Comments on: What is a missional church? http://disciple.gracesask.org/what-is-a-missional-church/ A ministry of Grace Fellowship Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:52:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Jan http://disciple.gracesask.org/what-is-a-missional-church/#comment-41 Jan Mon, 21 May 2007 23:54:12 +0000 http://idscanada.org/disciple/?p=30#comment-41 snip "May the Lord grant us eyes to see the depth of His love for sinners that we might without hesitation become, gladly, a missional church and a missional people in an irreligious world" from Julie's post... Amen Julie. Without hestiation and gladly...how much I need to pray to put this into effect within myself. snip
“May the Lord grant us eyes to see the depth of His love for sinners that we might without hesitation become, gladly, a missional church and a missional people in an irreligious world”
from Julie’s post…

Amen Julie. Without hestiation and gladly…how much I need to pray to put this into effect within myself.

]]> By: Julie http://disciple.gracesask.org/what-is-a-missional-church/#comment-40 Julie Mon, 21 May 2007 23:02:47 +0000 http://idscanada.org/disciple/?p=30#comment-40 There are two statements in this article on the missional church that really stood out to me and I think have relevance to Grace Fellowship. One is “A missional church acknowledges its purpose is to glorify God by taking Christ into the irreligious world (Mt. 28:18-20). It is not self-absorbed in its own life but rather absorbed in the life-giving mission of Jesus.” The other statement that stood out is “To neglect it (our call to missions) is to disregard the mission of God and to cease being the kind of church that is following Jesus.” Call is self absorbed, call it ingrown…whatever you want to call it, the question we need to ask ourselves is do we gather as a church for our own purposes, our own edification, our own knowledge, our own fellowship – whether is be personal or corporate? Is our focus on us, our needs personally, or as a family while we tell one another that we want to glorify Christ? Are we prepared to “boldly and intentionally encounters unbelievers like Christ” and do so dependent on the Holy Spirit as our agent and sacrificial love as our means? Sacrificial love – do we even know what that is? I suspect a few of us older mothers have had a glimpse of it. I will begin this week of prayer for our evangelistic outreach into Sutherland with repentance. Repentance that my desires Sunday morning are for me, my comforts, my schedule, my likes. It begins when I choose another cup of coffee rather than to gather 15 minutes early with the saints to lift them up before fellowship. It is in the little things but extends to the big things – like being a missional church. When will we individually and corporately truly understand and grasp that it is ALL about Christ!! And not about me! May the Lord grant us eyes to see the depth of His love for sinners that we might without hesitation become, gladly, a missional church and a missional people in an irreligious world and reap the joy of seeing the people of Sutherland walk through our doors and hear the Gospel and be granted repentance! It will take far more than pamphlets. It will take sacrificial love. It will take giving up some of our own comforts for the sake of the body of Christ and those He would have come into that body. May we be worthy of Him. It begins with repentance, putting pride aside, seeking Him and Him only, sitting quietly at His throne waiting on Him and letting Him use us for His glory. If we don’t we will cease to be the kind of church that is following Jesus. Maybe we are already. No matter what we look like on the outside, we will not be following Jesus if He is not our focus. There are two statements in this article on the missional church that really stood out to me and I think have relevance to Grace Fellowship. One is “A missional church acknowledges its purpose is to glorify God by taking Christ into the irreligious world (Mt. 28:18-20). It is not self-absorbed in its own life but rather absorbed in the life-giving mission of Jesus.”
The other statement that stood out is “To neglect it (our call to missions) is to disregard the mission of God and to cease being the kind of church that is following Jesus.”

Call is self absorbed, call it ingrown…whatever you want to call it, the question we need to ask ourselves is do we gather as a church for our own purposes, our own edification, our own knowledge, our own fellowship – whether is be personal or corporate? Is our focus on us, our needs personally, or as a family while we tell one another that we want to glorify Christ? Are we prepared to “boldly and intentionally encounters unbelievers like Christ” and do so dependent on the Holy Spirit as our agent and sacrificial love as our means? Sacrificial love – do we even know what that is? I suspect a few of us older mothers have had a glimpse of it.

I will begin this week of prayer for our evangelistic outreach into Sutherland with repentance. Repentance that my desires Sunday morning are for me, my comforts, my schedule, my likes. It begins when I choose another cup of coffee rather than to gather 15 minutes early with the saints to lift them up before fellowship. It is in the little things but extends to the big things – like being a missional church. When will we individually and corporately truly understand and grasp that it is ALL about Christ!! And not about me!

May the Lord grant us eyes to see the depth of His love for sinners that we might without hesitation become, gladly, a missional church and a missional people in an irreligious world and reap the joy of seeing the people of Sutherland walk through our doors and hear the Gospel and be granted repentance! It will take far more than pamphlets. It will take sacrificial love. It will take giving up some of our own comforts for the sake of the body of Christ and those He would have come into that body. May we be worthy of Him. It begins with repentance, putting pride aside, seeking Him and Him only, sitting quietly at His throne waiting on Him and letting Him use us for His glory. If we don’t we will cease to be the kind of church that is following Jesus. Maybe we are already. No matter what we look like on the outside, we will not be following Jesus if He is not our focus.

]]> By: Jan http://disciple.gracesask.org/what-is-a-missional-church/#comment-39 Jan Mon, 21 May 2007 21:14:27 +0000 http://idscanada.org/disciple/?p=30#comment-39 Boy, I wonder why I have not had this understanding of the church previously in my christian life? "A missional church acknowledges its purpose is to glorify God by taking Christ into the irreligious world (Mt. 28:18-20). It is not self-absorbed in its own life but rather absorbed in the life-giving mission of Jesus." Perhaps because until recently I did not think of the church being "missional" Sure, spread the gospel, but missional?? It's hard to be hit in the face with something that I've obviously put little real thought or prayer into,and realize that I thought I had the right idea...but did not. In the past I remember being critical of believers who found a circle of friends outside of christians, and I felt they were in the wrong by associating with unbelievers, sometimes more than they did believers. This article puts me completely in the wrong, and sinfully wrong at that. I suspect that scripture does too. Boy, I wonder why I have not had this understanding of the church previously in my christian life?
“A missional church acknowledges its purpose is to glorify God by taking Christ into the irreligious world (Mt. 28:18-20). It is not self-absorbed in its own life but rather absorbed in the life-giving mission of Jesus.”
Perhaps because until recently I did not think of the church being “missional” Sure, spread the gospel, but missional?? It’s hard to be hit in the face with something that I’ve obviously put little real thought or prayer into,and realize that I thought I had the right idea…but did not.
In the past I remember being critical of believers who found a circle of friends outside of christians, and I felt they were in the wrong by associating with unbelievers, sometimes more than they did believers.
This article puts me completely in the wrong, and sinfully wrong at that. I suspect that scripture does too.

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