Lesson 8: the Church As a Window
The Basics Course
Lesson 8: The Church as a Window
The Church is like a window through which the broken world can see God’s good intentions for all areas of people’s lives: spiritually, physically, socially, and in wisdom. We will look at several Scripture passages detailing how God wants us to live. While our disobedience creates a wall that obscures the window—keeping the world from knowing about God’s great love for all people—our obedience to Christ’s commandments reveals the goodness of God’s intentions for salvation and restoration both now and in the future.
1. Introduction
The Church is like a “window” through which the broken world can see God’s intentions in the present and the future. Our disobedience creates a wall that keeps the world from knowing about God’s great love for them.
God’s compassionate and glorious intentions for broken man include forgiveness of sin, restoration of the relationship between man and God and restoration of the broken creation. He has made a perfect provision for our redemption and has promised a wonderful future at Jesus’ return.
Believers’ obedience to Christ’s commandments "makes visible" the goodness of God’s intentions for salvation and restoration both in the future and in the present.
2. Presentation
Watch video 1 of 4: Does the Church Have Good News for This Broken World Today?
God's intention is to bring healing and restoration to this broken world yet, as Bob Moffitt explains, all too often, the Church is failing to to reflect God's full redemptive concern. It has a message of Good News for eternity, but what about Good News that touches the deepest areas of human need today?
Discussion
Does God have good news now and if he does what might that good news be?
Watch video 2 of 4: What is God's Will for Our Lives?
What is the difference between heaven and Earth? Bob Moffitt answers this question using the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-10. In heaven, God's will is perfectly done--not so on Earth. But God's intention is that his will be done on the Earth as it is in heaven. How do we know what God's will is? Bob looks at several passages that reveal what God's will is for our personal lives, our families, the church, how we treat non-Christians and even how we treat our enemies.
Discussion
Do all Christians in your community live according to God’s will in the areas mentioned in this lesson?
What would happen if all who called themselves Christians lived according to God’s intentions in these areas?
Watch video 3 of 4: The Church as a Window
According to Bob Moffitt, a "wall" of sin prevents our broken world from seeing what God's good intentions are for their lives. This wall is not the world's sin but the sin of the Church when it fails obey God and do His will. God wants his Church to be a "window" through which the broken world can see God's good intentions for their lives in all areas: physically, spiritually, socially, and in wisdom.
Discussion
Which of the four areas of God’s concern do you think the people of your community can clearly see as they look through the window of your church?
Watch video 4 of 4: Salt and Light in a Broken World
The Bible provides many metaphors of what the Church should be in the midst of our broken world. We are to be "ambassadors" and "first fruits" of God's kingdom. We are to be "salt" and "light." Bob Moffitt tells the story of how one church in Uganda came to understand its purpose and faithfully live it out with transformational impact.
Discussion
List two to three practical ideas your church could implement to be a window in each of the four areas of Luke 2:52: Wisdom, Physical, Social, Spiritual.
3. Reading — see end of document
The Church as a Window
By Bob Moffitt
4. Application
1. Identify two new activities in each of the four areas that you and others in your church could realistically do to demonstrate God’s present intentions to the people of your community.
Wisdom area:
Spiritual area:
Physical area:
Social area:
2. Make a specific plan to do one of these activities.
Checklist for a specific plan:
- New activity
- Realistic (doable)
- Specific (who, what, where, when, how)
3. Share your plan with a friend, and commit to do it. Pray for one another.
4. Meet with one or more leaders of your church to show them your list and discuss the feasibility of your ideas.
5. Quiz
This 10-question quiz will help you review the key ideas from this lesson.
Question 1 of 10
What is God’s attitude toward broken mankind?
A God is impatient and frustrated at their sinfulness.
B Jesus came to save, not condemn.
C God is counting down the days when he can wipe sinners out and create a new heaven and earth.
D God gives sinful people what they deserve.
Question 2 of 10
What is to be our attitude toward broken mankind?
A We should abhor sin and keep ourselves separate from those who sin.
B We should point out to sinners their brokenness and should urge them to change.
C Our attitude should be the same as God’s.
D We should feel sorry for them.
Question 3 of 10
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Which of the following points does this lesson NOT make about this verse?
A This is the only prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray; therefore, it must be pretty important.
