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Dear Fellow Servants of Jesus Christ,
Happy New Year! The greeting has come and gone. We
are there! The new year has begun and I hope and pray
everyone is having a positive beginning to 2007. As
we cross over the threshold, we take a look back at
what we have accomplished (or haven’t) and what
we hope to accomplish in the year ahead. In Community
Life Fellowship, we had a good year in 2006. We hope
to make 2007 even better.
As we prepared for the year ahead (2007), we launched
from discussions we had following the WCG denominational
conference. We decided to refocus our mission and vision
documents as well as our plans and strategies for carrying
out the mission and vision. In the process we concluded
it would place the best possible foundation under our
review by having a time of congregational prayer. Therefore,
we focused on 40 Days of Prayer during the time leading
up to Advent.
What did God say to us during that time? Unquestionably
to me, he said it is time to turn up the heat and become
more intentional about the work to “go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
How we “make disciples” as we are going
about our lives depends a lot on what values God has
instilled in us. Last month I shared with you some ideas
about “what is mission” and “what
is vision” and how they work in the process of
our ministry, both individually and congregationally.
This month I will share what over the years we have
considered the “core values” of CLF. Our
core values influence us to do what we do.
We can have “imagined” core values and
we can have “real” core values. For instance,
we may say prayer is one of our core values. However,
if we always watch movies and never pray, the value
we live (“real” value) is not prayer but
movies.
Following is what we consider the values
of CLF:
Core Values
Relationship: with God and one another
A living relationship with God is nourished by prayer
and study of his Word and expressed in a worshipful
lifestyle (Psalm 95:6-7). Christian relationships grow
in community where the love of Jesus and the gifts of
the Holy Spirit are active (John 13:34-35; Acts 2:42,
44-46). We lack the strength and wisdom to handle the
pressures and temptations of life alone and therefore
need to live in a biblical community where friends support
and encourage each other in the way of God (Galatians
6:1-2).
Discipleship: learning and teaching
We are called to live in the role of both a disciple
and disciple maker (Matthew 28:19-20). We are to grow
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus and understand the
Word of God. We come to know him better by studying
his Word (2 Peter 3:18).
Stewardship: honoring and glorifying God by using
his gifts to be fruitful
Being a Godly steward leads to a lifestyle focused
on producing fruit for the Kingdom of God to the honor
and glory of God (John 15:8; 1 Corinthians 3:13; 1 Peter
4:10). We desire to utilize resources God has provided,
as individuals and a congregation, in the most effective
manner to serve God and live and share the Gospel.
Commitment to scripture as the foundation of knowledge
Every Christian has a right and a responsibility to
know and understand the Word of God as it is the revelation
of God of how we are to be salt and light on the earth
representing Jesus (2 Peter 3:18).
Excellence in leadership and ministry
We are called to be a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).
Therefore it is vital we live lives exemplary of the
life of Christ to be light and salt on the earth through
moral integrity, theological soundness, evangelistic
passion, and pastoral sensitivity (not only from pastors,
but all leadership modeling the life of the Good Shepherd,
Jesus Christ) (1 Timothy 6:11-16).
Worship
Our weekly celebration will focus on praising and
worshipping God in creative, inspiring, and culturally
diverse ways to show we believe God is active in this
age (Psalm 95:1-3).
Prayer
“There is nothing more important you can do
for your congregation than to be part of launching a
movement of prayer.” Prayer leads to strategy;
strategy leads to outreach. The boldness to share and
preach the gospel comes through prayer (Ephesians 6:18-20).
Unconditional love and acceptance
We will make an intentional effort to live Jesus’
command to love one another without being judgmental
to the extent we will be recognized as his disciples
(John 13:35). As God unconditionally loves and accepts
us, we accept and love others wherever they are in their
journey through life (1 John 3:16).
Ministering to children and youth
Jesus showed his love and desire for young people
when he took them and blessed them. We will teach children
the blessing of knowing Jesus and how to have a living
relationship with him (Mark 10:13-16).
The Impact of Values
You can see how defining these values impacts how
we spend our time and money for ministry in CLF.
We all have values. As I mentioned earlier, they may
be different than we might think. To evaluate your own
values, see how you spend your time and money. Try this
exercise: In a time of quiet meditation, write down
what comes to mind as the core values that drive your
life. What would you say you consider most important?
You may come up with ideas like God, family, honesty,
prayer, sports, exercise, etc. Later, take a look at
your “day scheduler” and your finances and
see if the way you spend your time and money is in line
with what you think are your values. The way we spend
our time and money show us a lot about what we really
value.
Life is a journey. There are many milestones along
the way. At certain of those milestones we need to pause
and reflect on how the journey is going. The crossing
over into a new year is just one of those milestones.
I hope all of us take the time to pause and reflect
from time to time on how we are living in relationship
to the calling of God. When it is all said and done,
only one thing will remain - our relationship with God.
How is yours as we launch into 2007?
~Pastor Eric
Why
do we pray?
Does it make any difference?
Recently Phillip Yancey wrote and published
a new book on prayer. The title of Yancey’s
book is Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference? It
seems to be a question we all ask ourselves from
time to time. And in the long run, most of us
would agree that the answer is “Yes, it
does make a difference.” We could answer
from experience and we could answer from scripture.
Consider:
“Ask and it will be given you” (John
15:7).
“The prayer of the righteous is powerful
and effective” (James 5:16).
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer”
(Psalm 34:15; 1 Peter 3:12).
“You do not have, because you do not ask
God” (James 4:2).
Based on our belief that prayer does make a
difference, we will begin meeting monthly as a
team to pray for our congregation and denomination.
You are invited to be a part of this movement
of prayer. We will meet the third Saturday afternoon
of each month at 4:30 in the fellowship hall downstairs.
Even if you cannot be present for every meeting,
you can be part of the prayer team and be kept
abreast of the focus of the CLF Prayer Team. Remember,
we move forward on our knees!
Note: the prayer group led by Richard
Lane will continue to meet on Wednesday evenings
each week. For information, contact Richard.
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