[Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of Crisis] 10 – Establishing a Culture of Change as a #1 Priority

8/9/2019 [Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of Crisis] 10 Establishing a Culture of Change as a #1 Priority

1/4

2010SCOTTWEBSTER MINISTRIES. Page 1 of 4

P r o p h e t i c B r i e f

Building a Powerful Church to Thrive During aTime of Crisis - Part 10

Establishing a Culture of Change as a #1 PriorityI have to maintain the wood fence thatsurrounds my back yard, which means

power washing it and re-staining it every5-6 years. This spring it also meant re-

building the gates on both sides of thehouse, which is a very straightforwardthing or at least should be. The problemis I never quite know where to start withlittle projects like this since constructionisnt my thing. I can paint pretty decent,

but design and build something? Like Isaid, not my thing. When I went to hangthe first gate it was backward I had laidit out just the opposite of the existingone. Oops, off to buy more wood.Building, gates and knowing where tostart has a lot to do with the Kingdom ofGod!

Rebuilding JerusalemWhere to start? was Nehemiahsquestion when he returned with acontingent of Jews from Babylon with amandate to rebuild Jerusalem. The cityhad lied in ruins for 70 years, and thereport he got indicated that massivedevastation had taken place:

Nehemiah 1:3 They said to me,"Those who survived the exile andare back in the province are in

great trouble and disgrace. Thewall of Jerusalem is broken down,and its gates have been burnedwith fire."

The wall itself had a circumference ofover 1.5 miles and the walls were 8 feetthick. In addition there were 10 gates thatneeded to be completely rebuilt and

restored. The rebuilding of the walls andgates has valid application; it especiallyrepresents building a church and thereare many parallels the wall secures the

people from attack and gates are portalsor access points for divine resource tocome in to the church. The gates being

burned with fire indicates that truespiritual authority had been destroyed the gate is the place where the elders satto judge and protect the city. Nehemiahscouted the terrain and assessed theconditions he was faced with:

Nehemiah 2:11 I went toJerusalem, and after staying therethree days 12 I set out during thenight with a few men. I had nottold anyone what my God had putin my heart to do for Jerusalem.There were no mounts with meexcept the one I was riding on. 13

By night I went out through theValley Gate toward the Jackal Well

and the Dung Gate, examining thewalls of Jerusalem, which hadbeen broken down, and its gates,which had been destroyed by fire.14 Then I moved on toward the

Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was not enough

room for my mount to get through;15 so I went up the valley by night,examining the wall. Finally, Iturned back and reentered throughthe Valley Gate. 16 The officialsdid not know where I had gone orwhat I was doing, because as yet Ihad said nothing to the Jews or the

priests or nobles or officials orany others who would be doing thework. 17 Then I said to them, "You

see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire.Come, let us rebuild the wall of

Jerusalem, and we will no longerbe in disgrace." 18 I also told themabout the gracious hand of myGod upon me and what the kinghad said to me. They replied, "Letus start rebuilding." So they beganthis good work. 3:1 Eliashib the

The AfghanistanBriefs

General David Petraues is the

new Commander in Afghanistan

after General Stanley McCrystal

was relieved of command by

President Obama. Can Petraues

do in Afghanistan what he

accomplished in Iraq?In a series of short video

b r i efing s , S co t t Webs t e r

addresses Afghanistan from the

perspective of the Word of God.

Included in the video sessions

are:1. Why Be Aware

2. The Formative Process

3.U.S. Involvement4. Key Players

5.What Does the Future Hold

6. Kingdom InsightsVisit scottwebsterministries.org

where all 6 videos have been

posted for viewing.

ISSUE 310 JULY 28TH 2010

Insight and Analysis for the 21st Century
http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/podcasts/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/podcasts/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/podcasts/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/podcasts/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/podcasts/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/podcasts/


2/4


high priest and his fellow priestswent to work and rebuilt the Sheep

Gate.

e Sheep Gate

Of the 10 gates and miles of wall wherework could have begun, it was the SheepGate that was given first priority. Whenyou look into the meaning of the word welearn that sheep comes from theHebrew root word tsone, which means tomigrate. It describes the sheeps tendencyto move from pasture to pasture to findgood food and the implications for us, thesheep of His pasture, are clear. WhenGod looks down at us, what is the firstthing He expects to see? A people who

embrace change and move at Hiscommand.

