Transcript Detailed Process - North London Luganda SDA Church

Our Lord loves to see each one of us grow consistently
- spiritually. But this only happens where there’s
constant personal reflection. All of us who accepted
the gospel of Jesus collectively constitute the church.
The Lord desires to see His church grow irrespective
of the hardships encountered - Romans 8:11-13
REVITALIZATION is the first pillar. This is inseparable
from christian living and church growth because we so
often get spiritually weakened. It’s our duty to seek
God’s help for re-energisation through e.g. prayer, e.t.c
The need for revitalization has never been greater than
it is today. This is sad to say but it is a fact which must
be said – we get spiritually weak or keep failing in
many ways thus the need for continued revitalization.
The need for spiritual health must, inevitably,
lead us eventually to consider the seven
pillars that are necessary for true christian
living. Once we identify this need, each
of us will not be working at all of the seven
pillars at the same time but each of us will
eventually find him/herself working at each of
the pillars one time or another. Please keep in
mind, as we proceed, that CHURCH means US
- 1Timothy 3:14-15
Outline of the Seven Pillars for spiritual health.
The Seven Pillars for Spiritual Health
We are in need of REVITALIZATION if:
there is a decline in spiritual activeness after an
initial phase of spiritual vigor; the church
experiences the beginning of a high turn-over of lay
leaders; there becomes a shorter duration of stay of
the fully assimilated people in the work; the church
morale and momentum level drops; the church
coasts for a brief time and then drops again, only to
see the cycle of decline repeated again and again.
The result is - believers hit an all time low! Some
people completely backslide/churches get stunted.
We should pray that we never get in this situation
- Jude 1:20 -23.
Have you ever seen a church or a believer that once
was alive and vibrant but begin to lose focus and drive
for the cause of Christ? That is when the need to work
on revitalisation should start! We must always stay alert
to the need for revitalization because if this be the case,
RE-VISIONING – the second pillar - comes into play.
This helps to generate new spiritual ideas to accomplish
goals that lead towards maintaining a healthy
relationship with Christ!
At this pillar members must cultivate a sense of
personal christian purpose and direct it to discovering a
shared vision for the church. Understanding the critical
milestones necessary for a new vision will help us foster
RE-FOCUSING is the third pillar. This can as well work
where things are going right but still there is need to set
new challenges, to look for new opportunities or expand
gospel witness into a target area. Questions such as
what is our biblical purpose and why do we exist as
Christians must be addressed. Looking at how God
led us in the past is a good way to get ourselves unstuck
by addressing where we’ve been, how God has worked
for us and what He has for our future. Identifying our
vision as individuals and as a church in general in
relation to God’s purpose is the beginning of getting
re-focused for spiritual vitality that help maintain true
Spiritual activeness – 1John 2:1-6.
RENEWAL is the fourth pillar of the seven pillars for
spiritual health. This pillar requires to get back to that
which was working and walk as God’s children. Where
this happens to be a need, a careful renewal strategy
has to be planned and carried out.
e.g. renewal of a congregation is much harder than the
revitalisation, re-visioning and re-focusing process. It is
clearly known that not every church member finds it
easy to live or behave as they ought for a spiritually
healthy church. It is important for each one of us to live
and relate as God’s children who truly let His light shine
and shine through us – 1Peter 1:22 – 2:1-3
This fifth pillar for spiritual health –
RE-STARTING - deals with things which church
leaders must look at when circumstances
necessitate that a restoration process is called for
– e.g. personal counseling, visitations,
re-baptizing, special prayer arrangements.
Of course the need to re-start is a result of
previous failures amid challenges, which –
luckily by God’s grace from the scriptures we
have seen – we are passionately called to take to
God in prayers.
The sixth pillar - RESTORATION - deals with tools and
techniques necessary to assist the church when it is
necessary to reinvent itself to a changing community.
Diversity now abound. When a church experiences a sh
ift in the community makeup, often there will be
(to various degrees) the need to redevelop a new
experience for those who make up the new context! New
experiences must replace old experiences. New
practices likewise will replace old practices – but in all
cases without spiritual compromise. At this pillar we
must always be alert if we experience the need for
reinventing and take seriously that need - so that we
make a clear commitment for a reinvented, reformed an
d reinvigorated community that fits a new context.
The final pillar – RE-INVENTION - is the hardest and
often only happens once those who have truly laboured
for Christ for spiritual vitality to abound have tried
everything else they could think of with no success!
This is when affected members no longer have the
courage to work through the various issues that led to
very poor spiritual health; it can be identified as being on
life support and in need of a total re-birth. This means
that the church has been flat lined and is just holding on
by means of its legacy and the faithful few members –
what a sad situation to be! Re-invention is for a seriously
spiritually unhealthy church or individual to once again
begin growing as if they are completely new to the faith.
Finally – Jude 1:24-25.
Maintaining spiritual healthy For a Healthy Church