The first main session speaker I heard when I went to the Missionary Church conference on 7.17.13 was Don Cousins. I didn't realize until Tom told me that his son was the quarterback at MSU and now in the NFL. He was still a good speaker. ;) And right after this talk I actually ran into him in the hotel and we shared 'hello's'. I didn't take near as many notes as I should have because it was good stuff, but here are the few I did jot down...
His main point was wrapped up in this: "Jesus does not use his people to accomplish something else; he uses ministry to build his people." And for ministry leaders: "God doesn't give you people to build his ministry; He gives you a ministry to build his people." "God doesn't use people; He equips people."
"The Mission is the means to the end."
The stories of the feeding of the 5000 and then Jesus walking on water are actually one story connected. There were 12 disciples who hadn't eaten all day. They ended up with 12 baskets of food left over (one for each disciple). The feeding of the 5000 wasn't about the 5000, it was about Jesus taking care of his disciples; and in the walking on the water story that followed it says he intended to walk on by... he was trying to see if his disciples had learned to trust him to take care of them. Jesus was teaching his disciples about who he was. His teachings were for THEM, not the crowds.
"Do the people you lead know that they matter to God?"
"Jesus isn't looking to use you; Jesus is looking to build you."
"The sum total of our ministry should be joy."
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This was a really good talk. Stuff I need to remember.
2 comments:
Thanks for the notes, Dan. Here is what I had written down. (No formatting though)
World’s View
-Accomplishing the mission is what matters.
--Bottom Line Thinking
--Wins vs Losses
-Followers are means to an end
-Being used is offset by being compensated
--This works as long as both parties get what they want.
--Example: Employee does work and gets paid in return.
It is easy to fall into this model with a church.
Jesus’ way was different. Notice that when the 70 returned they returned with joy because of the effectiveness of their ministry. But Jesus said instead they should “rejoice in your salvation.” The disciples were not a means to an end.
Kingdom View
-Developing followers is what matters
-Followers are not a means to an end, they are the end.
-Jesus uses ministry to build his people, rather than his people to build his ministry.
--Followers are blessed as they work in the mission.
--The disciples didn’t even know the mission until Matthew 28
--The feeding of the 5,000 & Jesus walking on the water are a continuation of the same story. It was for the 12 to learn who he was.
---The disciples hadn’t eaten all day and there were 12 baskets of bread left over. (Provision)
---Jesus was walking on the water as if to pass by them.
---They were afraid which seems odd considering what they had just experienced Jesus taking care of them. Jesus gave them this experience to learn about trusting him.
Do the people you lead know that you care about them?
Jesus calls you to ministry for your benefit.
Thanks, Tom.
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