The Call to Prepare
Throughout the Scriptures, God calls His people to prepare. The Israelites were told to get ready to leave Egypt by preparing their doorposts. A generation later, Joshua told the people to prepare for the crossing over of the Jordan by sanctifying (preparing) themselves. Jesus’ story of the wise and foolish virgins teaches that only those who are prepared get to enter the kingdom. He told His disciples to watch and wait for His return, an obvious command to live in a constant state of spiritual preparedness.
In each of these instances, obedience was the key that unlocked the future for the people of God. Being spiritually prepared means living in a state of willful obedience. Said another way, spiritual preparedness means developing an attitude of saying “yes” to God.
Spiritual preparedness has a clearly identifiable objective: to help the believer and the church to realize why they exist. The Bible, beginning with God’s call to the Israelites at Sinai (Exodus 19) and continuing with the commissioning of the new Israel (2 Peter 2:5,9) reveals a God who is intent on creating a people who will join Him in His redemptive mission in the world. A kingdom-minded, spiritually prepared believer is a Christian with a clear sense of life’s mission. A kingdom-minded, spiritually prepared church is a congregation with a clear sense of mission. This mission has never changed. We (the church) are the people of God created to partner with Him in His redemptive efforts in the world.
Spiritual preparation does not come in a can, a box, or a planning module. It is not a program. It is a quest. Intentional prayer efforts are always present for any significant level of spiritual preparation to be achieved. These may be specially-called or ongoing. Sometimes a multi-week, multi-faceted approach of calling the church to prayer serves as a way for God to raise the spiritual awareness of the congregation, preparing them to hear from Him in a fresh way. When the church is hungry for God to show Himself, then Thy Kingdom Come can prepare you for your next chapter of church ministry.
· Preview the Thy Kingdom Come materials with your key leaders. Show the introduction DVD to key leaders, church council, deacons, the entire congregation.
· Secure approval to enter the process from whomever you need.
· Present the Thy Kingdom Come workshop for the congregation.
· Establish a calendar for:
§ Thy Kingdom Come workshop.
§ Commissioning the futuring group.
§ Church member covenant.
§ Congregational survey.
§ Biblical lesson in Sunday School or small group study.
These events are usually done in the first weeks of Thy Kingdom Come process.
