Several months ago, we gave a book entitled ?I Am A Church Member? to every family in church. This book, written by Thom Rainer, offers a brief description of what it means to be a member of a local congregation. While it is our desire to be more intentional in terms of explaining what it means to be a member of our church, there is also a need to reignite what it means to be a part of God?s movement. The next several sermons will seek to inspire our church to stand up and be God?s movement!
God has always ignited movements throughout the history of the world. As a church, we have been called to be a member of something that is bigger than us. We are challenged then to participate in the movement of God that is often hard for us to comprehend or understand. Nevertheless, our call is to go big and partner with God in the renewing, redeeming and reconciliation of his creation.
The movement of God involves a community that is committed to His way. After declaring Jesus is Lord, the words and actions of the community reflect a deep commitment to the way. The explosive growth that took place in the early church had much to do with the unwavering devotion and commitment of the early believers. Can we recapture that commitment?
We have been given the Holy Spirit. With it comes the very Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and our unique gifting. Paul reminds Timothy to ?stir? the Spirit within him. It may be that we believe that we have the Spirit in us, but we do nothing with it. What happens when we activate God?s Holy Spirit within us?
The church is about community. Community is about relationship. Who is our neighbor and who is not our neighbor? Jesus' answer to that question might be hard to take, but that's the calling of the church.