series: Core Values

title: six:collaboration

date: October 29, 2017

teacher: Jacob Bender

scriptures: 1 Kings 5:3-7, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:15, Deuteronomy 6:5, 1 Corinthians 3:9

There is a concept that you are probably familiar with called open source.

WATCH this short clip about the concept of "Open Source" as it could apply to the church and the way that we Collaborate with each other!

what happens is that a product is made available for free, and can be redistributed for free, AND, here is the kicker… it can be modified at will.

So someone may have a great idea…

and they put it out there… and put out every step that they took to get there… and then SOMEONE ELSE takes all of the research and work that the first person did, and they build on to that research, to tailer that program to meet a DIFFERENT need, or just to add on to it and make it better.

and I started thinking about that as it applies to my life… and as it applies to the ministry… as it applies to MY dreams… AND YOUR DREAMS… and everything that God has put in all of our hearts to accomplish on HIS BEHALF…

Click Here to read the article that Pastor Jacob referenced in this message. "Detroit and Grand Rapids: What can these major Michigan cities learn from each other?" — Click Here to read the article that Pastor Jacob referenced in this message. "**Detroit and Grand Rapids: What can these major Michigan cities learn from each other?**"

and I realized… if every time God gives me a dream, I hold on to that dream, and I try to run with that dream, and I have to be in every detail of that dream… that dream is not coming to life and if it does, it isn’t going to reach anyone…

God has given us all dreams, but one thing that he showed me long ago, is that they are HIS DREAMS… and He births them in my heart and in the hearts of OTHERS… and the only way that they will ever come to pass is if other people catch it… and I dare say, BUILD ON TO IT.

Make it BETTER.

We are Better Together.

Featured

Character means that We live publicly like we do in private. We write the Word of God on our hearts, practice generosity, and prioritize integrity.

Commission means that we are a sending church. We honor the past, while we work for the future. And we always believe that everyone’s brightest days are ahead of them.

connection is living a life of constant community with God.

He is our supplier, who is as close to us as the air that we breathe.

conversation means that we bind and we loose together, we learn together, we serve together, and we grow together.

We welcome each other’s perspectives, and we depend on each other’s accountability.

collaboration is all of us working together to create something better than any of us could create on our own.

Contribution understands that everybody has a role, and there is room for us here. We know that the gifts we are given matter to the body of Christ, and we so seek to discover where we each fit.

We honor the contributions of others, knowing that God perfectly crafted each one of us, and only together are we truly the church.

Community is a body, committed to all its parts.

Compassion sees the world through the eyes of others, and it is stirred to action by what it sees. It can not sit by while injustice is done around it.

communion is a common union of broken people, who are made whole by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We are united by our differences, and there is a seat for everyone at the table.

Courage goes to the places that nobody else wants to go, and works to create places that everybody wants to be. Courage loves the one who nobody else wants to love…