4 comments (Add your own)

1. Jim McDougal wrote:

It strikes me as sad that this topic has been open since the end of March and has no entries. I'll begin the discussion. My opinions may not be popular among the dogma of the evangelical church, so I'm open to the opinions of others as well.
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I think this congregation gives of itself very generously in attempting to reach out to the local community. But rural wisdom prevails in the sentiment of "leading a horse to water, but not able to make it drink". Because God gave each individual - churched or otherwise - free will, it is more often not that we will encounter doors rudely closing in out faces when we do try to reach out.
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That sentiment, however, does not give us a free pass to avoid Christ's final commandment in Acts 1:8 - "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." It does imply that we might be ill-prepared for the mission. The commandment indicates that we must first have power and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, it was when the apostles demonstrated boldness in faith by publicly proclaiming Christ that results were forthcoming.
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We've become very adept at proclaiming Christ from within the relative safety of the church walls. And when we do go out knocking on doors, our 'boldness' has more in common with a whisper than a loudspeaker. So what's wrong? It might be that we've become too comfortable with the status quo and we are not activly preparing or engaging in the mission of reaching out. It may be that we participate in wonderful programs to bring the community to the church, but we're not very adept at taking the church to the community.

June 9, 2010 @ 5:13 PM

2. Ed Batchelor wrote:

Keep on keeing on.

June 30, 2010 @ 9:24 AM

3. Brad wrote:

I think Ed means Keeping On, and we all need to know that this race we are running is not a sprint. We are in a marathon to eternity so we cannot rest.

June 30, 2010 @ 9:30 AM

4. Ed Batchelor wrote:

Yes that is what I meant, Brad. It is a concept I learned from a Friend in Oklahoma.

July 1, 2010 @ 10:31 AM

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