Church of the poor - Jesus Army

ant &
rave
THERE
rant
evangelism
rant
Iysha Sutherland
Under the shadow of our
steeple, are all the lost and
lonely people,
Searching for the hope
that’s tucked away in you
and me...
I HEARD these song lyrics
the other day – they gave
me feeling a sense of
urgency to reach out to
people through evangelism.
I want to see churches
in this country become
more visible to the eye
of the public: not church
buildings, but church! The
Boiling with rage and
bubbling with excitement
- Jesus Life hears
from mJa members,
Iysha Sutherland and
Tschaka Roussel.
people! A people who care.
There are many people
that are afraid to come to
church, with the fear of
being judged, being made
not welcome or unable
to fit in. We should reach
out and meet them where
they’re at. There’s a place
for them in God’s people.
Too many cosy Christians
sit in central heated homes
or churches, talking the
talk, but missing the need
on the other side of the
front door.
There’s no end of
excuses: “I’m tired, had a
busy week at work”; “I’ve
got a cold”; “Don’t feel
very Christian right now”...
Every time my church
gets out on the streets to
share Jesus I have excuses
in my mind. I often have
to challenge myself (if no
one else will). I ask myself,
“Can God use me even
though I’m tired? Even in
the cold, or with a cold?
Am I disciple of Jesus?
Yes!”
So get out there! Do it!
No excuses.
covenant
IS something
wonderfully beautiful about
a people who are willing
to put friendship above
everything else.
In our church, some
of us choose to make
a deliberate promise of
friendship and commitment
to each other and to God.
We call it covenant.
Making a covenant like
this, with each other, is
amazingly potent stuff
because it means people
will really choose to put
others before themselves.
Friendship is secured, fears
are stilled, emotions are
healed, paranoia stifled.
When commitment
like this takes place in a
church, people are free to
be themselves and discover
who they were meant to
be. No-one’s going to be
dumped – we’re in it for the
long haul. Love has its way.
People commit to look out
for each other –for good.
Covenant commitment of
this kind doesn’t start with
us – it starts with God.
This is perhaps best seen
when Jesus sat round a
table with His friends and
told them “the meal we’re
eating now, the bread and
the wine, symbolises the
life I’m going to share with
you for ever. Even as this
bread gets broken and the
wine poured out so I’m
going to pour out My life
for you.”
It’s a meal Christians
have been sharing for
thousands of years since
He made that promise. It’s
powerful. Just as Jesus laid
JL
down His life for us; we lay
down our lives for Him and
for each other. This means
the death of selfishness,
but, as Jesus said at that
first famous meal:
“My command is this:
Love each other as I have
loved you. Greater love has
no one than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do
what I command.” (John
15:12-14)
HAVE YOUR OWN
RANT OR RAVE:
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Jesus Life One/2008 Page 31