The Relevant Church
This is the excerpt of a messaige i preached in our Church in February 2007, it has taken this long to publish it because my laptop was stolen by armed robbers shortly after it was preached.
I want to thank Donald Salami, our Head of Media Ministry who took time out to transcribe this message from the tapes andCDs. The Lord bless you richly.
God bless you as you read and I pray that you pursue relevance in your place of registered presence for this is God 's will for you.
Love
Pastor Dot
THE RELEVANT CHURCH
The picture of the kind of church that God desires in the 21st century is a church, where real issues, life applicable issues are being discussed and strategies are being fashioned out to take a position.
God is in a quest today, and if you are not in pursuit of what God is in pursuit of, then you are missing Him. God wants a physical, a literal manifestation of the five fold ministries, perfecting the saints in reality. God wants the diversity of these ministries. What the church needs today is instructions, because from instructions we can fashion out strategies.
Instructions will reveal where we are. There is a need for every individual who is identified with the church to come to a deep awareness, knowledge and clarity of mind as regards God’s intent for his church. It is in the gospel that we see the intent of God.
What is the gospel?
The gospel is from two words- God and spell, so you have the gospel preached to you when you have come to a place where you can put the skill and work in consistent submission to truth. We need to be a church, with the ability to build into people the “know how”, i.e. the way that human can allow the truth of God to reign in them. And this requires a life founded upon knowledge, understanding and the wisdom of God.
2 Tim 4:1-5
4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. NKJV
Paul expressed a basic challenge that the Church is facing today the world over - No sound teaching.
Sound teaching has more to do than being Biblically correct, the proof that you are Biblically correct is that you are contemporary, you are relevant i.e. the correctness of your Biblical doctrine is measured in the terms of your relevance. To what extent is your knowledge of scripture relevant or address contemporary issues of your society?
It takes a systematic and consistent teaching of the truth of God’s kingdom, for the intents of God to be revealed and to be accepted by men, and be received as truth, men need to come to a point where they say the word of God is right, both in heart word and attitude, that God’s commandment are right and righteous all together.
We need to understand where we are coming from, where we are, and where we need to be, before we can capture God’s intent. God has structure and principles. God wants his Church to be relevant and this is His intent for today.
God has put a structure in place, that the standard He is going to use to measure our lives, family and business is our relevance to all to the society where we are located.
He has put a structure in place that the church will succeed or fail to the extent the church handles her interaction with her environment. Because God does not intent for his Church to be separated or detached from the environment it is established. We today have a wrong notion of the church, that the church should be separate from society. But God is going to measure our success by how we handle our interaction with our environment.
Matt 10:16-20
16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;
20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you
NKJV
The main point of this scripture is that, when you become a Christian you are not supposed to be detached from society, you will have to live in this society. It is our interaction with our society that will determine whether this gospel is a failure or a success. Christianity is a way of dressing you up to function in a hostile environment. God will not measure your obedience on say, how you relate with authority, when the government in power is righteous, but how you will relate when the government is unrighteous.
The reason God could use David as pattern for accurate leadership, was because David was groomed under Saul. We need to learn to submit to truth, because truth will always come in uncomfortable circumstances. The greatest challenge we face as believers is how to function correctly in a generally incorrect world.
How we handle our interactions with our environment will determine whether we will be relevant. The ability to use heavenly resources to function here, in a place where there is wide spread perversion is what determines our relevance.
The Word Relevance means applicability to current issues or connection to real world issues or present day events, connection with current state of the society.
We are not saying we take a cue for what to say from what is going on in the society, but whatever we say if it is truly from God, it will have applicability to the environment.
Relevance has to do with having social, political and economic significance and importance, and that is the demand that God is making on his church today - that of relevance.
That is the church needs to be applicable to current issues, we need to be connected to real world issues. God has a pattern, principle, he has a structure, and all we need do is to understand it. The only means for this pattern and principle to be known, the only agency to communicate it is he church. So if the church is blind, the world will also be blind to it also.
So the world that ought to learn from the church, the church wants to detach herself from it, there will be problems.
We need to learn from David’s error when he carried the ark using the strategy of the Philistines see 1 Sam 6:7-8 and 1 Chron 13:6-7.
He carried God’s presence using the strategy of the world, he did not inquire of God of the due order.
The great commission says “Go ye into the world and make disciples”; by that very commission God puts the church in a position of leadership, because the one who makes disciples is the master. But the church does not know it. Instead it is copying the world.
God’s intent for the church is to provide that needed alternative for the world, so that when he judges, he can be just. For as long as the church continues to fail in their responsibilities, the world will continue in darkness, because we are the light.
What is Light? It is the son or offspring of divine command. A divine command is the word of God, so when the word of God finds a place in you, you will become light.
