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“Prophetic People”

Are Discerning

John Isaacs
KingsWay Community Church

February 3, 2008
CREATED
and
CHOSEN
For God’s Glory
Isaiah 43:7 & 1 Peter 2:9-12
Chosen by God
to be His people -
Created to fill the
earth with His
Glory!
Our Church Covenant
2 “L’s”
3 “P’s”
a “U” and a “B”
Our Church Covenant
• Glorify God as a Loving People.
• Glorify God as a Prophetic People.
• Glorify God as a United People.
• Glorify God as a People of Praise.
• Glorify God as a People of Prayer.
• Glorify God as a People of Light.
• Glorify God as a People of Blessing.
GOD

Prophetic (Listen)
Praise Prayer

Loving CHURCH United


God’s Chosen
People

Light Blessing
Prophetic (Speak)

THE WORLD
A Prophetic People
We covenant ourselves to
be a prophetic people,
inspired and directed by the
Holy Spirit, and committed
to uphold God’s Word as
our rule of faith and
practice.
A Prophetic People
• Not a company of Prophets.
• The essential nature and
mission of the Church.
• A people that live and think
biblically.
• A people that discern truth from
error – right from wrong.
A Prophetic People
• A people that engage our culture
without being defined by it.
• A people that listen to God and
do what He is asking.
• A people that are passionate for
the things of God and His
kingdom.
Priorities
of a
Prophetic
People
Priorities of a Prophetic People
2. Intimate Relationship with Jesus.
3. Obey God and Let Him Work it Out.
4. Let God Fight Your Battles.
5. Wait Upon the Lord.
6. View Everything as From God.
7. Define Ministry by Your Burden.
8. Serve God Out of Your Weakness.
Prophetic
People
Are
Discerning
Able to “engage”
the culture
without being
defined by it.
A prophetic
people live in the
world but are
not of the world.
Two Reasons The Church
Isn’t a Prophetic People:

1. It becomes too
“worldly.”
In the World
Of the World
Two Reasons The Church
Isn’t a Prophetic People:

2. It becomes too “self-


righteous.”
Not In the World
Not Of the World
John 9:5
As long as I am in the world, I
am the light of the world.
John 17:11
Now I am no longer in the
world, but these are in the
world, and I come to You. Holy
Father, keep through Your
name those whom You have
given Me, that they may be one
as We are.
2 Corinthians 1:12
For our boasting is this: the
testimony of our conscience
that we conducted ourselves in
the world in simplicity and
godly sincerity, not with fleshly
wisdom but by the grace of
God.
Philippians 2:15
That you may become
blameless and harmless,
children of God without fault in
the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among
whom you shine as lights in the
world.
As long as I am
in the world, I
am the light of
the world. (John 9:5)
Two Reasons The Church
Withdraws & Isolates

1. FEAR …
• Of contamination
• Of rejection
Two Reasons The Church
Withdraws & Isolates

2. OFFENSE …
• How dare they be sinners.
• How dare they believe
that about my God.
A fearful and
offended church
withdraws into
isolation!
A fearful and
offended church
cannot fulfill its
mission to be
God’s light!
A fearful and
offended church
cannot fill the
earth with
God’s glory!
Overcome our
fear and offense
by being
Discerning
Hebrews 5:13-14
13 For everyone who partakes
only of milk is unskilled in the word
of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14 But solid food belongs to those
who are of full age, that is, those
who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
21 Test all things; hold fast what is
good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
“Discernment is the
process of making careful
distinctions in our thinking
about truth. The discerning
person is the one who
draws a clear contrast
between truth and error.”
-John MacAruthur
“Discrimination is to
separate things from
one another at their
points of difference in
order to distinguish
them.” -Jay Adams
Discernment is not …
• telling others what to
think.
• condemning those who
do not think the way we
do.
John 3:17
For God did not send His
Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might
be saved.
Discernment is …
• ability to think biblically
about all areas of life.
• ability to distinguish
good from evil.
Discernment is …
• ability to detect truth
from falsehood.
• ability to make
decisions that are in
agreement with God.
Discernment is …
• what enables us to
engage our culture and
be salt and light.
Living In the World but
not being Of the World.
Our safety is not in
isolating from the
ideas, philosophies,
entertainment, and
“worldliness” of the
world.
Our safety is in our
relationship with Jesus
Christ and our
sensitivity to the Holy
Spirit.
As long as I am
in the world, I
am the light of
the world. (John 9:5)
Chosen by God to
be His people -
Created to glorify
God as a
prophetic people.

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