In Acts 13, God puts it to the new church to take two of their leaders and send them away to start churches. They were to go where the gospel was needed. This weekend, we are letting go of a leader to go start a church. We’ll support Alex and Amy by praying for them, partnering financially, and going again and again to support the work in Chicago.
As a church, we need to have the kind of heart that realizes we can’t sit in our building and get it done. We won’t stay in our area and reach the nations. We are called to be a sending church that understands it’s not about us or our kingdom. . .the call of God is to launch OUT from here.
What does this kind of church look like today?
- A sending church knows and loves its community, sees the need all around it.
- A sending church releases its people to live on mission right where they are day in and day out.
- A sending church refuses to sit and soak.
- A sending church has a passion to touch the world and God’s heart for the world becomes their mandate.
- A sending church doesn’t assign others to be missionaries for them or in their place, they are the missionaries.
- A sending church is not content with its own tribe, tongue, and nation when God calls people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
- A sending church has their heart turned to those they cannot see.
- A sending church wants to see their congregation grow, but understand that the mission is much greater.
- A sending church doesn’t invite their city to church, they take their church to their city.
- A sending church desires to see transformation in people more than they desire comfort for themselves.
- A sending church has stopped saying, “Come and see”, and has embraced, “Go and tell.”
- A sending church understands that the mission is “out there” not “in here.”
God has a call on every single one of us.
He wants us to leverage our lives toward His kingdom.
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