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| Fusi Mokoena Part 1 |
This is part of a series of messages that were preached at the Regions Beyond India Leaders meeting at Igatpuri . This message was preached by Fusi Mokoena .Regions Beyond, is a part ofNewfrontiers Intl. You can listen to the audio by clicking here.
We have been receiving words of wisdom and prophecy but I don’t want us to go back just having filled our minds with a lot of information. Ask God- How do I put the things I heard in practice? Words that have been brought speak to individuals, churches and us as a family of churches.
Regarding Regions Beyond- There was one apostolic sphere, Newfrontiers, which multiplied into 17 spheres as key gifts have emerged. Steve Oliver felt that he would give birth to something that would go beyond South Africa. But before we gather to anything or anyone else, we gather to Jesus. The reason we chat about all this is because of the finished work of the cross.
We don’t want to be those who are held back because of loyalty or some form of tradition when God is doing something new. Neither is this a time when we think this is an opportunity to let go of what we have been taught. There is a threat in both. We don’t want to compromise of the key thing that brings us together.there is a danger of not doing what God as asked us to do. Terry is excited about all that is happening. So lets hold on to the vision and values that have been laboured hard for.There is a danger in both extreme and compromise. We are a church planting apostolic movement.
We believe the Spirit- filled church is the only way of building church. This means a strong local church built on good foundations- of making disciples and not just converts.
Church is the answer to the fallen world- where truth is no longer absolute but everyone believes what they believe. Church restores the gospel.
‘New frontiers’ describes itself as this- A diverse family of churches joined together in apostolic partnership. What does this mean?
1. We are a family yet we are so diverse. We are committed to planting churches in villages, in towns and in cities. God gave us a vision to build churches everywhere.
We build churches for the wealthy and poor; young and old; people of all cultures- because God is for everyone. The message is not just for one group of people. We look at mission not as full time ministry but as relevant to people doing business, doctors, lawyers, etc. we want the gospel to be relevant to you.WE do not want to be caught up with idolatry, consumerism where truth is not absolute.
We believe the church is the answer.We are a diverse family of churches joined together in apostolic partnership. In a family you may all look alike but we do things differently.
We in Regions Beyond are committed to planting churches in villages, towns and cities as well. So we are not just a City Church planting movement.
We are committed to seeing the gospel going to wealthy and the poor. We are committed to planting multi-racial, multi- linguistic churches. Our messages is such that it targets people of all age groups.We don't talk mission as just for people who are serving the church full time but to business people, to Christians in the secular world, young and old, rich and poor. Business people have the responsibility to advance the gospel.
Some may be called to the towns and others to cities and some to villages. We are committed to the village as much as to the city. So we have a church in the mountains in Lesotho a church under the tree and in a 5 Star hotel.
That’s how diversity is going to work to reach the diverse world. It takes skill to do different things and God needs to give us this skill. So when we come together, we don’t undermine one another. Only Jesus can unite us.
Many movements have decided to go to cities alone. But God has called us to evangelize the world.the way I see it its like a juggler - it takes skill . That's pretty much what we are doing and its not for the faint hearted.
What we are doing will take people who are grounded in the gospel and interested in making Jesus known, transform lives and bring them together.
Cautions:
a. There is a danger of compromise- we might build churches who are exactly like us. It takes skill to build a multicultural community. And when we are challenged with this, instead of asking help from the Holy Spirit, we may compromise.
b. We may treat church as a part of the consumer-driven world. We need skill from God to reflect the gospel that Jesus gave. Consumerism is "come to Jesus and he will do this and that for you"We can have people who just consume our message and are not disciples. WE need to build church that will reflect what Jesus has accomplished on the Cross.
c. We can’t emphasize on diversity alone. There are many different values of a church and diversity is one of them. It’s not the only distinguishing factor. We must embrace all the values.So diversity is not the only thing we talk about. there are many other values and God lives the church and is empowering us to be missional. If we only emphasize one value we become unstable . But this value is needed to restore a fallen world.
Churches joined together:
Paul to Timothy asks for John Mark. Ephesian elders - Paul shares his heart with them. " Now that I am going to Jerusalem, protect yourselves from savage wolves.."
There are two things under this:
i. Unity of the church is very important. The cross has made what is impossible possible. Because of Jesus tow can become one. Its not unity that we talk about but what we do.
ii. This unity is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is only through him that we somehow overcome our differences.We talk different languages and yet we become friends and we can celebrate diversity. What God always wanted to do is restore the church to himself.Jesus is exalted and the unity has been built. The cross says Jesus has overcome the power but the resurrection says Jesus is crowned king
( Part 2 to follow)
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