Here is some of what we discussed last night at the RBC Board Meeting –
Racine Bible Church belongs to Jesus Christ. It is His. Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 1:22; 5:23; Col. 1:23). Christ calls it “my church” in Matthew 16:18. It is called “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” in Acts 20:28.
It is not ours to do with what we want. It is Christ’s. Therefore the only reason to keep things the same, or change them, is in order to please Christ.
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Ephesians 4:12-16 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Mission – Making and training disciples who make and train disciples.
The mission needs to be:
Clearly understood –taught clearly and repeated regularly
Actually valued – perceived as important, valued in our calendar and budget
Actively engaged in – actionable, there are clear steps everyone can take to accomplish it
This will keep us Faithful and Fruitful and Focused:
We need to be faithful. This means clear, careful, uncompromising Scriptural purpose and priorities. Faithfulness means faithfully receiving, believing and obeying God’s will given in His Word.
We need to be fruitful. This means actually productive not merely busy. And it means producing the right fruit, not just merely what comes easily or is most easily measured. Fruitfulness means that we are doing what we can with what we have in order to accomplish what God has called us to.
We need to be focused. This means clearly and loudly saying “yes” to the right things and, correspondingly, saying “no” to the rest. Having a focused ministry means that our money, time, corporate energy, and leadership attention are properly channeled. Accuracy and clarity in the first two points (what it means to be faithful and fruitful) provides the necessary aim for our focus.