Here is the video from last Sunday at Indian Creek Olathe Campus. The subject was: What if the church was on Mission 

Thanks for the positive feedback I heard today on the message at Indian Creek Olathe to kick off the What if the Church? series. People kept telling me, you had a lot of passion! I do. I feel very privileged to have grown up on the mission field and then to be invited to travel much of the world serving. One of the things I've learned is that the version of the church that we consider normal in the United States is not necessarily the church Jesus died to form. Part of the problem is a Western adaptation of the biblical view of community. Another problem is that historically the American church has adapted the European practice of making the gathering an end instead of a means to an end. We've accepted something that is not biblical and that is why the church has less and less effectiveness in our culture. If we don't change and move into mission we will go the way of the church in Europe. 

A better model for the church is taking place in places like South America, Africa, India and China. What is especially interesting to me is the places the church forms disciple making movements that transform their culture. I understand that our own culture and history affects the way the church serves. And even if we start to apply the missional nature of the church we have a step wise process to share this with others. 

I love Indian Creek and I believe we are on a journey to forming a church that is both biblical and contemporary (it fits our culture and is fruitful in it). Of course, of those two biblical is the most important. What is interesting is that the principals and truths of scripture fit every culture throughout history. It is up to our discernment with the leadership of the Holy Spirit to find the best objectives and tactics to get where God wants us to go.

If you missed the message here is a copy of my notes: What_if_the_Church_was_the_Church_on_Mission.docx

I feel a little like the contestant in the Miss America Contest who looks at the camera, smiles shyly but sincerely and says, World Peace :) Yep! That's it. Peace for the world through Jesus--that would do it!

But if I scale it back just a bit, here is a prayer and an invitation. I've been invited to provide 2,700 free backwards books. That is an overwhelming number. So let's do this--if you'll buy one book (in honor of world peace) I'll match each one. How does that sound? 

I was invited to provide a book for every student at Mid-America Christian University as school begins next fall. I was asked to provide 100 to the Church of God as a gift to the authors who contributed to the Focus 40 devotionals. And Indian Creek gives them away to people who accept Christ or attend Starting Point. These are wonderful requests and it tells me the books have value but I don't have the means to give books away presently. 

Here is the link to buy the softcover version: backwards: Created to Live SENT www.livingsent.net/store

Here is the link to purchase the electronic version: http://amzn.to/14CW7SF. If you buy the electronic version hit me with an email otherwise I won't know since Amazon handles that, gary@livingsent.net

Let's go Dutch, you give one and I'll give one and we can see Jesus to bring peace to someone's world. I close with a quote from Andy Stanley, Do for one what you wish you could do for all. Thanks in advance.

I want to encourage you to come to the Creek on Sunday to hear about the power of the church when it is on mission. Here is a part of that message: 

Jesus said, I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. Matthew 16:18 NLT When we hear that prophecy from Jesus we often think that he is saying the church will survive even if attacked by hell itself. This translation, taken at face value, would lead you to think that the powers of hell are in an offensive position and the church is in a defensive position and hell is going to do its’ best but it will not succeed. The church will survive—as if survival is the goal.

I have a love/hate relationship with this verse. Is that legal to say about scripture?

I love what Jesus said but I hate the way that it was translated because I think the translation is a weak way to say what is one of the most powerful promises in all scripture. We are going to break it into pieces today and I believe you will never forget what you learn today because the Holy Spirit will drive it deep into your spirit and I don’t think it is too strong of a statement to say this—you’ll never look at the church the same way again. I believe this translation is one of the presenting problems we have in the American church.

That’s a strong statement so let’s see if I can back it up.

Let’s start with the word church. Jesus said, I will build my church… When Jesus said, I will build my church, many think of a church building. In America we typically think of the church as a building, a program, a pastor or an institution. It can be those things but Jesus meant for it to be much more.

This implies that the church is on mission when the people are gathered. If this is the primary way we talk about the church we imply the church is doing its job when we are all in places with bright shiny faces. If you would just show up and give then we’d all be good. And if we hunker down in the church with worship and prayer the big bad devil can’t defeat us. The implication is that in our holy huddle we can hold on till Jesus comes and be safe: as if arriving safely at death was the goal.

Unfortunately it is for many Christians and for too many churches. But I promise you that is not the way that Jesus thinks about the church. Gathering is one part of the ministry of a church but gathering believers together for a service is a means to an end not the end in itself. All too often the church in America has made the gathering the end.

All too often the prevailing thought is, if we could just get more people in the gathering, the worship services, we would be good. The scorecard for the American church became butts and bucks—if the number of people who sat in the seats and the number of dollars collected in the plates. If those went up the church was doing good. And I believe those are two good important measurements for the standard health check for any church but they fall short of describing what was on the mind of Jesus when he gave us this powerful promise.

If you want more you'll have to come on Sunday, and hint, hint, I save the best for the live presentation :)

This Sunday I speak at the Indian Creek Olathe Campus to kick off the What if the Church? series.  I am excited about our triad. Jim West from Colonial Pres and Ryan Nelson from 33 Church will be our guest speakers. We will join 40 some other churches for a worship event, on Friday, June 8 and we will host a serve day at Countryside Elementary on Saturday, June 8. The question we pose is What if the Church worshipped together, learned together and served together? The message we send is that we are one in Jesus and we are on mission to bring heaven to earth in our community. 

This Sunday sign ups begin for the Serve Day. We hope to turn out 350+ to do a "home make-over" on Countryside Elementary School. We continue to build our partnership with Countryside and it is giving us opportunity to live out the love of Jesus in some ways that can break the cycle of poverty and provide an equitable education. Our participation is a game change-changer for many.

Here is an excerpt from Sunday's message:

John 17
What would happen to the big “C” Church in Kansas City if we decided to join together to fulfill Jesus prayer in John 17 where He prayed that His church would be one so that the world will know you are my disciples. These are the words of Jesus:  I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. John 17:21 NIV

Not only would the church be unified and get along better because of it but Jesus says that it is in our unity and service that the world believes there really is a God! Whenever you see the words, so that, in scripture you know there is a purpose statement coming. Here it says be one SO THAT the world will know you are legit—you are my disciples!

Why Should I Believe?
Have you heard skeptics say to you, Why should I believe there is a God when Christians can’t even get along? I’m wondering just out of curiosity how many of you have had someone, a friend, neighbor, co-worker or a “doubter” say some version of what I just said to you? 

I love it when the community sees a work project taking place at a local grade school and someone asks, Who is doing this? And the answer comes back, This is the church working together. No one is competing, no one is posturing, we want all the glory and attention to go to Jesus.

What if the Church worked like this all across Kansas City? The bride of Christ would look beautiful to an on looking world of skeptics. AND communities would be transformed because we turned out thousands of servants from 40 plus churches to leave schools, parks, homes, missions and churches better than they found them at the beginning of the day. 

The church unified and on mission for even one day can be a game changer in the lives of those we serve.
There are BIG things we can only do if we do them together. There are BIG BIG giants in Kansas City like racism, fatherlessness, lack of equity in education, human trafficking and more. We can only make a dent in these human concerns if we work together. We believe these giants could fall if the churches of KC joined forces and we are starting with worship days, work days and study day SO THAT the world will know there is a God in KC and His name is Jesus!

Are you up for that Indian Creek? Let me hear you? I want to be a part of that, don’t you?