Light is the end result of the word of God, finding a place in the life of a man. If God’s intent is the church to provide that needed alternative, the devil’s intent is the destruction of standards and alternatives, so that nobody blames anybody for any thing. The enemy’s intention is for the whole world to be of the corrupt seed, while God’s intents for man by choice; decide to be of a pure seed or of a corrupt seed. God’s intention is not for the whole world to be of a pure seed, which will only be possible by choice. What will determine where you are, is how you have been able to use your interaction with your environment.
What will your interaction with the world produce in you - The corrupt seed or the pure seed?
God gives us every day of our lives opportunities to make the right choices. We see this from Adam to our present times. Everywhere you have light it is often surrounded by darkness.
We will never find ourselves in an environment, where it will be stress free to serve God and do his will. God has arranged life in a way that the wheat and tares will grow together. Our relevance depends on who we become by interaction with our environment, will the world corrupt you or not? This is the challenge that the church faces today.
The church has not failed, because she can’t fail, but she is failing. The world is succeeding to a great extent to shape the church as things stand today, we pursue the same things the world pursues, but God wants a church that grieves at what grieves him; rejoice at what he rejoices at.
The standard of the kingdom has been terribly lowered. The world is shaping the church, but the church cannot fail ultimately, but individuals within the church can fail in the final analysis.
The letters that Jesus Christ sent to the seven churches in Asia through John reveals God’s intent for his church in these times. From these churches we see the following principles:
1. There are seven churches – this reveals to us that when all is out together regardless of the weakness here and the strengths there, when all is put together, it reveals the perfect church.
2. It also reveals to us the progressive growth of the wills and intents of God in his church.
3. It also shows us different experience that a church will go through to attain this perfection.
One thing that is uniform in all these churches is that Jesus’ validation on success or failure was dependent on how they interacted with their environment.
Also whatever the state of any church, repentance was key to the commendation of Jesus. Regardless of the state we find ourselves repentance is just what stands between us and God’s perfect will.
There is only one thing God is looking for today, how much of the world do you have in you. The way these churches were able to dominate their environment or how their environment has dominated them, determined the church that Jesus Christ condemned or commended.
What we see today in the Church is the imprint of the world; the church is beginning to put the image of the world, but what God’s intention is for the world to put on the image of the church.
What we see in these letters is what every church will go through; it also shows in state of the church today.
The critical question is your interaction with your world, what is it producing in you? Are you becoming a product of your environment or are you producing your own environment? You will never be brought to a place, where you no longer interact with the world.
To be continued…
Please contact The Kingdom Citizens' Pavilion for the full length message on tape or CD
God bless you
The picture of the kind of church that God desires in the 21st century is a church, where real issues, life applicable issues are being discussed and strategies are being fashioned out to take a position.
God is in a quest today, and if you are not in pursuit of what God is in pursuit of, then you are missing Him. God wants a physical, a literal manifestation of the five fold ministries, perfecting the saints in reality. God wants the diversity of these ministries. What the church needs today is instructions, because from instructions we can fashion out strategies.
Instructions will reveal where we are. There is a need for every individual who is identified with the church to come to a deep awareness, knowledge and clarity of mind as regards God’s intent for his church. It is in the gospel that we see the intent of God.
What is the gospel?
The gospel is from two words- God and spell, so you have the gospel preached to you when you have come to a place where you can put the skill and work in consistent submission to truth. We need to be a church, with the ability to build into people the “know how”, i.e. the way that human can allow the truth of God to reign in them. And this requires a life founded upon knowledge, understanding and the wisdom of God.
2 Tim 4:1-5
4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. NKJV
Paul expressed a basic challenge that the Church is facing today the world over - No sound teaching.
Sound teaching has more to do than being Biblically correct, the proof that you are Biblically correct is that you are contemporary, you are relevant i.e. the correctness of your Biblical doctrine is measured in the terms of your relevance. To what extent is your knowledge of scripture relevant or address contemporary issues of your society?
It takes a systematic and consistent teaching of the truth of God’s kingdom, for the intents of God to be revealed and to be accepted by men, and be received as truth, men need to come to a point where they say the word of God is right, both in heart word and attitude, that God’s commandment are right and righteous all together.
We need to understand where we are coming from, where we are, and where we need to be, before we can capture God’s intent. God has structure and principles. God wants his Church to be relevant and this is His intent for today.
God has put a structure in place, that the standard He is going to use to measure our lives, family and business is our relevance to all to the society where we are located.
He has put a structure in place that the church will succeed or fail to the extent the church handles her interaction with her environment. Because God does not intent for his Church to be separated or detached from the environment it is established. We today have a wrong notion of the church, that the church should be separate from society. But God is going to measure our success by how we handle our interaction with our environment.
