Tell God's Story

Tell God's Story

 

Hi there, my name is Dean Davis, and this is a word of encouragement for village church planters.

The Bible tells the story of God’s interactions with people. Like all good stories, God’s story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. As a village church planter, it will be important for you to learn the individual stories of the Bible as parts of one big, wonderful story. When we learn God’s big story from beginning to end, we understand it much better than if we just hear disconnected parts of the story.

But if we are to tell God’s big story, we must tell the beginning of his interactions with people, the problems that arose in those interactions, and the way God has addressed those problems and will resolve them.

In the Bible, God’s story starts with the eternal God creating the world and people. In addition to people, God’s story involves Satan, demons, and angels. God’s story tells about Adam and Eve’s disobedience. It describes the suffering that resulted from their separation from God. God’s story emphasizes God’s plan to bless all nations on earth through Abraham and his descendants. 

It tells how Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world, just as the prophets foretold. It communicates that Jesus came to save us from our sins. God’s story relates Jesus’ teaching and shows his loving actions, which brought healing and deliverance from the power of demons. It tells of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. 

God’s story includes stories about groups of Jesus’ followers called churches. It tells how people started churches among many nations. God’s story has an ending, which we have not yet experienced. The last part of God’s story includes Jesus’ second coming and the final judgment of people. That judgment will result in some people experiencing eternal death separated from God and others receiving eternal life in the presence of God. God’s story is powerful. Its power changes lives.

As a Village Church Planter it is important for you to know God’s story well.   So read you Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  Watch the Jesus Film in your local language. Get to know God’s story very well. As you begin to understand God’s big story better and better your faith will grow and you will gain wisdom.

Tell God’s story to others. God’s story is a love story from beginning to end. It is a story which is full of tragedy, but it is also a story which is full of hope. When the people you’re helping follow Jesus understand God’s big story, they will be strong in the face of adversity. They will be courageous in the face of difficulties and challenges. They will be bold witnesses for Christ.  You are a village church planter. There are few ministry activities more important than the telling of God’s story. So learn it well and even more importantly, tell it well.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #BibleStoryTelling

 

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Whisper Pt. 1

 This is Chuck Rapp with a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters. 

Last time I shared on the theme that Jesus’ sheep hear his voice.  “But”, you may be asking, “Exactly how does God speak to me?”  If that’s your question I invite you to continue listening to this message. 

2020 has been a difficult year for all of us as a result of the pandemic.  However, one positive outcome for me is that I’ve had more time to read.  At or near the top of my list of those books that have been most beneficial has been Whisper written by Mark Batterson.  The main themes of what I will share today come from this book which I highly recommend.  (On a quick, personal note, Batterson’s father-in-law performed the wedding ceremony for my wife and me over 41 years ago.)   

Early in the book Batterson says, “Nothing has the potential to change your life like the whisper of God.  Nothing will determine your destiny more than your ability to hear His still small voice.” 

The author suggests that God speaks to us in 7 ways.  We will discuss the first four in today’s message. 

1.     Scripture – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 instructs us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  Anything that we perceive to be from the Lord must align with scripture.  [emphasis added]

2.     Desires – as we obey God and align with His will in and for our lives, often He will place His desires in our hearts.  Psalm 37:4 applies to our lives when we meet these conditions.  “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.”

3.     Doors – open (or closed) doors, or our circumstances, many times reveal God’s will and/or the timing of His will. 

4.     Dreams – Acts 2:17 instructs us that "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people… your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”  Many of us have heard, in particular, stories how God has revealed himself to Moslems through dreams and visions. 

In my next message we will discuss the remaining 3 ways that God speaks to us. 

5.     People –

6.     Promptings –

7.     Pain –

As His children, His sheep, God wants to speak to us, and He wants us to hear, to discern His message to us.  Let us make sure that the Lord’s voice is the loudest voice in our lives.    

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters. 

 

Whisper Pt 2

Whisper Pt 2

 This is Chuck Rapp with a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters. 

Last time I shared part 1 of how we hear our Shepherd’s voice.  Those thoughts and today’s follow the main points of the book “Whisper” written by Mark Batterson. 

The author suggests that God speaks to us in 7 ways.  Previously we looked at how He speaks through:

1.) Scripture – His Word to us

2.) Desires - that God places within our hearts

3.) Open Doors – He often leads us through our circumstances

4.) Dreams - as well as visions

Following are three additional ways that God speaks to us. 

5.) People – Solomon provides some good advice in Proverbs 15:22. “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”  A key for us is to carefully select the appropriate advisers in our lives and to then have the humility to listen and heed their counsel.  Close friends or a spouse can help us see past our own blind spots. 

