By BRAD Hall |
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COMMIT TO LIKE EACH OTHER I reflect on this month β s
AS chapter health article , I am urged by the Holy Spirit to challenge CMA at all levels of membership ( from National staff to chapter members ) to take the foundational element of Fellowship seriously . Not just a monthly fellowship ride , but an intentional gut-rooted desire to become family , even a family that likes each other . Shawna and I have been challenged by the Holy Spirit to ask the question : What will it take for our members to long for the next opportunity to see each other again ? So , with this thought in mind , I just want to share a couple of ideas . A monthly fellowship ride or eating event is good , but let β s crank this fellowship thing up a notch . Our evangelist team has begun planning a time each year when we rent a house together . We spend time in the mornings singing praises together , meditating on God β s Word , and praying over and for one another . The days are spent eating food , playing games , resting , and just enjoying getting to know each other and loving each other at a deeper Christlike level . If you are fortunate enough to have an amazing road captain like Jerod , you may even get to take a 20-mile off-road adventure on your cruiser motorcycles . These are moments that will bond us forever . What I am saying is : When you have the opportunity to β live β together for a while ; things change . Here in the Southeast Region ( and I know other regions do this too ), our
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State Coordinator team spends a long weekend together in one house to grow as a family and team much like the evangelist team does . These weekends are times to talk about anything other than the β business of the ministry β and just worship the Lord in fellowship together in Him . On this trip , we also try to find time to minister together as a team . As leaders , we found that this is also an opportunity to grow together .
This idea of spending deeper , more quality time together to strengthen the health of the ministry is not a new idea . Acts 2:44-47 ( NKJV ) tells us :
β Now all who believed were together , and had all things in common , and sold their possessions and goods , and divided them among all , as anyone had need .
So , continuing daily with one accord in the temple , and breaking bread from house to house , they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart , praising God and having favor with all the people . And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved .β
Weekends like this remind me of what the early church did and how they were able to grow . I know we
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are not the church , but we sure do resemble a bunch of Spirit-filled disciples working towards the worldwide spread of the Gospel . I am writing this , not to highlight the evangelist team or the state coordinator team , but to encourage you to plan weekends like this at the chapter level . Actually , you ( the members ) are so important to the Kingdom of God and the ministry of CMA , I believe it β s of greater importance for the chapters to fellowship in this manner than for us .
One final story . I was at a state rally and heard a testimony of a chapter president . His story went like this :
One day , as a chapter , we decided that we were going to learn to like each other . So , we rented a house in the mountains , and all spent the weekend together . Do you want to know what happened ? We learned to like each other , and now we love each other . Every year we rent a cabin in the mountains and our chapter has been blessed by it .
Brothers and sisters , let us deepen our fellowship with each other and , in turn , with our Savior . CMA
Brad and Shawna Hall oversee the Southeast Region as National Evangelist .
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23βͺSEPTEMBER 2024βͺwww . cmausa . org |