When our kingdoms get in the way of His Kingdom

Is there a connection between Acts 1:8 and Acts 8:1?

Jesus last words to his disciples before ascending to Heaven were, "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

The apostles knew this teaching. They had undoubtedly taught it over and over to the growing Jerusalem church. Yet, only a small percentage of the thousands of believers seemed to be taking Jesus' words seriously. Interestingly enough, not even the apostles themselves seemed to grasp the magnitude of Jesus' words!

When Acts 1:8 begins to take a backseat, we shouldn't be surprised by an Acts 8:1 wake-up call.

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him [Stephen] to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1)

In the midst of all that absorbs our attention:

health
work
family
social media
material possessions
entertainment
church, etc.

...as important as these are, we must remember that Jesus expects his followers to be about being his witnesses not only in each of our Jerusalems, but in Judea, Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth. Jesus loves and cares about those in Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and India as much as he loves us. His focus and love is not only for us, but also on the individuals (people just like us) in the nations. The priority of taking his message of love and salvation to all people groups on the face of the earth is a serious matter with our Lord.

Instead of using Jerusalem as our launching pad to Judea, Samaria, and the nations, we go the opposite direction. We start with our Jerusalem, segment down to our suburb, and from there to our own micro-worlds. Our kingdoms gets confused with His Kingdom.

But one way or another Jesus will make his name known to the nations. We can either willingly obey, or be persecuted and scattered. Both get the job done!

When our personal kingdoms and local Jerusalem consume all our time, energy, and resources, and do so at the expense of the Great Commission; it should not come as a surprise when the Father permits Acts 8:1 measures to get us out of our secure comfortable environments and out into his harvest fields.

El tercer hombre en la historia para caminar sobre el agua

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

El primero fue Jesús (Mateo 14:25).

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

El segundo era Simón Pedro, discípulo de Jesús (Mateo 14:29).

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

y el tercero...Jorge!

Cómo explicar en 2-minutos lo que es una iglesia simple

Roy McClung nos ayuda visualizar lo que es una iglesia en casa en el video que sigue

¿Qué piensa Ud.? ¿Cree que podría hacer lo mismo en su contexto?

¿Qué es una iglesia simple?

La iglesia simple es conocido por algunos nombres diferentes:

-la iglesia en casa
-casas de oración
-iglesia orgánica
-casas culto
-la iglesia hogareña

A menudo se pregunta, ¿qué es la diferencia entre grupos pequeños reuniéndose en las casas, células que se reúnen en casas, e iglesias en las casas que también se reúnen en hogares? ¿No son todas la misma cosa?

Rad Zdero, en su libro, Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader hace una buena explicación sobre las diferencias.

Aunque reconocemos y celebramos la mano de Dios en todos los modelos de hacer iglesia, hay importantes diferencias entre las iglesias tradicionales, celulares, e iglesias en las casas.

Muchos creyentes hoy en día forman parte de los grupos pequeños de sus iglesias. Estos pueden ser estudios Bíblicos, grupos de oración, grupos de apoyo, etc. Sin embargo, los grupos pequeños son utilizados en formas diferentes según el tipo de iglesia. Casi todas las iglesias utilizan a los grupos pequeños de alguna forma u otra. Estos generalmente saben reunirse en los hogares y animan la participación activa de los asistentes. Pero a partir de allí terminan las similaridades.

Las iglesias tradicionales utilizan a los grupos pequeños como una iglesia CON grupos pequeños (a menudo usan equivocadamente el término célula.)

Las iglesias celulares ponen el énfasis de la vida de la iglesia en el grupo pequeño. Usan correctamente el término célula para distinguir entre la reunión del grupo pequeño, y la del grupo grande (celebración) cuando todas las células se reúnen juntas en un solo lugar. Una iglesia celular es una sola iglesia DE grupos pequeños.

Una red de iglesias en casa entiende que cada iglesia en casa es una iglesia completa y autónoma en si misma. O sea la iglesia ES el grupo pequeño. Una iglesia en casa es una iglesia en todo sentido y hace todo lo que una iglesia tradicional o celular hace.

Roy McClung también nos ayuda visualizar el concepto en su corto video, "Cómo explicar en 2-minutos lo que es una iglesia simple" utilizando una servilleta.

What if...

God-Directed Deviations asks an excellent question,

...what if the singular act of making disciples comprises all of what the church is to be? I don't want to be reductionistic here, but think about it. Jesus told his disciples to "go," "make disciples of all ethnic groups," "teach them to obey all that he commanded," and "baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Within "all that He commanded" is everything the church is supposed to be...

Indeed, what would the nations of the Earth look like today if making disciples was the primary focus of our churches?  I can't help but believe we'd be seeing an unprecedented global harvest on a scale far beyond anything the world has ever seen.

Are we doing what Jesus said to do?

Are we going out to the where the lost live? Or are we planning yet another "come to" activity for ourselves?

Are we making disciples of all ethnic groups? Or are we ministering to the same group of believers who come to our churches?

Are we teaching one another to obey all those things Jesus commanded? Or are we distracted with media events, entertainment, our personal happiness/ambitions, or living the "good life?"

And what did Jesus command? Scanning through the New Testament Gospels one can find a number of things Jesus expects his disciples to do. But since He knew we would have a hard time remembering all these commandments, He did us the favor of summarizing them all in what we know as the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

These can be further reduced for easy recall into three objectives:

1) Love God
2) Love Others
3) Make Disciples

What would our cities, towns, and nations look like if those who claim to follow Christ would simply carry out these three commands of Christ? What would happen if the church began to restructure itself in such a way that her singular focus was upon making disciples who love God and love others? And would repeat the cycle of intentionally going out into the world to make other disciples teaching them to love God and others?

Welcome to the missionary call and task!

This 1:59 video expresses well what we attempt to share above...

Teleamigo: Guayaquil, Ecuador

Built upon the foundation of prayer, the Teleamigo Counseling Center in Guayaquil, Ecuador has been used to reach over 2.5 million people in the past decade.