Journey family,
We are in the midst of exciting times. 2011 has been the most fruitful year of ministry in our church’s 5 year history. We have seen incredible numbers of professions of faith, baptisms, and numerical growth in the church. You guys are a big reason for why these things are happening. You invite people to experience what is happening. You give faithfully to see our ministries continue to thrive. You serve unselfishly to see kids ministered to, people welcomed, and the worship gathering to glorify God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
With all that is going good, we are also in a dangerous place. The danger we are in is that we could easily grow complacent with where we are. We have buildings. We have decent tithe dollars. We could just mail it in and call it good. However, you know that is not how we roll. The Journey Church is not interested in playing it safe. We are not interested in growing comfortable or complacent. We believe there is a lost and dying world in need of the gospel, which demands our comfort zones be shattered. There are too many people in our neighborhoods, schools, families, and workplaces who have yet to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have the mandate and privilege to go after them.
With all of that being said, the elders of the Journey want to introduce some language to the congregation that we want to start using, to remind ourselves of our mandate and the great need around us. We want to use this in our conversations at church, in small group, and when we are with our church family sharing in fellowship. We want to see this language used on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking places. We want this to become a part of the very DNA and fabric of our church. What is the language:
#FORWARD. FORWARD as a church, FORWARD with the gospel!
Our church can’t sit and grow complacent, we must move FORWARD. The gospel is not just for us to sit around and talk about, it must go FORWARD. There are cities around us to be reached, we must go FORWARD. This also includes our personal lives. We have to learn obedience to God in all things, we must move FORWARD. We need to be immersed in His Word and in prayer, that’s how we move FORWARD. We must give our time, dollars, and energy to see this reality accomplished among us, we have to step FORWARD.
On Sunday, October 9th, at our Sunday morning services, we will be announcing more details about how we are going to move FORWARD. Until then, be praying and asking God about what you and your family will need to begin doing in order for you to move FORWARD. FORWARD in your faith and FORWARD in your service to your church family.
Great things are coming Journey Church. Let’s believe that God has greater things in store for us than we have already experienced. It’s time to move FORWARD!
Journey Church: if you are ready to move forward and want to let others know about it, share this post on your Facebook and/or Twitter. Let's get the word out!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Union & Communion With God
I have always had questions concerning how we can never be snatched from the hands of God, but at the same time experience seasons where He feels distant from us. The issue here is about the ebbs and flows of our relationship with God. If we are forever secured in relationship with God through Christ, do our sins committed after our conversion have any effect on us? This has often puzzled me.
Recently while reading John Owen's book Communion with God this issue was brought up. The way Owen described this issue was that in Christ, we have union with God. This union is forged by our faith in his death and resurrection. At our conversion we were joined in union with God, justified before Him. This union is forever and irreversible. Once we have experienced this union with God through Christ, we can then participate in communion with God. This communion is a relationship that we can experience with the Lord Almighty as a result of our union through Christ. However, our communion with God, unlike our union, can have seasons of great delights and seasons of great sorrow. Our communion with God can fluctuate depending on our willingness to pursue God, be in His Word, seek Him in prayer, repent of our sin, and other things like this. Communion with God is forged as we seek Him and come to Him. Communion is disrupted and slowed when we do not seek Him and have sins that have gone unchecked.
It is important for us as believers to understand this dynamic. In Christ, we have union with God Almighty, and that can never be taken. However, our communion with God, the feeling of being close to Him and sensing His presence in our lives, is dependent on our seeking of Him. Communion with God will have some seasons that are better than others.
We should all desire to draw nearer to God in closer communion and fellowship with Him. If we do not feel close to Him, it does not mean that we have no union with Him, but could point out to us that our communion with God is struggling due to some area of neglect in our lives. This serves to encourage the believer that even when we have failures in our lives, our union with God is never shaken. But this also rips away the deception from people who believe they can experience closeness with God, yet live in unrepentant sin.
What are your thoughts? Does the distinctions help you to understand the dynamic at work in our relationship with God? What insights does this give you concerning this subject?
Leave a comment or share this link with others below
Recently while reading John Owen's book Communion with God this issue was brought up. The way Owen described this issue was that in Christ, we have union with God. This union is forged by our faith in his death and resurrection. At our conversion we were joined in union with God, justified before Him. This union is forever and irreversible. Once we have experienced this union with God through Christ, we can then participate in communion with God. This communion is a relationship that we can experience with the Lord Almighty as a result of our union through Christ. However, our communion with God, unlike our union, can have seasons of great delights and seasons of great sorrow. Our communion with God can fluctuate depending on our willingness to pursue God, be in His Word, seek Him in prayer, repent of our sin, and other things like this. Communion with God is forged as we seek Him and come to Him. Communion is disrupted and slowed when we do not seek Him and have sins that have gone unchecked.
It is important for us as believers to understand this dynamic. In Christ, we have union with God Almighty, and that can never be taken. However, our communion with God, the feeling of being close to Him and sensing His presence in our lives, is dependent on our seeking of Him. Communion with God will have some seasons that are better than others.
We should all desire to draw nearer to God in closer communion and fellowship with Him. If we do not feel close to Him, it does not mean that we have no union with Him, but could point out to us that our communion with God is struggling due to some area of neglect in our lives. This serves to encourage the believer that even when we have failures in our lives, our union with God is never shaken. But this also rips away the deception from people who believe they can experience closeness with God, yet live in unrepentant sin.
What are your thoughts? Does the distinctions help you to understand the dynamic at work in our relationship with God? What insights does this give you concerning this subject?
Leave a comment or share this link with others below
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)