A Spirit-Empowered Church: An Acts 2 Ministry Model by Alton Garrison

A Spirit-Empowered Church: An Acts 2 Ministry Model by Alton Garrison

Author:Alton Garrison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Influence Resources


UNIT III

BECOMING AN

ACTS 2 CHURCH

11 BALANCING THE

SPIRITUAL AND

THE STRATEGIC

The question you must answer is: “Does God have a plan for my church—or not?” If you agree with me that God has a plan for every church, the next question is equally important: “Is the Holy Spirit willing to share it with me?”

The entire Acts 2 process is built on the understanding that God has a plan and the Holy Spirit wants to reveal it to us. Why wouldn’t He want to share with you the direction He has for your church?

This all fits in with what we’ve done in the last few chapters—construct a framework to receive from God. The process isn’t God’s plan, but it is the avenue and the method for mining His plan.

We established that our mission is universal, we began to build a vision around people, and we identified the core values and behaviors that reflect those values. Now, it’s time to put it all together into a strategic plan that will help you get from where you are (your values) to where you want to go (your vision).

Now we return to the five biblical functions of the first-century church. Described in detail in Acts 2:42–47, these functions form the pathway from values to vision. The five functions are actually a template you can use to develop a plan for your church, so consider this chapter a primer, introducing you to these functions as a way to help you discover God’s plan.

However, before we get into the functions, we must recognize that without Holy Spirit empowerment in our churches, the mission, vision, values, and plans merely amount to programs. Before we talk further about a strategy for building a plan from the five functions, it’s important to understand that any strategic plan finds its genesis in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We must focus first on becoming inspired (think about the indwelled disciples and Peter’s preaching on Pentecost) and reinvigorated—only then will we have the necessary power and perspective to implement any sort of strategy.

The odd thing is that in some churches, we see resistance to calls for revitalization while others resist the idea of planning. Some don’t see the need for the work of the Holy Spirit or feel their churches have enough of the Spirit already, and others act like the Holy Spirit has no place in a planning meeting. The truth is that we need Him in every component of our lives and churches.

Every church can use more of the Spirit. Needing revitalization doesn’t necessarily imply your church is dead and lifeless. Whatever the condition of our church, we can all cry with Isaiah, “Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence … to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, the mountains shook at Your presence” (Isa. 64:1–3).



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