Building God’s Church

Journal notes from various sources (Primarily sermons by Adam Hamilton and Perry Noble)

1 Sam 14: 1-15 — God got involved after Jonathan took a step of faith

• Don’t be satisfied
• Get active — take a step of faith
• Prodigals will come home
• Christians will come out of hiding
• God will get the glory for it all

What brings the Holy Spirit?

• Hunger — for deepening experience of God’s power
• Thirst — for God and his living water

In order to achieve what God has put in front of us, we must get uncomfortable.

If the church decides to be generous and go all out for God, what will the next generation say about the church?

God has given us a unique opportunity to do something big.

It’s the time and place to step up and watch God do great things.

Six churches per day shutting doors — Need to change focus from us to God, Christ and the Bible.

Reasons we exist as a church

• Declare praises of Christ
• To take the light to a dark world

The more alive a church is the more she will cost — a dead church is not expensive.

1 Peter 2:12 — Church should do such great things that people on outside will look in and say, “I don’t know what’s going on at that church, but man, God’s there.”

There’s nothing the church isn’t capable of as long as God is leading it. (Perry Noble)

Do things that are daring in answer to call of Christ.

Live boldly, courageously to spread Gospel.

Presence Based Church

• People hear God
• Teach how to do lifestyle worship
• Build service around worship
• Ask God to attend worship
• God is source for everyone and everything
• Issue is discipleship

If church finds God, people will find church

Not my way, Not your way, but Yahway’s church.

God wants us to take risks.

God does not move in the world in predictable ways.

The kingdom of God upends our world and challenges us to change our minds, our hearts and our lives to do God’s will.

True movement of God

• Always centered around the Gospel.
• Cannot get sidetracked by issues
• Unstoppable
• Need to stay focused on Gospel — it is our anchor

Movement of God is about transformation.

Holy Spirit is asking

• Willingness to be inconvenienced
• Willingness to move for God

Focus on Christ — God is bigger

• All God working thru people who believe He is as big as the Bible says He is and  that He can do what the Bible says he can do.
• We have to believe for God to move.

Church doing God’s work

• Intentional invitation — inviting others to church
• Connect to community
• Strategic service — we are too valuable to God to not be involved
• Generous giving
• Passionate prayer
  • Bond together thru prayer and ask God to work thru us — we’ll see God do amazing things
  • Pray for pastor
  • Pray when entering service for God to work thru church

Church environment

• Evangelistic — Reaching out
• Community builder — Getting to know each other
• Need to be both