24February 2016
FOOTPRINTS IN THE FUTURE (PART 2)
Key Scripture for series: Jer 29:11 (Msg)
1. The how is the strategy
Neh 4:16-18
So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armour; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.
Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.
Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
Nehemiah had been given a command by God to rebuild the walls of the temple of Jerusalem. There were people that opposed it and that were people that were for and with Nehemiah on mission to have walls of the temple of Jerusalem rebuilt. Whenever God gives you a word, pursue it and run with it in order to make it your own before somebody else receives it and chases after the dream God has given you for your life. It is so easy to become caught up in the here and now when our focus really needs to be on he future firstly and secondly we need to focus on eternity. What matters is not what you do with the here and now, but what you are doing to invest in eternity.
2. The responsibility is ours.
Luk 9:12-13
When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “”Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding town and country, and lodge and get provisions, for we are in a deserted place here.”
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”
Jesus was teaching and the disciples asked Him to dismiss the crowd. They were looking at the physical need of them being hungry, but deep inside they were spiritually hungry as well. Jesus did not dismiss the crowd. He took the emblems and He blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples and it multiplied in their hands. We have been given a responsibility to share Jesus with a world that needs us and if not us, then who will do it? God is looking for people that need a touch from Him and He uses us despite our shortcomings.
The how of the vision
1. Growth
Matt 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Jesus did not commission His disciples to preach to all nations. What He did commission us to was to make disciples of all the nations
Currently Word and Life is 10000 members strong. By the end of 2016 we should be looking at 10500 members. On average our Sunday morning services are 500 members and non members. By the end of 2016 we should be looking at 600 members involved in some form of ministry. You can’t just be a pew warmer and think that it is leadership’s job. We all have a part to play.
2. Reach
Luk 24:46-47
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
How will people ever come to know Jesus if we don’t reach out? You cannot say it is okay as long as I go to heaven/ Jesus did not just die for one person, but for the world to be saved. Starting in Boksburg, find somebody who needs to know Jesus.
3. Influence
Matt 5:13-14
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under footboy men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
What does light do? It illuminates darkness and as Jesus’ representatives we are to influence the community with His love until the day when He comes back or until the day when they lay us down in the ground. Jesus influenced the world by living in total submission to His Father’s will and the same should be said of us.
