More from Carolyn Spence's email...Is there a reason that this "present kingdom" model doesn't seem to be promoted among simple church proponents? If we are truly following where God is going, would he not be working some of the same things today that he did then? Should this not be a part of our expectation and our report?
Absolutely! In fact, the listening (Virkler) part of a CO2 puts us in a place where we can join God in his supernatural work just as Jesus did. See Jn. 5:19.
Shouldn't this be one evidence of a vibrant family of Jesus? Shouldn't his presence among us produce an effect that ministers to people in the same ways he did when he was here? It seems that we do get from the Lord what we seek after, and what we expect. Can we share stories of how we see the kingdom come to encourage each other that this is a part of the normal Christian life? Now I am newer to the MRT, and maybe I am off base, or it’s a topic already covered that I have missed... so please excuse me if it is. Tell me what you think. Carolyn
Carolyn, you are totally "on base". The MRT 2.0 Experiment is designed to provide a basic framework or starting point for spiritual research. My hope is that this spirit of questioning and experimenting will characterize our community and that people will experiment with all kinds of things having to do with helping to birth "vibrant families of Jesus". Carolyn, please take the lead in reporting what you are learning this summer about demonstrations of God's power as it relates to church planting.
Speaking of God's supernatural power, take a look at the story below of healing at our city wide house church gathering in Denver a couple of weeks ago.
John
Wow, what a great story of how God works!
ReplyDeleteWhat I learn from this is that:
God cares about knees.
He cares about what is going to happen.
He knows what we need.
He prepares people to our solution.
He makes the most of every situation.
He wants us to take part in what he is doing.
AND... WE CAN hear God speak.
We can do what Jesus says we can do.
He wants to partner with us in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth!
Go Denver!
Carolyn, Great list of "learnings" from the video! Here's one more. The healing took place at about the time that Nick was beginning a CO2 with his wife, Kara. And, Kara was deeply moved by God healing her husband. So, we have another example of a demonstration of God's power coupled with the birthing of a new church. "... so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." 1 Cor. 2:5
ReplyDeleteLet's look for more stories of "churches of two" being birthed in the context of demonstrations of Kingdom power.