Artwork for podcast Awake Nations
What Are Apostolic Centers?
10th April 2024 • Awake Nations • Glenn Bleakney
00:00:00 00:41:26

Share Episode

Shownotes

What are apostolic centers? Is there a precedence for such in the New Testament? If so, what is the purpose of apostolic centers? Glenn Bleakney takes us through the Book of Acts to explore the methodology Paul the apostle applied to advance the Kingdom of God to the nations in his day.

Learn more about the Kingdom Community by visiting https://kingdomcommunity.global

Invite Glenn Bleakney to speak at your event. Visit AwakeNations.org/booking

Learn more about Kingdom Community Television at https://kingdomcommunity.tv

Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome to the Kingdom Community.

Speaker:

Many in the body of Christ long for authentic community and a spiritual family to belong to.

Speaker:

We exist to connect, equip, and send you into the world to fulfill your destiny and advance the Kingdom of God on the Earth.

Speaker:

To learn more about us, please visit Kingdomcommunity Global.

Speaker:

We look forward to hearing from you.

Speaker:

Welcome, everyone.

Speaker:

Glenn Blakeney here.

Speaker:

Thank you for tuning into Kingdom Encounter brought to you by Awake Nations Ministries and the Kingdom Community.

Speaker:

Are you looking for connection and community with other on fire disciples of Christ? Do you desire to grow in your relationship with God as well as discover or be even more influential in your Kingdom calling and assignment? Whether Kingdom Community can help you, we offer training, mentoring, and a spiritual family to belong to that will encourage you, equip you, and empower you to move forward to fulfill your purpose in advancing God's Kingdom.

Speaker:

To learn more about the Kingdomcommunity, please visit the website Kingdomcommunity GlobalConnect.

Speaker:

Again, that's Kingdomcommunity GlobalConnect and watch our explainer video.

Speaker:

Well, in today's episode, we are pulling out a timeless, classic episode from the Kingdom Encounter archives.

Speaker:

We're going to be talking about Apostolic centers.

Speaker:

Actually, the next two podcasts, we're going to be looking at the calling of the Church based on what we see in the Book of Acts, in the Ministry of Jesus Christ himself, that we are called to be an Apostolic force on the Earth.

Speaker:

Guys, it's going to be powerful.

Speaker:

We're going to be looking at what is an Apostolic Center, as well as the mission and the assignment of Apostolic centers or communities.

Speaker:

Bless you guys, as you listen to today's episode.

Speaker:

So thank you guys for joining us.

Speaker:

It's going to be a great time.

Speaker:

We're talking about Apostolic centers.

Speaker:

One of the things that I just want to clarify is the fact that really in the New Testament, there's no place where we read specifically Apostolic centers.

Speaker:

We read about the Church.

Speaker:

We read about the gathering of the believers, the assembly, even those terms echoese, of course.

Speaker:

But there's actually nowhere specifically where the term outstallic center or terminology is used in the New Testament.

Speaker:

But I do believe the concept is there.

Speaker:

I really believe the concept is there of Apostolic centers.

Speaker:

For example, the Church in Jerusalem was Apostolic in that they trained people, but they also raised people up to be sent out and to make an impact in the world.

Speaker:

In Antioch in Syria, wherein Paul was there with Barnabas, they were training and equipping believers.

Speaker:

And then, of course, Paul and Barnabas himself were sent out and then others as well.

Speaker:

Paul established an Apostolic Center.

Speaker:

I believe probably the greatest example of an Apostolic Center, really, the more mature kind of formation and expression of an Apostolic Center is when he went to Ephesus in the city of Ephesus in what's known as Asia Minor.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

So the end result in these particular references is not the construction of buildings or Bible colleges or cathedrals, but was actually the equipping of an Apostolic community, an Apostolic community of people that preached the gospel of the Kingdom disciples, they made disciples, and they saw incredible transformation in their regions.

Speaker:

They saw the power of God, shake their cities, shake their nations, and bring people to under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Speaker:

It's a powerful thing.

Speaker:

Acts Chapter 19, verse ten, talks about how Paul was an Ephesus, and in two years time it says that all of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

Speaker:

The 20th verse of Acts 19 says, So the word of the Lord grew, mightily and prevailed.

Speaker:

Powerful, powerful.

Speaker:

So an Apostolic Center, by definition, is a Kingdom resource center that exists.

Speaker:

I put down here three reasons for an Apostolic Center existing.

Speaker:

And let me just say something that I've got a video I did an interview with.

