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Welcome to the Family!

Table of ContentsSECTION 1

Welcome To All Nations Church.................................3

What is Church Membership? ...................................4

What Church Membership is Not................................8

SECTION 2

The Mission of All Nations Church.............................11

The Vision of All Nations Church...............................15

SECTION 3

Responsibilities of Partners ............................................18

! ! ! Do You Come In Peace? ...........................18

! ! ! Do You Come to Help? ..............................19

! ! ! Will You Join Your Heart? ..........................22

! ! ! Will You Be Loyal? .....................................23

Commitment To You ........................................................28

Heart Commitment ..........................................................29

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Welcome to All Nations Church!

! You may have heard the question: “What’s in a name?” At ANC, there is plenty in our name. Our name carries our identity, and speaks of the target of our ministry.

All Nations - When we say “All Nations” we are speaking of who we are and also who we are called to reach. This church is enthusiastically and unapologetically multi-makeup. At ANC you will find all ethnicities, men and women, all backgrounds, and all age groups growing and serving together. We also want to effectively reach all races, backgrounds, and parts of society. Look at Jesus’ priority:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

“...and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47

Look at Father’s plan:

“Who will not fear you, Lord,  and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” Revelation 15:4

“So that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” Psalm 67:2 

Church- The term “church” means the sharing our lives with one another. It denotes living out real relationship in an environment where we care for and love one another. The word for “church” in the New Testament literally means: “called out ones.” We are called out from the culture around us and the lives we were living before we decided to radically follow Jesus. We are now called to live as a family for the purpose of accomplishing the plan and purpose of Jesus. The “church” is truly being God’s people, and living His way. We the church are the people who seek God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength!

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What is Church ‘Membership’?

" There is a famous advertising campaign that was launched by a world-wide credit card company that had a very interesting slogan. The slogan was, “Membership has its privileges.” That is a very good description of the American culture’s way of seeing membership. Americans are naturally, at their very core, consumers. "

" This means we tend to evaluate things based primarily on the benefit to us. When we join a country club we evaluate whether the benefit of joining is worth the cost of the yearly dues. When we go to a restaurant, we judge whether the food and atmosphere are worth the price on the menu. We find ourselves in this pattern throughout our daily lives: If it isn’t worth the cost, we’re not buying it!

" This pattern has crept into the most sacred areas of life. In times past, we have heard the phrase, ‘You can’t choose your family...’, but in our consumer mentality that is not always the case. For instance, couples are now choosing how many children they will have based upon how it will affect their standard of living, rather than seeking out God’s plan for their family. God’s plan for the family may end up taking a back-seat to economics, career advancement, or convenience.

" The reason we are talking about these issues is to highlight a very dangerous pattern in our culture. We cannot allow everything to become simply a matter of cost-benefit analysis! How incredibly self-centered is that? We cannot approach joining our local church with that kind of mentality either. The truth is that we don’t choose our church, rather, God chooses to plant us in a place where we can grow and be useful to Him!

" Membership Defined: According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, a member is 1) a body part or organ; 2) one of the individuals composing a group; 3) a constituent part of a whole. Which of these three definitions best describes a member of a Christian church? You may be surprised. Let’s look at the Bible for some clarification.

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Paul writes in Roman 12:3-5

" For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

" Paul is saying that the best way to describe a member of the church is to compare him or her to a member of your body! Let’s look at that picture for a moment:

" You have a physical body. Making up that body are many members. Your hand is a part of your body and so is your foot. Now what happens if your hand gets cut off? That hand has become dismembered. Guess what...your whole body has become dismembered because the hand is gone. You see, every member of your body works together. If a pesky fly is bothering your ear, your hand comes to the rescue to swat it away! If your eyes tell you that you are about to be run down by an angry bull, your feet get in gear to move your whole body out of harm’s way. Now there are two members we don’t want to lose! Also, every member draws life from, and gives life to, the others. What would happen to your fingers if your wrist decided that no more blood was passing through it’s ‘territory?’ What if the wrist was to say, “Sorry fingers, you’re on your own. Don’t look to me for any help.”? The life-giving oxygen and nutrients carried by the blood to the fingers, is received through the wrist!

" We should also note that all members of the body are, in actuality, equally important. Many members or your body may seem more important than other members. For example, the eyelid may seem more important than the ear lobe. The respiratory system may appear more important than the digestive system. The heart may appear to be more important than the urinary tract, but just imagine what happens to the body if there isn’t a member to take out the trash. The whole body will eventually shut down and die! These examples may sound humorous, but this is exactly the point Paul was making.

