A Message from Pastor Alan
A storm is coming!
A storm is either a fearful event or a welcomed event. It depends on the perspective of the one anticipating the storm. If the people are unprepared, a storm creates confusion and fear. Dark clouds spell trouble and damage as they swirl overhead. But if the ground is dry and desperate for life-giving water from years of drought, then a storm is welcomed, celebrated and needed.
I believe the church of the living God is beginning to awake from her sleep. A storm is coming. The church is moving from a system of attendance to a system which lets her experience her God. She is becoming aroused and alive! The church is getting on mission with her Master, passionately embracing Her King, learning from Him and listening to Him. She longs to be used by her God, working with Him as He sets up His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. I believe God is raising up people totally sold out to their King! These people are Kingdom disciples.
A storm is coming!
The life-giving rain will pour down through the Holy Spirit, reigning in and through God’s people, Kingdom disciples. Kingdom disciples are people who know their God. They know how to walk with their God and equip others to do the same. These men and women will not be doing church, they will be the church! They want more than a meeting to attend. They want God!
When this rain falls, some church leaders will feel uncomfortable and grasp for methods to create order. They will fear they are losing control. When this rain falls, chaos will be the norm as God sets captives free and binds up those who are broken. Ministry will get messy and be out of our control, but in the control of the living God. God will be at work in and through His disciples, doing what only He can do, redeeming a lost and dying world and setting them free to proclaim the message of His grace.
Kingdom disciples are people radically abandoned to God. Kingdom disciples walk by faith. They know who they are in Christ and they love being who they are. When the rain falls, there will be freedom from religious performance and rules; freedom to work and move with God for His glory alone. Baptisms and teaching will be common throughout the week as God calls people to Himself through the gospel proclaimed by His people.
The leaders will attempt to organize the movement of God to keep it safe and controlled but the movement will be alive and dangerous. Church gatherings will be divided. Many will leave as things get too intense.
“Church” will no longer be comfortable to just attend. People will be challenged to live beyond mediocrity and to embrace their God, radically obeying Him, even at the cost of their own lives or all they own. Each person will know how to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and lead their friends to Christ. Evangelism will be the norm as they are on mission with their God, knowing it is God who works within and through them, calling people to Himself. Excuses like, “it’s not my gifting” will be the thing of the past for all will desire to live out the great commission of Christ to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
The experience of the Church will be what it really is: a vibrant, living system, empowered and driven by the unstoppable and uncontainable God. Church will be the church, the bride of Christ, redeemed humanity on mission with their God. The mission and power are His. He flows in and through His people, seeking to save the lost, bringing all things back into alignment with Himself. When this happens (and it will happen and is happening throughout the world) a movement will come with such force it will turn the world upside down!
This is Kingdom discipleship: a movement of people who believe God, know who they are and live for His will and glory alone.
-- Alan Braun
A storm is either a fearful event or a welcomed event. It depends on the perspective of the one anticipating the storm. If the people are unprepared, a storm creates confusion and fear. Dark clouds spell trouble and damage as they swirl overhead. But if the ground is dry and desperate for life-giving water from years of drought, then a storm is welcomed, celebrated and needed.
I believe the church of the living God is beginning to awake from her sleep. A storm is coming. The church is moving from a system of attendance to a system which lets her experience her God. She is becoming aroused and alive! The church is getting on mission with her Master, passionately embracing Her King, learning from Him and listening to Him. She longs to be used by her God, working with Him as He sets up His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. I believe God is raising up people totally sold out to their King! These people are Kingdom disciples.
A storm is coming!
The life-giving rain will pour down through the Holy Spirit, reigning in and through God’s people, Kingdom disciples. Kingdom disciples are people who know their God. They know how to walk with their God and equip others to do the same. These men and women will not be doing church, they will be the church! They want more than a meeting to attend. They want God!
When this rain falls, some church leaders will feel uncomfortable and grasp for methods to create order. They will fear they are losing control. When this rain falls, chaos will be the norm as God sets captives free and binds up those who are broken. Ministry will get messy and be out of our control, but in the control of the living God. God will be at work in and through His disciples, doing what only He can do, redeeming a lost and dying world and setting them free to proclaim the message of His grace.
Kingdom disciples are people radically abandoned to God. Kingdom disciples walk by faith. They know who they are in Christ and they love being who they are. When the rain falls, there will be freedom from religious performance and rules; freedom to work and move with God for His glory alone. Baptisms and teaching will be common throughout the week as God calls people to Himself through the gospel proclaimed by His people.
The leaders will attempt to organize the movement of God to keep it safe and controlled but the movement will be alive and dangerous. Church gatherings will be divided. Many will leave as things get too intense.
“Church” will no longer be comfortable to just attend. People will be challenged to live beyond mediocrity and to embrace their God, radically obeying Him, even at the cost of their own lives or all they own. Each person will know how to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and lead their friends to Christ. Evangelism will be the norm as they are on mission with their God, knowing it is God who works within and through them, calling people to Himself. Excuses like, “it’s not my gifting” will be the thing of the past for all will desire to live out the great commission of Christ to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
The experience of the Church will be what it really is: a vibrant, living system, empowered and driven by the unstoppable and uncontainable God. Church will be the church, the bride of Christ, redeemed humanity on mission with their God. The mission and power are His. He flows in and through His people, seeking to save the lost, bringing all things back into alignment with Himself. When this happens (and it will happen and is happening throughout the world) a movement will come with such force it will turn the world upside down!
This is Kingdom discipleship: a movement of people who believe God, know who they are and live for His will and glory alone.
-- Alan Braun