This gate which illustrates the principleof migration was so important that thehigh priest Eliashib and his fellow priestsworked on it the only gate or part of thewall where he labored. The leadingspiritual figure of the nation engaged

personally in rebuilding the Sheep Gatebecause transformation and change is themost important thing. It is the first thing.Personal process, development andtransformation is the A-#1 priority

because without that quality nothing else

gets built because we stay in an un-renewed state.

Gates represent an access point, and thechief attribute to access God is swiftnessto embrace adjustment. God expects us tomigrate to new positions of the Spirit, toleave behind immaturity and weakness inorder to gain new maturity, strength andChrist-likeness. If we are going to followin the footsteps of reformers like

Nehemiah and build correct life, we mustrenounce and revoke personal positionswhich defined us whether they are

personality traits, family norms or previous thinking systems and come

into the fullness of our identity in Christ.Everybody has to change!!!

How Must I Change? (NotWhere do I Fit?)

2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already knowthis, be on your guard so that youmay not be carried away by theerror of lawless men and fall from

your secure position. 18 But growin the grace and knowledge ofour Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.To him be glory both now and

forever! Amen. (NIV)

Peter commanded the people to grow inthe grace and knowledge of the Lord. Heisnt suggesting that we learn more aboutGod, he is insisting with full Biblicalauthority that we become more likeHim. Therefore the first question that wemust ask when we come to God and enterinto the body is how must I change?

Not where do I fit? It is quiteimpossible to know how someone fitsuntil we know who they truly are inChrist. The call to salvation is a demand

for Christ-likeness, not just issuing aninvitation for forgiveness. The word forgrow is auzano, and it describes thegrowth or increase of that which is alivelike a plant or an animal. Everything thatis living is growing, and the word is usedto describe a life in Christ which is ever-increasing in faith, knowledge andunderstanding.

Every church must develop a spiritualculture that demands and celebrates theincrease of maturity and personaltransformation, and people must be led

2 Peter 3:17 -18

erefore, deariends, since you already know this, be onyour guard so that you may not

be carried away by the error of lawless men and fallom your secure position. 18But grow inthe grace and knowledge of

our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ. To him be glory bothnow and forever! Amen. (NIV)


Peter commanded thepeople to grow in the

grace and knowledge

of the Lord. He isnt

suggesting that we

learn more about

God, he is insisting

w i th fu l l B ib l i ca l authority that we

become more like

Him. Therefore the

first question that we

must ask when we

come to God and

enter into the body ishow must I change?

Not where do I fit? It

is quite impossible to

know how someone

fits until we know who

they truly are in Christ.


3/4


towards engagement in a personal process.This culture doesnt happen by accident, itmust be strategically built. Nor is itenough to declare the Word of God fromthe pulpit; initiatives must be put in placethat assists people in growth anddevelopment. The emphasis in the churchmust shift from celebrating immediateevents (good meetings, a breakthrough,etc.) to celebrating the journey that leadsto a destination called maturity. There arefour observations about growth andchange that we can note here:

1. Every believer is in a state ofmovement.Life is not static, we are always moving inone direction or the other; in the words ofPeter we are either growing in grace andknowledge, or we are sliding towardserror and lawlessness. It is ourresponsibi l i ty to ensure that ourmovement is advance, growth anddevelopment because the warning fromPeter is to beware, or be on our guard, toensure we are developing. The wordbeware means to make a distinct effort,or to seriously avoid the danger of movingwith others towards error. Peter describesan active involvement that comes from

internal diligence, which recognizes thepriority that God puts on growth towardsChrist likeness. He goes on to say that weare to make every effortto add Christ-likequalities to our life, and the word meansto do ones very best and to try as hard as

possible. The message of grace includes acommand: make sure you try as hard as

possible! Personal responsibility is thebedrock of faith.

