"Attending or sending church?"
One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went down to the seaport of Seleucia and then sailed for the island of Cyprus. (Acts 13:2-4 NLT)
When we think about being on mission with God, we see a great pattern in the early church.
(1) The Holy Spirit chooses who he wants for his work.
The Holy Spirit chose Saul & Barnabas for the work. He chose them. Ultimately, it's the Holy Spirit's role & initiative to choose where we go. It's not a question of if. We know Jesus is sending us as the Father has sent him but how & where is up to Him. He initiates the sending.
(2) The church sends the workers out.
Although the Holy Spirit does the choosing, the church does the sending. God has ordained his church as the vessel he uses in his kingdom's work. It is the church's responsibility to send out it's members to do the work of the kingdom.
(3) The real measure of a church's "success" should be its sending capacity.
Most people want to know how many churches are running in weekly attendance. But, a better question for kingdom impact & "success" may be how many are we sending out? What is our impact outside the four walls? This is the definite measure in the early church. They are scattered from Jerusalem because of persecution & yet the impact is greater, not less!
How much of a sending church is our local congregation? How do we need to change our mindset about how we measure success?
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