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1Corinthians 12:12-26

! “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free - and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body”, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body”, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you”. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

" Now we are beginning to get a taste of what the Bible says membership really means. Your joining a local church is a matter of call, need, and responsibility. The decision that you make to join a church is this:

! The recognition of God’s call to me to become one with a body of believers. Becoming one simply means that I am willing to share the same vision and the same values as the local church. To care about the people of that church as much as I care for myself. I am willing to give my passion, my money, my time, and my loyalty. I am willing to meet the needs of the body as readily as my own needs. The recognition of my need to draw life from that body of believers. This simply means that I come into this relationship fully understanding that I need a local church in my life in order to be healthy, whole, and fruitful. There are no “Lone Rangers” in the

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Kingdom of God. I don’t relate to Jesus and His people on my terms or “in my own way,” but I am a part of the whole. We are not independent, we are not co-dependent, we are 100% interdependent.

! The affirmation of my responsibility to give life to that body of believers. This means that I truly realize that membership isn’t all about what I can get, but also what I can give. No matter how I feel, or what circumstance I am going through, I have a responsibility to my brothers and sisters in the church. I will NEVER under-estimate the ability of God to use me to bring life to others through my presence and faithfulness even in the littlest of things.

" So what does membership mean? It means a sense of connection and identification that is as strong as the relationship between you and your own hand! Your hand is always there through thick and thin. There is nothing that your body would endure that your hand wouldn’t go through with you. If you needed something your hand would be ever ready to lend a helping...hand. This is the same level of commitment needed from each of us in order to operate in the biblical idea of true membership.

Reflection:

1) Do you think the biblical description of relationships within the church are deeper than mere friendship?

2) Do you recognize the importance of the local church in your life?

3) Do you recognize the importance you bring to the local church?

" We have had a good introduction to the biblical meaning of membership in the local church. This biblical view can be radical and even offensive to our culture. Since we now have a better understanding of what the Bible says membership is, let’s take a few moments in the next section to discuss what membership is NOT...

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What “Membership” is NOT" In order to avoid some of the unhealthy ideas that are associated with the concept of membership in our popular culture, at our church we often communicate the biblical idea of membership with the term “partnership”. Do you remember the old “membership has its privileges” mentality that we spoke of earlier? Partnership illustrates that we are all joined with the same heart and attitude, working faithfully to achieve the same desired goals. This is a picture of a people who have a common vision, and will hang in there together until they have accomplished that vision. Partners do not get discouraged and leave. Partners do not get offended and quit. Partners do not forget to show up and contribute. They have something invested, the vision means too much to them. Their partners mean too much to them. This is truly whom God has called us to be. We must absolutely choose and commit to be partners with our King and with one another, if we are to accomplish the heart’s desire of our King - Jesus.

" Partnership is a far-cry from the popular, cultural approach to membership in America. Often we approach church membership in the same self-centered way that we approach membership in a secular organization. This is not what God intended membership in the local church to be. Let’s examine some common attitudes of secular membership that are not appropriate in the Church of Jesus.

The “I Pay My Dues” Attitude

" This attitude is common, for example, in a setting like membership in a country club. People will often get very irate when things don’t go their way. They may feel like their money has earned them the right to put a stamp of approval on all things that may affect them. The mentality is that, “the member/customer is always right”. The possibility is always looming in the background that the offended person may “take their money and their membership/business elsewhere.” Jesus was very angry when the temple had become a “house of merchandise.” (Mark 11:17)

" If we are to have a healthy and powerful church in our community, we must let go of the immature and manipulative idea that our money or talent is used to get our way. Our money and gifts do not earn us influence in the

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church. Jesus is truly free to lead His church in whatever manner He pleases, no matter what our financial investment may be.

The “Church Exists for Me” Attitude

" This attitude is along the same ‘consumer mentality’ line of thinking. It is the belief that the primary reason I have become a member is for the benefit that I receive. This is absolutely contrary to the biblical idea of membership that we have already seen. The reason for membership in the local church is first, because God has told us to; and second, so that we can be productive as well as receive. It runs totally against our American culture to think that our membership is really based on the decision of our King, and that we may, at times, actually contribute more to the people around us than we receive from them. It may not be our natural tendency, but it’s God’s way!

