The Quarter That Counts
We had great services in all four churches that we were able to visit this week! God moved in amazing ways, I would like to share with you one of those ways! I(Josh) was at First Free Will Baptist Church of Chipley FL during the morning service and an interesting guy came in! He was in a motorized wheelchair and had a leg injury that prevented him from wearing a shoe on one of his feet. He asked me if I was the pastor, a good hint that he had not been in service at all there before. The church showed this man a great deal of love and compassion. He stayed connected during the service.
When the offering plate was passed, I watched as this man cleaned every pocket that he had! Finally, he found what he was looking for, his only quarter! He placed that quarter into the offering plate. I have received a lot of quarters in my life, but none hav ever touched me this way!!I was truly reminded of the lady who gave all that she had.
He approached me after the service with insighs that will be helpful in church planting and especially in the areas of servanthood. He informed me that he would never be a millionaire, because he has always given away everything that he had! It could not help but remind me of Jesus! May we all give everything that we have!
“He is no fool that gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot
What Type of Church?
“What type of church are you going to start?” This is themost popular question we have been asked since answering the call to the mission field. I suppose people have the best of intentions when they ask this question. In most cases, what they are really asking is: “What type of music will your church sing?”, “Will you be a come as your best dress or a come as you are church?”, “Will your church have pews or chairs?” While there is certainly a place to discuss these issues in church life, I feel we have been focusing on the wrong questions for far too long. In this process I have been forced to answer this question in my own heart. What type of church are we seeking to start? What principles and values will be our focus? With humility, I desire to share with you what type of church we desire to start. I will answer this question by providing you with 5 focal points for our ministry.
We desire to start a church that focuses on studying and then obeying the Scriptures.
We desire first and foremost to be obedient in our study, preaching, and teaching of the Word of God. We desire to stand firm on Biblical truth! Our focus on the scripture does not stop here. We will have a passionate focus on not just hearing the word, but obeying the Word. (James 1:20-22) We are not as concerned with “Amens”, “That’ll preach”, and “Good sermon, pastor” as we are with the Word of God taking root in the lives of followers of Jesus Christ.
We desire to be a church that is deeply rooted in prayer.
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced about two areas concerning prayer. First, I am convinced that I do not understand how prayer works. Of course, I know that it does work, and I know the key verses of scripture. But how God’s will and our prayers work together is a Godly mystery to me. Secondly, I am convinced that as a whole we do not practice prayer enough. We desire to dependent on prayer and the working of the Holy Spirit as a church!
We desire to be a church compassionately concerned for the lost.
When Jesus looked out over the city he was moved with compassion because the people were sheep without a shepherd. (Matt. 9:36-40) They were lost and far from God. I once preached a sermon entitled, “Are we moved by the things that move the heart of God.” I am certain Christ’s heart was moved by the tax collectors and sinners. These were the people far from God, and they were the ones in need of a savior. It is our calling to reach these people with the love of Christ. It is our desire to love them as our selves, to see them through the eyes of Jesus, and to point them to the Savior who made the ultimate sacrifice of love for them. We do not desire to simply see them as evangelistic targets or notches on our belt, but we desire to see them as people who have real problems and who need a real savior.
We desire to be a church that is extremely servant oriented.
The more I read the account of Jesus bending down to wash the disciples feet, the more I am humbled that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was a servant. We are most like Christ when we are serving others. We desire to pour our lives into serving others. We want to be known as the most willing servants in Marana, Az. We want to get our hands dirty and love people the way Jesus loves us.
We desire to be a church that wants more than anything else in the world to make much of Christ.
It is ultimately our calling to make much of Christ. Our lives exist to make much of Christ. Making much of Christ will be what we spend an eternity doing! We desire to see this happen as a church. Whether it be through Christ-like humbleness, servanthood, feeding the poor, providing water for those thousands of miles away, biblical obedience, or in whatever we do, we want Christ to be lifted up! Let all we do be done for the Glory of Christ.
These principles by no means will define everything we desire to be as a church. However, I feel that they provide an answer to the question, “What type of church will we start?” Pray along with us that The Marana Project will be all that God desires for us to be!
Vision Casting & Turnip Greens
Yesterday was an amzing day!! I cannot get over how supportive the church in Homerville has been for our ministry! They single handely provided over 5% of our support in one service. It was a great feeling to be able to cast our vision for the first time. We received alot of positive feedback from both services yesterday and we are thankful that God is working in great ways!!! We followed service with a meal from some of our supporters. (Hence the name of the Post) I was able to line up several churches today and I look forward to getting on the road and seeing these friends face to face!
A new direction a difficult day
It was a wonderful and difficult day as I had my last service at Homerville FWB church. The people have been very loving and supportive of our decision. They showed there love today by giving us a wonderful love offering and by giving us 650 dollars in monthly support. I am very thankful for all they have done for me and my family over the years. I am praying they will find a wonderful new pastor who will continue to lead them in there walk with the lord.
Making an Impact!!!
As we have taken our step of faith, we have been extremely encouraged by the response of the people in Homerville. There have been many times during our ministry here that we have questioned whether we are truly making an impact. I think it is something that everyone in ministry goes through. Working with teenagers can be extremely discouraging because they are not so good at letting you know that you are making an impact on them. It has both been encouraging and sad as the teens in Homerville have let us know over the last couple weeks the type of impact that we have had on them!! There have been many Wednesday nights that I have come home and crashed into seclusion in my chair. In those moments I would have done anything for the encouragent that I have received recently. I am glad that in those moments I did not give up. If you are in ministry, know that you are making an impact even if noone tells you!! If you are not in ministry, do nat take for granted the difference makers in your life. Let them know what God is doing in your life through them. The life of ministry is two-fold. We desire to please God and we desire to impact people for the Kingdom. We may not always see it, but it is hapening!!!
Missionary view point & babysitting
It has been a very interesting few days as we have embarked out into missionary service. Our hearts are burdened for the people of Marana, AZ, but it will be sometime before we are actually able to get out there to them! For now we must put our nose downs, finish the job in Homerville, and then hit the road to share what God is doing in our lives and trying to convince people to support us. It is a scary task, but it is the task that the Lord has placed before us!! He did not call us to take the easy road, but to be faithful. It has been somewhat discouraging trying to line up churches!!! The hardest part is getting a hold of people. Please pray for us as we continue this service and pray that we can get our calanders filled.
On a seperate note, babysitting today and yesterday was breath of fresh air. Aubree is an awesome child, and you can learn so much from children!!
Please continue to pray for us. And if you have not done so, please consider supporting us financially. It is still our goal to raise the first thousand in monthly support by Aug 29th. You can do at www.themaranaproject.com. Have a great day!!
What a Great Day!!
It became official today! We are officially employed by the Home Missions Department. God has been awesome in showing us His favor. We received a gift for $1000 today to go into a start up account! Pray that God will continue to show us His blessings!
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