Leaders Meeting: Next Steps

Good morning! First of all, I want to thank each of you for taking the time to connect with us this morning. We are at a critical point in the church's history as we co-create the future strategically and relationally.

We are at a point in this process that where we need to verbally identify our current situation and take the next right actionable step to begin moving us more in the direction we need to move in. During our discussion groups at the last Leaders Meeting, we asked everyone to rate THOTL’s hospitality on a scale from 1 to 5. 1 being horrible and 5 being fantastic. Across everyone that participated, the average answer we got was between a 2-3.

This tells us that we have allowed ourselves to be mediocre in hospitality, which was not always the case and has been something that has happened over time. That is one of the blessings and responsibility of being a church our age. Our longevity has created more opportunities for people to have hurt feelings and experience a breach of trust. Consequently one of the responsibilites assocated with logenvity is that we must tend to our relationships. God never calls us to mediocrity, and we must call a thing what it is and seek the Lord for how to move forward.

Romans 10:10 (NASB) 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Right away, two details stand out. The first detail is how believing (i.e., faith) results in righteousness. While confession results in salvation, this is important because righteousness expresses the present standing of the believer. And salvation is a broader and more inclusive word. Another way to look at this is, righteousness has to do with what a person becomes, and salvation has to do with what a person is delivered from.

When we look at the Greek word for salvation, it means to experience rescue from adverse circumstances and restore favorable conditions. The Old Testament scholar Terrance Fretheim summarizes salvation as deliverance from anything hostile to true life, issuing in well-being, and a trustworthy world in which there is space to live[1].

Therefore, to be saved or to experience salvation is not just about forgiveness of sins but also about safety and well-being that extends to every dimension of life damaged by sin[2]. This all comes together to show us that salvation is not a transaction but an ongoing relationship between the rescuer and the rescued, between the healer and the healed[3]. We can also draw from this understanding that this verse in Romans is a model for us to follow going forward in our relationship with Christ.

Here is a powerful truth that we, as believers, cannot afford to ignore. People often struggle with verbalizing where we are — not understanding that our healing is connected to our words. The present power of salvation empowers us to overcome is activated our words!

In our context, we need to verbalize that being mediocre at hospitality is a sin that we need to repent of. As leaders in this church, we accept our responsibility for why our hospitality is mediocre. But at the same time, we must understand that this is not a problem to solve, but it is a relational process that we must commit to engage. We have reached a point where we must move from talking with each other and take a moment to talk to God on our behalf.

Therefore, the first action step we are going to take today is to have a prayer time. Bishop will pray over us as the Founder and Preaching Pastor. I will pray after Bishop, followed by Min Josephine Wilson, and Pastor Matherson will close us out.

[1] Colijn, Brenda B. Images of salvation in the New Testament. Intervarsity Press Downers Grove, IL pg. 141.

[2] Colijn, Brenda B. Images of salvation in the New Testament. Intervarsity Press Downers Grove, IL pg. 122.

[3] Colijn, Brenda B. Images of salvation in the New Testament. Intervarsity Press Downers Grove, IL pg. 141.Good morning! First of all, I want to thank each of you for taking the time to connect with us this morning. We are at a critical point in the church's history as we co-create the future strategically and relationally.

We are at a point in this process that where we need to verbally identify our current situation and take the next right actionable step to begin moving us more in the direction we need to move in. During our discussion groups at the last Leaders Meeting, we asked everyone to rate THOTL’s hospitality on a scale from 1 to 5. 1 being horrible and 5 being fantastic. Across everyone that participated, the average answer we got was between a 2-3.

This tells us that we have allowed ourselves to be mediocre in hospitality, which was not always the case and has been something that has happened over time. That is one of the blessings and responsibility of being a church our age. Our longevity has created more opportunities for people to have hurt feelings and experience a breach of trust. Consequently one of the responsibilites assocated with logenvity is that we must tend to our relationships. God never calls us to mediocrity, and we must call a thing what it is and seek the Lord for how to move forward.

Romans 10:10 (NASB) 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Right away, two details stand out. The first detail is how believing (i.e., faith) results in righteousness. While confession results in salvation, this is important because righteousness expresses the present standing of the believer. And salvation is a broader and more inclusive word. Another way to look at this is, righteousness has to do with what a person becomes, and salvation has to do with what a person is delivered from.

When we look at the Greek word for salvation, it means to experience rescue from adverse circumstances and restore favorable conditions. The Old Testament scholar Terrance Fretheim summarizes salvation as deliverance from anything hostile to true life, issuing in well-being, and a trustworthy world in which there is space to live[1].

Therefore, to be saved or to experience salvation is not just about forgiveness of sins but also about safety and well-being that extends to every dimension of life damaged by sin[2]. This all comes together to show us that salvation is not a transaction but an ongoing relationship between the rescuer and the rescued, between the healer and the healed[3]. We can also draw from this understanding that this verse in Romans is a model for us to follow going forward in our relationship with Christ.

Here is a powerful truth that we, as believers, cannot afford to ignore. People often struggle with verbalizing where we are — not understanding that our healing is connected to our words. The present power of salvation empowers us to overcome is activated our words!

In our context, we need to verbalize that being mediocre at hospitality is a sin that we need to repent of. As leaders in this church, we accept our responsibility for why our hospitality is mediocre. But at the same time, we must understand that this is not a problem to solve, but it is a relational process that we must commit to engage. We have reached a point where we must move from talking with each other and take a moment to talk to God on our behalf.

Therefore, the first action step we are going to take today is to have a prayer time. Bishop will pray over us as the Founder and Preaching Pastor. I will pray after Bishop, followed by Min Josephine Wilson, and Pastor Matherson will close us out.

[1] Colijn, Brenda B. Images of salvation in the New Testament. Intervarsity Press Downers Grove, IL pg. 141.

[2] Colijn, Brenda B. Images of salvation in the New Testament. Intervarsity Press Downers Grove, IL pg. 122.

[3] Colijn, Brenda B. Images of salvation in the New Testament. Intervarsity Press Downers Grove, IL pg. 141.