For churches, like the Lutheran church who baptise infants need to help parents take their baptismal promises very seriously:
Here is an article for small groups, elders, leaders to share and discuss: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/broken-promises-upsets-churches/story-e6frea6u-1226242123848
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Something to consider - Mission is not about being perfect
None of us like failing....
None of us plan to fail....
However all of us need to realise the reality that we are not perfect. We are not God.
Now put this in the context of mission!
Is everything we do going to be 100% successful?
Surely we shouldn't expect it to be if we live in the reality that we are not perfect, we are not God!
Some years ago a successful small business person said to me he may see 100 people in the week, and only 10% of them turn into sales...that is 90% of people reject him and his organisations product. He said it is easy to say he failed and give up because 90% rejected him, however still 10% benefited from him. Can we use this story for our Christian life...in sharing Jesus with others....Is there a temptation to give up sharing the Good News and Jesus with others simply because some people have rejected the message? Keep in mind that various research sources suggest that it takes some people 7 to 12 invites before they respond to the Christian message.
What about in your committees, teams, the congregation and district...
Do leaders and yourself in leadership...need to be 100% sure before you will support a project or go ahead with a project. Now this is not about being sloppy with planning or failing to attend to appropriate logistical matters. We need to do some hard work, but can we ever be 100% sure? And where does trusting God come into our decisions? Or are we tempted to stall or even sabotage a project because we are not 100% sure? Maybe one way to look at 'good ideas' is to say we need to have some very good reasons not to go ahead with an idea.
None of us plan to fail....
However all of us need to realise the reality that we are not perfect. We are not God.
Now put this in the context of mission!
Is everything we do going to be 100% successful?
Surely we shouldn't expect it to be if we live in the reality that we are not perfect, we are not God!
Some years ago a successful small business person said to me he may see 100 people in the week, and only 10% of them turn into sales...that is 90% of people reject him and his organisations product. He said it is easy to say he failed and give up because 90% rejected him, however still 10% benefited from him. Can we use this story for our Christian life...in sharing Jesus with others....Is there a temptation to give up sharing the Good News and Jesus with others simply because some people have rejected the message? Keep in mind that various research sources suggest that it takes some people 7 to 12 invites before they respond to the Christian message.
What about in your committees, teams, the congregation and district...
Do leaders and yourself in leadership...need to be 100% sure before you will support a project or go ahead with a project. Now this is not about being sloppy with planning or failing to attend to appropriate logistical matters. We need to do some hard work, but can we ever be 100% sure? And where does trusting God come into our decisions? Or are we tempted to stall or even sabotage a project because we are not 100% sure? Maybe one way to look at 'good ideas' is to say we need to have some very good reasons not to go ahead with an idea.
Mission focussed: meeting starters- THE MISSION DECK
Cultivating mission is essential for every congregation and member of the church. The Texas Distrcit of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has produced some greater starters for meetings, bible studies, fellowship time, etc. called The Mission Deck.....go to http://www.m2ctexas.org/mission.focus.php to view them and begin using them....
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