The “My Opinion Is Just As Good As Anyone Else’s” Attitude

" No it is not. This may be a common mentality in our culture, but it is not biblical....it isn’t even realistic! Think about the President of the United States, in a national security briefing room. There is a military operation that is being formulated, and many people are advising the President on the best course of action. Around the table are the highest ranking generals of the Armed Forces, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, the guy who fixed the copy machine, and the Secretary of Defense.

" Wait a minute, what is the guy who fixed the copy machine doing at this table? Well, isn’t his opinion as good as anyone else’s? How would you like it if our foreign policies were being formulated by the guy who fixes copy machines?

" This attitude does not work in government, it doesn’t work in business, and it doesn’t work in the church. Yes, communication and cooperation are important. Yes, every member is equally valuable, but not every member will have the same function.

" We must understand that being a member of something also means letting all the other members function appropriately. If one is an ear, he will make a poor hand. How many local churches have been destroyed

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because of squabbling resulting from people who insist on their own opinions? We must not allow division to creep in through other members of the body. We must become mature enough to distinguish between conviction and opinion, between priority and preference.

" It is very important that you know now, that All Nations Church is committed to living out biblical patterns of life even if they are different than those of our culture. If we are to be who Jesus has called us to be within this region, we must allow Him to build the appropriate foundations in our lives. We will not compromise or short-cut this process in any way. In any healthy group of people there will be times when we feel hurt, misunderstood, or neglected, This is OK. We are in relationship for the long haul, and for a greater vision. The key is whether we can be a people who can advance despite the problems, and whether we have deep enough relationship that we can solve the problems together. This is what it means to be members of one another.

" God can powerfully use a people who would love and commit to one another in the midst of their differences; a people who would not use their money for their exclusive benefit, or leverage for control. People who are willing to give up their personal comfort and preferences so that Jesus can be made famous. People who are willing to stand with one another when they disagree or get hurt feelings. People “sold out” to Jesus and seeing His Kingdom manifested. People who can trust and be trusted. People who will work and keep on working. A people like this would be glorious! There would be no limit to the things that Jesus could do among them and through them! This people could change the world, no matter how small there numbers or how obscure their location. They would be the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Church. This is who WE, as the church, are called to be.

Reflection:

1) Identify areas in your own heart or attitude that may keep you from being the kind of member that the Bible teaches for us to be.

2) Think about what changes in the areas of time, expense, and commitment that will be needed for you to be a fruitful member in the local church of Jesus.

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The Mission of All Nations Church

Seek God Share Life Serve People

Mission Statement: All Nations Church exists to accomplish the Great Commandment and Great Commission of Jesus Christ by providing a healthy and excellent environment in which to passionately seek God, courageously share our lives and gospel, and fruitfully serve the Kingdom of God.

The Great Commission & Great Commandment

" Every believer needs a mission to be a part of in cooperation with others. Jesus gave all those who chose to be His disciples a mission. It can only be fulfilled working together with other believers, that is why it is known as the Great CO-Mission. The commission is stated in Matthew 24: 18-20.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And

surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

" We also need to understand that every mission has an underlying value system. Jesus gave His followers that underlying value system in Matthew 22: 36-40.

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“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second

is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

" Did you catch that? WOW! Jesus literally was saying: “Ok people, here’s the value system that everything operates on. In fact, do this...and it will be the practical expression of all of the bible!” Love God, and Love people. Our mission statement is built on that value statement, and on our CO-Mission! Let’s talk briefly about what we call our “Power Values”.

All Nations Church P.O.W.E.R Values

Presence of God - “Love the Lord with all your heart”! ! ! ! ! Mtt.22 (The value for Worship)

Outreach - “Go and make disciples”! ! ! ! ! Mtt.28 (The value of Evangelism)

Work - “Love your neighbor as yourself”! ! ! ! ! Mtt.22 (The value of Service)

Equipping - “Teaching them to obey”! ! ! ! ! Mtt.28 (The value of Discipleship)

Relationship - “Baptizing them”! ! ! ! ! Mtt.28 (The value of Community)

" We want to live out loud the values of Jesus. We then become the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, doing the work of Christ, with the same power and authority of Christ! The heartbeat of Jesus is the very heartbeat of All Nations Church. We want to make Jesus and His Kingdom famous to the culture around us.

