1) A Place Where God is Glorified.
“This what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’”- Leviticus 10:3
2) A Place Where People Grow.
“As you therefore have received Jesus Christ the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as “you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”- Colossians 2:6-7
3) A Place where the Good News is
Spread.
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”- Romans 10:15
4) A People of worship, prayer, and
God’s Word.
The most important thing is for our foundation to be on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for our focus to be on continually becoming a people of the Word, Worship, and Prayer. As we allow God’s Word (truth) to fill our hearts, we can open and surrender our hearts in Worship, and invite His presence, promise, and power to fill our lives, families, church and community through Prayer. When these three areas become our passion and priority, we will then see our lives shaped and the lives of those around us impacted.
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and have success.”- Joshua 1:8
5) Moving from an encounter to an
everyday faith
One of the challenges in today’s church is that people often view their attendance to a weekend service as the PINNACLE of their spiritual experience. In other areas of our lives we would not meet the needs we have or satisfactorily fulfill the responsibilities in our lives if we only focused on them once a week. If I spent only one day a week with my wife, I would be a poor husband; one day with my children would make me a neglecting father; one day in the office would get me fired; one day of exercise and eating would impact my body negatively. The reality is that God desires that we walk with Him and grow in Him on a daily basis.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”- 2 Corinthians 4:16
6) People First!
If the dictionary had a picture next to the word “Church” what would it be? It would probably be a building with a steeple and Cross or a Pastor speaking from a pulpit. But the best and most accurate picture of the church is PEOPLE. Our goal and aim should not be about how great our worship team is, how creative our multi-media presentations are, how many programs we offer, or how dynamic the pastor’s message is, but are we a church that does more than please the eyes and ears, but do we touch the heart!
“And if I have the faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”- I Corinthians 13:2b
