Sunday One Prayer Reflections
June 16, 2008 6:00 am One Prayer, Spiritual Formation
I loved Craig’s talk yesterday. I love his heart and his passion. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.”
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all - Ephesians 4:3-6. Craig’s one prayer for the church today would be, “Father, make us one!” It is the same prayer that Jesus had. The church struggles with unity as a whole. For some of you its the first time you have even thought about it.We are more unified after Craig’s talk.
The church does have and image problem. Christians are the problem. You and I are the problem when we don’t display a spirit of unity. We are the problem when we criticize others - when we make those outside our walls jump through hoops to be with us. When we drag the name of Jesus through the gutter with our behavior and attitudes. That is the bad news. The good news is that we are in the process of redefining church in the Delaware Valley one heart, one life, at a time. Our future is bright!
What would unify the church?
- If we had One enemy - Satan (loved the video - I was thinking of who could play the part of the devil if we ever do a similar video). Let’s remember who we are actually fighting!
- If we had one heart. This is what makes us different!
- If we had one purpose. Our mission is bigger than all of us. I told our staff this very thing this week. It is not about John it is about bringing people to Jesus. Period.
Favorite quotes:
- “Unity is not the same thing as uniformity”
- “When have we forgotten that we are the church, the church doesn’t exist for us and we are the church and we exist for the world.”
One Prayer Stats:
- Total Churches: 1,451
- Total Attendance: 812,644
Next Speaker: Wayne Cordeiro
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raysheeth :
Date: June 16, 2008 @ 8:28 am
Loved the talk by Craig yesterday. The one thing that struck me was United and Untied as for me this is a struggle at times to stay focused on God and not become untied from Him. I can always tell when I am untied as I am not united with my brothers and sisters-I become critical of all around me. Can’t wait to hear the next speaker and am praying for our Russia team that leaves on FRI!
debbe :
Date: June 16, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
I can see why you consider him a mentor. He is a really engaging, and informative speaker. I visited his blog to see what his thoughts were on other topics. I found a really good blog on accountability, called “10 Questions for Ministry Leaders.”
1. Are the people closest to me in ministry lifting me higher or dragging me down?
2. How have I intentionally developed the leaders around me in the past week?
3. Am I speaking transparently with at least two other close trusted friends on a weekly basis?
4. Am I submitting myself to the correction and coaching of at least two mentors?
5. Am I holding a grudge against someone?
6. Am I speaking well of other ministers?
7. Am I falling for the temptation of comparing, complaining, criticizing or gossiping?
8. Are my words and relationships characterized by words of faith or negativity?
9. Do people enjoy being around me or am I often “down”?
10. Have a made at least three new ministry friends in the last year?