{"id":5334,"date":"2019-10-13T01:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-13T06:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jfbelievers.com\/?p=5334"},"modified":"2019-10-13T01:00:04","modified_gmt":"2019-10-13T06:00:04","slug":"working-in-house-and-reaching-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/13\/working-in-house-and-reaching-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Working in House and Reaching Out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In all that we do as a church we seek to be obedient to the directives of scripture and fulfill what God has for us. All while being dependent upon His lead, empowerment, and grace. At the end of His time on Earth, Jesus gave His followers, and in turn us, a mission. He directs us to go out and declare His truth, to teach all that he taught. He tells us to make followers of Him. This is a steep order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not something that we can do alone. We need each other. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. Nor is it something that can be done simply by gathering together for a weekly meeting. It is going to take far more than that. It is going to take commitment, striving, and investment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayin Home<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

To do this we are going to have to do a lot of work internally. We will have to spend time together, growing in unity. All of us have to become individuals who can operate as a team. We are going to have to teach each other and learn from each other. This happens Sundays, Wednesdays, when we come together in fellowship, when we invite each other to interfere in our lives. One way we intentionally do this is with all church workdays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last work day we made some improvements to the sanctuary\ndoors, making them more inviting, better protected against the weather, and more\nenergy efficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Team of sanders preparing trim for the sanctuary doors. Truly many hands do make light work. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Putting new windows in doors to allow light and visibility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Stamping thousands of logos and websites onto outreach materials <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Workdays go far beyond getting a few projects done around\nthe church. They are a tool of discipleship. I have always loved church\nworkdays, because what we physically see happening is a representation of what\nwe intend to be happening spiritually. We come together and make improvements\non the church. We chip off the weak areas, replacing the rot and decay with new\nstronger materials. We improve the \u201ccharacter\u201d of the building. We spend time\ngetting materials ready to be used in ministry. The church building and\nphysical assets becomes more equipped and ready for ministry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile more importantly the church body (the people) are\ndoing the same. We work, sweat, and sometimes even bleed together. We laugh,\ncorrect, and teach each other. We get to know each other better. We become more\nunited. God never fails to use these days to achieve His purpose in our lives\nso that when the day is over it isn\u2019t just the church building that is more\nequipped for ministry, but also its members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Projects Are Not the Point<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We appreciate your help in pitching in with projects. Undoubtedly there will always be physical and practical needs. But they are never meant to be the focus. It never fails that at the end of a workday a final group stays well beyond when the work has stopped. We sit together and look at the new improvements, what we got done and appreciate the work God has allowed us to do, but more importantly the people that He has called us to do it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s continue to invest inwardly, growing in unity and strength,\nbecoming more prepared, refining our character. It is only when we do so that\nour efforts in reaching out will be found fruitful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaching Out<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This time of year is always a busy one for getting out in the community. If we are to make disciples, we need to go beyond our walls and find the would-be disciples of Christ and get to know them. We have two main avenues through which we do this: our college ministry (Street Level) and our Community Group<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Street Level is still in the start of a new year and we have\ncontinued with coffee giveaways, campus tables, and hitting the halls with\nfliers for our Bible Study. Likewise, the community group has been getting out\nto local parks giving away ice cream and meeting new people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Coffee Outreach at UW-Superior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Community group giving away root beer floats<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One new door of outreach that God has opened has been at\nsome local high schools. We have gotten to know some students and staff who are\npart of a high school Christian organization.  This past week we got to go to a regional\nevent to talk with a high school student about authentic faith and making their\nlives count for Christ and His kingdom. Please pray that these relationships\nwould grow and God would reveal how we can play a part and be a blessing to the\nwork that He is doing in these students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Speaking at a local high school football field <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

God has given us a mission and it isn\u2019t an easy one. All that we have as individuals will not be enough, we need each other. Even all that we have together won\u2019t be enough. We need God\u2019s lead, and His Holy Spirit. Which is good, because I don\u2019t want to do this alone.  All together we can do this. Let us \u201cgo forth and make disciples teaching them to obey knowing that Jesus is with us always, to the end of the age.\u201d (Matthew 28:19-20)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In all that we do as a church we seek to be obedient to the directives of scripture and fulfill what God has for us. All while being dependent upon His lead, empowerment, and grace. At the end of His time on Earth, Jesus gave His followers, and in turn us, a mission. He directs … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}