Thanks to Scott Williams and Injoy Stewardship Solutions, I will be doing live blogging from the RightNow Conference in Dallas, TX. Tim Ross, Associate Pastor at Gateway Church, and Matt Carter, Pastor of Preaching and Vision at Austin Stone Church, challenged and inspired the 3,000 pastors and church leaders in attendance on suffering and being a gospel-centered church.
The following are their thoughts and insights that all leaders can learn from:
Tim Ross
- I thought I was doing some awesome stuff until I met some people who were doing awesomer stuff.
- Am I doing enough? Should I do more?
- Where does ambition come from?..Adam and Eve took a step down.
- The Holy Spirit does not give ambition. The Holy Spirit gives a burden.
- As a leader, when we do things in our own strength we depleted, confused, and frustrated.
- Sometimes we can have a list of things to do for God that He did not intend to do through us.
- Jesus completed a passion because of a burden He placed in Him.
- Ambition has to be something to be stamped out before God’s will can be put in.
- Good things are one “Oh” too many from being a God-thing.
- I wanted to be a homicide detective. I thought living in LA, homicide detection would be good job security.
- Do you know what you want with your life – His will. Do you know what you don’t want – Your’s.
- Our will rises and wants to have it own way during times of fear and intimidation.
Matt Carter
- When we aimed at community we did not get mission. When we aimed as mission we got mission and community.
- We want to engage in missional community because of the love of Jesus Christ.
- The gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of a battle that is already won.
- Every other religion (other than Christianity) is defined as rules of someone trying to please God.
- The gospel is God is pleased with you because of what Jesus has done for you.
- Religion says, “I obey because I can be accepted.” The gospel says, “I am accepted so I obey.”
- Are people following a religion we placed on them?
How to know if your people are walking in Religion or the Freedom of the Gospel:
- Are people confessing and repenting and being restored from their sin? The religious community runs from sin and church when they sin because they fear the wrath of the church.
- For the people in your church does following Christ feel like a burden?
- What is the motivation for my people’s obedience? A gospel-centered repents and obeys because of the unimaginable kindness the Lord displayed on the cross.
- What is the spiritual temperature of the worship of my church?
- The community of faith that has been impacted by the gospel knows the gospel is never powerful through them if the gospel is not powerful in them.
If Jesus is not the center of your church, He says, “I am removing my manifest presence from your church.” The last thing I want to do is pastor a church that does not have the presence of Jesus.
If you love your mission more than your Savior, He will not be part of your mission.
Unbelivable. More sessions to follow.
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