a vision for advancing His kingdom

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Recently I've been encouraged to enlarge my vision of what God can do in our community for the cause of Christ. As I've mulled over what it would take for our city to become a launching pad for world evangelization, a few thoughts have come to mind.

1. We must make God our treasure.
What would this look like?
-Bible study and prayer would become our lifeblood. The prayer life would be developed in believers both personally and corporately. May God raise up men and women who are willing to stand in the gap on behalf of souls.
-Christ would be exalted. Read through one of Paul's letters and count how many times he mentions the name of Christ. How often do we mention His name on a daily basis? What does our teaching and preaching reflect of our love for our Savior or our understanding of the gospel? Are we so filled with Him we can't help but speak of Him?
-We would become willing to give our time, talents, and treasure to Him.
-We would renounce sin and make holiness our aim, seeking to be filled with the Spirit.
-We would take bold steps of faith, based on God's promises. What would happen if we actually took the Bible seriously and began to live out what it says in earnest?
-We would be anointed with the Spirit's power for loving, living, and leading others to Christ.

2. We must make people our treasure.
What would this look like?
-Relationships would deepen as sin is dealt with. Petty grievances would be set aside, serious ones prayerfully worked through with the goal of reconciliation, marriages and families would be healed, love for others would abound.
-We would spend our lives and money on others rather than on ourselves.
-We would begin to reach out to the poor and hurting in our own community.
-Money given to missions would increase.
-A burden for the lost would result in people sharing their faith, first here in this community and then all around the world.

As I survey the current activity of churches in this community, I am encouraged to see glimpses of this sort of work already being done. Yet I believe there is much more God has for us. We have two major colleges and a few junior colleges, and men and women from all around the world who are here for education or career. There are bridges being built in the Spanish-speaking community, in elementary schools, and in the more needy areas of our city. There is much opportunity to reach our world even from one small area of the Midwest.

John Piper is taking a sabbatical from his church. These are the prayer requests he left for his congregation. Perhaps this kind of prayer is a place to start.

Pray for:
-hundreds of people coming to Christ,
-old animosities being removed,
-marriages being reconciled and renewed,
-wayward children coming home,
-long-standing slavery to sin being conquered,
-spiritual dullness being replaced by vibrant joy,
-weak faith being replaced by bold witness,
-disinterest in prayer being replaced by fervent intercession,
-boring Bible reading being replaced by passion for the Word,
-disinterest in global missions being replaced by energy for Christ’s name among the nations, and
-lukewarm worship being replaced by zeal for the greatness of God’s glory.

I want to become the kind of person who treasures God and people. I long for our community to know Christ and make Him known here and all around the world. Please share any further thoughts!