Growing crime. Broken families. Economic hardship. Racial tensions. A rising tide of apathy and despair. These are just a few of the chilling realities facing our community today.
Civic, educational, business, and community leaders are attempting to address these issues, but solutions seem to be beyond our reach, and the answers to the problems we face seem to be hidden, with little hope of finding them.
Perhaps that's because -- at the core -- these difficulties are not primarily law enforcement issues, or social issues, or economic issues, or issues that will ever be solved by government, or business, or education. The frustration, helplessness, and hopelessness that confronts our community is, more than anything, a spiritual issue. Separated from God, those who live in spiritual darkness are also separated from each other.
But into this despair and spiritual darkness, God is desiring to communicate Good News. God loves the world -- and He loves our community, too. He loves it so much that His only Son, Jesus, came into this world for the purpose of sacrificially bearing the sins of every man, woman, and child, making it possible for us to be reconciled to God and brought into an intimate and loving relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Jesus has given the Church, the Body of Christ, the privilege of bringing this Good News to all the world -- and to every man, woman, and child in our community. God wants our community to experience His love, His forgiveness, and the blessing of His presence in a relationship that is personal and continual.
God is beginning to stir the hearts of His people in our city. Area pastors are beginning to meet together with a renewed passion, churches are praying for those who need Jesus and are preparing themselves to be used by God to impact this community for Him. We are coming to recognize that the wonderful privilege we have of sharing the Good News remains unfinished until every man, woman, and child has had repeated opportunities to hear of God's love for them and is able to respond in faith by receiving God's Son as their Savior from sin and spiritual bondage.
Imagine how different our community would be if every man, woman, and child were given repeated opportunities to hear and respond to the Good News!
Consider how our community will be impacted when the churches of our community begin to saturate their spheres of influence with the Good News of God's love and grace, fulfilling the purpose for which God has brought the local church into being.
How different things would be in our community if the Body of Christ -- under God's guidance and empowered by His Holy Spirit -- began to:
1) Pursue greater intimacy in our relationship with our Heavenly Father;
2) Consistently and continually share the story of God's gracious work in their lives with those around them;
3) Understand and use their God-given gifts and abilities for the sake of those around them who do not yet know Jesus.
Think for just a moment how different this community would be if every man, woman, and child were given the opportunity to hear the Good News of God's love for them and thousands -- one at a time -- would respond by placing their faith and trust in God's Son!
To love God is our highest privilege and calling, and God is asking us to be faithful and obedient. The Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) urges us to love God and love others, while the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) gives to the Church the calling to take this Good News of God's love into all the world. This includes our "Jerusalem" (Acts 1:8).
Jesus said that everyone would know that we are His disciples if we love one another (John 13:35). This love is essential if the Good News we proclaim to profess is going to be believed by those with whom the Good News is being shared.
Our present reality is that it is easier to understand our community and its people than it is to know just exactly what the Body of Christ looks like in our community. It is more than a collection of local churches. The Body of Christ is comprised of every individual who knows Jesus as their Savior (wouldn't it be great if we could get to know one another better, before we get to heaven?).
It is quite possible that the Body of Christ in our community is larger than we think. And if Christ is indeed the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18), what might He be saying to us collectively, the Body of Christ in our community?
1) Can we believe together that our task to reach every man, woman, and child in our community with the Good News is attainable? A greater sense of cooperation can be useful in the hands of God as He carries forth His purposes and plans in our community. No single church is likely to be effective in reaching our community with the Good News. Working together under Christ, the Head of the Church, we will likely be surprised by what we see.
2) Can we pray together? The salvation of 3,000 on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41) had its roots in an upper room prayer meeting (Acts 1:12-14). We must hear from God. We must have His guidance. We must be willing to pray together. Not in prayers focused on ourselves and our needs, but in prayers focused on those all around us who desperately need the Savior. Can we pray together that every man, woman, and child in our community will have opportunity to hear the Good News and be reconciled to God?
3) Can we work together? Can we impact this city with the Good News, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block, street by street, until we can say that we have been faithful to the task to which God has called us? Are we willing to focus our efforts away from maintaining the status quo, reaching out to our community in obedience to the Great Commission, and giving to every man, woman, and child in our community the same opportunity to respond to the Good News that we were once given?
Please give this your prayerful consideration. We would love to partner together with you. Church leaders are currently meeting twice monthly for prayer, with churches meeting quarterly to pray for our community. For more information, e-mail us at Office@GoodNewsDanville.com
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