Perry Noble kicked off the Unleash Conference in Perry fashion. God always speaks through this man…my prayer is that He would do the same in my life.
Session 1:
Perry used the story of the Prodigal son as a foundation for his message to the church leaders: Luke 15:25-32
3 Questions Every Church Needs to Ask:
1. What is it the God wants to do in our church?
- Main Thought: The older brother was so busy being faithful to his work; he didn’t know what his father’s heart was. The older brother was doing his own thing!
(Vs 26) God can be doing something all around us (our churches) & we can be clueless about it because we are too busy doing our own things.2 Things that will help us understand our Father’s heart for our ministries:
- Time – Vision comes by spending passionate time with God – – The problem with conferences is, many times you get inspiration not revelation, that comes by spending time with God.
- Effort – God wants our very best effort. – – If you are going to reach the world for Christ, you have to spend money – – The world gives excellence, why does the church give God any less?
2. What are the Barriers that Stand in our way?
- Refusal to Change – Personal Preferences (Deuteronomy 34:5-6 & Joshua 1:1-2) God had to kill what was old (Moses) to bring about something that was brand new (Joshua)
- Jealousy – Some people get jealous of what God does in other churches while ignoring what he does in our own churches. – – 1 person getting saved deserves the same celebration as if 300 got saved in one service, the 1 salvation took as much of God’s power as the 300! (WOW!!! Great thought!)
- Lack of Understanding – (Vs. 31) “Everything I have is yours” – The older brother complained about not getting a celebration, yet the father pointed out that everything he had has always been his…he could have had a fatted calf anytime he wanted!
Jesus said He would build His church – We have to realize what the Father has promised us.
3. What do we want to celebrate? (Vs. 32) – In the Bible, every time someone who was lost was found, there was a celebration.
Jesus and Heaven does not celebrate when we recycle (Perry commented on the disgrace of the Southern Baptists’ recent embrace of going green), Jesus and Heaven celebrate when a lost person gets saved. What is our focus as a church?