Kingdom Orientation

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Pastor Jesse

Can you recognize God’s hand at work?

In Acts 11:19-30, you’ll find an interesting story – one very instructional and encouraging for anyone or any community seeking to live missionally.  God uses a group of unnamed disciples who’d been through a really tough time to bless the world.

The unnamed disciples had been scattered after persecutions broke out against the church in Jerusalem.  These people began doing what comes naturally after everything they’d experienced in the Jerusalem church: they talked about it with the people they met.  They told people about Jesus.  Only other Jews at first.  But when they got to Antioch, they talked with  “Greeks”.  They began talking with people who weren’t ordinarily considered God’s people.  And the Bible says that God’s hand was with those out-of-the-box disciples, because many of those Greeks believed.  And many of those who believed also “turned to the Lord.”   That is, they began to learn the ways of Jesus.   And an amazing church was born.

Now the leaders of the church in Jerusalem wanted to make sure everything was okay. The church at that time was mostly Jewish.  They were not too sure about Greek gentiles coming into God’s Kingdom.  So they sent Barnabas.

Barnabas is introduced earlier in Acts  4 and Acts 9.  From those accounts, we know that he’s a wonderful encourager, generous, all-in, and trusted.  He was the one that helped the leaders of the early church accept that Saul the persecuter had become Saul, the devoted follower of Jesus.  (Saul later becomes known as Paul the Apostle.)

Barnabas recognized God’s hand at work in the early church and joined in.  He also recognized God’s hand at work in Saul’s life.  Barnabas had already demonstrated an orientation toward God’s Kingdom.  And they sent him to Antioch to see if God was behind the church growth there.

So when Barnabas got to Antioch, he knew it was God at work.  He “saw the grace of God.” He confirmed God’s Kingdom advancing in Antioch and even more people came into the church.  The church there took off even more.  It would be some time before he returned to Jerusalem, because he settled in and went to work in Antioch.  The work there grew to the point that he had to go and get Saul/Paul to help.  Antioch would become a generous church (like Barnabas).  They would generously send money to relieve suffering in Jerusalem.  They generously sent out church planters, evangelists, and even their leaders Barnabas and Saul.  The world was changed.  The gospel moved forward.  God’s Kingdom advanced.

But I wonder, though, what would have happened if Barnabas had not had a Kingdom orientation.

No sending.  No giving.  No maturing of Saul.  Oh – but that’s not a question, really.  God’s hand was in it.

Question: Do you recognize the Kingdom of God when you bump into it?  Jesus sent his disciples to proclaim the kingdom in Matthew 11.  The sick would be healed, the dead raised, the lepers cleansed, demons were cast out.  Astonishing stuff!  (Maybe a bit scary, too).  Let me put it in 21st Century terms.  Where there is illness and suffering, people will thrive.  Where there is despair, grief, and lifelessness, people will discover grace, vitality, and peace.  Those who are outcast will find acceptance.  Those who are afflicted, addicted, and enslaved will be set free.  Health, life, restoration, vitality, and freedom in the name of Jesus.

If you see that sort of thing, would you be able to do what Barnabas did?  Would you be able to say, “I see the grace of God at work in this place!”

If you’d like to think about this some more, you may want to read up on the Kingdom triangle.

 

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Worship, News, Tee Shirts, and Prayer Requests

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Pastor Jesse
Good Evening!
1) We are having a special worship gathering this Saturday night at 6:30 in the St. John’s Room at Faith Community Church.  We’ll be commissioning our Nicaragua Team.  It’s also Dan, Carrie, and Eden’s last evening with us.  We want to send them off with love, prayers, and big thank you!  So come on out!
2) We’ll be commissioning our Nicaragua Team.  They (we) leave on June 4 to spend a week partnering with Vida Joven leaders from the town of Dario.  Come be a part of the team through sending and prayer.
3) Do you want a FCMC Nicaragua Mission Team tee-shirt?  If so, send your tee-shirt size and we’ll get you one. (You can wear it as a reminder to pray for us).
4)  Mark your calendars:  Our June worship gathering will be delayed until Saturday, June 18 due to a number of us being out of the country on the 2nd Saturday.
5) Prayer requests:
For traveling mercies for FCMCers this summer.
For open doors for our work down town on Sunday mornings.
For the ministry of Young Lives and our partnership.
For Young Lives leaders, Jordan Simpson and Rose Shabaya as they lead Young Lives.
For Lance Clarke and family, and the work of RESCUE for protection and provision.
For Dan, Carrie, and Eden as their family grows.
For our discipleship huddles on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday.
That we would be disciples who make disciples.
That we would recognize God moments and have the wisdom and courage to join God when we see Him at work!
Lastly, thanks for praying for me as I studied and worked on the PE exam.  I won’t have results for a bit, but I very truly felt your prayers!
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May Worship Gathering

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Pastor Jesse

Our next worship gathering will be at 6:30 on May 14 in the St. Johns Room at Faith Community Church (3450 CR 210, 32259).