Matt 10:16-20
16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;
20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you
NKJV
The main point of this scripture is that, when you become a Christian you are not supposed to be detached from society, you will have to live in this society. It is our interaction with our society that will determine whether this gospel is a failure or a success. Christianity is a way of dressing you up to function in a hostile environment. God will not measure your obedience on say, how you relate with authority, when the government in power is righteous, but how you will relate when the government is unrighteous.
The reason God could use David as pattern for accurate leadership, was because David was groomed under Saul. We need to learn to submit to truth, because truth will always come in uncomfortable circumstances. The greatest challenge we face as believers is how to function correctly in a generally incorrect world.
How we handle our interactions with our environment will determine whether we will be relevant. The ability to use heavenly resources to function here, in a place where there is wide spread perversion is what determines our relevance.
The Word Relevance means applicability to current issues or connection to real world issues or present day events, connection with current state of the society.
We are not saying we take a cue for what to say from what is going on in the society, but whatever we say if it is truly from God, it will have applicability to the environment.
Relevance has to do with having social, political and economic significance and importance, and that is the demand that God is making on his church today - that of relevance.
That is the church needs to be applicable to current issues, we need to be connected to real world issues. God has a pattern, principle, he has a structure, and all we need do is to understand it. The only means for this pattern and principle to be known, the only agency to communicate it is he church. So if the church is blind, the world will also be blind to it also.
So the world that ought to learn from the church, the church wants to detach herself from it, there will be problems.
We need to learn from David’s error when he carried the ark using the strategy of the Philistines see 1 Sam 6:7-8 and 1 Chron 13:6-7.
He carried God’s presence using the strategy of the world, he did not inquire of God of the due order.
The great commission says “Go ye into the world and make disciples”; by that very commission God puts the church in a position of leadership, because the one who makes disciples is the master. But the church does not know it. Instead it is copying the world.
God’s intent for the church is to provide that needed alternative for the world, so that when he judges, he can be just. For as long as the church continues to fail in their responsibilities, the world will continue in darkness, because we are the light.
What is Light? It is the son or offspring of divine command. A divine command is the word of God, so when the word of God finds a place in you, you will become light.
Light is the end result of the word of God, finding a place in the life of a man. If God’s intent is the church to provide that needed alternative, the devil’s intent is the destruction of standards and alternatives, so that nobody blames anybody for any thing. The enemy’s intention is for the whole world to be of the corrupt seed, while God’s intents for man by choice; decide to be of a pure seed or of a corrupt seed. God’s intention is not for the whole world to be of a pure seed, which will only be possible by choice. What will determine where you are, is how you have been able to use your interaction with your environment.
What will your interaction with the world produce in you - The corrupt seed or the pure seed?
God gives us every day of our lives opportunities to make the right choices. We see this from Adam to our present times. Everywhere you have light it is often surrounded by darkness.
We will never find ourselves in an environment, where it will be stress free to serve God and do his will. God has arranged life in a way that the wheat and tares will grow together. Our relevance depends on who we become by interaction with our environment, will the world corrupt you or not? This is the challenge that the church faces today.
The church has not failed, because she can’t fail, but she is failing. The world is succeeding to a great extent to shape the church as things stand today, we pursue the same things the world pursues, but God wants a church that grieves at what grieves him; rejoice at what he rejoices at.
The standard of the kingdom has been terribly lowered. The world is shaping the church, but the church cannot fail ultimately, but individuals within the church can fail in the final analysis.
The letters that Jesus Christ sent to the seven churches in Asia through John reveals God’s intent for his church in these times. From these churches we see the following principles:
1. There are seven churches – this reveals to us that when all is out together regardless of the weakness here and the strengths there, when all is put together, it reveals the perfect church.
2. It also reveals to us the progressive growth of the wills and intents of God in his church.
3. It also shows us different experience that a church will go through to attain this perfection.
One thing that is uniform in all these churches is that Jesus’ validation on success or failure was dependent on how they interacted with their environment.
Also whatever the state of any church, repentance was key to the commendation of Jesus. Regardless of the state we find ourselves repentance is just what stands between us and God’s perfect will.
There is only one thing God is looking for today, how much of the world do you have in you. The way these churches were able to dominate their environment or how their environment has dominated them, determined the church that Jesus Christ condemned or commended.
What we see today in the Church is the imprint of the world; the church is beginning to put the image of the world, but what God’s intention is for the world to put on the image of the church.
What we see in these letters is what every church will go through; it also shows in state of the church today.
The critical question is your interaction with your world, what is it producing in you? Are you becoming a product of your environment or are you producing your own environment? You will never be brought to a place, where you no longer interact with the world.
To be continued…
Please contact The Kingdom Citizens' Pavilion for the full length message on tape or CD
God bless you
