CBC Update
Hi church family,
As we stand on the brink of a brand new season when Pastor Ian and his wife Carolyn begin at CBC on Monday, our collective hope is that Jesus would continue to turn our church into a dynamic movement of Spirit-filled people. Jesus always envisioned His Church to be an organic powerhouse of radical life.
In nature, there are seven signs that something is alive:
Movement
An organism must display some sense of movement to prove it is alive. So it is with the Church.
A sign of kingdom life is that the church is moving. A church that actively moves into a future that God alone knows will experience renewed life, miracles and a heightened excitement for God.
Abraham, the people of Israel, Jesus and the Early Church were constantly moving in the current of God’s calling and purpose. A church that fails to move, is dead.
Respiration
Cells in the body have a powerhouse called mitochondrion that releases energy. This is dependent on oxygen brought into the body through breathing. So…breathing in oxygen = energy for the whole body.
God’s breathing into us releases the energy of His Spirit into our lives. When we breathe deeply of the breath of God together, we discover that the energy to complete the task at hand is before us. We simply can’t conjure up energy ourselves, we need the very breath of our Holy God!
Sensitivity
As we saw last Sunday, God has given us five senses so that the body is able to be sensitive to stimuli. In the same way, the five-fold gifts of Ephesians 4:9-13 allow us to be sensitive to the things of God and to the needs of the people.
It might look like this:
Touch: those who are sensitive to the needs of others (shepherds).
Sight: the ability to see God’s heart and our future direction (prophets).
Hearing: Listening and instructing (teachers).
Speech: Those who are adept at sharing the gospel (evangelists).
Smell: Those who are able to sniff out new ground for God (apostles).
If you’re interested in knowing your APEST giftings, see this link to APEST test: https://5qcentral.com/product/apest-vocational-assessment/
*NOTE: Omar Djoeandy will be running a workshop on the APEST giftings at 2:30pm next Sunday before the combined service in the conference room.
Growth
Are we still growing? Sometimes it can be difficult to detect, but it’s always happening if you’re alive! Anything that stops growing will eventually decay and die.
We stop growing when we lose connection with the Head of the Body – Jesus. As Paul writes in Colossians:
19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (Col 2:19).
Growth in numbers is important, but it is only a biproduct of the deeper growth that comes from God in the life of each individual disciple of Jesus.
Reproduction
Reproduction is a monumental sign of life. It is the goal of a species to carry on the next generation through reproduction. There are many places throughout the West, where there is no next generation of Christians, simply because the previous generation was not healthy enough to reproduce new disciples.
Our prayer should be that of the Psalmist in Psalm 71: Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come. (Psalm 71:18).
Excretion
If you don’t excrete, your body will build up toxins and die. In the same way, we must empty ourselves of all that hinders our growth. Unrepented sin builds up and poisons our relationship with God, restricting our potential as a church movement.
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:23-24).
Nutrition
In the Spiritual life, there is one main course to stay nutritious and to continue growing: the bread of life.
Jesus Himself is our source of nutrition for the Church and all of its members. He will satisfy and He will sustain us into the next season.
May CBC, and all churches, be found living and thriving and may we all, as brothers and sisters, live to see this life and passion come to pass.
Pastor Sam