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Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia.

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A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY


AUDIO


Balancing mission and maintenance

Jerry Varnado, pastor
Gateway Church, Athens GA

October 30, 2005
  • Main Scripture text: Matthew 28:16-20.

  • Most organizations start with a mission -- a cause to support, a need to be met, a goal to be realized. Something captured the heart and imagination of people.

  • The church started out on a mission: Make disciples of all nations. Individual churches may state this mission in different ways.

  • Our mission is at Gateway Helping People Experience God...Through Vital Worship, Biblical Teaching, Positive Relationships, and Hands-On Ministry. All those things are aimed at make disciples of Jesus Christ.
    PowerPoint slides
  • One of the major deterrents to church health is a subtle shift from "mission" to "maintenance."

  • As any organization grows and develops, there is a natural tendency to take some of the energy and resources devoted to mission and refocus those things on maintaining the machinery.

  • This is not necessarily bad, because the infrastructure can help the efficiency of the organization in carrying out its mission. The key is finding and keeping a proper balance between mission and maintenance.

  • Mission fosters life. It causes us to move beyond self. Mission offers adventure, challenge, even danger. It brings vibrancy and excitement, because it is in mission that we see the hand of God move.

  • Maintenance alone fosters death. There is no challenge, no excitement, no sense of adventure or danger. There is no risk. We can do everything without the power of God.

  • I see five characteristics in churches that are "alive" -- that have been able to maintain the proper balance between mission and maintenance:

1)

Reverence for the Bible. Alive churches revere the Bible as the authoritative revelation of God to humanity, to be read, studied, taught, preached, believed, and obeyed.

Any church that wants to be and stay alive in the power of God must keep its people in the Word.


2)


Passion for Jesus. Two things produce passion for Jesus: a) Understanding what He has done for us; b) Experiencing His healing power.


3)


Anticipation of the Second Coming. Jesus is coming back to judge the earth.

We'll not be judged for our sin, that's under the blood, but we will give an account of our stewardship over what the Lord has entrusted to us.


4)


A Kingdom mindset evident in attitude and actions. Churches that are alive have a "Kingdom agenda," not a denominational or local church agenda.

And such churches are actively involved in local and foreign missions.


5)


Regularly attempting the impossible. It is only when we are in desperate situations that God has the opportunity to show us that He is God Almighty.

We're not to put God to the test, but we should shy away from righteous endeavors because they seem too big for us to handle.

  • We are at a vulnerable stage as a church. We are about to complete what is a big project for us and move into a brand-new facility. When we move, we will face the temptation to give more emphasis to maintenance than mission.

  • Our new building should a tool that we use to advance the Kingdom of God. Let's be sure to keep our focus on the mission the Lord has given us: to make disciples, by Helping People Experience God.


Supporting texts: John 17:3 | Luke 7:37-47 | 2 Corinthians 5:10 | 1 Corinthians 2:4


A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (42:00).
(Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.)

An audio tape of the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only).


Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office.
Please specify tape number 051030a: Balancing Mission and Maintenance.

© 2005 Gerald R. Varnado

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