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of words, but rather is power! I Corinthians 4:20

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Seek God, Share Life, Serve People

" Our mission statement is more than just a statement of what our purpose is, or even of what our values are. It is much more! It is actually several different things that are fundamental to who we are and what we do.

Church Programming

1) SEEK. SHARE. SERVE. declares our purpose and gives us focus for where we are to place our effort and resources for the fulfillment of the biblical mandate on us.

We want our mission to be simple, clear and focused and right on target with the directive of Jesus. Within the 3 words SEEK, SHARE and SERVE, we find the embodiment of both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We are doing a whole lot in just 3 words! Everything we do as a church, every dollar we spend, and every person we empower must be for the purpose of fulfilling Jesus’ own directive. Church services, retreats, small groups, youth ministry, etc.- all flow directly out of our mission!

Church Growth Strategy

2) SEEK. SHARE. SERVE. defines our strategy for how we will reach non-Christians around us, and grow our local church body.

We reach those around us on purpose. Our church growth strategy flows directly from this mission statement. We have to have a way to reach people, not just a desire to do so. The mission statement is our practical method of church growth.

Church Discipleship Process

3) SEEK.SHARE.SERVE. defines our systematic process for how we will bring new believers into maturity as disciples. People being discipled and growing in the Lord doesn’t just happen by accident. There must be a process to move a person to maturity. The mission statement actually defines what that process is!

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Community

Type to enter text

Community

Congregation

Committed

Crowd

CROWD: These are people who have made the decision to “Seek”. These people attend our regular corporate services, and have made their way onto our data base. Our discipleship goal is to help them make the next step to “SHARE” life by becoming active in a Life Group.

CONGREGATION:These are people who have made the decision to “Share”. These people are attenders of Life Groups. Our discipleship goal is to help them make the next step to “SERVE” others by participating in ministries

COMMITTED: These are people who have made the decision to “Serve”, and are active on a ministry team. Our discipleship goal is to help them is to help others to “SEEK”

SeeKShareServe

The Vision of All Nations ChurchGod desires to give every people that He knits together a specific vision. the concept of having a specific vision, and working together toward a specific vision is a central theme in scripture. In fact, scripture teaches that a vision is absolutely vital to the health and life of the people of God.

“Where there is no vision the people are unrestrained.” Proverbs 29:18

" The word for “unrestrained” is the Hebrew word “behal”. The word can also be interpreted as “dissipation” or “dissolve”. The word gives the idea of a place where people are focused on their own wants, and their own agendas; where offense and nit-picking is rampant. This word gives the indication of a place that is disorganized, unruly, declining, and where there is no cooperation. Where there is no vision, people are not focused, and there is nothing bigger than themselves to live toward. When we look at the state of much of the church in America it would appear that there is a condition many times of being vision-less. WE can not afford to be without a clear vision. The pain of staying where we are is greater than the pain that it will cost us to move into our destiny!

The Biblical definition of “vision” is:

" 1) a dream 2) a mental picture of what is being pursued 3) a God ! given sight of what will be performed and made reality.

" In other words, vision is the mental picture of what a local church will look like when it arrives at the location it is uniquely called to go to. This vision is placed by God within a set leader, and that leader is responsible to communicate the vision. Look at the pattern we see in the Bible. Every major person in the Bible related to God by faith in the pursuit of a dream, a promise, or a vision given by God. Noah saw a picture of a future that was full of rain and flood while living in an area where that had never been seen! He acted on this vision from God, believing the promise that he would make a difference in the entire Earth. He built his vision amidst ridicule and unbelief, but the world eventually saw Noah’s vision as God’s own doing. Abraham had a crazy idea that he would be made a great nation that would bless all nations! This was impossible in the natural as an

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old man with a barren wife. He acted and God was faithful. Joseph had a vision from God to rule his region, and despite the pit, Potiphar, and prison God brought the vision to pass. David the teenager saw himself as being used by God to defeat Goliath, and to be a king in Israel. The vision was impossible, but it was from God. David believed it, took some steps (like facing down Goliath with a sling shot) and it absolutely happened as God promised. Vision is for groups of people as well as individuals. David had a host of mighty men that joined him in the vision. Any one of these men could have had their own kingdom, but they were committed to God’s vision and David. Nehemiah received an impossible vision, as most all vision from God is. There was a whole bunch of crazy people who believed it too. They single-handedly reoccupied and rebuilt their conquered and ruined nation! Here are the biblical characteristics of vision:" "

•God has a future desire that is His plan and purpose

•God shares this picture with a chosen leader to communicate the vision and to take responsibility for it to come to pass

•The vision is made plain and communicated

•God forms a team/group who are called to support the leader and who share the vision in and will resource it with passion and hard work

•God brings to pass His plans through His people...and it is awesome!"