B God’s kingdom is where his will is done. Heaven is heaven because it is where God’s will is fully done. If God’s will were fully done on earth, then earth would be heaven.
C We are to pray for God’s will to be done here on earth.
D We must pray this prayer daily to ensure our salvation.
Question 4 of 10
God has good intentions for mankind in every area of life. Which of the areas below was NOT mentioned in this lesson?
A Our personal lives
B Our families
C Our Christian brothers and sisters
D Toward those in our work place and the world
E All of these were mentioned in this lesson
Question 5 of 10
What is the primary metaphor Bob used in this lesson to describe the Church?
A A window
B A door
C A tree
D A house
E A body
Question 6 of 10
In this lesson, Bob describes a wall that prevents the world from fully seeing God’s good intentions. What is this wall?
A Materialism
B Sin in general
C The sin of the Church
D The sin of non-Christians
Question 7 of 10
Bob describes the window in this lesson as having four panes. Each pane represents an aspect of God's good intention for fallen mankind, yet many churches allow the fallen world to see through only one pane. Which is it?
A The physical pane, revealing God’s intention for the health of our physical bodies and the environment
B The social pane, revealing God’s intention for our relationships with others, including our enemies
C The wisdom pane, revealing God’s truth, lived out in every area of life
D The spiritual pane, revealing God’s intention for fallen mankind to be reconciled to him through faith in Jesus
Question 8 of 10
Which of the following is NOT a true answer to this question? "How do we clean all of panes in the window, allowing the fallen world to see all of God's intentions?"
A We seek to do God’s will in our personal lives, in our family relationships, and toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.
B We seek to do God's will in relationship to the people in our workplace and community, including our neighbors, employees, employers, the poor, and even our enemies.
C We work to make our church programs more exciting and well-attended.
D We seek to do God’s will in relationship to our physical body and the physical well-being of others, and with regard to the environment.
Question 9 of 10
Several metaphors are used in this lesson to describe the Church. Which metaphor below was NOT mentioned.
A A rock: unmovable, unchanging
B A first fruit: a first taste of something good
C A legible letter: God's love letter to people that they can clearly read
D Salt: preserving and enhancing
Question 10 of 10
What was the primary assignment for the small groups in Watoto Church in Kampala, Uganda?
A Prior to attending the weekly group meeting, each member was to read through the weekly study guide.
B Prior to attending the weekly group meeting, each member was to read through the weekly study guide.
C Each member was to pray for one another.
D Each member in the small group was to go out during the week and find someone in need whom they could serve.
6. Going Deeper
Book – If Jesus Were Mayor: How Your Local Church Can Transform Your Community by Bob Moffitt with Karla Tesch (Monarch Books, 2006) is a significant book that brings together a lifetime of teaching and training from Bob Moffitt, founder and president of the Harvest Foundation and co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance. All of Bob’s lessons in this Basics Course are covered in this volume.
Book – Local Church Ministry Training (Harvest Foundation, 2007) is a training series for church leaders, helping them develop and practice a wholistic approach to ministry. The materials have helped pastors and church leaders in more than 100 nations throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. You can find this and a variety of training materials for churches at the Harvest Foundation website:
Book – When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor … and Yourself by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett (Moody Publishers, 2nd Edition, 2014) is a very helpful book for Christians who wish to engage in a Biblical, wholistic approach to ministry aimed at serving the poor and vulnerable.
The Church as a Window
By Bob Moffitt
Does God have any good news for now—for the present? Yes! His good news is not only for the future. Think of how He taught His disciples to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). On earth as it is in heaven! We may have recited this prayer so often that it has become meaningless. But it is not meaningless—it is powerful!
Where is God’s will done? According to the Lord’s Prayer, it is done in heaven. But Jesus taught us to pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it is done in heaven. God has intentions that His will be done, in the present, on earth. What would happen if God’s will were done on earth as it is done in heaven? What would happen if God’s will were done in your community or in your nation as it is in heaven? Earth would be very much like heaven! (Of course, God’s will is done perfectly in heaven; on earth, in the present, it is only done incompletely.)
