Did you know there is a new network of churches forming to advance the gospel in Kuala Lumpur? It’s something you should know about and consider joining. Gospel City Network is about something bigger than us.
Discovering the need to be part of a network reminds me of watching my infant son become aware that his body is a physical network – a whole body made up of many parts. First he discovered that he has a tongue, using it loudly, and spraying anything within a meter of it. Then he found his toes. Then he discovered his toes could be connected to his tongue, to his great satisfaction. He learned he was made up of many individual parts, vitally connected, and that when properly controlled, they could be used to great effect!
We believe God can use us to greater effect in KL if we are connected together as a network. A network is “a group or system of interconnected people or things”. The need to network has become obvious in business, communications, and social media as globalization has picked up speed, and it is increasingly apparent that learning how to network is essential to the survival and success of the Church today. Gospel City Network is a group of individual churches, distinct in their identity but connected by relationship, seeking to achieve all that Christ commanded of us in reaching the lost in our city.
While practical arguments can be made for networking, as believers we must look through the lens of Scripture first. We believe GCN should be a network because of three other things Scripture says are “bigger than us.”
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God’s Nature Is Bigger Than Us – Genesis 1 records how God created order out of chaos. Did you know the opposite of “network” is disorganization? God’s well-organized creation demonstrates the importance of interconnectedness. Additionally, creation reflects the nature of its Creator. Genesis 1:26 reveals that our Creator-God is a unique tri-unity, a relationship within himself: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (emphasis added) The idea of networking is found in the very being of the one who created us!
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God’s Mission Is Bigger Than Us – All those saved by Jesus Christ are called to His mission. When Jesus told us “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations,” the magnitude of our mission was revealed. Simply put, it’s a bigger task than one person, one church, or one denomination can accomplish alone. Obedience to Christ’s command requires us to network!
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God’s Church Is Bigger Than Us – When the Church is described in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, Paul uses the metaphor of a body to describe how individual believers are part of the community of Christ. He says “we were all baptized into one body” even though “the body…has many members.” We are vitally interconnected, having “all [been] made to drink of one Spirit.”
