How to start transformation in your region

How to start transformation in your region:

1-     Vision a picture of a desired future (Proverb 29:18)

2-     Mission shared understanding of our calling and therefore our purpose, intentions and aims (James 4:15)

3-     Values our shared commitment to what is desirable and worthy under God

4-     Strategy the process of how we get there

5-     Core values

6-     Statement of Faith

7-     Prayer and Mission

8-     Relationship between Prophet, Priest and Civic Leadership

Complementary not Competitive

Ex 25:31-40, Zech 4, Matt 5:14-16, John 8:12

2 Peter 1:19, Rev 1:12-20, Rev 21:23

9-     Adopting a region

10- Connecting the Church and the Marketplace

11- Evangelisation in the Marketplace

12- Connecting the Family area, Church and Marketplace (based on the spheres of their culture)

13- Unity among all Church denominations

14- Biblical scripture: 

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28).

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession (Psalm 2:8, see also Rom 16:26 and Rev 2:26).

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matt 5:5).

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matt 5:13-16).

For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10).

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Cor 3:2-3).

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors (2 Cor 5:18-20).

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Col 1:15-20).

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10).

There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:4-6).

The Commission

By growing in our Christian discipleship in our everyday lives:

-     knowing God

-     enjoying a personal relationship with Jesus

-     being filled with the Holy Spirit

-     having a practical love of God’s Word

-     learning to live in the victory of the Cross.

The Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 was given to the original disciples but the on-going work was to all nations and to the end of the age. In other words the body of Christ inherits the commission. We grow in maturity as we obey the commission and disciple others. Pre-discipling can commence with work colleagues even before they become Christian, as you model and mentor in your daily occupation.

Salt and Light for Transformation

in 2 Cor 5:17-20 Paul identifies us as Christ’s ambassador with a ministry of reconciliation.

In the following scriptures Christians are commissioned to represent the Kingdom of God on a daily basis: Matt 5:13-14, 6:10, 13:31-33, 22:37-40, 28:18-20, John 17:18-23, and Acts 1:8. This is confirmed by Paul at 1 Cor 4:16, 2 Cor 3:3, 2 Cor 5:18-20, Eph 5:1, Heb 13:7 and Philemon 1:6. Similarly Peter states our position in Christ at 1 Peter 2:9-10 and 3:15-16.

God intends each one of us to be like a transmitter, radiating the attributes of the Kingdom of God as we go through life. This is the heart of the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). In 2 Corinthians Paul describes our commission the following ways:

•   fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus (2 Cor 2:15)
•   living letters written by the Holy Spirit on the human heart (2 Cor 3:3)
•   transformed people reflecting the glory of God (2 Cor 3:18)
•   jars of (soft) clay revealing the glory to God (2 Cor 4:7)
•   Christ’s ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20).            

Ambassador of Christ - Key Points

·        foundations of love (Matt 22:37-40)

·        foundations of character (humility, faith and maturity in Christ)

·        selflessness not self-centredness (Rom 12:1-2, Gal 2:20)

·        unity in the body of Christ in the marketplace (John 17:21, 1 Cor 12:12-26)

·        walking in the promise of Jesus (Acts 1:8)

·        example of the priority of David (Psalm 27:8).

·        example of the transformed life of Peter (pre/post Acts 1:8, 1 Peter ch.4).