community of believers, defined by their relationship to God and initiated entirely by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

Filed under: Church, Community | 2 Comments »

Who We Are is First

Posted on March 2, 2011 by wtdavid

The community of believers, the church, should be described first as those who have been lovingly called out by God to become part of His family, His body, and His people: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2.9-10)

Ed put it this way in his comment to my post yesterday: “When thinking of the church theologically and globally, it cannot be defined by form or size but can be defined primarily by relationship and secondarily by function.” 

Most people, however, talk about church primarily (or perhaps exclusively) in terms of what we do at church.

So, let’s consider this situation: A young Cambodian woman comes to Christ next week through a study which you facilitate.  How, and by what means, will you help her begin to grasp the concept that ‘church’ is first of all a community of believers, defined by their relationship to God?

Filed under: Church, Community | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 205 other subscribers

  • Categories

  • Recent Comments

  • Archives

  • Goodreads