FULFILLING HIS DREAM

Does God have a dream for His people? And, if so, what is it. Well, He showed us in several passages; Acts 2, Acts 4-5, John 17, and the 4th chapter of Ephesians. The whole chapter speaks to this, but for sake of brevity I have excerpted a few specific passages below. 

Ephesians 4 (NCV) -- (1-3) ... I urge you who have been chosen by God to live up to the life to which God called you. Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love. You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way … (11-13) And Christ gave gifts to people—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God’s people. Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection … (15-16) Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head. The whole body depends on Christ, and all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each part does its own work to make the whole body grow and be strong with love … (20-24) But what you learned in Christ was not like this. I know that you heard about him, and you are in him, so you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught to leave your old self—to stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self becomes worse, because people are fooled by the evil things they want to do. But you were taught to be made new in your hearts, to become a new person. That new person is made to be like God—made to be truly good and holy ... (30-32) The Spirit is God’s proof that you belong to him. God gave you the Spirit to show that God will make you free when the final day comes. Do not be bitter or angry or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.

God’s dream is for the church to help prepare the various members of Christ’s body to serve one another with the overall goal of assisting each person to know Christ better and reflect his character in their lives and to take the Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the world”.


So what do we see in Ephesians 4 that helps express God’s dream for all of us? How do we “FULFILL HIS DREAM”?

DEVELOPMENT 

                                                             

 

Increasing in the wisdom and knowledge of the things of God.

This is learning to be like Christ. 

At Philadelphia currently the opportunities for that include:

  • Sunday School at 9:45am on Sunday mornings for all ages
  • An Interactive Message (so-called because it is part sermon and part discussion) at 6:00pm on Sunday evenings
  • Wednesday Night Bible Study with Brother RC Mathis at 7:00pm
  • Plus Nursery and Children's Church at all services

RELATIONSHIP

     

Recognizing the importance of building new friendships and strengthening old ones.

We need to have friends and be friendly. We need to spend time enjoying each other’s company. Some of the ways we do this at Philadelphia include:

  • Sunday morning fellowship time with coffee, juice, and donuts from 9:15-9:45am before Sunday School
  • A monthly Women’s  Ministry meeting
  • A monthly Men’s Prayer Breakfast

ENCOURAGEMENT

                                                            

Meeting the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of our fellow “Philadelphia Folks” and being a blessing to someone inside the church in some way every day.

Try to “touch” someone within the church every day. Think about those who are sick. Or those who were not in service with us the previous Sunday or Wednesday. Call, write, text, Facebook, Tweet, visit, etc. Find a way to let folks know you care.

AUTHENTICITY


Worshipping and praising God “with all we got” just because He is, and not only because of what He does.

We worship together on:

  •  Sundays at 11:00am
  •  Sundays at 6:00pm

We pray together:

  •  For revival at Hortense Wesleyan Church on Thursdays at 7:00pm
  •  At Philadelphia Wesleyan Church on Saturdays at 7:00pm

MISSION

       

Accomplishing the purpose for which God created and gifted us by being a blessing to someone outside the church in some way every day so that we can share with them by word or by action the Gospel.

Just let someone know you care in some tangible way:

  • Be kind, polite, nice, encouraging (tip well) to the folks at Jerry J’s, Michael’s, Piggly Wiggly, the dentist or doctor’s office, the gas station, the bank, your child or grandchild’s teacher and/or school administrators, etc
  • Send a “just thinking of you” card to folks’ workplace in their name
  • Call them by name when you see them again

Those kinds of little things make a BIG IMPACT.