Set Apart For God's Work

4/14/13, 10:11 AM Those in our congregation who serve the homeless in our city monthly! We send them with the Spirit! #ccofc pic.twitter.com/YBHnD1FKG9 Photo courtesy of Aaron Scott's Twitter account Our elders prayed yesterday over the group of people who minister to the homeless each month, as Dr. Jason Locke challenged us with a message called "Set Apart for God's Work", focusing on what it takes to be a church that sends out missionaries. He asked the question, "Why was Antioch the 'sending church' for the missionaries to the Gentiles and not the Jerusalem church?"  He suggested that it could have to do with Antioch's ethnically diverse church leadership (a lot like the current leadership at College Church of Christ) that had a more embracing view of "outsiders" than did the Jerusalem church. As he challenged our thinking on evangelism, Dr. J encouraged us to be a church that welcomes "outsiders", those who have never been Christians, and not simply to attract those who are already attending other churches.  This will mean less "advertising campaign"-style evangelism with celebrities and give-aways to lure church attenders, and more personal and loving attention to the people around us day in and day out.   During our class discussion time, we considered the question of how open we are, as a group, to receiving direction from the Holy Spirit, as the early church did. Cathi Ferri said she senses the Spirit moving among our group when we surround people and pray over them, holding hands or hugging one another. Stephanie Spencer-Norby asked if we practice waiting collectively for the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Phillip Ocheltree drew on his experiences of  attending a charismatic church's college.  "Charismatics believe in miracles, expect and are not surprised by miracles, but, when they try to manufacture the gifts of the Spirit, they look manufactured," he observed.   Do people need to see the power of God demonstrated before they accept Him, such as the miracles performed by the apostles in the early church? Rachel Hamm suggested that the "love we give out" as Christians is the most powerful demonstration of God's power to unbelievers. Thanks, Kyle Mason, for leading a great discussion in Shepherding Group on Acts 13:1-12 and 14:1-28. --Posted by Mama O.