Three Questions (Part 1)

I just got done listening to Perry Noble (Newspring Church) talk about three questions that we need to ask ourselves. It was really good. So I thought that I would put it out there for us to think about and hopefully to do. Most of this is Perry's, I'm not this smart, but I have sort of paraphrased.

Question 1.

• What is it that God wants to do in our church?

This seems like a question that we ask but I don't think that we are always willing to ask it. If we look at the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 and focus on the son who stayed behind we can see some things. First, the older son was so busy working FOR his father that he didn't know what the father wanted. He was in the field and when he came home he heard the party going. Second, it is possible for God to be working around us and we miss it. In verse 26 the son has to ask a servant about what is going on. He is the son and he doesn't know what his father is doing.

This can happen to us (me) and it does often. We get caught so caught up in doing the work that we don't stop to ask if this is what God wants us to be doing.

There are two things that we need to do in order to answer this question.

• Time.

Passionate, uninterrupted time with the Father will reveal His vision to us. If the son had spent time with his father he would have be involved in the search for his brother, he may have even volunteered to go searching for him! If we don't know the Father there is no way for us to know what He wants us to do.

• Effort.

Once God has shown us what to do we need to go all out to get it done! We shouldn't allow anything to get in our way. God will give us a detailed vision of what He wants for us, it is then our job to pursue it until it is accomplished. We can't do this halfway. 95% is 5% to low!!

Now, we may be tempted to think that this is a job for the church leadership, and it is. However, God is not going to keep His vision for our church a secret, only to be revealed to those with special privilege. We all need to pursue TIME and EFFORT. This is a group thing. No one can do it on their own. So I would encourage you to find a way to get some passionate, uninterrupted time with God and ask, "What is it you want to do in our church?" And then start making an effort to see it get done.

If God tells you something and you want to share it, please email me or write a comment. Find me or one of the other staff members, or drop Pastor Bill a line.

I'll post the other two questions later, but take some time to work on this one, I know I will.