Entrance into the Everlasting Kingdom

Did you know that in the Scripture there is a formula listed ending with this promise: “for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11)? Another translation puts it this way “in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” WOW! The preceding verse says that if we do these things – we will never fail!

Do you know the “things” apostle Peter was talking about? Do you know this formula of success?

I had a different blog idea for this week. But when elder Cameron Munro opened the Scripture to 2^nd Peter 1:3-11 to lead our time of prayer this past Wednesday, the passage he had chosen spoke volumes to me and I knew I had to revisit this again.

Apostle Peter in various ways is telling believers in his letter that there are certain qualities, certain elements that must be present in our lives which prove our election and calling sure (v.10) , which testify that our sins are forgiven (v.9), which make a believer fruitful and productive (v.8), which allow us to escape the corruption of this world (v.4). Do you know these “things”?

There are 8 (eight) of them listed in verses 5 through 7:

1. first there is diligence, initiative taking; 
2. then there is caring faith, 
3. spiritual knowledge, awareness of God’s gifts, 
4. disciplined living of surrendered self, 
5. enduring and reliable consistency, 
6. devotion of living in God’s presence, 
7. family-like relationships in the community, 
8. Love.

Peter’s emphasis is on ALL of these “things.” Not some, but having ALL. In the past I’ve paraphrased these in contemporary terms 

1. empowering leadership; 
2. need-solving evangelism; 
3. ministering with awareness of spiritual gifts; 
4. passionate spirituality; 
5. functional and consistent structures; 
6. life inspired in worship; 
7. community groups, 
8. loving relationships.

I see our church having ALL these THINGS. In words of the same apostle from an earlier letter “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” (1 Peter 1:22)

Meditate on these things. Dream these things! Desire these things. Pray about these. Share with ours your dreams. And live these eight things, so that your entrance into the Kingdom of God would be supplied to you abundantly.

CHURCH HEALTH: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Last week I shared with you a broad overview of the recent NCD survey results.  We have grown, improved in many directions.

And three areas need radical improvement, I would say, ICU-type care. Passionate spirituality has always been our strength, and we lack no spiritual gifts.  Some of you were asking me what needs to be done, what steps need to be taken to improve relationships, leadership, and group dynamics.

First we need to have “Church Health Team,” a taskforce consisting of a strategic thinker, researcher, intercessor, communicator, team leader. We need spiritually mature servant-leaders-volunteers, who exercise personal spiritual disciplines and who have a heart for God and his kingdom; people who can see the big picture, who are not lost in the details; people who can make dreams become reality, who can bring the idea into practice, people who are committed to see the church grow. Enthusiasm for the church is contagious and motivates others.  If you sense God’s calling and want to participate in this process, please email me, or talk to myself or elder Mike Keim.

Even as we notice that we “dropped the ball” on evangelism this year, the “in-reach” is a priority now.  We need to build such relationships that we would retain everyone who comes in contact with our church family.  No point of inviting if we are not sure ourselves we want to mingle together. Meanwhile let’s ask ourselves:

-          Do our leaders enjoy their ministry in church?

-          Is pastor doing/working too much?

-          Do we let our leaders explain things, do we listen to them enough?

-          Do we, our elders-leaders believe that God wants us to grow?

-          Do we hold our leaders accountable for their responsibilities & promises?

-          What would it take for our leaders to start small groups, where trust and nurture will help everyone to grow, and each would feel “at home”?

-          What would it take to build reliable friendships within the church?

-          Have you left your bitterness and hurts in the past, and are you ready to move into bright future?

Let your leaders know about your personal problems, so they will be in the know and show concern for every individual.  Remember, leaders in church are not for Sabbath performance only, but for every day fellowship and nurture too.

Pray without ceasing for the revival of our church.

FOCUS ON CHURCH HEALTH AND BALANCE

Dear family, about two month ago 30 selected members of our church family participated in our annual opinion poll of church life.  27  did return the survey.  Below you see a bar-graph of results. For comparison our last year’s (2009) results are also plotted, together with our first survey (2005), and our highest average year (2007).

The overall results during the past five years are good, we had experienced growth.  Emphasis on “every believer a minister” and providing opportunities for people to get involved in ministry according to their spiritual giftedness shows results!  Our worship experience has been a blessing.  Improvement has been shown in relationships and community groups. Passionate spirituality is our strength.

It is obvious that we “dropped the ball” on evangelism this year.  However, the greatest concern is the trend in leadership, where empowerment is not taking place, mentoring and teamwork is lacking.  The results were not a surprise, as elders had expressed recently the need for relationship and teamwork building, moving to facilitate elders meetings in homes, rather than in a formal setting.  I had shared these results with the Board last week, and we will further discuss how we as a family will grow in these three areas: relationships, groups, leadership. 

Right now a taskforce is much needed to facilitate the improvement: strategic thinker, researcher, intercessor, communicator, team leader.

The “church health” team needs spiritually mature people, who exercise personal spiritual disciplines and who have a heart for God and his kingdom, people who can see the big picture, who are not lost in the details, people who can make dreams become reality, who can bring the idea into practice, people who are committed to see the church grow. Enthusiasm for the church is contagious and motivates others.  If you sense God’s calling and want to participate in this process, please email me, or talk to myself or elder Mike Keim.

Pray without ceasing for the revival of our church.