The Church on Offense

By: Scott Armstrong

What important days we have had as the Church of the Nazarene. Recently, the denomination’s 30^th General Assembly and Global Conventions adjourned, with key leaders having been elected and many important decisions having been made on doctrine and polity of the Church.

One of the things that is sticking with me days later is General Superintendent David Busic’s sermon during the June 11 evening service.

Preaching from Matthew 16:15-19, Busic zeroed in on verse 18 where Jesus tells Peter, “…on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” His primary focus was to paint the same image that Jesus was describing: a Church on offense, attacking hell, driving back its gates, and hell not surviving the assault. Christ tells us that the gates of hell will not prevail against us, His Church.

Here are a few of the quotes that I wrote down after re-watching the message. May you be inspired as I have been, and may we together be a part of a Church known for bombarding hell through audacious prayer and courageous love!

• “I don’t even know how Nazarenes play defense. We start homes for unwed mothers. We take care of orphans. We start child development centers for kids who have nowhere else to go. We provide food for the poor. We come alongside single moms. We come alongside people in recovery. We take the gospel to the nations because this is what holiness gospel is about.”
• “We’re about going into the darkest places of our world and saying, ‘You are not alone here. Jesus has not left you. He loves you. He can redeem you. He can restore you. He can transform you.’”
• “The goal of the Church of the Nazarene is not to perpetuate our institution; it’s to follow Jesus into his mission in the world.”
• “God wants to send us to dangerous places to do difficult things because that’s where the power of the Spirit is. You want to see the power of the Spirit unleashed in your life? You get out of your comfort zone. You start pushing back the gates of hell. And all of a sudden, you’re going to see heaven’s power unleashed on you.”
• “We need more daring people with courageous plans. We need people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than they are of making mistakes. We need people who are more afraid of eternal regret than they are of temporary failure.”