Energ-III-ze 2007 - Talk 1: An Energized Church

Sorry for not posting this sooner...

At Energ-i-i-i-ze last week, Chick Yuill opened the conference by reading from Acts 1:4 - 2:5 and describing four attributes of an energized church...

1) The church learns to wait on God - the reference here is not hanging about aimlessly killing time... but focussed attention - like expert waiters in a good restaurant. Watching for the time they will be required. We need to learn to wait and watch for God.

2) The church concentrates on worship - the reference here is to our lives being acts of worship. We are not solely talking about Graham Kendrick style music... but lives that act and in doing so worship God. Their good work comes from the wellspring of worship.

3) The church works out the things that need to be worked out - In the verses... we see the nomination and appointment of Matthias. They worked out what needed worked out... they sought God's blessing and guidance... and made decisions. An energized church is about the King's business and should be run (at times) as a business. To this end, we need to bring the skills we have from our various workplaces to the church... and use them.

4) The church is focussed on witness - We need to continually focus on bringing the Gospel out of the church and into the streets... just as the church in Acts did. And we need to do it in the language of the people we meet. No point speaking if we are not understood.

The Army has a longstanding tradition of taking the gospel to the streets - we were relevant in our day... Uniforms relate to the British Empire's fondness for Militarism... and our music comes from the Music Hall. To honour the Army (and ultimately God) we need to learn new things and not just repeat the past.

What a great start to the day. More to come.

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