Our
Vision
~ Every soul in daily communion with God through
Word and prayer. ~
~ Every soul in basic Christian community. ~
This double-edged vision drives everything we
do in Encounter. All of our time, ministry, decisions,
resources, etc. must pass the test of this vision:
is it developing the habit of daily communion
with God? and / or is it developing basic Christian
community?
If so, we’re in with both hands and feet.
If not, it’s back to the floor in prayer.
If you look a little closer, you might notice
that these mandates are simple expressions of
the 2 greatest commands as spoken by Jesus in
Matthew 22.34-40. When the incarnate Son of God
was asked what was most important in life, most
important to God, to what does it all come down,
he said:
“Love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind. This is the great and most important commandment.
The second is like it: love your neighbor as
yourself.”
We believe that this vision expresses the core
of God’s will: loving God and loving people.
But how do you show you love them? Well, how
do you show someone close to you that you love them? There are
many different responses to that, but eventually
it all comes down to this: spending time with
them. But wait! Jesus also said in John 14 that “if
you love me, you will obey my commands.” That
certainly is true. We might take note of the
order of his statement, however: if this, then
that. Love comes before, and thus prompts, obedience.
How will we know what to obey if we don’t
check in with him for orders first?
This is why we highlight the disciplines of
Word and prayer as central for the disciple of
Jesus in having daily communion with God. There
are many spiritual disciplines, but these two
are foundational both in the life of Jesus and
in Scripture itself.
So: the first component of our vision reflects
the habit of spending time with God each day
in two ways. Reading from his Word for wisdom,
nurture, sharpening, help, etc. fills us with
his instruction, shapes us for purity and action,
and equips us to remain in his will and avoid
the pitfalls of sin which harm us. Spending time
in prayer positions us for God to transform us
by the Holy Spirit who does his work in us. It
is time spent both in speaking and listening
to God.
The second component of our vision supplies
the human element of community made effective
by Christ’s presence among us. People need
people; nobody needs to go it alone. God designed
the church, Christ’s body, to be his plan ‘A’ for
accomplishing his purposes and meeting all of
our needs. No “Lone Rangers” around
here… and how *did* he ever get that name
anyway? After all, where would he have been without
Tonto?!
We’re on the journey together, discovering
real life (from God) in community (with each
other).