6.) Promptings – God speaks to us through promptings of the Holy Spirit. Oswald Chambers wrote that “The checks of the [Holy] Spirit come in the most extraordinarily gentle ways, and if you are not sensitive enough to detect his voice you will quench it … His checks always come as a still small voice…”  Something that I have personally found to be quite helpful is to verbally confess to the Lord, “I sense that You are saying such and such to me.  Lord, I give this thought to You.  If this thought is from You, please confirm it.  If this thought is not from You, then please cause me to forget about it.”  As I make the effort to seek the Lord and to discern His promptings, I’ve found the Lord faithfully answers that prayer. 

7.) Pain – In his classic book, The Problem of Pain, CS Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  In these current days in my country, many people – Christ followers and others – are feeling a great deal of emotional, spiritual, and sometimes physical pain resulting from the pandemic, social unrest and a contentious national election.  I believe the Lord is trying to get our attention through this pain; He desires that a hurting world turn to Him.  

 

As His children, His sheep, God wants to speak to us, and He wants us to hear, to discern His message to us.  Let us make sure that the Lord’s voice is the loudest voice in our lives.    

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters. 

TELL YOUR STORY

       

  

                                                     

Hi there, my name is Dean Davis, and this is a word of encouragement for village church planters.

When I first began to understand the Good News of Jesus, I was fascinated by the testimonies of other believers.  They would tell how God delivered them from drugs and alcohol, how God healed their marriage or restored their relationship with family members. Others would testify of the deep sense of peace they found when they gave their life to Christ. Still others mentioned how great it was to know that their sins were forgiven and that they belonged to Jesus.

Hearing the stories of how Jesus was changing their lives helped me wake up spiritually.  Their stories gave me a hunger for God.  I wanted to know him and experience his kind, loving, healing work in my life.

As a Village Church Planter, you have learned several ways to find persons of peace.  You can share a word of blessing and hope in Jesus’ name and see how people respond.  You can tell a Bible story and see if those who listen want to know more. You can pray for people and see how they respond to God’s answer to your prayer.  There are many ways to find persons of peace.

A good way to find persons of peace is to share your testimony, your story of how God has worked in your life.  This is what the Apostle Paul did when he was on trial before King Agrippa. The story from Paul’s life that he told the King is recorded in Acts chapter 26. Paul was clearly hoping the King would respond to his story and follow Jesus.  Even though Agrippa did not respond in a positive way, Paul was faithful to tell what the Lord had done for him.

 You have a story too.  I’m sure it does not seem as dramatic as Paul’s. But your story is real and it is true and it belongs to you.  Share it for the glory of God.  You don’t need to be afraid or ashamed. God has worked in your life.  Tell other people about it. You never know when you might find a person of peace.

One of the best way to start telling your story is to tell it in 15 seconds. Your 15 second testimony starts with the word, “There was a time in my life…” Those are powerful words, “There was a time in my life...” When you speak those simple words, people listen to find out more. So share your 15 second testimony.  Tell about your old life.  Tell what Jesus has done for you.  Tell how your life has changed. Then listen as people answer your closing question: “Do you have a story like that?”

Your story is real and it is true and it belongs to you. Your story is powerful.  Tell it well and tell it often.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters 

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Start Your Relationship Map

Start Your Relationship Map

 Hi there, my name is Dean Davis, and this is a word of encouragement for village church planters.

As a Village Church Planter, you have been trained to use the four Seed Sower tools. Those four Seed-Sower tools empower disciple makers in general and church planters in particular.  The four Seed Sower Tools give us answers to the questions, “Why should I make disciples? Who should I tell? What should I say? When will I make disciples?”

As a church planter, you have the wonderful privilege to look for and find persons of peace.  Right now, this very day, God in his grace continues to call men and women, boys and girls to put their trust in Him so they can experience His goodness and salvation.  And you are a co-laborer with Christ. So God wants to use you to more fully express that call to salvation.  Be encouraged.  There are many people who are hungry to know God and to experience his peace, they just don’t know how. God is delighted to use you to reach out to them and show them the way to know Christ.

So, as you get to know people in the village where you are planting a church, start by creating a relationship map which includes the names of people you get to know.  You remember the relationship map from your training, right?  It has a circle, with your name in it, in the middle of a sheet of paper.  Then it has five or more lines which go out to other circles.  In those other circles you write the names of people you know who are far from God.  From those five circles you can draw more lines connected to more circles in which you write the names of other people the original five people know and relate to who also need to hear the Good News about Jesus.

Why do we start with a relationship map?  Relationship maps encourage us.  They show us people we are connected to with whom we can share the Gospel.  Relationship maps challenge us.  They help us see how many people we know that need Jesus. Relationship maps serve as a prayer tool. We can and should pray for each person named on the map, trusting God to open up opportunities for them to hear, understand and believe the Good News.

But perhaps the most powerful aspect of a relationship map is that it shows us the big picture of our relationships and the details, all at the same time. When we look at a relationship map, we can see at a glance both the many connections we have to people who are far from God and, at the same time, we can see each person’s name and the connections we have with each one.

