Written by Peter Blanch
Magnification [that is: bringing glory to God and magnifying his great name] is the heartbeat and the spearhead of everything we do at Wagga Wagga Evangelical Church. As God himself tells us through the Apostle Paul:
“… whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
Whatever we do as a church family – it all must be done to the glory of God – to magnify his name.
It is important to alway keep reminding ourselves of this purpose because we can so easily lose sight of the direction of our life together.
We all know in our own lives that it is possible to pray a prayer, forgive a wound, love an enemy, welcome a new person, give money away … but do it simply out of duty; reducing our living for God down to a command to obey or a habit we’re just keeping up. But we must not forget that whatever we do – we do it all for the glory of God, to magnify him and to love and delight in Him forever.
When you remember that all of life is about bring glory to God, ask yourself this key question: “If God wants me to do everything in my life for his glory – how do I go about increasing the amount of glory to God from the way I live my life?”
When we have thought carefully about this question as a church, we ended up with 4 distinct purpose areas in which we all need to grow. These purpose areas are: Membership, Mission, Ministry and Maturity. We aim to grow in each of these 4 areas in order to increase our Magnification of God. Let’s think together about each of these purposes:
Membership
Membership is all about us belonging to God and therefore belonging to each other. If you belong to Christ, you are part of his body, you are in God’s family. Everyone in God’s family matter to each other – we cannot be indifferent to each other – we care for each other deeply. No matter who you are, no matter what background you have, no matter what sins God has forgiven you, no matter how you assess your own giftedness – if you confess Jesus Christ as Lord then you are in the family of God and together we are locked in for eternity. We bring glory to God when we give expression to this in a genuine, heartfelt and real way.
Mission
God’s name is greatly glorified when we share his heart for the lost – and urgently pursue evangelism. This results not only in God’s name being magnified in our own lives, but also in the lives of others who, with Gods help, turn their lives around and start to live their lives for the glory of God. When it comes to mission it is important to remember that God could do it all himself. He aligned the stars to write the message about Jesus in the night sky. He could beam his voice through every iPod, radio and television in the world and make people listen to what he has got to say. He could order the angels to proclaim the gospel. Amazingly though, although God does not need you, He wants you. He wants you to partner with him in his mission. It’s a good partnership for us:
We do the planting … He gives the growth
We do the watering … He gives the growth
We do the fertilising … He gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3)
It is a great partnership because God really does all the work! He makes it all happen and so he deserves all the credit. But at the same time we must see the privilege it is that he partners with us. Not because he has to, but because he wants to. Out of his love for us he wants us to join with him in his mission. We will magnify his name more and more as we partner with God in his mission work.
Ministry
This purpose area is all about identifying, equipping and unleashing God’s people for works of service. God has a purpose for you in service, to be his servant, to use the skills, abilities, strengths, talents, time and money he has given to you to serve Him. To work and labour faithfully for God. Your attitude should be the same as Jesus who did not come to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45, Philippians 2). God’s name is magnified greatly when we serve him in love.
Maturity
God has a purpose for you to mature, to grow up into maturity. God doesn’t just save you, he wants to transform you into the likeness of his Son. God has called on you to be engaged in the serious business of becoming more like Jesus. His purpose for us in maturity is for our own good and for the good of those around us -and all this to His glory.
The Five M’s
What is clear is that our Heavenly Father doesn’t just want us to be saved and then kill time waiting for Jesus to come back. He wants you to mature. He wants you to be engaged in serving others through ministry. He wants you to get on board with his mission to save people for eternity. He wants you to express your membership in the family of God by loving and caring deeply for each other. He wants you to use your life to magnify his name as you grow in each of these areas.
We must never forget that our whole lives are not about us, but about God. Every decision, every choice, in every moment, in good times and hard times, you have the opportunity to magnify God and put a smile on His face. Your life is the place where the God of the universe is magnified and glorified. This is what life is about, and what Wagga Wagga Evangelical church is all about.
To God be the glory.
Peter Blanch
