We have the absolute promise that the church will continue. Jesus plainly declared, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Thus, we have the advantage of operating from the knowledge that we are on the winning side.
Even so, you and I both know of churches that have not continued for Christ—churches who have left off aggressively reaching the world with the gospel and dwindled to nothing or have tried to “reinvent” the church and lost their distinction and effectiveness.
So what is the difference between a local church that continues and a church that doesn’t? What helps a church remain true to its founding doctrine and biblical in its methods?
In a morning session of Spiritual Leadership Conference ’16, we looked at five commitments of continuing churches.
(watch video | download audio | download notes)
Each of these five commitments were thoroughly developed scripturally, and the lesson included many practical action items. But for an overview of the lesson, here are the five commitments:
- Committed to Biblical Outreach
- Committed to Biblical Formation
- Committed to Biblical Succession
- Committed to Biblical Integrity
- Committed to Biblical Sacrifice
If you were unable to attend this conference or session, I hope this will be a blessing to you.
If you did attend and know someone who would benefit by hearing it (including your staff), I hope you will share it with them.
