Fit For Duty: Getting In S.H.A.P.E. in 2011
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors ... For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12).
In 2011 we are working under the theme: “Fit for Duty: Getting in S.H.A.P.E.” In a devotional book entitled In Heavenly Places are penned the words: “With such an army of workers as our youth rightly trained might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin! How soon, in place of a possession here, with its blight of sin and pain, our children might receive their inheritance where “the righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever” (Psalm 37:29).
Under the simple church model we believe in clarity, movement, alignment and focus. The concept of alignment says that what is needed for one population of the congregation is needed for the entire congregation. Our youth need to be “rightly trained.” But they aren’t the only ones! The entire church needs to be “rightly trained.”
With this concept in mind, we need to get in S.H.A.P.E. as a congregation. No, this is not about vanity. Rather, think in military terms. Navy SEALs need to be in physical shape to properly fight battles. That’s why we need to be in spiritual S.H.A.P.E. We are at war!
Whenever you hear me talking about S.H.A.P.E. you can know that I am talking about your Spiritual Gifts, your Heart (or passion areas), your Abilities, your Personality and your Experiences, both painful and positive. God uses all of that as He uses you to help build up the Body of Christ.
Spiritual Gifts Emphasis - Sabbath, Jan 8
In light of this theme for 2011, I want to tell you about a few things that are coming down the pike during the month of January. On the second Sabbath, January 8, 2011, we will be having our Spiritual Gifts Emphasis Day. The entire day will be centered around helping the church members discover their spiritual gifts. The sermon will be entitled Gifted, But Can You Handle It? The service format will be slightly different. So we want to urge you to get to church on time. Please plan to spend a good portion of the day with us, at least until 3:00 or 3:30 p.m. We hope it will be educational, eye-opening and exciting. There will be a fellowship meal.
The spiritual gifts task force has set as its goal to help at least 70% of the members of the congregation to know what their spiritual gifts are. Why do we do this? The late Ellen G. White wrote insightfully the following words in a book entitled Fundamentals of Christian Education: “Those who would be overcomers must be drawn out of themselves; and the only thing which will accomplish this great work, is to become intensely interested in the salvation of others” (FE 207-208).
It is our goal to equip you for the work of ministry. That is what God has called me as pastor to do. So it is necessary for me to come to an understanding of how God has uniquely made you. We ought not be putting square pegs in round holes. No, I need to understand how God has made you. The spiritual gifts test is really only the first step in understanding your spiritual S.H.A.P.E. Again, when I speak of your spiritual S.H.A.P.E., I am speaking of understanding how God has uniquely designed you to accomplish your kingdom purpose.
We recognize that Sabbath, January 8, is only a first step. Our aim is to have a spiritual profile on every one of our members so that when the Lord sends us opportunities we can know which troops can be sent into particular battles. We don’t want to send sailors in when a fighter pilot is needed. Or the Coast Guard when ground troops are needed. If my job is the equipping ministry of Ephesians 4:11-13, then I need to know the giftedness of the members of my team.
Communion - Sabbath, Jan 15
The third Sabbath of January, the 15th, we will celebrate Holy Communion. We ask that you would prepare your hearts for that service. We still take to heart the cautionary words of the apostle Paul found in 1 Corinthians 11:27-28: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the Lord’s body.” So please prepare your hearts for that special service.
We also ask that you come early so that you can engage in the ordinance of humility. The ordinance of humility is the foot-washing service that begins at 10:30 a.m. We meet in the lower auditorium and in the classrooms to wash each others’ feet after the example of our Lord in John 13. If there is unresolved conflict between you and your brother or sister, go to them in the spirit of Matthew 18. Seek to be reconciled to your brother or sister. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:18 that God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Jesus Himself said in John 13:35: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” In other words, the world shall know that we belong to Him, by our love one for another.
Tribal Fellowships Emphasis - Sabbath, Jan 22
Finally on the fourth Sabbath we will have our Tribal Fellowships Emphasis Day. Our elders will be taking the lead. It promises to be a fun day. Some of you already know who your tribal elder is already. On this day we are encouraging members to sit with their tribes. It will be very organized. At the last elders’ meeting, they talked out the logistics for that particular Sabbath. We are looking forward to the bonding, connection and genuine fellowship that shall result from the Tribes becoming fully activated.
Why we do this? Over and over again in the New Testament we see “one another” texts. “Salute one another,” “tarry one for another,” “Greet one another,” “serve one another,” “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” “forbearing one another in love,” “lie not one to another,” forgive one another,” “admonish one another,” “comfort one another,” “exhort one another,” “consider one another,” and the list goes on. In short, we’re trying to encourage each other. Hebrews 10:25 says “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as he see the day approaching.” Jesus could come any day now. We need one another to encourage each other to stay on the path of righteousness.
So, we have organized the tribes geographically. The Lord showed us that the reality of our lives is hindering our coming together as the Bible commands. Commutes due to heavy traffic, relocation patterns, and other responsibilities have made it difficult for us to come to the church as often as we would like.
We want to take advantage of the fact that some of us live in close proximity to each other. As an organizing principle, we want to create structures that help us provide better support for “one another.” If we know who lives closest to us, we can get together periodically for the study of the Word of God. Not only that, we can get together just for mutual support of one another, praying for one another as we know different ones move through some of the more challenging issues of life.
We have been talking about these tribal fellowships for quite some time. Implementation does take time. We have not given up. What happens on the 2nd and 3rd Sabbaths is connected to what will happen on the 4th Sabbath.
So, on January 22 we are going to have a Tribal Fellowships Emphasis Day. We will be preaching the sermon entitled The Entrepreneurial Shepherd.
