Goal Two: PERMEATE! Engaging every individual, church, and agency in the Great Commandments.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” [New International Version (niv) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society]

The Great Commission is our ministry; the Great Commandments are our message. But more, even more than our message, these commandments define who we are—passionate lovers of God and sacrificial servants of others. Just as we do not invent—or even get to vote on—our mission, neither do we get to invent the message. Neither of these is a choice—they are both commands, commands from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Church of God Ministries and its transformational partners desire that all who travel under the banner of the Church of God reformation movement will understand that this transformational goal—engaging everyone in the Great Commandments—means living our personal and corporate lives in such a way that all come to see the Christ we serve and adore. If we are to be embodiments of the Message, then we must learn a clearer more biblical view of the One we serve. What does it mean to be the embodiment of this Message: to be like Christ, which means we must learn the heart of God. Living Great Commandment love in the Spirit of Jesus means discovering this Jesus: The welcoming (accepting) Jesus of Luke 19:5; the encouraging Jesus of Luke 22:32; the compassionate (weeping) Jesus of John 11:35; the embracing Jesus of Matthew 19:15; the lovingly confrontive Jesus of John 18:11; and the grace-filled Jesus of Luke 15.

The resources you will find on this page will assist us all—personally and corporately—to become passionate lovers of God and sacrificial servants of others.

Over the next years, these resources will be refreshed, more fully developed, and new resources will be added.

Resources:

Preamble—The Servant Church: This link will take you to an introduction to a key ministry concept directly related to the fulfillment of the Great Commandments.

Sometimes we think it is really complicated to be a witness. Sometimes we think it requires a big flashy show to get people to pay attention. Sometimes we think we have to have all kinds of programs and services going on in our church to get people to come visit. Jesus drew crowds because he was available, because he met needs, and because he cared for everyone.

This link will take you to a story about how one challenged young man made a huge difference in the place he worked. I wonder if this would work in the Great Commandment and the Relationally Connected church?

A Servant Church Bibliography: The “servant church” is the name for those churches that embrace the radical Great Commandment message and commit to growing as Great Commandment churches in their locale. This link will take you to a bibliography of over 25 print resources to help you discover what it means to be a servant church and to help you plan in that direction. Each of these resources is recommended by a pastor, state, or national leader and provides some insight into purpose and value of the resource.

A New Servant Church Resource: an un-STOPPABLE force by Erwin McManus

“This book is a must read for any serious student of the church, its culture and its impact on our world. Some books you read; other books read you. UnStoppable Force is that type book. This resource will create a greater desire and willingness to talk about and initiate change.”
—Mitch Burch, State Pastor, West Virginia Ministries

Read more about this book at www.erwinmcmanus.com/unstoppableforce

To order this book, click here.

Great Commandment Network: Here you will find a link to the Great Commandment Network. This message and mission oriented Web site will connect you with a ministry and a huge range of resources that is oriented and driven to live out the Great Commandment in all that they do and help all others to discover and live the Message as well. This Web site is rich with audio, visual, and print resources. Intimate Life Ministries, a long time ministry partner of Church of God Ministries, provides the Galatians 6:6 Intimate Marriage Retreats co-sponsored by Church of God Ministries.

Snedden, Brenda. Sermon: PERMEATE! Engaging every individual, church, and agency in the Great Commandments. (audio, manuscript)

Preaching, Teaching, and Discussion Resources: PERMEATE! Inspiration, guidance, and helps on how to preach and teach about Transformational Goal #2 can be found by clicking on this link. On the new page you will find a variety of resources written and developed by your fellow pastors and area administrators as they have, on their own, with their congregations, and with other pastors engaged in transforming the culture by being the body of Christ.

We are often reminded that we live in the "me" generation—the focus of many folks is often best described by the question, "What's in it for me?" This attitude is often found in the pews of nearly every local church. Jesus calls the church to be the Great Commandment Church and the Great Commission Church. This link will take you to www.ignitermedia.org where you can—for a small fee—download a short video that will help you and your church think about what it means to be a Great Commandment church.