THOUGHTS ABOUT MY SURVEY (2)
After almost 20 years of Pastoral Ministry, (the last 2 churches we saw exceptional growth)In January 1987 I was invited to join the Faculty of what was Commonwealth Bible College (now known as Alpha Crucis College) and was responsible to teach subjets like Church Growth, Principles of Leadership and Missions and related subjects. This I did for 11 years until the Lord led us to Singapore. I loved every moment of our time there, and felt the Lord used me to impart plenty of good truth to the students. In hindsight I realise now I have learnt a lot more since those days, and would love my time over again.
Last Saturday I initiated a survey seeking information about the challenges and needs of the local church in the 21st century, I sent this to my thousands of FB and WhatsApp friends, and have been overwhelmed by the response. Over the weekend I felt the Lord was challenging me to spotlight where the responsibility primarily lies to see a local church is being “built according to the PATTERN of the New Testament. This must particularly fall to the Snr. Pastor THE TEAM LEADER (to see it gets done (not that he is expected or able to do it all himself), so I wrote a lengthy blog on Monday asking some 8 questions to snr. Pastors, and then concluding with 12 ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS that I believe are essential if we are going to build and grown a N.T. church in the 21st century.
I sincerely believe every local church should have its own personality and culture, and will have its particular specific DNA (and therefore is not (and must not be a clone) but MUST HAVE ALL THE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS evident and effectively influencing (in a balanced way) positively the life of the church. If a local church DOES NOT have all these components I believe it will be unbalanced and will not reach it full potential.
I list again these 12 COMPONENTS that are keys to the PATTERN, also if you have not yet looked at and answered the 8 questions, please give some prayerful time to do this, we surely want to build something that has STRONG FOUNDATIONS AND WILL LAST.
- CORPORATE PRAYER.
- ANOINTED BIBLICAL PRAISE & WORSHIP
- THE PREACHING OF THE WORD
- THE TEACHING OF THE WORD
- EVANGELISM
- BIBLICAL DISCIPLESHIP
- MENTORING/FATHERING
- SMALL GROUPS
- GIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE CHURCH
- UNITY
- A PROGRESSIVE VISION (HAVING AN EYE FOR THE CLOUD) NOT GETTING STUCK IN A RUT, NOT BEING AFRAID TO HEAR AND OBEY GOD’S DIRECTION
- LEADERSHIP TRAINING (ALL TYPES) KIDS, TEENS, MEN, WOMEN, FAMILY, MUSIC WORSHIP ETC. GENERAL & SPECIFIC TRAINING
- MISSIONS HOME AND ABROAD.
My FB & WhatsApp friends live on every continent, especially Europe, Africa, The Americas, Asia and Australia, and almost EVERY CHALLENGE AND NEED they have shared with me have had its roots in one or more of these 13 components above.
I was going to highlight some of them, but I would like you to “unpack” each of these components (particularly in the context of your situation) and see how they must be or become an integral part of your local church.
We read in Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
These 5 Ministries are gifts to the Body of Christ,(not the local church) if you do not have the expertise at this time in your church, ask the Lord to bring people to your mind, who could assist you in this.
May the Lord help you to work with the Him to BUILD GOD’S HOUSE ‘according to the pattern” when Moses and David obeyed God and did this THE GLORY CLOUD came and rested in and on the House. I sure want to see the glory of God manifest in the local church Amen.
Please let me have your response and comments please?
