Today's Message: Tearing Down "our" Walls & Building Bridges

Well, today's message is entitled "Spread Out by Tearing Down Walls and Building Bridges". Scripture is taken from Isaiah 54:3 which goes "For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities."

Pastor has been focusing with this title "Tearing Down Walls and Building Bridges" in order to spread out to the community.

A quote/perception towards Christians are as follow:-
"Christians are a lot like fertilizer. Piled up in one place they will burn a hole in the ground beneath them. But spread out over a large field, they can do a lot of good." Evangelist Luis Palau

4 Principles in order for us to Tear Down our walls and to build bridges are:-

1) Redefine the Perception of Christianity by Serving the Community.

Question: "What kind of perception are from the general public towards Christianity?"
* Just another religion?
* Another good teaching?

Matthew 25:40 clearly states that "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "

Therefore, "People don't care how much you KNOW but they will know how much you CARE."


2) The concept of "Pastoring the Community".

The word pastoring indeed "freaks" a lot of christian, but in this context it meant = looking over, taking care off...etc. Instead of the literal profession by pastoring a church.

This famous scripture(Matthew 5:13-14) has been quoted many times, here now the verse goes like "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."

So, the church doesn't not exist for the sake of the church, it exist for the sake of the World.


3) Doing the message Precedes telling the message.

What is our traditional way of evangelism = telling the message + caling for response. (No doubt this is being used occasionally and it still works for certain individuals)

"More people ever are hungry for God. But if we come to unbelievers with a message of "Get right with God or else", we may be forcing them out."

"When strangers start acting like neighbours, communities are reinvigorated."


4) Be DIFFERENT so that we can ma e a DIFFERENCE.

Remember! "You are in the world, but you are not of the world."