Significant Servants

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Significant Servants

• Experiencing the Power of God

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How to Grow a Modern Church

• Hire a consultant
• Re-dream the dream
• Without vision, the people perish
• Develop a long-range plan to accomplish the work
  of God
• Set goals to measure our success in accomplishing
  the plan
• Put feet to our prayers

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The First Step

• We must yield our lives (and the life of the
  church) to the purposes that God has set for us
• God works to glorify himself by redeeming a
  people from this sinful world, justifying them
  then transforming them to be just like Jesus
  Christ!
• Does God reveal His purpose, then tell us,
  Figure out how to get it done?

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Divine Planning

• Noah
• Abraham
• Moses
• Joshua
• Mary
• In each of these situations, God not only
  revealed His purposes, but also His specific plan

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Gods Plan

• God has revealed His purposes
• We cannot go any farther until our lives are
  submitted to the purposes of God
• God has revealed His mandates to the church
• He has given us instructions as to what we are to
  do.

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Our Mandates

• We must evangelize Siouxland
• We must teach the Word
• We must build deep fellowship
• We must worship Christ
• We must pray fervently
• We must participate in World Missions
• We must support our ministries with effective
  administration

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The Next Step

• We must depend on God to guide us as we follow
  His plan for our lives and ministries
• God not only reveals His purposes, but also His
  plans for us.
• Subjective Ministry of the Holy Spirit
• Many abuse the doctrine
• Many deny the doctrine
• The Bible supports it throughout

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A Significant Story

• Acts 166-10 And they went through the region of
  Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the
  Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when
  they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go
  into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not
  allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down
  to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the
  night a man of Macedonia was standing there,
  urging him and saying, Come over to Macedonia
  and help us. And when Paul had seen the vision,
  immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia,
  concluding that God had called us to preach the
  gospel to them.

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Facts to Ponder

• Paul had completed Step 1 dead to self and
  devoted to the purposes of God
• He was following Gods specific purpose for his
  life
• Acts 131-3 Now there were in the church at
  Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon
  who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a
  member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and
  Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and
  fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me
  Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have
  called them. Then after fasting and praying
  they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

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God Gave Him a Plan

• Do NOT go to Asia
• Asia was a place of fruitful ministry, when Gods
  time was right.
• Do NOT go to Bithynia
• Bithynia was where Paul thought he should go
• Go to Macedonia
• God revealed a place for Paul to serve

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Macedonian Ministry

• Asia will not be productive because the time is
  not right
• Bithynia is not the place God wants us to go
• When we go where God wants us when God wants us,
  we will have fruitful and productive service
• God chooses the people (Acts 131)
• God assigns the places (Acts 167)
• God assigns the ministries

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Finding Macedonia

• Devote yourself to the eternal purposes of God
• Follow the mandates God has given you
• Watch for the direction of God
• The Word Principle
• The Body Principle

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