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IV. THE ULTIMATE GOAL
One final examination of the very interesting parable of Luke
13:6-9.
Examining the ultim�te goal of the whole growth process in this
parable takes us beyond bearing fruit. The ultimate goal is
implied to be that the "certain man" (the owner) is able to pluck
a fruit off the tree and use it for His perS"Onal pleasure.
Conclusion: The growth process is intrinsic in all life that God has
created. It's a marvelous, inherent,living principle. Yet its
greatest implicatons are found in the divine plan of God for all
humanity.
The Church of God is commissioned with the responsibility of wit
nessing and being a light to the world, for a warning, and a hope.
We are being called upon to grow and bear fruit to the glory and
pleasure of God.
HOW GOD'S CHURCH WILL GROW FROM NOW ON (by Brian Knowles)
The Church of God has reached a significant turning point. We have
"come out of the woodwork" so to speak. We are now going to become
a visible church. We have come into a fuller and deeper understanding
of the Great Commission given to us by God. We now realize that there
are not "two commissions" to the church but one with two aspects: 1)
•.ro preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God asa Witness and 2) To
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feed the flock which God provides.
C)
.Jesus said "No man can come to me except the Father draw him" (John
6:44). But he also said, "The fields are white with the harvest •••. "
If this was true""In the first century it is certainly more profoundly
applicable today! But where are the laborers to go out into the
harvest and reap it for God's Kingdom?
We have been called to a Great Work. The Church now stands on the
brink of what appears to be its greatest leap forward in history.
We are about to implement programs which will bring about significant
1rowth in the church membership and thus provide the base for a far
�re powerful Gospel witness to this generation.
[ach congre
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ation of the Church of God will have
does have --
roaponsibil ty in this thrust forward as we become a visible church!
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Ii".!:
thew 5:14-16
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-}l'h� Church is "set. upon a hill" -- we are the "light of the world."
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cnnnot be "hid" any longer! As the Church carries out its collec
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commission it will become more and more visible in the local
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} uo,nmission is clearly stated in three places
in
the synoptic gospelO .
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)8:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:44-49