2. True expansion of the workdepends on the growth of believers.Paul declared to the believers in Corinththat our hope is that, as your faith

continues to grow (auzano), our area ofac t iv i t y among you wi l l great lyincrease (2 Corinthians10:15). The wordincrease is megaluno and it means tomake something great; the Word of God

puts a premium on personal developmentand maturity. There can be no validnumeric increase, building new campusesand offering multiple services formultiplied hundreds or thousands ofworshippers without a basis in substantialspiritual growth in the people. Personal

transformation greater faith, maturity,wisdom and a life that is worthy of theLord is the prerequisite for expansion ofthe work. So rather than asking who big achurch is or what kind of facilities it has,should we not be asking first about howthe people are growing? If we really wantto assess the quality of a church we cansimply look at the people in theireveryday lives. Dont just listen to thequoting of verses and spiritual blusterabout being blessed and overcoming, butactually look at how the people live andexist. It is the hope of true leaders that

people will grow and increase, by which

we will be able to reach more people andour Kingdom activity will increase.

3. Apostles are aware of and veryconcerned with the growth of thepeople.Genuine apostolic ministry is concernedand aware of the maturity of the peoplewithin the churches that relate to them.Paul said to the brothers in Colassae Forthis reason, since the day we heard about

you, we have not stopped praying for youand asking God to fill you with theknowledge of his will through all spiritualwisdom and understanding. 10 And we

pray this in order that you may live a lifeworthy of the Lord and may please him inevery way: bearing fruit in every goodwork,growing (auzano) in the knowledgeof God. (Colossians 1:9, NIV). Paul andhis apostolic company had such expansiveapostolic capacity that they both knew ofthe peoples development and they carriedthe people in their hearts and within theirapostolic sphere. Clearly these werent

just human relationships or good friends,there was a spiritual joining that allowedPaul to impart the apostolic grace given tohim in order to strengthen others (Ep3:1-2). The entire point of apostolic

leadership is to pioneer effective ways oflife in Christ that can be imparted to manyothers. To state it inversely, if people arenot growing, the leaders are not apostolicregardless of the title they may use.

4. Internal growth produces correctrelational alignment.We cannot build a strong community ethicwithin the church unless people aregrowing towards maturity. Relational

proximity requires that people have

2778 Cumberland Blvd

Suite 163

Symrna GA 30080Tel: [email protected]

www.scottwebsterministries.org

2010 Scott Webster Ministries.

All Rights Reserved.

2010 Copyright by SWM, copy andduplication without permission is prohibited.


A Developed PROPHETIC

PERSPECTIVE

A fresh look at

PropheticOperationsfrom a

KingdomViewpoint.

Now Available>

Releasing The New Prophetic Dimension Activating The Capacity To Build Obeying The Command To Finish

healthy individual lives, otherwise the levelsof offense caused by immature peopleinteracting and clashing produces endlessstrife. It was because your faith is growing(auzono) more and more, and the love everyone of you has for each other isincreasing (2 Thessalonians 1:3, NIV). Togrow more and more is the Greek wordhuperauxano, it means to increase above theordinary degree; it does not describe normalmeasures of growth but increase beyondmeasure. The love that we have for oneanother must increase beyond any normal or

reasonable definition because we have come powerfully into individual maturity andChrist-likeness. Personal hang-ups and

prejudices, insecurity, pride and basichuman carnality will destroy what we are
http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/store/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/store/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


4/4


trying to build. We cannot settle fordistant relationships with our brothersand sisters in a day when God isemphasizing community.

Questions that church leaders canask themselves in this regardinclude:

How am I personally growing as aleader in order to set an example andensure I do not become a Pharisee declaring but not doing?

Are we in relationship with apostolicleaders that genuinely care for the

people and know them and theirprogressive development pathways?

Have we established a culture ofchange within this church? What doesit look like?

Do we have initiatives that target

development in peoples lives, or dowe simply do good church meetings?

If we have initiatives, are theyeffective? (are the people changing?)

How do we measure spiritual growthin people? What are the implications

of this question in terms of genuinecare, relationship with the people anddiscernment?

Is our church filled with healthyrelationships and robust communitylife based on individual maturity, or isthere regular strife and collisions?

If asked about your growth and

development, could you articulatespecifics areas of change and describein detail the process(es) which

brought about those changes?


Releasing The New Prophetic Dimension Activating The Capacity To Build Obeying The Command To Finish

Documents

[Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of Crisis] 10 – Establishing a Culture of Change as a #1 Priority