Mission Possible – Increase Support of and Outreach from Local Churches: Outward Focus

Key Verse

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 (NIV)

Short Reflection

How will we ever witness and experience “palpable kingdom presence” unless the church is at the cutting edge of extending the kingdom of heaven to earth?

Jesus loves the church. There are references throughout the Bible that even refer to it as His bride. There is no doubt but that Jesus saw the church as the primary agent in realizing His vision – that the kingdom of heaven would be extended to earth.

If we are ever going to witness “palpable kingdom presence”, it will only result when the church becomes passionate and effective at extending God’s love beyond her walls and not just within. We need to learn to love the way God loves – unconditionally, with a heavy dose of mercy. It will be costly for each of us as individuals – Jesus made that very clear – but who in their right mind would not give up the finite to experience the infinite and allow others to do the same?

The church needs to get back to the kingdom, making certain the people in the pews (and the pulpits!) even know what the kingdom is, and equipping those people to go and extend that kingdom to a world that is longing to experience it.

This is the first in the “Increase Support of and Outreach from Local Churches.” series of blog posts on our Journey to Palpable Kingdom Presence.