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StrGods
00-9-94 GOD’S RENOWN The Local Church Ignited for God’s Glory Among All
Peoples! A Journey to God, the Local Church and All Peoples Mike Stroope All Peoples, Arlington, TX, 171
pp., soft cover, 1999 |
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Mike Stroope, president of All Peoples, a mission
organization devoted to unreached peoples, has written an eight-lesson Bible
journey focused on God’s purpose for creation, the Church, and the nations –
his own renown. The content, theme,
and flow are very helpful for seeing the “big picture.” Application questions reinforce the main
points of each session. The book
includes a facilitator’s guide, end notes, and a helpful set of practical
resources. The sequence begins with God, Creation, and Covenant, and
continues with Christ, and The Commission.
Chapters six and seven focus on all peoples and the empowered
church. And the last section is a
personal challenge. Ch 1. God is like None Other. He desires that his creation acknowledge Him alone as God. Ch 2. Creation: All Peoples for His Glory. “God created mankind in order that He
might be known and worshipped as the Creator. Creation is the expression of God’s passion for praise and
worship.” (27) “Everything exists to praise the
Creator!” (28) “Because worship is
absent, chaos reigns on the earth.” (29) Ch 3. Covenant: A people for His Glory. God plans to bring all peoples to worship
through a covenant people. Jesus is
the mediator of a new covenant people.
The Church is the people of God’s Glory. In the church and in Christ Jesus, God intends to make His
glory known. Ch 4. Christ: The
Glory and Love of God. “In Jesus
Christ we see the complete demonstration of God’s glory and love.” (59) “If we seek to understand the
[resurrection] from our need rather than from God’s global and eternal
purpose, we will fall short of its true significance and reality.” “Jesus Christ is the summit of God’s
purposes for all peoples for all time.”
(60-1) Ch 5. Commission:
The People of God Called and Sent.
“…the Church has been called and sent to proclaim God’s glory and love
to the ends of the earth.” (77) “Every local church exists to proclaim
Christ to its culture and to the world.”
(78) “Christ is the model for the Church. As the Father sent Jesus, so now Jesus
sends the Church. Only God
sends. The Church is not the sender,
but the one sent.” “Sending remains
as a way for the Church in every age.”
(82-3) “The Church is best described as the called and sent
people of God. Calling precedes
sending, and calling is incomplete without sending.” God’s People, the Church is called to
Christ (to his character and purpose) and is sent by God’s Spirit to the ends
of the earth. (85) Ch 6.
Celebration! All Peoples
Worshipping God. “All peoples
worshipping God is the goal of creation and history.” (93)
“God created, covenanted and commissioned in order to perfect worship
of Him by all the peoples of the earth.”
(94) “God’s passion is that
all peoples know and worship Him.”
(95) The word all is
used in conjunction with the nations
119 times throughout Scripture. (98) Ch 7. Consumed:
The Church Empowered for God’s Glory.
“The Spirit of God ignites, purifies and empowers the Church for
impact.” “The task of impacting the
peoples of the earth should not be a burden, chore or frustration.” “Radical obedience is our surrender to the
Holy Spirit and His power. In
radical, obedient surrender there is explosive effect and freedom to impact
the peoples of the earth!” (113) “The Church, within a hundred years of Peter’s words at Pentecost, spread like wildfire…. The Church of the first century was aflame. Ordinary and uneducated men and women possessed by God’s power and glory impacted the known world.” (114) “In other words, God ignites His Church!” (115) “The Church receives the Holy Spirit not for its own
enjoyment or its needs alone. It
receives the Holy Spirit in order to declare God’s renown to the ends of the
earth.” (117) “…the Church cannot maintain its light except by the fire
of the Holy Spirit.” (118) “The power of the Holy Spirit propels the
Church to the ends of the earth.”
(119) “The Great Commission is not just about travelling to the
ends of the earth. It is about coming
to the end of ourselves -–our wealth, our power, our ability and our
lives. Commission follows radical,
obedient surrender to the activity of God’s Spirit in our lives.” (120) “God’s renown will impact the nations as the ignited
Church, fueled by the glory of the Lord, burns as a light to the
nations.” (123) Ch 8. A Life Like
None Other. A call to surrender to
the grand agenda of God. “Live and
die for God’s renown!” (127) Question: What is
the measure of one’s personal life? Question: What is
the measure of the local church? Recommended disciplines:
(138-9) 1.
Worship God. 2.
Embrace Jesus Christ – His ways, words and life. 3.
Walk by faith rather than by sight. 4.
Return to God the resources He has entrusted to
you. 5.
Pray and fast regularly so that you know Him and
His ways. 6.
Live passionately, radically and faithfully – every
moment, every day. 7.
Stand with the Church – the body of Christ. 8.
Grow in global awareness. 9.
Obey radically and immediately the commands of God. 10.
Fight the good fight – to the very end. “Keep Watch, Dream the
Dream and Do
Whatever it Takes To impact Every Nation, Tribe,
People and Language With
a Passion for God…and Nothing Less!”
(140) Order copies at $9.95 plus shipping from info@ftfministries.org. Title line: Attn: Jenni – God’s Renown
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