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Copyright © 2006 Crusaders Ministries International Church. All Rights Reserved. |
When talking about “Community Transformation” we need to examine both words individually. Community can be defined as “a group of people who live in the same area.” These are our neighbors, the kids hanging on our streets, our doormen, and the neighborhood store owners. Transformation can be defined as “to make different; a complete change, usually into something with an improved appearance or usefulness.” In other words, we are changing the appearance of our neighborhood into something significantly improved and more useful for the Kingdom of God . The purpose of this lesson is to arouse our awareness of the people and things in our neighborhood, and to allow God to use us as individuals, to change the very atmosphere of the communities which we live. Through seeking God for wisdom and instruction, our hopes and dreams will become a reality.
The word change can be defined as: “To give a completely different form or appearance to; transform: to make different”. If we were to poll our neighbors to determine when things started to go wrong or change in our neighborhood, we could probably trace it back to either one individual or one family living in the neighborhood. We inevitably began to say things like… “it only takes one family to mess things up” or “things didn’t get bad around here until … moved in” or my favorite “It seems like things changed over night”. But think about this, if it takes only one person or one family to make things bad or wrong. How many does it take to make it right or better? The answer is one. That’s right, one. There is power in the number one.
Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Romans 5:1 8 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous
Often times we look at the one thing that is wrong in our community and throw our hands up and give it over to the police and or politicians to resolve. This was never meant to be this way.
The police can not transform our communities and politicians can not create or change enough laws to change human behavior. This is a spiritual battle not a natural one. God has appointed each believer with the responsibility of being His voice in the earth in a particular area or community. GOD NEVER CALLED THE WORLD TO SAVE THE WORLD. He called you and me. God has given us, the believer dominion. We are not placed in a specific community by accident but for a purpose, and that purpose is to be a voice for God in your communities.
Last, but not definitely least, we must ask God for a heart of compassion and love. We must first love our community and the people in it before we can truly see transformation. Ask God to show you yourself and to see what areas that you are lacking in concerning the love of your neighbors. Do your neighbors know that you are a Christian? Do you speak to your neighbors? Do they know your name? These are some of the things that we must ask ourselves. OUR LOVE CAN NOT BE DISINGENUOUS. Not only will God know, but the people will know an insincere person when they see one.
Notes taken from
Crusaders Evangelism Class 2006
http://www.CrusadersEvangelism.com
Community Transformation Lesson
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Copyright © 2006 Crusaders Ministries International Church. All Rights Reserved. |
