On Mission: Shift from local to global thinking

Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind. Psalm 67:2 (LB)

God is a global God. He has always cared about the entire world. "God so loved the world...." (John 3:16) From the beginning He has wanted family members from every nation He created. The Bible says, "From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be." (Acts 17:26, CEV)

God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him.

Much of the world already thinks globally. The largest media and business conglomerates are all multi-national. Our lives are increasingly intertwined with those in other nations as we share fashions, entertainment, music, sports, and even fast foods. Probably most of the clothes you're wearing, and much of what you ate today was produced in another country.

We're more connected than we realize and God can use that connectedness as a means for us to fulfill his Great Commission. Jesus gave us a pattern for such involvement: "... You will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world." (Acts 1:8, CEV)

His followers are to reach out to their community (Jerusalem), to their country (Judea), to other cultures (Samaria) and to other nations (everywhere in the world). Note that our commission is simultaneous, not sequential.

We are called to be on mission to all four groups in some way. How would you identify these groups in your community? What nations do you believe God has called you to serve in some form?

On Mission: Shift from 'me-first' to 'God-first'

Jesus said to his followers, 'Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.' Mark 16:15 (NCV)

People with "me-first" faith ask, "How can God make my life more comfortable?" They want to use God for their purposes instead of being used for his purposes.

'God-first' believers know they've been saved to serve and made for mission. They're eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God.

Their joy, confidence, and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they're making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work through them in fresh ways.

Which type of believer do you want to be?

God invites you to participate in the greatest, largest, most diverse, and most significant cause in history - building his Kingdom. History is his story; he's building his family for eternity. Nothing matters more and nothing will last as long.

From the book of Revelation we know God's global mission will be accomplished, that someday the Great Commission will be the Great Completion. In heaven, an enormous crowd of people "from every race, tribe, nation, and language" will one day stand before Jesus Christ to worship him. (Revelation 7:9, CEV)

Becoming a 'God-first' believer will allow you to experience in advance a little of what heaven will be like.

Getting Your Church Noticed: Sticker Shock, of a Good Kind!

Sticker shock at the gasoline pump is a subject on nearly everyone’s
mind these days. Ease a little bit of the burden in your own community
by lowering the price of gas at a chosen gas station for a few hours one
Saturday. You’ll see lines at the pump, but drivers will all have smiles on
their faces for a change!

Here’s how it would work: Your church would pledge and collect a
specific amount of money. Before your event, go to your congregation
to raise the necessary funds. Explain that your church would like to
offer a benefit to the community by helping people lower their gasoline
prices at the pump. That money would be used to allow customers at a
specific gas station in your town to pay less at the pump for a few hours
on a given day. For example, if the regular price of gas is $3.00, your
church could enable customers to buy the same gas at $2.75 from 11
a.m. to 1 p.m. on a specified Saturday.

Next, find a local gas station at a prominent intersection. Ask the
owner if your church could take two hours on a Saturday to offer
gasoline at prices lower than the regular cost. Explain that your church
will make up the difference. Say that your church simply wants to do
something helpful for the community. (It wouldn’t hurt to point out that
the event will probably garner the gas station lots of free publicity!)
Ask the owner approximately how much gas the station sells during
the specified two hours on any given Saturday. This will give you an
idea of how much money your church needs to raise.

This event will likely result in long lines at the pump. For once, that’s
a good thing! So don’t be conservative in your fundraising estimations.
The more money you collect before the event, the more you can give
away!

Before the big day, make lots of signs that tell the “new” price of
gas and the hours it will be offered. Make sure your church’s name is
clearly displayed.

If you want to go the extra mile, have church volunteers offer
drivers soft drinks as they wait their turn at the pump. Kids from your
youth group could be available to wash windows as an added service.
And when anyone asks why your church is sponsoring such an event,
just say that you want to help people and spread the love of God
around town!

KE2010 News

Hey all you Kindness Explosion church reps...don't forget to make arrangements with your church's media person this week to have the Kindness Explosion intro video shown this next Sunday sometime during your service. Since the video is only 2:38, it fits perfectly into the beginning, middle or end of your service. Hint - it works really well in place of special music during the offertory!

But whenever it runs, lets try to have everyone run it this next Sunday. Also, if you run the video, you need to start having sign-up sheets available for people to sign up. I know a couple of you were planning on running it today. Thanks for the head start!!

Also, Janie Walker has graciously agreed to facilitate a weekly prayer calendar for us in the weeks leading up to KE2010. Each week, Janie will be Emailing out a scripture for us to meditate on, a short devotional thought, and a suggested prayer focus for that week. Actually, her first email went out yesterday for this week. Please make sure that Janie's email (office@paluxybaptist.org) is in your address book so her emails don't get spammed :-). I really want us as the corporate Body of Christ to spend some focused time in prayer asking God to bring together His Church in this community in a spirit of unity and worship that will result in an outflow of God's love to the hurting and unchurched people in this area!

Have a great week, and if you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at 817-408-5273 or email me at micky@lovegranbury.org.

Love Granbury Announces KE2010 Speaker!

Love Granbury is excited to announce that we will have Dr. Al
Tizon, Assistant Professor of Holistic Ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary of
Eastern University and Director of Word & Deed Network (www.worddeednetwork.org)
as our guest speaker for Kindness Explosion 2010! Dr. Tizon is a nationally
acclaimed speaker and we are thankful that God has opened the door for us to bring
him to Granbury! You will not want to miss hearing Dr. Al Tizon!

KE2010 Meeting Recap

We really had a great meeting on Wednesday for Kindness Explosion 2010! My thanks to Jason Turbeville and Acton Baptist Church for hosting our meeting and for providing our lunch. If you were not able to make it, we really missed you! We are so excited about what God has in store for Kindness Explosion this year as the Body of Christ in the greater Granbury area comes together to love God with all we have (worship) and to love others as we love ourselves (community service).

Here's a recap of what we talked about at the meeting on Wednesday:

Each person needs to go back to their respective congregation and:
Begin talking up Kindness Explosion
Start getting people in your congregation signed up for Kindness Explosion (don't forget T-shirt sizes!)
Start brainstorming about possible service projects for your congregations and then let me know what projects you've decided on
Begin showing the Kindness Explosion information video in your worships service, to your Bible study classes, etc...
Utilize the Kindness Explosion flyers and bulletin inserts to spread the word in your congregations
For those of you who were not able to make it to the meeting, all of the resources (flyers, bulletin inserts, etc) are available on DVD. If you will call me at 817-408-5273 or email me at micky@lovegranbury.org, I will send you the Resource DVD.

As for the Kindness Explosion info video, you can download it by clicking any one of the following links:
http://www.youtube.com/user/lovegranbury
http://vimeo.com/groups/34998/videos
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Granbury-TX/Love-Granbury/76575694388?ref=ts

Please download the video and ask if it can be shown to your congregation at least twice between now and the end of March. When it's shown, be sure to have plenty of informational flyers to hand out as well as sign-up sheets.

In the meantime, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. God bless!! 1 John 4:12

KE2010 Planning Meeting

If you're in or around the local Granbury/Hood County area, please join us tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17th at 11:30 at Acton Baptist Church for our Kindness Explosion 2010 planning meeting. A complimentary lunch will be served. So come get your congregation signed up for Kindness Explosion or just come get the information to take back to your congregation!