Sermon Notes: Our Church

The Refuge Community Ministries 

                                          Our Mission Statement

• Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT) 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

• We will be a church that makes disciples.

• What we are not: 

• baptist
• full gospel
• pentecostal
• assembly of God
• methodist
• Nondenomination

• We are simply a community church “followers of Jesus”.

• Matthew 16:24 (NLT) 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 

• You don’t have to call me Pastor.

• Im an assistant for Christ.

• My Primary responsibility is my family. 

• My secondary responsibility is the Church.

• 1 Timothy 3:2-5 (NLT) 2 So a church leader(elder, Pastor, Bishop) must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker(don’t get drunk) or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. 4 He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. 5 For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?

• Our goal is to always be a Bible based and Spirit filled Church, teaching and preachingthrough my personal experiences and  what the spirit reveals to me concerning the Scriptures and Gods times and seasons for the church. 

• Romans 15:4 (NLT) 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

• Teaching informs you.

• Timothy a young Pastor

• 2 Timothy 4:2 (NLT) 2 Preach the word(Logos) of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

• Preaching points us in the direction we need to go.

• A map informs us but our destination is determined outside of the map.

• The bible informs us and the Holy Spirit tells us what direction to go in.

• John 16:12-14 (NLT) 12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.

• Our goal is to be a Church that is lead by the Holy Spirit.

• Our goal is to always be open to The Holy Spirit changing the order and or the function of the service.

• Ephesians 4:11-14 (NLT) 11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

• Our goal is to have a mature Church.

• Our Goal is for our Church to never be a one man show.

• Acts 20:17 (NLT) 17 But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.

• Our Goal is to be a Church where there is leadership accountability.

• The Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher are not the only Gifts.

• 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NLT) 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

• Our goal is to help you discover your gift.

• Our goal is to always allow the gifts to flow in our services.

• If the Holy Spirit begins to move we do not want to quench it.

• I want to point out something I have witnessed.

• The spirit might lead us to just worship through songs and as we do that the holy spirit begins to move…… 

• And it starts to build up and edify the body “the church”.

• a word of encouragement for someone.
• A word of Knowledge.
• Pray on for healing.
• To give wise advice.
• A prophetic word.
• To speak in Tongues.
• Must be interpreted.

• Colossians 3:16 (NLT) 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT) 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

• Our goal is to be equipped for everything and anything.

• especially when it comes to counseling each other.

• As a community we have been through so much.

• He is the reason why we are still here.

• God did not forget DTR

• God did not forget about you

• As bad as it may seem, if we put our trust in him and he will turn it around.

• We have been used abused as a community for a long time. 

• Our vision as a Church is to Make Disciples.

• Our Vision is to play our part in Restoring our Community.

• Spiritually – Church, Camp Refuge, united in Christ.

• Physically – pantry, Projects of Grace

• Emotional and Mental.

• I have current commitments on some Sunday’s.

• James 5:13-15 (NLT) 13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.