Outside the 4 Walls
This is a preview for the Hillsong United Outreach Movie that premiered last week. Some of us from Teleios went to see the premier. It was pretty awesome. The guys from United challenged us, the Church, to get outside of our comfort zones and really take the love of Jesus to those around us… especially the broken and hurting.
The Bible has tons to say about reaching out to those around us. Here’s a brief taste:
*In Deuteronomy 10:18, God speaks passionately about his love for foreigners, orphans and widows
*In Isaiah, God calls us to free those suffering from injustice, care for the poor, feed the hungry, provide clothes for those without them, and provide shelter to the homeless (Is. 58)
*Jesus sends His disciples out healing and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom(Luke 10)
*Jesus commands His disciples to go into the world sharing the Gospel and making disciples (Matt. 28:18)
*The Book of Acts provides us with a glimpse of Jesus’ disciples going into the surrounding cities to share the Gospel…
*Christ’s disciples were so passionate about proclaiming the Good News to those around them that 11 of them were martyred because of their devotion to the Gospel and the other was exiled to an island…
*Paul rejoices in Philippians that he has been imprisoned because it’s given him the chance to share Jesus with his captors (Phil. 1)
*James tells us to care for the widow and the orphan (James 1:27)
Jesus Christ Himself is the model of reaching out to those who are suffering. As the Son of God, He humbled Himself and gave up His position in Heaven to come to Earth and serve humanity which was broken, sinful and separated from God.
Your Thoughts:
In the video, Joel said that “poverty and suffering is right on our doorstep if we’re looking.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
In the video, Martin says, “The need to love and be loved is universal… Can people survive without it?” How can we, as Christ followers, meet this need?
In the video, Joel said, “If what’s happening within the 4 walls of the church isn’t having an effect on the streets we travel to get there… then maybe we’re missing the point…” Do you agree? Why or why not? How can we impact the streets around us in a practical way?
November 10th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
i definatly think that poverty and suffering is on our doorstep, but sometimes we ( i ) harden ourselves, and don’t let our hearts be broken. i think if we really allow ourselves to be broken for those that are broken, we can make a huge impact.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:33 am
i agree that all we need to do is look and we will see that poverty is right at our door step we don’t need to go to some really poor country to see that it’s in Charlotte even if its here a little less. it’s so easy to not see all the brokenness around us but i also think that if we try it’s also really easy to see all the poverty. we just need to open our eyes to it and love the broken.