Pastor’s 2012 Annual Report
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. Acts 20:28
As the Apostle Paul said his final farewell to the Christians in Ephesus, he gave guidance that perfectly aligns with this season of MCA Church’s ministry. It seems Paul was looking through the binoculars of time with unparalleled understanding and revelation for our MCA Church Network of ministries.
The Apostle’s directives to us are:
Keep Watch Over Yourselves
Being holy before God, fully activated in mission, and relationally healthy is of utmost importance. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
MCA Church ministries are designed to assist your personal life with God. Since we are each responsible for our own Christian lives, MCA Church provides an array of options from which you may make your choices.
Every MCA Church participant is encouraged to fully engage in one weekend worship and one LIFE group gathering each week. Add to your weekly schedule a monthly place of serving in ministry and one conference a year and you have the basic full package of the MCA Church ministry plan.
We must keep watch over our own personal spiritual well being and health
Keep Watch Over All the Flock
MCA Church is a large and growing collection of individuals who are organized into congregations. Each person and each congregation are part of the flock for which we must keep watch.
We are privileged to keep watch over a growing collection of people and ministries. Let’s continually increase our “Flock watching” skills.
Following are collections of people for whom we keep watch locally:
• MCA Church Greatest Hits
• MCA Church Video Café at 9:15 AM
• MCA Church Video Café at 11:15 AM
• MCA Church Multi-language Congregation
• MCA Church LIFE Community at 9:15
• MCA Church LIFE Community at 11:15
• MCA Church LIVE at 9:15
• MCA Church LIVE at 11:15
• MCA Church Sunday Nite Live
• MCA Church Island Revival Congregation
• MCA Church Strong Tower Congregation
• MCA Church Children’s Services
• MCA Church Youth Services
Following are collections of people with whom we keep watch globally:
• The More Congregation at Zone One Church in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• The French Congregation at Zone One Church in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Twenty annex Congregations at Zone One Church in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Yemtenga Elementary School
• Muldoon Evangelique School
• Doudou Elementary School
• Living Waters Assembly in Kununurra, Western Australia
• Thousand Hills Church in Hilversum, The Netherlands
Be Shepherds of the Church of God, Which He Bought With His Own Blood
Along with the “keep watch” skills we are developing, we must also learn “shepherd” skills.
Seeking to fulfill the Biblical ministry of the pastoral shepherd, we must be careful to be and do all that God intends because the Church of God was purchased at an incredible price. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Understanding that the shepherd idea is often associated with one person, MCA Church seeks to learn how we can morph so that our entire congregation participates in blessing and assisting the people and congregations with whom we relate.
Increasing the MCA Church “keeping watch” and “shepherd the flock of God” skill set, we have determined four urgent priorities that all depend upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28):
• Develop, both personally and corporately, a growing cultural literacy
• Develop, both personally and corporately, cultural humility and the corresponding servant attitude
• Increase our capacity for proactive sharing
• Commit to MCA Church essentials and extend grace on non-essentials
MCA Church LIFE Groups
Connecting with One Another
1. Did you make any 2013 New Year’s resolutions?
2. If so, how are you progressing on those resolutions?
Digging Deeper into the Weekend Message
1. The author of Proverbs places high value on gaining wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 3:13, 21). What is the difference between wisdom and understanding?
2. Are wisdom and understanding helpful for “keeping watch over yourselves?”
3. Isaiah 11:2-3 reveals some of the results of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives.
a. Is this kind of wisdom based in human thinking?
b. The Spirit of the Lord was to rest upon Jesus. Will that same Spirit come to rest upon us today?
4. MCA Church is “keeping watch over ourselves and the flock of God” that he has entrusted into our care. We need the Spirit’s wisdom!
a. What is cultural literacy?
b. How do I develop cultural humility and a servant attitude?
c. How do I foster a willingness to share?
d. How do we come to delineate between essentials and non-essentials?
Prayer
1. Please pray that the “Spirit of the Lord will rest upon” you.
2. Please pray for one of the MCA Church ministries that you do not attend, asking God for wisdom about how you can serve that ministry.