The the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision and write it down so that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is coming in the

appointed time, it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail! Though it seems a way off, wait for it in faith, for it will certainly come and it will not

delay forever!” Habakkuk 2:2-3

! The following is the vision for All Nations Church that God has placed within the heart of Pastor Brandon Honeycutt, and is shared by the leaders that God has and will place around him. The following is a dream, and picture of where we are going, and what it will look like when God has performed the vision.

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Read It And Run With It!

• It is the vision of a place where people discover the reality and power of the Kingdom of God; where passionate worship and the awe of the presence of God is commonplace!

• It is the vision of a place that aggressively proclaims the gospel of the Kingdom, through various innovative vehicles, to multiple thousands of people in the Hill Country!

• It is the vision of a place welcoming several thousand people into the fellowship of a church family that lives and grows together and shares the same values and purpose!

• It is the vision of a place where people are intentionally brought to spiritual maturity by biblical teaching combined with a shared Kingdom culture that includes fathering, deliverance and servant-hood!

• It is the vision of a place where every believer is equipped both for fruitful ministry in the Body of Christ and within their strategic place within the world!

• It is the vision of a place that influences nations by training and preparing Kingdom leaders who will be sent out as church planters, missionaries, business leaders and community leaders.

• It is the vision of a place with a beautiful and efficient campus that facilitates a regional church. These facilities include:

**an excellent worship center seating at least a thousand with state of the art technology, fully functional nursery, fellowship hall and outfitted kitchen, and special events space for weddings, funerals, etc. ** incredible facilities for children and youth that are fully loaded and demonstrate our value for these ages.** recreational/sports facilities that can resource aggressive outreach through intramural tournaments, athletic camps and community wide events.** a multiple purpose complex that will service leadership & discipleship training, creative arts, media, and our administrative offices.

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Responsibilities Of Partners‘Partner’ is often used to describe how the people of the local church need to function with one another. One of the most important questions to ask when people are joining into any relationship should be, “What is expected of me?”. “how can I be a partner?” This is certainly a biblical question to ask of one another.

" In 1 Chronicles 12 there is exactly this kind of situation. The account relates the story of people coming to partner with the vision of the not-yet king David. David was God’s chosen leader. David was soon to become the king that God had promised that he would be. Listen to what the Bible says took place when these people decided to come together.

1 Chronicles 12:16-18

! “Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is not wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.” Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said: “ We are yours, O David; We are on your side. O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to your, and peace to your helpers! For your God helps you.” So, David received them, and made them captains for the troop.”

" When these people cam to David and wanted to join his ‘church’ (or in other words - this group of people who were united for a common purpose), David asked them some tough questions right form the start. These are the same questions we must ask when people come to join the church and vision today. Look at the first thing mentioned in the passage: “If you have come peaceably.” The very first question that was asked addressed the motive of the one coming to join. David was basically moving right past all the fluff and getting to the heart of the issue:

1) “Do you come in peace?”

" Many people struggle with coming into a church in the right way! At times, coming into a new local church peaceably may start with how you

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left the church you were last involved with. If you left the last church in a way that was not peaceful and without blessing, doesn’t it then stand to reason that you may be bringing something in your heart and your thinking that may disrupt the peace of the new church? In the work place, one of the things you look at before hiring an employee is their references from their last job. Many of us have given a two weeks notice just to ensure that we did not leave our job inappropriately. We see clearly in the work place that how you leave a place can affect how you come into the next place of employment. Isn’t the local church as important as the work place? We have been instructed to be people of peace!

2) Do you come to help?

