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The
World is Here!
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Last
Thursday evening, I had the privilege of attending the International
Community Outreach Banquet with Dianna Potter, who has worked with this group
at Tulsa University. What an education I received! Did you know that 60
different nations are represented at TU? The best and brightest from all over
the world are at our doorstep! Have you wondered how we can reach China?
There are 400 Chinese students at TU. How can you reach those in Saudi
Arabia, where it is a crime to share the gospel? There are 150 Saudis at TU.
How
does ICO try to reach these students? Through acts of service and
hospitality, demonstrating the love of God! All of us have what it takes to
make a friend. All of us, as believers, have the Holy Spirit living within
us. If you would like to know more about this exciting ministry, go to www.icotulsa.org
or contact Jerry Lillard.
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End
of Year Reporting
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April
28 was the last Sunday of the 2012-13 Church Year. In the next week, pastors,
treasurers, board secretaries and office personnel will be busy putting the
finishing touches on all the annual reports:
· Annual
Pastor’s Report
· Certificate
of Election
· List
of Church Members who died this year
· Church
Directory Information
· Legal/Insurance
Information Form
· Handbook
Page
·
Missional Church Awards – identifying behavior that each church has put
into practice to stimulate and fulfill our mission.
I
want to thank in advance all who will ensure that the reports are completed
and in by Monday, May 6. You are a great team!
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Why
We Pay Giving Goals
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In
addition, every treasurer and church board are ensuring that all of their
giving goals are met in full. I have been asked a few times why we pay giving
goals. Let me answer like this:
We
Pay Giving Goals Because ... We love our Church which supports hundreds of
missionaries, thousands of national workers, and maintains hospitals, Bible
Colleges, Seminaries, and is building beachheads for Christ in South America,
Africa, Asia, Europe, and around the world.
We Pay Giving Goals
Because ... We love Home Missionary Pastors and wives who are making
serious sacrifices to grow a church in communities that need to hear
the Gospel so much.
We Pay Giving Goals
Because ... We are grateful for our colleges, seminary and Bible College for
providing a Christian education for our youth, and for the training of future
pastors, missionaries and evangelists.
We Pay Giving Goals
Because ... We are grateful for the provision they make to care for retired
pastors and widows and for a group Pension Plan that will not leave them
totally abandoned by the churches they have served.
We Pay Giving Goals
Because ... We believe in our denomination and the importance of a personin
the field to help fill vacancies, deal with problems, and superintend the
work.
We Pay Giving Goals
Because ... WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES? To fulfill the Divine Commission, it
would be necessary for each
local church to:
1. Sponsor its own
foreign and home missionaries.
2. Search out colleges
sponsored by others to train our youth.
3. Abandon the smaller
church that needs the care of a District Superintendent.
4. Do away with all
District Programs including Youth, Sunday School and Mission programs as well
as Spiritual Renewal Weekend, Youth Camps, New Starts, and Hispanic
Ministries.
5. Disregard our retired
ministers and widows, leaving them abandoned by pension and health care
programs.
We Pay Giving Goals
Because... when we think of the alternatives..... We Can't Help But Get
Excited ... We'll Pay Ours, How About YOU?
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A
report from Woodie J. Stevens, Global Director
John
Wesley said, “After all our preaching, many of our people are almost as
ignorant as if they had never heard the gospel. …I found by experience
that one of these (brothers of mine) has learned more from one hour’s close
discourse, than from ten years’ public preaching.”
Sunday
School and small groups are essential for growing effective disciples and
disciple makers.
In
recent months, New York Times Bestselling Author, Joel Rosenberg,
published The
Invested Life: Making Disciples of All Nations One Person at a Time.
On November 1, 2012, Francis Chan released a book entitled, Multiply: Disciples Making
Disciples. On February 5, David Platt released a book
entitled, Follow
Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live. These new books focus on
intentional relational discipleship.
A
layman from the South USA wrote a general superintendent and said, “When I
read about these new books, I thought of our BGS, and was so glad that y'all
listened to God's prompting several years ago, and headed our denomination in
the discipleship direction!” Indeed, the Church of the Nazarene is
leading the way in calling Christians to be about the mission of making
Christlike disciples.
Sunday
School, small groups, and discipleship ministries are the essential
infrastructures of the local church that conserves the converts we win. Pre
and New Christians are drawn to the Church through compassion and community.
Through challenge and commitment, they stay when a small group of believers
intentionally become their friends and help them follow Jesus more closely.
SDMI has focused on being a people of prayer, engaged in the Word, making
Christlike disciples.
People
often ask me, “What do you mean by ‘disciple?’” I respond, a disciple has
three characteristics. First:
it is a person who actively seeks a relationship with Jesus Christ and has a
passion to know him, love him, follow him, and obey him. Second: it is
a person who actively seeks a relationship with a more experienced believer,
who helps him or her grow and develop their spiritual gifts. Third: a
faithful disciple is one who actively seeks relationships with others in
order to invest in them spiritually; often just one conversation at a time.
Or, as General Superintendent Emeritus, Dr. Jim Diehl says, “Every disciple
needs a ‘Paul’
- an older and wiser believer to invest in their spiritual
growth. They need, a ‘Barnabas’
- a friend who encourages them, teaches them and keeps them
accountable, and they need a ‘Timothy’
- a person in whose life they can invest.”
Wesley’s
“one hour of close discourse” happens best in our churches through Sunday
classes, small groups, adult Bible fellowships, and discipleship ministries
around the world.
The
2012 results include:
The
responsibility list is growing by 3.82% to 1,638,872. Every Week 1,094,975
people attended a Church of the Nazarene Sunday School or small group
somewhere in the world. That is an attendance increase of .62% over last year
and a decadal growth rate of 45.14%!
Regionally
the advance looks like this:
Discipleship
Discipleship Sunday School
Responsibility
Attendance Attendance
Africa
254,820
53,295
132,777
Asia-Pacific
67,803
30,978
38,883
Eurasia
100,112
26,542
46,387
Mesoamérica
258,016 62,139
166,825
South
America 163,927
42,994 102,134
United
States 194,194
146,153 270,739
Total
1,638,872
362,101
757,745
Sunday
School, small groups and disciple making is the glue holding our church
together. SDMI is asking every follower of Jesus, “Who is investing in you
and whom are you investing in?” – in order that we all might be and make
Christlike disciples.
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