THE CHAMPION TO FACE THE CHALLENGE: THE EMPOWERED CHURCH

Message during ECS Missions Rally, January 6, 2012

THE CHAMPION TO FACE THE CHALLENGE: THE EMPOWERED CHURCH

IF THERE IS A CHALLENGE, THERE MUST  BE A CHAMPION WHO WILL TAKE IT!
Saturation Challenge! A decadal goal of The Philippines General Council of the Assemblies of God, from 2011-2020
2,020 new church plants.
1 Million Adherents
200 Missionaries
2000 Education Ministry Schools

THE `NOT SO’ CHAMPIONS
Individual ordained ministers, senior pastors of local churches
Professional evangelists
Districts, sections

THE GOD-APPOINTED CHAMPION:
The Church – the believers
NT Pattern
Luk 24:46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: Luk 24:47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luk 24:48  And ye are witnesses of these things.
Luk 24:49  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. -Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Act 8:4  Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

THE EMPOWERED CHURCH

1. Great Commission Driven
With  clarity of purpose as a church
Come vs. Go philosophy •
GOD HAS NOT YET CHANGED HIS GREAT COMMISSION
Mat 28:18  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Mat 28:19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Mat 28:20  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

2. Churches with Empowering Pastor
Pastors of local churches need to shift
• An [empowering leader is one] who actively sets goals for a congregation according to the will of God, obtains goal ownership from the people, and sees that each church member is properly motivated and equipped to do his or her part in accomplishing the goals.”
• Empowering pastors “equip, support, motivate, and mentor individuals, enabling them to become all that God wants.”
• “Empowerment is not giving people power.… People already have plenty of power—in the wealth of their knowledge and motivation—to do their jobs magnificently. We define empowerment as letting this power out.

3. Empowered believers – power of the laity
• SOS – mobilization of ordinary believers • Problem today: believers influenced instead of being influencers
• If believers are not mobilized, there will be numerous missed opportunities out there
• Ordinary believers are already out there -  in settings where they can  touch  lives  and  stir people to experience that God is the one who can meet their needs

CONCLUSION: Your church can be a champion.

MOBILIZATION OF CHURCH PEOPLE TO PLANT CHURCHES

  Click this link to get full message: Mobility of the Church

SOS 2012 ENLISTMENT FLOWCHART

SOS 2012 ENLISTMENT PROCEDURE

SOS 2012 Dates and Information

Go to `Downloads’ page to download Volunteer Enlistment Form, Budget Card, Application form for Church Planters’ Training Module and other forms for facilitation of a Church Planting Laboratory in your district.

ON HMD BY GS

GS Rev. Rey Calusay shared the following orientation message on the Home Mission Department during the SOS 2012 Evaluation last June 13-14, 2011. He addressed two questions: How to be ‘Assemblies of God ‘ through missions involvement? and  ` How do we do missions together?’

Click  on link to get complete pdf file: Home Missions Department Orientation

CHALLENGED BY SATURATION CHALLENGE

The two day SOS 2011 evaluation  was held in Roxas City last June 13-14, 2011.  The event was participated by  several District Executive Officials, Home Missions Directors, SOS 2011 Field Directors and PGCAG National Department Officers. The event was also graced by the presence of Rev. Dwight Palmquist.  Rev. Rey Calusay, the PGCAG GS and Home Missions Director hosted the event along with his wife  Rev. Zeny Calusay.  Testimonies, discussions, and many brilliant ideas were shared during the sessions. In the end, the participants were all challenged by the Saturation Challenge. Decisions to even intensify the campaign for church planting were expressed by drawing up the district targets for SOS 2012. Volunteer enlistment and other relevant preparations will commnence as early as July 2011.

SOS 2011 EVALUATION

JUNE 13-14: SOS EVALUATION
Proverbs 4:7 [ESV] The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.
Proverbs 14:8 [ESV] The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving.

VALUE: A yearly Post-SOS evaluation is giving us (AoG), an accumulated database of Church Planting Information to further instruct and inspire us to do more and to do it better. Our information then is current and forward looking.

It is not just theoretical but practical.
It teaches to pursue excellence because we evaluate to improve.
It teaches us to be wise, for there is no wisdom in duplicating mistakes and stupidity.
It creates a culture transformation that will accelerate missions.
It produces workers and leaders that are wise and discerning.
It impacts our churches in our sense of purpose and reason for existence which is to reproduce – be fruitful and multiply.

We will be even better after this.

Please pray for our SOS Leaders and advocates as we meet.
Pray also for our District leaders, especially our District Home Missions Directors not to be absent but come with a burden for God and for the lost.
Pray for this Decadal Planning and Strategizing.
God bless.

Challenged by Saturation Challenge! -REY CALUSAY

FACING THE MONEY CHALLENGE

The Big-5 challenges in Church planting are Motivation, Manpower, Money, Method and Mobilization. On June 13-14 we will face these, head-on during the Home Missions Department Directors Meeting, in Roxas City. Please Pray for us.

But let me pre-empt a little bit the discussion on the emergency need for monetary support of our Church Planters. Without revealing the specifics, our new Church planters are presently receiving inadequate “promise” of support. Most of those who emailed or texted my office have food money until this week only.

They are expected to “walk by faith” and mostly by feet! I believe we (from FARM and a few amount from Home Missions) will be able to give relief-remedy for these only for a month and most probably extending it for another month. And knowing how districts handle, in the past, the finance-side with great difficulty, I am compelled to lead the establishment of fund for the Church Planters, starting from all of us here in the FB group – if you are challenged by Saturation Challenge!

Let us call this “Seedling Fund”: We will give you details how you can participate, within the next 2 days. Meanwhile pray that you can share generously to support the new churchplants. Pray for the Seedling Fund Campaign.

From Saturation Challenge Facebook Group, posted by Rev. Rey Calusay

 

Ministry of the Word

MINISTRY OF THE WORD:

The Church Planter needs to have a strong Ministry of the Word. He must develop this “feeding” job as major-major priority. When to give milk and when to serve meat is both a science and an art. The new church is very dependent on this.

ACT 6:4 Early on, the leaders of the Church set this as more important than other ministries.
2CO 3:6 Paul mentioned about the ministry of life and the ministry of death. If we are not careful, our ministry can produce death. And with the Spirit in us, we produce life.

I noticed lately by listening to preachers (newbies and oldies) that there is an urgent need to improve our “Ministry of the Word”.

I am praying that our preachers will give prime value in improving their Ministry of the Word.

PREACH THE WORD: Ministry of the Word.
How do I sense that “the preaching” is God’s Word? (Besides the fact that it’s from the Holy Bible!)
1. It discloses God’s thoughts and God’s ways – and NOT MAN’S. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” ISA 55:8
2. It distances God’s thoughts and God’s ways FROM MAN’S. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” ISA 55:9
3. It desires the flourishing and fruitfulness of LIFE. “..as.. watering the earth, making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater..ISA 55:10
4. It does God’s desire and purpose. “so is my word.. It ..will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. ISA 55:11

By Rev. Rey Calusay, posted in Saturation Challenge Facebook Group