In 2011 we are working under the theme: “Fit for Duty: Getting in S.H.A.P.E.” In a devotional book entitled In Heavenly Places are penned the words: “With such an army of workers as our youth rightly trained might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin! How soon, in place of a possession here, with its blight of sin and pain, our children might receive their inheritance where “the righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever” (Psalm 37:29).
Under the simple church model we believe in clarity, movement, alignment and focus. The concept of alignment says that what is needed for one population of the congregation is needed for the entire congregation. Our youth need to be “rightly trained.” But they aren’t the only ones! The entire church needs to be “rightly trained.”
With this concept in mind, we need to get in S.H.A.P.E. as a congregation. No, this is not about vanity. Rather, think in military terms. Navy SEALs need to be in physical shape to properly fight battles. That’s why we need to be in spiritual S.H.A.P.E. We are at war!
Whenever you hear me talking about S.H.A.P.E. you can know that I am talking about your Spiritual Gifts, your Heart (or passion areas), your Abilities, your Personality and your Experiences, both painful and positive. God uses all of that as He uses you to help build up the Body of Christ.
Spiritual Gifts Emphasis - Sabbath, Jan 8
In light of this theme for 2011, I want to tell you about a few things that are coming down the pike during the month of January. On the second Sabbath, January 8, 2011, we will be having our Spiritual Gifts Emphasis Day. The entire day will be centered around helping the church members discover their spiritual gifts. The sermon will be entitled Gifted, But Can You Handle It? The service format will be slightly different. So we want to urge you to get to church on time. Please plan to spend a good portion of the day with us, at least until 3:00 or 3:30 p.m. We hope it will be educational, eye-opening and exciting. There will be a fellowship meal.
The spiritual gifts task force has set as its goal to help at least 70% of the members of the congregation to know what their spiritual gifts are. Why do we do this? The late Ellen G. White wrote insightfully the following words in a book entitled Fundamentals of Christian Education: “Those who would be overcomers must be drawn out of themselves; and the only thing which will accomplish this great work, is to become intensely interested in the salvation of others” (FE 207-208).
It is our goal to equip you for the work of ministry. That is what God has called me as pastor to do. So it is necessary for me to come to an understanding of how God has uniquely made you. We ought not be putting square pegs in round holes. No, I need to understand how God has made you. The spiritual gifts test is really only the first step in understanding your spiritual S.H.A.P.E. Again, when I speak of your spiritual S.H.A.P.E., I am speaking of understanding how God has uniquely designed you to accomplish your kingdom purpose.
We recognize that Sabbath, January 8, is only a first step. Our aim is to have a spiritual profile on every one of our members so that when the Lord sends us opportunities we can know which troops can be sent into particular battles. We don’t want to send sailors in when a fighter pilot is needed. Or the Coast Guard when ground troops are needed. If my job is the equipping ministry of Ephesians 4:11-13, then I need to know the giftedness of the members of my team.
Communion - Sabbath, Jan 15
The third Sabbath of January, the 15th, we will celebrate Holy Communion. We ask that you would prepare your hearts for that service. We still take to heart the cautionary words of the apostle Paul found in 1 Corinthians 11:27-28: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself not discerning the Lord’s body.” So please prepare your hearts for that special service.
We also ask that you come early so that you can engage in the ordinance of humility. The ordinance of humility is the foot-washing service that begins at 10:30 a.m. We meet in the lower auditorium and in the classrooms to wash each others’ feet after the example of our Lord in John 13. If there is unresolved conflict between you and your brother or sister, go to them in the spirit of Matthew 18. Seek to be reconciled to your brother or sister. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:18 that God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Jesus Himself said in John 13:35: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” In other words, the world shall know that we belong to Him, by our love one for another.
Tribal Fellowships Emphasis - Sabbath, Jan 22
Finally on the fourth Sabbath we will have our Tribal Fellowships Emphasis Day. Our elders will be taking the lead. It promises to be a fun day. Some of you already know who your tribal elder is already. On this day we are encouraging members to sit with their tribes. It will be very organized. At the last elders’ meeting, they talked out the logistics for that particular Sabbath. We are looking forward to the bonding, connection and genuine fellowship that shall result from the Tribes becoming fully activated.
Why we do this? Over and over again in the New Testament we see “one another” texts. “Salute one another,” “tarry one for another,” “Greet one another,” “serve one another,” “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” “forbearing one another in love,” “lie not one to another,” forgive one another,” “admonish one another,” “comfort one another,” “exhort one another,” “consider one another,” and the list goes on. In short, we’re trying to encourage each other. Hebrews 10:25 says “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as he see the day approaching.” Jesus could come any day now. We need one another to encourage each other to stay on the path of righteousness.
So, we have organized the tribes geographically. The Lord showed us that the reality of our lives is hindering our coming together as the Bible commands. Commutes due to heavy traffic, relocation patterns, and other responsibilities have made it difficult for us to come to the church as often as we would like.
We want to take advantage of the fact that some of us live in close proximity to each other. As an organizing principle, we want to create structures that help us provide better support for “one another.” If we know who lives closest to us, we can get together periodically for the study of the Word of God. Not only that, we can get together just for mutual support of one another, praying for one another as we know different ones move through some of the more challenging issues of life.
We have been talking about these tribal fellowships for quite some time. Implementation does take time. We have not given up. What happens on the 2nd and 3rd Sabbaths is connected to what will happen on the 4th Sabbath.
So, on January 22 we are going to have a Tribal Fellowships Emphasis Day. We will be preaching the sermon entitled The Entrepreneurial Shepherd.
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