Years ago a young Deaf man told me he planned to set up and coach a Deaf softball team. Great idea! I asked him if his team was for fun or to win championships. He didn't know, but he would check.
The team was split. Half only wanted fun together. Long, hard practices? No way. The other half of the team were committed to winning. Sacrifice for the team? Yes.
The result? The team struggled. Many on the team weren't satisfied. Bad players? No. Bad coach? No. The team didn't understand their "why". They didn't agree.
It's important for a church to understand its "why". Fun? Politics? Culture? Language? Change the world? Some churches choose one of the above. NewHopeDeaf? We wanted to stop and check again why we are here. Our Disciple Group is working on this. We're looking at Matthew 28: 16-20:
The eleven followers went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. On the mountain they saw Jesus and worshiped him, but some of them did not believe it was really Jesus. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.”
We're digging to really understand this verse. This blog will show how the dig is going!