I spoke with a potential church planter the other day and he unpacked a vision for a church that was involved in the renewal of all things. As he talked about touching a specific community in this way, my heart began to be touched by that picture of renewal.
In my devotions this morning I was led to Isaiah 58:12 "those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In." What a great picture. When you connect this text with Isaiah 61, you begin to see a vision of restoration that is needed in each of our communities. Isaiah 61 begins with the words that Jesus quoted about Himself, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." As you read the remainder of Isaiah 61 you see this vision for restoration and renewal developed and made complete.
I believe this is a vision for all of our churches in each of our individual settings. Every community in Iowa deserves a healthy expression of the kingdom of God. They need churches that are active in restoration and renewal, impacting our culture.
May the Spirit of the Lord rest upon you today to preach, heal, proclaim and open your community to the kingdom of God!
About Me
- Tom Jacobs
- I'm married to my wonderful wife, Lori, and we have two great children Ashley and Austin. We serve the ministers and churches of the Iowa Ministry Network.
2 comments:
That verse you shared was perfect. So often the church has been scared away from its mission by the old “social gospel.” But I believe we are called to renewal of all things. A renewal that begins with peoples hearts, but does not end there. As people come to Christ and begin to be transformed into his image, the church must send them back into the culture in order to transform and heal through the message and the work of the Gospel. Our goal should be to create long-lasting change in the relationships, institutions and overall conditions of our community, especially focusing upon those of greatest need.
I believe the greatest need of humanity is a renovation of the heart. Only Jesus can truly change our lives – our thoughts, believes, feelings and relationships. But as people are transformed, social structures should naturally begin to be transformed as well.
Paul,
I agree. I'm excited about the freshness that this brings to the vision for the church. We're often tempted to make sure people get saved (which is extremely important), but we really don't know what the mission of believers is. As our hearts are made right with God, our changed lives should affect our families, our churches and the broader communities, bringing life and renewal.
God, help us to be rebuilders of the wall.
Tom
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