We’ll be commissioning the Nicaragua Mission Team.

Don’t miss it!

 

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Next Worship Gathering

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Pastor Jesse

Saturday, April 9, 2016 @ 6:30pm  in the St. Johns room at Faith Community Church, (3450 CR210, 32259).

Kent will be bringing the Word!

Jesus will be there!

Hope you are, too!

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What is Good News to these people?

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Pastor Jesse

(Next gathering, Good Friday, Mickler Beach, 30 minutes before sunrise.)

Who is God leading you to reach?  And why?

We’re currently laying the groundwork for what may become a missional community downtown.  What do I mean by that?  Well, in this case, Heather and I have started a Sunday morning huddle with another couple, Becca and Daniel, whom we’ve known for years.  We meet in a classroom at First Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville and have begun incorporating rhythms of Up-In-and-Out.  We’ve been meeting since the beginning of the year, and we’ve taken a couple of prayer walks and have sensed God’s leading both times.   By the way, their eight year old son comes along.  He is with us for “Up” in worship, “In” when we do social things together (eating!) and “Out”, which, so far, has been the two prayer walks.  He sees and notices things we miss ALL THE TIME!  Love that kid.  If you can incorporate parents and their kids into your missional activity, I encourage you to do so.

So, we have felt God pulling us in the direction of ministering to the homeless and in the direction of Hemming Plaza.  What I’m learning is that we need to keep going there patiently and intentionally.   And we need to begin to look for people of peace (click to learn more about that discipleship tool) and we need to be asking a very important question:

WHAT IS GOOD NEWS TO THESE PEOPLE?

You see, there’s a common problem when we begin missional activity.  We assume we know what the need is, and we assume that in meeting the need we will bear good news to the people with whom we are trying to engage.  I heard Mike Breen give a talk on that one time and he nailed me.  I made assumptions all the time!  When I assume I know what another person neesds, that’s, well, kind of arrogant.  I used to work with a guy named Eric who would rail against the “do-gooders” who wasted resources meeting imagined needs.  Eric’s comments were mainly political, but offer a lesson worth remembering.  We can easily miss the mark.

But lets acknowledge it.  We may think we know what people need and we may even be right.  But we need to humbly ask this question which will help direct our action.  Part of that humility is recognizing we may be completely off the mark when it comes to another person’s needs.

James 2:14-16 talks about faith and works.  v.15 poses this a case: “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about it, what good is it?”   James makes the case.  We can offer a good thing (encouragement) when the real need is something else (clothes and food).  In the case of homeless ministry, the opposite can be true.  We can offer to meet physical needs – but those needs may be offered better by someone else.  Good news may be offering encouragement.  But we won’t know unless we ask.

So we need to ask.

Ask who?

  1. Ask ourselves.  We do need to articulate what we assume the need to be.  We need to think about it, talk it through, and spell it out, but do so humbly knowing we may be wrong.
  2. We need to ask the people we feel called to serve.  We need to engage the people with whom we are trying to connect sincerely and openly.  Why?  Well, first, because missional activity is highly relational.  (If you aren’t building relationships, you have to wonder if you’re working in God’s kingdom!)  And in the case of ministering to the poor, failing to do so diminishes people’s dignity.  They are human beings created in the image of God as are we.  Their needs may seem obvious, but the deeper needs often are not.  The person of peace lesson is really important in this stage.  We need to seek and pray for God to lead us to that person or group of people, because the needs that we find there are the needs God is leading you to address.
  3. We need to ask God.  Human beings have a way of getting it wrong.  We often misidentify the need.  God never does.  As we join in the Kingdom work God has in mind for us, He will address what needs addressing in our lives an in the world around us.

Finally, there’s another helpful perspective on the “good news” question.  When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  So ask the Lord, “What would Your kingdom coming and Your will being done look like in the lives of these people we are meeting?”  Ask and pay attention.  And then go!  For “what good is it” if we go and completely miss the point of why we were sent?

Okay – wait – time for a spot of grace.  If we go and get it wrong, it’s okay.   Actually, it’s really good if we go and miss the point – especially if we go with teachable hearts.  Why?  Because with a teachable heart, God will use our missteps and lead us in a better way.  And… there’s that line by GK Chesterton that I love:  “If anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly!”

So go, and may the Lord go with you.  And remember, “you go no where by accident, but wherever you go, God is sending you.  Wherever you are, God has a purpose for your being there.   Christ who lives in you by the power of the Holy Spirit has something He wants to do in you and through you wherever you find yourself.  I encourage you to believe this and go in His grace, His love, and His power!”*  And may the Lord bless you there!

*A benediction by Dick Halverson.

 

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