Praying for Our Church in 2012

"As a consequence of prayer, people will come to recognize Jesus for who he is, they will learn what it is to be his disciple, and they will be equipped to serve him well" (Helm, One-to-One Bible Reading, Kindle loc. 161).

Helm gives us three prayers for our church.

1. God use us to lead other people to see Jesus for who he is.
2. God use us to teach one another what it is to be a disciple of Jesus.
3. God use us to equip one another to serve you well. 

What if each day this year we committed to ask God for these three requests? How would it change (1) your life, (2) our church, and (3) our community?

This Salvation Changes You (The Application)

Text: Eph 2:8-10

Sermon: This Salvation Changes You

The Application

In general, the “good works” of v.10 are the way of life Paul describes in chs.4-6.

So #1 read Ephesians 4-6.

These three chapters show us how God wants us to live:

• Friendship, church, marriage, family, work, the XN life are all addressed.
• Read chapters 4-6, ask: how would my life be different if I really believed what God says in Ephesians?
• Write down your answers. Then pray & repent that life into reality.

More specific:

#1 God wants you to know the riches of his grace

God wants you

• to trust who he is & how he works through his Son for our salvation
• to trust who you now are through faith in Christ

God wants you to believe, trust, and know that he is the God who initiates love toward you, lavishes grace on you, accomplishes his purposes toward you . . he is both willing and able to change you.

God wants you to know who he is & how he works through Jesus.

So pray for one another:

“O God, let this woman, my sister, know you. Amid everything else, do not let this man, my brother, miss the best: to know Christ. Lord, open our eyes. Show us, teach us, unveil who you are to all of us. Don’t let us gloss over this. Don’t let us content ourselves with knowing a bit about you. Don’t let us busy ourselves w/ other things, throwing our lives away.” From David Powilson, Seeing with New Eyes.

2d: God wants you to know the depths of his love.

Over and over in Ephesians we read about the great love with which God has loved us (2:4).

He wants us to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that we may be all that God wants us to be (3:19)

God wants you to know his love . . .

• . . . “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2)

Ephesians shows how: You walk in love . . .

• . . . when you love one another (1:15, 4:2)
• . . . when you are kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Eph 4:32)

And even more specific,

• Husband you walk in love, when you love your wife sacrificially just like Christ loved the church . . . you love her as you love yourself, nourishing and cherishing her (Eph 5:25-33)

3d: God wants you to speak the truth in love

God wants you to speak the truth (4:25)

• not simply because it’s a good habit or a good thing to do
• Rather speak the truth “because we are members of one another” in Christ (4:25).

God wants you to speak the truth in love to one another (4:15)

• And he tells us why: “speaking the truth in love we grow mature in Christ.” (Eph 4:15 paraphrase).
• So “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (4:29).
• As the NLT puts it: “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (4:29, NLT).

God wants us to speak the truth in love as we instruct, correct, encourage, and rebuke one another in learning Christ.

4^th God wants you to walk worthy of your calling

Walk is just a Bible way of describing the way you live your life: so live, live a life worthy of your call to salvation and new life in Christ

• walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us (5:2)
• walk as children of light . . . seeking what is good and right and try, carefully discern what is pleasing to the Lord (5:8-10)
• “be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act foolishly or thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” (AND do it) 5:15-17 NLT.

This salvation doesn’t leave you the same: God changes who you are and leads you in a new direction with a new purpose.

He wants you to know the riches of his grace and the depth of his love,

• so that together we can love one another, speak the truth into one another’s lives, and encourage one another toward love and good deeds.

May we be such a church.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

210 in 2010 (Wed Night Notes Pt.2)

7 Things You Can Do When We Gather Together Each Sunday
(my notes from Wednesday night, July 8, 2009).
1) Pray:

• We need men and women who are praying for our Sunday gatherings. Pray for our volunteers, our teachers, our visitors, our attitudes and actions, our singing, our music, our prayers, our giving, our listening to and response to God’s Word, and so on.
• Pray that every one present will adore & praise God, confess sin, give thanks for God’s grace, and talk to God about their needs.
• Pray for conviction of sin, repentance, and the joy of changed lives.
• Ask God to do a great work in the heart of our church, every time we gather together.

“Remember that men and women are not converted, finally, by [our] sagacity, oratory, theological brilliance or homilectical skill. God in his mercy may use all these and many more gifts. But only God is able to bring people to himself. That is ample incentive to prayer” (Carson, Gagging of God, 513).

2) Participate:

• Sing when we sing, pray when we pray, read when we read, listen, fellowship, enjoy church.

• Key: respond to the message: search your heart and apply God’s Word.

3) Interact:

• Talk to people, sit together, pray for one another.
• Find and spend time with our guests.

4) Practice the 3 Minute Rule.

• Ed Stetzer describes this rule, each “member must talk to someone they don’t know for three minutes following the end of worship” (Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, 100).

5) Be a “Seat Shepherd.”

• Seat shepherds “sit in a specific area each week to connect guests with nearby members to make them feel welcome” (Ibid.).

6) Be Here & Be in the Service.

• Make weekly participation at our church a priority. Be here as much as possible.

7) Speak Positively about What God Is Doing at Our Church to Everyone.

• Keep complaints and concerns and questions private.
  
• First, go to the leader of the particular ministry, then come to the pastor(s), and then if you still have a concern or complaint or question, bring it to the church.

210 in 2010 (Wed Night Notes Pt.1)

These are my notes from Wed night (7/1/09).

210 in 2010

Discuss 2 Questions:

1. How do we get there?

2. What do we do well as a church?

Start where we are: (1) Sunday School & (2) Our Sunday Gathering (did not get to #2)

(1) Sunday School

1. Pray for the healthy growth of our church.

2. Make a list

• Anyone you know who would enjoy our church or simply does not participate at a local church
• In-reach: members who don’t participate (not active).
• Out-reach: friends, family, work associates, classmates, anyone you come into contact with on a regular basis.

3. Make it your class goal to contact/visit/connect to everyone on the list before Labor Day.

• 210 is our numerical goal: You work out the details as a group.
• Suggestions: work with deacon’s and deacon’s wives: the list.

4. Participate in a small group. Make it your goal to be here as much as possible.

5. Talk positively about our church to friends, family, work associates.

• Twitter, facebook, text, communicate what God is doing here @ABBC

We did not have time to discuss our Sunday gathering. I will post those notes after we have discussed them as a group.