"Empowerment"

"When this became known to the Jews and
Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized
with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was
held in high honor. Many of those who
believed now came and openly confessed their
evil deeds."

                                                ACTS 19:17-18

Power is let loose when Christians start living
out the Gospel on a grass-roots level. Just read
Acts19. The early church unlocked the power
of God's Word as they turned upside their local
communities. Neighbors in Ephesus were
gripped with an awesome fear of God as they
gathered to openly confess their waywardness.
It even says they held the name of the Lord
Jesus in high honor. Can you imagine such a
thing in your community?

    Because first-century Christians lived out
the Gospel on a local level, God got people's
 attention. And the same can happen today.
The Lord wNts to use this time of social
unrest and political change as an
unprecedented opportunity for the local
church to demonstrate the power of God to
change a situation. To change people's lives,
to change a community.

    Empowerment involves the people closest
to a problem learning how to solve it
themselves. Need a few ideas? Just open your
 eyes. Elderly people in dilapidated. Suicide
among teenagers. Lonely widows in busy
neighborhoods. Abused wives and battered
children. Girls with unwanted pregnancies.
Disabled people needing housekeeping help.
Drug abuse in schools.

    These are the problems you live close to.
And when believers begin living out the
Gospel on a grass-roots level, God will get
people's attention.       

    God's life-changing power shakes a
community when a church directly
 addresses the needs in the streets, schools,
 and home. The Gospel is best declared
when it is demonstrated toward the people
 closest to you