News > eNews

eNews

RSS Feed now available! You can keep up to date with all the latest news from us simply by subscribing to our feed using your RSS news reader.

RCRC Month of Prayer

June 26 – Run to win

Read: 1 Cor 9:24-27 – "Plan your race"

Observe: Whether it’s a marathon you’re preparing for or a 100m sprint, your coach will always want to know your race plan. How you start, your acceleration stage, your race tactics, your mental preparation, your closing stage. Everything is planned. Paul used these images as he wrote to a church whose city hosted games like the Olympics. They knew the language well.

Interestingly, he’s not talking about self discipline here. He’s talking about how the church does their mission (see 1 Cor 9:12-23). Sometimes people ask me ‘why so much attention to mission, vision and strategy? Did the NT church do all this stuff? Isn’t it just business theory brought into the church?’ This passage helps us understand that people like Paul had carefully thought mission strategy oozing out of every apostolic pore! His whole ministry shows that mission doesn’t just ‘happen’. He consistently applies his plan everywhere he goes. And his plan is not merely to watch the race, or compete in it, or even to finish it, but to win it. To reach his goal (v.22). A church which seeks to honour the apostolic Gospel will humbly apply its mental and spiritual energy to the development of such goals. That is what we will be talking about this final week of our month of prayer.

Pray:

• Ask the Lord to lay his "race plan" for the people of our local community on our hearts. Pray for the leadership of the church that as they work on the long term strategy that they will have the best focus for the work of the Gospel in Redlands.
• Property Developments: Please ask the Lord to lead and guide us as we consider our calling and mission and what demands that places on our property. Lay these things before the Lord, and ask him to guide us through his word and spirit.
• Lord, have us run the race with determination! Get us thinking about our race plan! Have us hunger for the prize! Let us be a model of your grace as we run to win.

PS. The last few day's emails went out with the wrong date on them: they were all listed as June 23, even though the material that followed each day was changed. Sorry for the confusion.

Feedback: dave@redlandscrc.org.au