Christianity With Passion

How do we become more passionate and burdened about getting beyond the four walls of our church?

From a book that I am reading called "Dangerous Intersections" by Jay Dennis and Jim Henry

Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus came and told His disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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The last thing that Jesus told us to do before exiting our planet must become our magnificent obsession.

The question is how do we get the opportunity to make disciples?

There was a day when people flocked to the church and our outreach program existed only so that we could talk people into returning to church. Now days it is a different scenario, today we have to reach people that have possibly never had any exposure to church at all.

I could talk about programs and what kind of programs, but as this book states, the main problem isn't the programs but rather our main problem is the lack of passion.

We need a lot more passion but how do we "get" passion?

Never Get Over Being Saved.

It is difficult to keep the excitement that a lot of new Christ followers have but sooner or later we get over the wonder of salvation. I need to remember that the God that created the whole universe also created me and wants to spend eternity with me and he did what had to be done in order to make it happen.

Never Get Used To The Fact That Hell Is Real And People Are Going There Everyday.

The doctrine of eternal punishment doesn't get much time in the pulpit anymore, it seems that we shy away from the unpopular and unsavory, but we cannot allow ourselves to forget reality and live with apathy, choosing to ignore the ruin of those around us.

Pray Daily For A Burden For The Lost.

If I remember the reality of hell then having a burden for the lost will come about much easier but only God can give a burden that leads to action.

Pray Daily For Divine Appointments.

This is a good way to break out of the routine "rut" of daily life, how exciting would it be if my life was "interrupted" everyday with God's plans? His plans for my day must be a lot more exciting than the everyday stuff that I fill my calendar with.

Emphasize Building Relationships With The Lost.
Relationship building "visual" Christianity precedes "verbal" Christianity, if it isn't real to me and if it isn't having very much impact in my life then why would somebody else be the least bit interested?

Provide Programs And Events Where It Is Easy To Invite Unchurched Friends And Family

Seeker friendly opportunities to be exposed to God's people, stuff that will captivate the interest of the unchurched.

There are way too many Christians that mess around with church on Sunday and go on without any focus on why we are here. I need to be focused on the mission that I am supposed to be working on, how can I not take up this mission when I think about the serious consequences of those that die each day without a Savior.

I need to pray for people and for opportunities, real serious deliberate prayer. There is a world full of people that need to know the reality of their eternal destiny, hell is real and they don't need to be there.