Be a Connector
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Lisa Ang, assistant director of the CBC English Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
#realtionshipseries
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Luke 19:10, NKJV “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The word “that” represents the relationship with God that was lost when Adam fell into sin. Adam did not forfeit the earth; he forfeited his stewardship and authority on the earth because he lost his connection to God. When the connection or relationship was broken, the Kingdom of God was also lost. When Jesus came, He restored what had been lost. Everywhere He went, Jesus always preached about the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus came to restore “that” which was lost. Once this happened, His kingdom can only be demonstrated through His people.
Romans 6:23, NKJV “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When we fell into sin, it is God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus that saves us from death. It is a gift, it is not something we can buy or work to get, it is a gift. All we have to do is receive that gift by receiving Jesus as our Savior.
Genesis 3:4 “Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 1: 26 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So, God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.”
In the book of Genesis, it stated that we are created in God’s image and likeness, but when Satan came and tempted Eve, Satan said, “... if you eat this fruit then you will become like God ...” BUT we were already created in the image and likeness of God. Satan deceived Eve to make her want to be like God, but without God. What Satan did disconnect us from God. Jesus came to be the sacrifice for our sins and made us reconnect with God.
“God has forever tied himself to human cooperation for the execution of divine purposes in the earth.”
(Lilian B. Yeomans)
Whatever God does on the earth, He wants to cooperate with us. It has been like that since the beginning of Adam and Eve, but man failed and it caused the disconnection. But God has forever tied Himself to human cooperation, thus He did not just send Jesus, but He sent Jesus as a man, a human being just like us, so that we can be reconciled. The plan is always the same. He always ties Himself to human cooperation for the execution of divine purposes on the earth.
Does this mean that God is going to use us on this earth?
Psalm 115:16, NKJV “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth He has given to the children of men.”
This verse means that what happens on the earth is not up to God. What happens on the earth is up to us. We are God’s representative on this earth so we need to connect with God. Pray His kingdom to come to rule and reign on this earth. We are the ones to bring His Kingdom on to this earth.
Evil cannot promote itself by itself.
Love cannot promote itself by itself.
God uses people so that we can promote love. Many of us have been waiting on God to do something that He said we have the capacity to do. God wants to work together with you. Sometimes we pray the following prayers:
“God, reach my city.”
“God, save my family.”
“God, save my neighbor.”
And God's response would be “You reach your city. I have given it to YOU.”
WE have the capacity to reach our cities, WE have the capacity to save our family. WE have the capacity to save our neighbor. Will God do it? Yes! But God will use our mouths with our testimony, our actions, our deeds to do it.
We should understand that it is the desire of our Heavenly Father for all men to be saved as stated in the following verse:
1 Timothy 2:3-5 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
God has entrusted us to be the minister of reconciliation, to be the connector.
Romans 10:13-15, NLT “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?
And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
Paul's very specific in the book of Romans, he said this, “How can they believe on whom they've never heard? And how shall they hear?” Except, if there is a communicator, a preacher, a connector. A connector is somebody who is willing to tell the story—someone who is not a platform preacher.
God is speaking to City Blessing Church about how to be connectors to people:
to connect them to information
to connect them to other people
to connect them to opportunities
to connect them to hope
to connect them to freedom
One of the reasons why City Blessing Church exists is to connect people to God.
Hurt people hurt people.
Saved people save people.
When we are hurt, we will do or say things that hurt others. Our hurt, anger, and bitterness can be healed. We can be set free by coming to Jesus so that He can heal us physically and emotionally. Once we are healed and saved, we can share to others how Jesus healed and saved us and then we become the connector for others to Jesus.
God gives us this property on Miracle Hill so that we can help save people. God gives us this incredible team so that we can reach people. Use every means available such as your electronic devices, your influence, your voice, your testimonies to share, even on social media, and be a connector!
Following Christ is not just about being saved from something — but it is being saved to something.
If you are in this room today and you are a Christ-follower, you are saved:
To love people
To be connectors
To extend life and encourage people
To show Christ-acceptance
To demonstrate the good works in the kingdom
Paul said to the Ephesians in Ephesians 2:10, “I'm his workmanship created in Christ Jesus — for good works.” I am created for good works!
Our issue is not dying for Christ; our issue is living for Him.
You may be willing to die for Christ, but are you willing to live for Christ? If He asked you to be inconvenienced by stopping and talking or sharing your testimony to somebody, while you are on your way somewhere else, would you do it? Would you stop and pray for someone? Would you take the time to stop and minister to someone?
When your holiness produces an “I am holier than you” attitude, you have missed the gospel,
because your cleansing should never make you arrogant.
Just because we are saved, just because we are Christians, we should not have the attitude that we are better than everyone else.
Romans 1:13-15, HCSB [Holman Christian Standard Bible] “Now I want you to know, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So, I am eager to preach the good news to you also who are in Rome.
Do you know how Paul got to Rome?
He got to Rome in a shipwreck
He entered the city as a prisoner
He spent his time in Rome being incarcerated
And after that, he finished his few years in Rome, the Bible says that he wrote to them from prison and said “the household of Caesar greets you.”
How does a prisoner get enough influence that he reaches the emperor’s house?
Because the emperor’s house recognized Paul as a connector to life, to good news, forgiveness, to salvation, to God
And it does not matter how rich or how poor you are, if you are dying and drowning:
You don't care if it's a white man or a black man throwing you the lifeline.
You don't care if it's a man or a woman.
You don't even care if it's another Noble or prisoner.
Do you want to be wise?
Proverbs 11:30, NKJV “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”
Proverbs 11:30, AMP “The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men-he gathers and receives them for eternity].”
How can I be content to have heard the gospel week after week after week after week after week — and there are people in our cities, our campuses, our families who have never heard it even once?
Many people go to Church but they do not go to Christ. Many are in Church but not in Christ.
Do not live for convenience and comfort. Share about your faith!
Let Us Be Connectors!
Prayer Points:
Pray for revelation of what caused your relationship with God to break. Ask Holy Spirit for ways on how to restore the broken relationship and pursue a more intimate relationship with God.
Pray for God to awaken you. Ask the Lord for names of people in your sphere of influence that need to be connected or reconnected to God. Pray for God to use you to connect those people in your sphere to God. Ask for wisdom to say or do the right thing to the right person at the right time to accomplish what He wants you to do.
Pray for God to take you out of your comfort zone. Pray for Him to give you the heart for the lost or un-redeemed. Ask God to allow you to be inconvenienced to reconnect someone to Jesus.
Pray for courage, boldness, and perseverance to reach out to others in your sphere of influence. Rebuke timidity, apathy, laziness, slumber, overly-complicate-ness, and fear of rejection from your mind and life.
Pray for humble and meek hearts; that our words and attitude will not project that “just because I am a Christian then I am better than everyone else” attitude.
Pray to be connectors by being ministers of reconciliation.