" David was wise to ask this pointed question before he would join his heart with those who wanted to join him. One might argue that David, at this point in his life, needed all the help he could get. David, however, was perfectly content to let these people go on their way if they were not willing to commit to working, Have you ever worked really hard on a project, and the person ‘helping’ you was really no help at all? Perhaps you thought to yourself, “It would be easier to just do this myself!” Maybe your ‘helper’ sat around telling you when you had “missed a spot.” It is discouraging and irritating to do hard work with helpers who are lazy and critical. It is better to have less people working on a project when they are really committed, than to have many who are half-hearted! This is why a person must be willing to help whole-heartedly when they join a local church and it’s vision. The ability to help flows from an attitude and lifestyle of servanthood. Look at what the Word says about servanthood:

" There are practical ways that each member of a local church can help. Everyone is important. The devil will try to get a person to think his or her contribution is insignificant. This is a lie. The following list can serve as a starting place for determining whether a person is truly willing to help and be a servant. Everyone must be willing to do the following with no exceptions or excuses:

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Be faithful in your attendance.

" It is discouraging to be in partnership with someone who is seldom around. It is discouraging in the family, in the workplace, and in the church. We should never feel guilty because we missed church for a vacation or another special event. On the other hand, we should not use the difficulties of life that sometimes arise, to give us a reason not to show up. There needs to be balance here. The flesh is always going to want to sleep late, take a day off, skip a life group meeting, etc...We must be passionate about showing up.

" Think of the person who came home after a hard day at work. This person cleans his/her home, bakes cookies, and only two people show up to the life group. Think of the one who prays and fasts for a fresh word from God for the families of the church and they miss the service because they got home late from the movies on Saturday night and slept in. We must always remember that 99% of success is just showing up. We cant’ do what God has called us to do if we are not showing up.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day

approaching. Hebrews 10

Be faithful in your giving.

" People are very sensitive when it comes to the subject of money. Jesus talked about money as one of His primary life’s messages. Jesus taught that money was an indicator of the heart condition. Probably the reason we get so touchy about the topic of money is because we have the wrong heart attitude about it!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they

do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father fees them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” And why do you worry about

clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of

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these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What

shall we drink” or “What shall we wear?’. For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you

as well.” Matthew 6:25-33

“Remember this: whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not

reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,

having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

" The New Testament teaches that a right heart toward giving will exceed the biblical principle of the tithe. As a matter of vision, not requirement, it is the goal of the partners of this church that we give 10% of our income to the work of the local church. Above all else we encourage each person to continually hear God concerning their giving and be obedient to His leading. It is more important that we develop the ability to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit than to follow legalistic formulas concerning our giving. If we faithful, and sensitive to the leading of our King, and trust Him for our provision there will be no financial hindrance to doing all we are called to do.

Be faithful in your participation.

" It is easy to settle into a comfortable place in the church. We sometimes look for our own niche to fit into. It is true that God will choose specific people to do specific tasks within His local church. We do not however, want to allow ourselves to get too relaxed in our “comfort zone.” When the Holy Spirit speaks to the local church to do special things to build His kingdom, we shouldn’t immediately say to ourselves, “I already have my area of service.” Maybe God wants to pull us out of our place of comfort and use us in new ways. We must be willing to participate with the vision of the church in areas that may even challenge us.

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" God may have seasons of using a person in short-term foreign missions, street evangelism, life group leading, children’s ministry, etc- that they would have never dreamed that they could do and be fruitful.

" The key here is to always be seeking new ways to help and be fruitful and to never dismiss the idea of personal participation without asking Jesus: “is this a place that you want me to help?” We must always make sure that we don’t fall into the American mentality of trying to be involved with everything. The answer is to allow the Lord to exercise His rule over us and direct us according to His will. The heart of a partner is one that says “I see a need, where can I help?”

Note: The great co-mission of all believers is to bring lost people into the Kingdom. Everyone is to do this personally. Your role may be more of a support role than another’s. but we must constantly evaluate our productivity in this area. You can do it!

3) “Will you join your heart?”

" We live in a culture that is so resistant to headship, government and even true relationship. The plain truth is this: when you come into a house you must be willing to take on the values and the vision of that house and its leadership. In the local church, the father of that house is its senior pastor. This senior pastor is accountable to, and surrounded by a leadership team. Everyone knows that God is the true head of all believers and the church, but scripture states that God delegates His headship and sets a leader over the congregation.

Look at Numbers 27:16,17

! “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation. He will go our and come in before them, he will lead them out and bring them in that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd.”" "

" The truth is that each house has its own set of values and vision. Are you willing to join your heart and be united? God has designed for there to be a primary leader in His house with a leadership team around that person. Anything with two or more heads is a freak; anything with no head is dead. I know that this idea may sound foreign in comparison to the

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church pattern we may have been raised in, but I assure you that any objections to this notion are cultural objections, NOT biblical objections. In fact, the problems we see in scripture arise only when people fail to recognize God’s chosen leaders. We get nothing accomplished in any area of life if we do not function as a team. Great and productive teams have a head coach, a coaching staff, and on-the-field leaders. You must determine in your heart that you will be a team player and submit to God’s appointed leaders.

