Ministry Year 2017-18 Prayer & Action Goals
Our Year of Love
Of the three great Christian virtues, love, faith and hope, the greatest is love. We have come as a fellowship from a year of building hope into our lives by immersing ourselves in the book of Matthew. We want this to be a year of advancing in love. But what kind of love and in what areas?
For believers, love is defined by Jesus. We want to look at the gospel of Matthew this year to see how Jesus loved and, through the power of the cross and the Spirit, seek to imitate him in our world today. We purpose to go deeper and wider in loving like Jesus in four key areas: loving God’s word (our Word goal), loving God’s person (our Worship goal), loving God’s people (our Work goal), and loving God’s world locally and globally (our Witness goal). We encourage each of you to prayerfully select and pursue these prayer and action goals as a way to grow in loving God and others like Jesus.
As we seek to follow him in new ways this year, his words in Matthew 22:37-40 define our quest:
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Tom Kenney
Senior Pastor
Of the three great Christian virtues, love, faith and hope, the greatest is love. We have come as a fellowship from a year of building hope into our lives by immersing ourselves in the book of Matthew. We want this to be a year of advancing in love. But what kind of love and in what areas?
For believers, love is defined by Jesus. We want to look at the gospel of Matthew this year to see how Jesus loved and, through the power of the cross and the Spirit, seek to imitate him in our world today. We purpose to go deeper and wider in loving like Jesus in four key areas: loving God’s word (our Word goal), loving God’s person (our Worship goal), loving God’s people (our Work goal), and loving God’s world locally and globally (our Witness goal). We encourage each of you to prayerfully select and pursue these prayer and action goals as a way to grow in loving God and others like Jesus.
As we seek to follow him in new ways this year, his words in Matthew 22:37-40 define our quest:
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Tom Kenney
Senior Pastor
Word: Loving God's Word
I will love God’s truth more by doing a “deep dive” into the Gospel of Matthew and what it says about living a life of love.
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” - Matthew 4:4
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
- Read the entire book of Matthew once a quarter.
- Memorize the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 in the Bible translation of my choice. (PCC will use the English Standard Version (ESV) in its preaching series on Matthew but you are encouraged to select any good translation you prefer.)
- Host a read-through Matthew party. (Invite a group of friends and seekers over to do a “dramatic” reading of large passages or the whole book out loud to each other. Serve refreshments. Make it fun.)
- Share three new ideas about Jesus and His kingdom drawn from the Gospel of Matthew with someone at work or school. (Note why we need the cross and the Spirit to live this kingdom life.)
- Invent my own “Matthew deep dive” mission. Share it with a friend or find an accountability partner to do my mission together.
But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” - Matthew 4:4
Work: Loving God's People
I will grow in my love for God’s people at PCC by going wider in service and deeper in fellowship.
I will go wider in service through one or more of the following actions:
I will go deeper in fellowship through one or more of the following actions:
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ - Matthew 25:40
I will go wider in service through one or more of the following actions:
- Complete the S.H.A.P.E. Assessment and discuss my results with others.
- Read Timothy Keller’s “Discerning and Exercising Spiritual Gifts” article and discuss it with a friend.
- Stretch my spiritual gifts by using them in new ways in my current ministry or by trying them out in a new ministry. (The Ministry Expo in January might be a good time to find out about ministry opportunities at PCC.)
I will go deeper in fellowship through one or more of the following actions:
- Join a Home Group for at least one semester.
- Help start a new Home Group.
- Meet with my Home Group leader to discuss how I can serve the group.
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ - Matthew 25:40
Worship: Loving God's Person
I will learn to love God’s person by devoting my most precious resources (time and money) to him.
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” - Matthew 22:37
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
- Read and apply Paul Miller’s A Praying Life to learn to love and trust God through prayer.
- Establish or expand my time in daily prayer.
- Begin using a prayer journal or prayer cards.
- Complete and discuss A 20-Day Study in Stewardship and/or Timothy Keller’s Generosity DVD Study.
- Join an existing PCC prayer meeting or start a new prayer time with people near my home or work.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” - Matthew 22:37
Witness: Loving God's World
Globally: I will grow in my love for God’s global and cross-cultural mission through participation in Perspectives on the Global Christian Movement.
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
Locally: I will grow in my love for God’s local mission more by sharpening my skills in engaging with those around me.
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 8:11
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
- Volunteer to help with the Perspectives Spring 2018 course (Mid-January through Mid-May).
- Audit one week of Perspectives.
- Participate in a Perspectives “Recap” Core Discipleship Course.
Locally: I will grow in my love for God’s local mission more by sharpening my skills in engaging with those around me.
I will do this through one or more of the following actions:
- Read and apply Honest Evangelism by Rico Tice.
- Be a light in one of the communities in which God has placed me.
- Pray weekly for a college student on the Peninsula.
I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 8:11
Why Have Goals?
Paul makes it clear in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 that churches will have “good purposes” — they will have goals. And they will own them — “good purposes of yours.” These purposes are linked to action which is “prompted by your faith.” They are goals that can only come about as God’s people identify what He is calling them to strive for and trust Him to fulfill.
At the Chapel our team of elders leads by carefully and prayerfully setting goals. When you commit to taking their leadership seriously, God promises you some “advantage:”
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. - Hebrews 13:17
Our annual Prayer & Action Goals are just that. They call us to pray for the purposes God puts on our hearts. They call us to act in faith on those purposes. When each of us commits to exploring ways to advance our goals, the results are amazing.
Our goals don’t describe everything we will do in the coming year. Rather they identify areas that are in some way broken and need to be fixed or they are areas in which God is on the move and He would have us build upon what He is doing.
At the Chapel our team of elders leads by carefully and prayerfully setting goals. When you commit to taking their leadership seriously, God promises you some “advantage:”
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. - Hebrews 13:17
Our annual Prayer & Action Goals are just that. They call us to pray for the purposes God puts on our hearts. They call us to act in faith on those purposes. When each of us commits to exploring ways to advance our goals, the results are amazing.
Our goals don’t describe everything we will do in the coming year. Rather they identify areas that are in some way broken and need to be fixed or they are areas in which God is on the move and He would have us build upon what He is doing.