So as you look for persons of peace, create a relationship map which shows the people in your village who are far from God.  Pray for those people and then use your 15 second testimony or the Three Circles diagram to begin telling each one the Good News of Jesus. 

Your relationship Map is a powerful tool.  Create it, consult it, pray over it and keep it up to date as you meet new people.  It tells you who to share the Good News with.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters. 

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#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #Relationship_Map

How To Find A Persons Of Peace

 

How To Find A Persons Of Peace

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “A Word of Encouragement for Village Church Planters.”  

 

When Jesus sent his followers out two by two, he expected them to find men and women of peace.  Jesus was confident that his followers would find men and women who were hungry for God and receptive to the message of the Good News. I expect there will be people in your village who are also hungry to know God and who will be receptive to you as you share the Good News of forgiveness and peace with God.  

 

But church planters always ask, “How can I find persons of peace?  How can I find men and women who are hungry for God?” When you enter a village, it is not obvious who is receptive to your message and who is not. As church planters, we wish we could easily see, simply by looking at people, if they were hungry for God or not hungry for God.  But until we speak, we don’t know how people will respond.   

 

How do you find persons of peace? By speaking.  Jesus taught us to bring blessing to the homes of villagers.  He told his followers, “Say ‘Peace to this house.’” We find persons of peace by speaking.  And the message we speak must be a message of blessing and Good News. 

 

  After we greet people with warmth and kindness, we may want to offer to pray for them.  A good way to offer prayer is to ask, “What would you like for God to do for you?”  Listen carefully to the person’s response. Show concern. Tell about the love of God.  Then ask if you can pray with them right there. Keep praying for their request in your home. I have a friend who has identified many persons of peace by this method.  He visits homes. He introduces himself. He offers to pray. He prays for a week for the person’s request: healing, income, restoration of broken relationships, deliverance from addiction.  Then he returns a week later to find out what God has done. At that time he shares God’s plan of salvation. Many people come to Christ and many churches are started. 

 

Another way to find persons of peace is to tell a story.  You may want to tell your story of salvation in Christ using your 15 second testimony. Or you may want to tell a Bible story like The Parable of the Prodigal Son about the younger brother who returned to his father after wasting his inheritance. When we tell stories about the love of God, we find out who is hungry to know more. Telling Bible stories to see how a villager responds is a great way to find persons of peace. Persons of peace are hungry for God.  When they hear your story, they will want to learn more. When you find a person of peace, invest time in him and her.  At the right moment, invite the person of peace to put their trust in Christ. Then help this responsive person, this person of peace, share the Good News with family members, friends and neighbors. 

 

My brother, my sister, there are persons of peace in your village. You will find them as you speak blessing, as you pray and as you share Bible stories that proclaim the Good News of the love of God. 

 

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.  

 

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#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters  #FindPersonsOfPeace 

#PersonsOfPeace 

 

Abiding in Christ – My Sheep Hear My Voice

 

Abiding in Christ – My Sheep Hear My Voice

This is Chuck Rapp with a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters. 

Jesus lived in an agrarian culture. Palestine in the first century was a land of small farms with crops and animals.  Many of his parables and teachings made reference to his environment. 

In my previous two messages I shared how Christ is the vine and we are the branches.  We must abide in Him if we are to produce fruit. 

In John 10:27, Jesus uses another agricultural analogy.  We read, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”  In the Amplified version it states, “The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice…” (emphasis is in the original)

I find it interested that Jesus makes a distinction between “hearing” and “listening”.  As we abide in Christ, I would encourage us all to follow a simple 5-step process.  Those steps are Seek, Listen, Hear, Obey, Repeat.

• Seek – We seek the Lord in prayer, through the study of His Word, and as we endeavor to walk in the Holy Spirit.  Jeremiah 29:12-13 tells us, “then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  We must seek the Lord with an intensity.  

• Listen – As we just read, God listens to us when we pray.  We must reciprocate and listen to Him; we do this through His instruction in the scriptures and as we tune in to the voice of the Holy Spirit. 

• Hear – On more than one occasion my wife has told me, “you listened to my words; you even repeated them to me, but did you hear my heart?”  I believe that’s what the editors of the Amplified Bible had in mind when they made the distinction between “listening” and “hearing”.  When Jesus said, “my sheep listen to my voice”, He was implying that the sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd.  There are actively tuned in and awaiting his call.  We need to do the same.  I’ll share more on this subject in my next message. 

• Obey – Having heard from the Lord, we must then obey his instruction.  The first half of James 1:22, once more in the Amplified version, admonishes us, “But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning]”

• Repeat – Like an athlete in training, we must repeatedly execute this discipline.  As we do so, we develop good spiritual habits which tend to make the next cycle a bit easier. 

Seek, Listen, Hear, Obey.  Seek, Listen, Hear and Obey. 

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.