4) “Will you be loyal?”

" Notice that in the scripture David brings up the issue of loyalty right from the beginning. David basically says, “Okay, we have talked about your motive for joining, and about your willingness to help, even your capacity to join your heart. Now I ask you are you going to be loyal to me, or come against me at sometime in the future?”

" There are examples all around us of people who come into a local church, they get ministered to, and the church helps them spiritually and even financially. Things go fine until the church begins to try to bring wholeness to the life-pattern roots of problems and not just the symptoms. These people then get offended and leave the church, only to speak poorly of the church that had once helped them so much. The question of “will you be loyal” is really asking “are you willing to live in covenant relationship with one another, even when doing so gets uncomfortable?” Each individual must determine in his own heart once and for all that he will become immune to the devil’s attacks in the area of covenant relationship. Each person who wants to become a member must:

Believe the Best (aka: Become Offense Proof)

" This simply means that whatever the situation, you have a constant pattern of choosing to believe only the best of those your heart is joined to, in the body of Christ. If someone says something that sounds rude, we choose to say to ourselves “I believe they didn’t mean it like that”, even if the behavior hurt you in some way. If you see something that looks like it is not quite right, instead of letting our imaginations run wild and concocting all sorts of scenarios in our mind, we simply choose to believe: “I know that person’s heart and I believe the best about that situation.” When someone

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begins to share something with you that is critical of someone else. we simply choose to believe the best and not the “hear-say.” There are two tremendous benefits to believing only the best about our brothers and sisters in Christ:

1. The devil has no ammunition to use, to start rumors or to bring division to the body through offense. Every time he tries, we simply cut him off at the knees. He hates the phrase: “I choose to believe the best about others!” He can’t stand it when we continually slam the door in his face. This must be our pattern.

2. Another benefit is that everyone in the local church can enjoy the protection afforded by an atmosphere of believing the best. It is very hurtful to be the one on the receiving end of being misunderstood or being judged unfairly. With this pattern we give protection, while at the same time, we receive protection.

" Now there is an appropriate time for dealing with things that are legitimately wrong within the local church. We don’t just close our eyes and pretend that harmful things will go away. This issue will be addressed in the next few pages. The goal here is to have a consistent atmosphere of every member believing only the best of one another. This allows us to put aside the choice of being offended. One may say, “I don’t choose to be offended, others choose to be offensive toward me.” The plain fact is that no matter what the situation, each individual has the choice of whether he will take up an offense or choose to not be offended. In the local church, we must make it an attitude of our heart to choose to be offense-proof and believe the best! We must also give room for others to fail. God allows us to fail without nailing us. Extend that grace to others!

Speak the Best (aka - Become Gossip Proof)

" When we see a pattern of things that we think are not right, or if someone is continually acting in a manner we feel is inappropriate, we don’t just sweep it under the rug! We love each other far too much for that. The harmful way we usually react is to begin to speak about what we are seeing with others. This is an immature and un-biblical approach. This incorrect pattern only feeds Satan’s destructive plan. The bible tells us how to deal with this issue.

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Matthew 18:15,16

" “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or tow others along with you, so that every word my be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”

" Okay, here is the truth, and it may hurt a little. Usually when someone hurts us, our concern isn’t to be reconciled. Our concern is to tell someone else how bad someone treated us so that the person we tell will feel sorry for us, like we are feeling sorry for ourselves. At times when we see something bad going on, our concern isn’t for our brother. Instead, it is on passing along a juicy tid-bit of gossip that we know. Maybe we don’t follow the biblical pattern of going to resolve an issue with a person alone, because we love ourselves more than we love them. We would rather see ourselves not have to take on the stress of confronting an issue, more than we would like to see our brother helped. Whatever the reasons, when we refuse to speak the best about people, we are gossiping. We are sinning. We are allowing ourselves to be used by Satan to bring harm to the local church and our fellow Christians. We need to go and talk with those individuals in private, in order to bring restoration to the situation. If they will not hear us, we are free to bring another person with us to attempt the process again.

