You Get To Play
Jesus commissions anyone who wants commissioning. His kingdom ministry is for everyone; there are no disqualifications. Regardless of your personality, your history, or your gifting, Jesus wants to involve you in his plan for the world.
A group of teenagers and early 20-somethings gathered in a living room, led by a not-much-older couple in the late 1990s in suburban Chicago. Most of them had some kind of faith background but found themselves jaded and skeptical about religion. But over the weeks, the wife of the not-much-older couple would play her guitar and sing simple songs of love to Jesus. The husband would teach simple, helpful truths from Scripture. And then they would take time to lay hands on each other and pray for the presence of the Spirit.
Person after person in that group would find themselves unexpectedly touched by the presence of God. Sometimes a sickness would be healed, but most often, they would simply find hardness in their hearts softened into love for Jesus. They often found themselves emboldened to do ministry. Some would head to the mall to share Christ. Some felt called to overseas ministry. Some of them became lay leaders in local churches, leading small groups that cared deeply about reaching those around them. Others became pastors or missionaries or leaders of faith communities on college campuses.
[bctt tweet=”Person after person in that group would find themselves unexpectedly touched by the presence of God.” quote=”Person after person in that group would find themselves unexpectedly touched by the presence of God.”]
People Empowered By The Spirit
This pattern repeats itself again and again throughout the Vineyard, and we believe it is simply a continuation of what Jesus was doing with his three close friends, his twelve disciples, and many beyond that. This is why it’s impossible to stop the movement of Jesus through persecution, political oppression, or legal action.
The movement of Jesus does not depend on institutional support – it happens organically through people empowering other people in the power of the Holy Spirit in the same way they themselves were empowered.
