Goooal!
Theme of the Week: A Diverse Communion
Erwin Raphael McManus
Friday, June 11, 2004
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Key Bible Verse: I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:22). Bonus Reading:1 Corinthians 9:20—23
In 1988 the Dallas paper ran an article about a teacher being attacked by a student in an east Dallas community. That inspired us to form a team and build a Spanish-speaking church in the midst of this crisis. We named it El Pueblo de Dios. We tried to eliminate our assumptions about what church should look like. That freed us to base our structure on the cultural patterns of a dominantly Spanish-speaking, Mexican community.
We met together to pray and distribute information to families that were open to the gospel. We worshiped on Sunday nights, but we'd take gifts of pandulce to these families on Sunday mornings, knowing they'd be home. We determined that the best entry point for reaching Latin men—our primary target—would be to organize a city soccer team. So we did that.
We soon discovered that the games were in direct conflict with our worship service, and so for our new congregation, the solution was simple: Move the worship time so everybody could go to the soccer match. After all, we reasoned, the church didn't exist for its organizers. We were the church; we were here for the world.
—Erwin Raphael McManus in An Unstoppable Force
My Response: What change in my comfortable routine can I make to bring others to God?
Thought to Apply: You can't spell brothers without at the same time spelling others.
—source unknown
Adapted from An Unstoppable Force (Group, 2001) by permission.
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As Head of the Church, O Christ, give me a love for Your Body that transcends personal preferences and cultural norms.
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