" Be willing to face the fact that you may not be right! We may find out that what we thought was wrong in another was really rooted in us. We may find that the individual we sought to confront wasn’t wrong after all. This is why we take another Christian with us, not an ally to gang up on the one being confronted. If the issue is real, the person we take will confirm it to the one being confronted, or they will point out to us our misunderstanding.

" What about the issue of listening to gossip? When we listen to evil being spoken about another person, it is as bad as speaking it ourselves. This is sin. How can we affirm in our hearts to believe and speak the best of others. if we allow others to be gossiped about in front of us? Perhaps the person gossiping doesn’t know that he is doing wrong because he doesn’t know the correct pattern we just say in scripture. When someone

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is speaking evil of another, simply say, “I really think that you have an issue with ________ that needs to be resolved.” Ask them if they have ever talked with the person about he problem. If they haven’t, encourage them to. If they have, offer to go with them to attempt the process again. Make it clear, in a polite way, that you are not a “trash can” in which people deposit their hard feelings about other in! People will quit gossiping to you if you maintain this personal policy! You may think that people will be offended at you, but more likely they will respect you more.

Submit to Leadership (aka-Become Rebellion Proof)

Hebrews 13:17

! “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

1 Timothy 5:17-19

! “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching....Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.”

Romans 13:1-2

! “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is not authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

" The reason that there is need for so much scripture on this issue, is because of all the animosity in our culture toward authority. While it is certainly true that there has been much abuse in the church by those who have administrated it, government within the church is biblical and is clearly the will of God. We have to mature to the point that we lay aside our unhealthy aversion to being under authority.

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" We are always free in the local church to speak to leaders about our concerns or suggestions, but we must not require people to do what we want in order to be united with them. When a conflict arises in our hearts towards a leader, we must go to him/her privately according to the pattern we have already seen. If there is no resolution, take another leader to repeat the process. If there is not closure, we do not go about drawing battle lines and drawing others to agree with us. This is exactly what Satan is trying to do! DO NOT HELP HIM! There is an appropriate process open to the person at this point if the conflict is unable to be resolved.

1. Ask God to show you any heart problem that exists within you that might be causing the conflict. The problem could end in this step.

2. Ask God if you are being released to join another local church and group of leaders. Be careful! God hates a divorce spirit. This means God hates our tendency to break relationship when things are difficult. It could be however, that God is truly giving another vision to your heart that will be accomplished in another place.

3. If you are to stay, determine that you will allow God to resolve the issue. You will not be critical or spread the issue to others. Pray the prayer of ‘IMPROVE OR REMOVE.’ This means that you ask God to improve or remove whatever or whoever the true source of the problem is.

4. Lay it down. Don’t allow yourself to dwell on the issue. Leave it in the hands of God and retain a great attitude.

Reflection:

If you come to understand nothing else by reading this book, please understand this one thing: God has a wonderful plan for the earth that He brings to pass through His glorious local church. You are the vehicle that God wants to use to bring His power and love.

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The Commitment To YOU

Pastor Brandon and the leaders of All Nations Church promise, with God’s help and the best of our ability, to

faithfully give the following things to YOU:

1) Vision- an opportunity to be a significant part of the plan of God that is bigger than ourselves, and worthy of our passion.

2) Trustworthiness- that your time, talent and treasure will be used to its maximum impact for the glory of God, and will be appreciated.

3) Character- that we will model the Christian life in such a way that it validates our message.

4) Reality- that life together will be genuine, transparent, and upfront.

5) Productivity- that we will succeed, go somewhere as a church, and accomplish great things together.

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Heart Commitment

" The following heart commitment is not a contract. It is not intended to make anyone feel legally bound to anything. Rather, this heart commitment is intended to be recognition of what you affirm God is doing in your own heart. This will remind you of the very date when you joined in the vision of All Nations Church! Also, this heart commitment will be kept within the book that you have completed so that the information will remain convenient for your referral.

I, ____________________________________, join my heart this day to the vision, leaders and people of All Nations Church. I understand the things that are expected of me, and joyfully commit to be fruitful in this body. I know in my heart that God has planted me here for His purposes, and I will do my best at all times to be a true partner in what God is doing in and through my church. Above all I will live with Jesus as my King, make Jesus famous, build His Kingdom wherever I am, and will help myself and others to seek, share and serve!

Signed: ___________________________

Date: _______ / _______ / ___________

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