5 Transitions

At Engage** last week, I introduced 5 transitions that believers need to make in order to effectively and Biblically share Jesus. It is my belief that much damage has been done by people not sharing Jesus in the way the Bible teaches. All you have to do is look at the prevailing opinion of 'church' and 'evangelicals' to see the results of this.

These five transitions pretty much come straight from David Watson - someone who actually knows what he's are talking about. (http://www.cpmtr.org/) These may seem kind of 'out there' to some of you. I challenge you put aside your traditional understanding, and read the Gospels and Acts for yourself looking for these patterns. You will see them all over the place.



Transition #1 is from Comfort to Calling.
We need to live our life as if we are sent by God into the world to obey his commands resulting in making disciples. We live as 'sent' people because that's what we are. Obedience becomes the norm rather than just the gathering of knowledge.

Transition #2 is from Ministry Only to Searching for People of Peace
We obey commands such as 'love your neighbor', but we don't stop there. We also begin to look for responses from people that show God working in their life. We realize that God works in people's lives, not us. We don't force God on people who aren't interested, but we look for people who show interest.

Transition #3 is from individual to group
We don't look to pull one person from their group of family and friends into ours. Instead, we seek to develop relationships with that person's family and friends in hope that they will all discover God together. [Only 3 people came to know Christ individually in the New Testament. Individual salvation was the exception to the norm.]

Transition #4 is from group to Bible study group
We point the 'Person of Peace' to the Bible and let him/her work with their group to discover God together. We don't teach or convince. We guide and let them discover God for themselves.

Transition #5 is from Bible study group to Church
As the group discovers God, they develop habits of listening to Him and obeying his commands. This results in baptism, and eventually in Church.

**For those of you who don't know, Engage is a weekend service at our church (Westside) that Michelle and I lead. The intent is to form a community of believers who reach out to share Jesus with the community. Stop by at 6:30 on Saturday nights and check it out!