Knowing God’s Intentions and His Will
What are some general aspects of God’s will for the present? In John 14:13 we see that, if we love God, we obey Him. God’s will is that we do His will! Matthew 28:18-20 affirms that doing His will includes discipling others to obey His will, too. Often, people remember only one part of the charge that Jesus gave to His church in the Great Commission—to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. But that is not the whole task. It is just the beginning of the task. After people have come to Christ, we are to disciple them to do God’s will. If we have not done that, we have not finished the Great Commission’s task. We must also disciple others to obey all that God has commanded.
How do we know God’s intentions—His will? We do not instinctively know His will, yet we have often even made knowing His will overly complex. We need revelation from His Word and His Spirit for what it means to do His will. Psalms 119:99-100 reminds us to meditate on and obey His Word. Proverbs 2:1-5 urges us to accept God’s Word to know His will. John 16:13 affirms that it is the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth.
Abraham’s chief servant provides an excellent model for us. He made an oath with Abraham to go back to Abraham’s country to get a wife for Isaac. He left for his journey and as he was going, the Lord led him. He had no idea what to do and how to find a wife that would agree to return to a foreign land. So, as he was going, he continued to seek the Lord and each step of the way, the Lord faithfully led him and the servant followed (Gen 24:48). There are some simple truths for us to learn from in this example: Be on a journey, seek the Lord as you are going, listen to Him and obey what He shows you to do. It is of little use to seek to know God’s will if we are not already on the journey of obeying what you already understand of His intentions.
Do all Christians in our community find God’s will this way—searching Scripture, guided by the Spirit and obeying what they understand of what He is showing them? What would happen if all who claim to be Christians in our community would seek to know God’s will as they make decisions about how they are to live and would then obey what their Father told them to do?
God’s Intentions for the Present
What does God tell us in His Word that He wants us to do in our personal lives? Many things! Acts 14:22 urges us to endure hardships. Ephesians 5:17-20 exhorts us to be sober and Spirit-filled—singing and thankful. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and 11 tell us to live holy, pure, productive lives. Do all who call themselves Christians in our community endure hardship? Are they sober and Spirit-filled, singing and thankful? Are they living holy and pure and productive lives? What are God’s intentions for our families? In Ephesians 5:21, we are told to be submissive and respectful of one another. Ephesians 6:4 tells us to train our children in holy living. What are God’s intentions for our relationships with our brothers and sisters? In John 13:34, we are told to love each other, and John 17:20-23 instructs us to live in unity. What would happen if all the Christians in our community sought to know God’s will and live as He commands? What if we all lived holy, pure, productive, respectful lives in our personal lives and families? What if we were united in our relationships with other believers? There would be a revolution!
What are God’s intentions for our present relationships to the needy of the world? In Romans 13:9, we are commanded to love our neighbors. In James 1:27, we learn we are to care for widows and orphans. In Jeremiah 22:3, 15, and 16, we learn that God expects us to advocate for those in need. What are God’s intentions for our relationships to employers, servants, government, and enemies? Colossians 4:1 tells us to be fair to those under our authority. 1 Peter 2:13-15 commands us to respect those in authority over us. Romans 13:1 also exhorts us to submit to those in authority. Luke 6:27, 35, and 36 instruct us to love our enemies and bless them. Do all Christians in our community live according to God’s will in these ways? What would happen if, at 9 o’clock next Monday morning, all of those who call themselves Christians would begin to live this way? It would be more than a revolution—it would be a revival! People would be drawn to God.
The impact of our obedience goes far beyond our own relationships with the Lord. We use this drawing to illustrate the significance of our obedience to God’s intentions for the present and the future. We are being watched—not only by God, but also by the broken people of the world. As we obey God, we demonstrate His love and concern for them in the present as well as in the future. This is the way it should be! When the broken people of our community look at us, they should be able see God’s good intentions for both the present and the future.
They should see not only His good intentions for the future—the saving grace of God and rescue from eternal death. They should also see the great good news that God has for them NOW. They should see this, but they often cannot. Why? There is a wall that obstructs their vision. This wall is the wall of sin. We like to believe that it is the sin of the world that keeps the broken people in our communities from seeing God’s purposes. No, it is not only the sin of the world—it is our sin and disobedience. It is our unwillingness to live the way God calls us to live in the present representing God’s purposes to the broken world around us. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” (II Corinthians 5:20).