Mere Missions

T he H oly S pirit : E mpower • 71

Content 2: “E” of an Apostolic Missions Platform: Empower

Though there is a great amount of focus on the work of the Holy Spirit in the individual Christian,

there is the community side to the Holy Spirit as well. It was the risen and exalted Lord Jesus who gave the Holy Spirit to form a new people who would constitute the “Community of the Kingdom” in a locality. This community of believers are to faithfully, and aggressively, move forward to multiply. Through the called and recognized leadership of the church, individuals would be identified, and empowered - given authority - to go and form functioning, multiplying local churches, that would bear the fruit of the Kingdom of God, where there is no church. Planting churches is the fruit of a local church’s efforts in missions. If this is the fruit of the Church’s prayers and labors, then we must be clear on what a church is so that we know when it is planted. Ask a hundred different people and you might get a hundred different answers. The Bible gives many descriptive words for the Church. Here is a sampling from the song, The Church of the Living God in Jesus Christ . The words are by Dr. Don Davis and Rev. Terry Cornett, and the music is by Dr. Don Davis.

A people of God’s possession, A Nation thru Messiah’s blood, A Body of Christ’s own members, A Temple where God is loved, We’re an Army that stands in battle, The Branches of God’s True Vine, We’re the Church of the Living God, In Jesus Christ.