Today, like Sunday, I am overwhelmed at the magnitude of God. He is Majesty, to steal a line form tonight's worship with Todd Fields.Tonight's message from Andy was powerful - the tough to hear, tougher to act on kind of powerful. The Point: People want to turn to God, but the church continues to get in the way. The Proof: Acts 15. The first big church that had it all-the Jerusalem Community Church- decided just two months after Jesus has gone back to heaven after dieing for the whole world's sins, that you must be Jewish to be saved. Read it for yourself - vs. 1 "unless you are circumcised...you cannot be saved!" Luke continues to write that the church was, "causing difficulties for those who turn to God from among the Gentiles" v. 19 The Principle: We must be more interested in those we reach, than those we keep. As Andy illustrated our churches are like ladders with out the bottom 4 steps. All of us 'church' people got up the ladder, then pulled the steps off and have made it hard for unsaved people to get to where we are. There are no entry steps, no baby steps. Our music: designed for insiders. Our programs: designed for insiders. Our ministries minister to who? the insiders.
The hard part - changing. Having the tough meetings. The idea of upsetting the people on top of the ladder (often staff members, deacons, elders, big givers) keeps many church leaders in the status quo - Thus, God doesn't very interested in what we do - after all, the insiders go to heaven and God's ultimate mission is to "seek and save the lost".
- Brad
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