Speaker:

Alain Caron is a guy from Quebec in Canada.

Speaker:

He wrote an amazing book called Apostolic Centers.

Speaker:

And we talked a lot about what it means to shift into an Apostolic paradigm of Ministry.

Speaker:

So a Church can be Apostolic, okay, but we're talking about something that's more than just a Church, a single congregation.

Speaker:

In other words, we're talking about in a city, in a region, because obviously Jerusalem is a big city.

Speaker:

And then when you look at Corinth, we'll talk about Corinth in a moment.

Speaker:

Corinth was in ICA, the capital city.

Speaker:

Then you've got Antioch, was in Syria, again, the capital city.

Speaker:

And then we look at Ephesus and Asia Minor, which was also the capital city.

Speaker:

So very strategic where these particular centers were located.

Speaker:

And when we talked about Apostolic centers, it's not just a single Church trying to reach their city.

Speaker:

It's the bringing together of God's people in a region.

Speaker:

They may mean because the early Church meant by and large in homes, but they're coming together to make a difference.

Speaker:

And I'm looking forward in a future session, I'm going to be bringing someone on who's actually involved in such an expression of Ministry in Australia.

Speaker:

So an Apostolic Center is a Kingdom resource center that exists, number one, to preach the gospel of the Kingdom in the power of the Holy Spirit, with signs and wonders following, of course, seeing people come to Jesus Christ and seeing the principalities and powers of darkness dethroned in a region, breakthrough, deliverances, healing, all of these kinds of things, basically resulting in transformation.

Speaker:

Secondly, to equip and disciple believers into the fullness of the stature of Christ Jesus.

Speaker:

This is very important because a lot of times when we talk about discipleship and equipping people, our focus has tended to be on just getting people to do Ministry, just get them activated, just get them doing stuff.

Speaker:

But the whole point of equipping, when you look at Ephesians 411 through 16, is to bring so there would be unity of the faith, but that we would all grow into that, fullness of the stature of Christ Jesus.

Speaker:

One man, a perfect man that tells us man is what the Greek speaks of complete and to the fullness of the statue of Christ.

Speaker:

So we need to be mature.

Speaker:

We need to become like Jesus Christ.

Speaker:

And if people are not becoming like Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter if they're coming to Church every week or they're serving on a worship team or even preaching.

Speaker:

The goal of Ministry is to see people become like Jesus and not only to walk like he walks one John two, six, but to do the work that he did.

Speaker:

John 14, verse twelve.

Speaker:

Jesus spoke of that as well.

Speaker:

So lastly, to train and activate and send out disciples to fulfill their calling, to do the works of the Ministry and to advance the Kingdom in every sphere of society among the nations, so that cities and nations are transformed.

Speaker:

So that's just a general overview.

Speaker:

I want to talk a little bit about the Apostle Paul.

Speaker:

And when we look at this, we are going to actually see the reason why Paul was so successful when he was on the Earth actually had to do with his willingness to learn, to be a student and to even change.

Speaker:

Now, guys, humility is such an important characteristic.

Speaker:

We can say, well, I've done this or I know how to do it, but we're in a season right now, particularly because of what's happened with the pandemic, where people just are not interested in Church, plus postmodernism secularism everything else that's been going on in the world.

Speaker:

It's just compounded the situation.

Speaker:

And people are not as interested, generally speaking, in the institutional Church.

Speaker:

People want relationships and people even want to know God.

Speaker:

Many people, they have a spiritual appetite and knowledge that they're seeking after knowledge of the things, spiritual things.

Speaker:

And so there's that hunger in a sense.

Speaker:

But the institutional Church has really lost its appeal in many places.

Speaker:

Some are saying that one third of all the churches will end up being closed after the pandemic is completed.

Speaker:

In many nations of the world, particularly in Western Nations, we're called to take the gospel to people, and the Church is who we are, but the Kingdom is what we do.

Speaker:

That's not my quote, by the way, my guest the other night on my interview, Doctor Larry Titus said that the Church is who we are, Kingdom is what we do.

Speaker:

We preach the gospel of the Kingdom, and we take the Kingdom to the nation.

Speaker:

So we're going to look at Paul.

Speaker:

Paul was very effective, and he continued to grow in Grace and knowledge and understanding of a better way to reach people.

Speaker:

We're going to examine his missionary journeys.

Speaker:

There are three main missionary journeys, and of course, he was under house arrest as well in Rome, as outlined in act 28.

Speaker:

So Paul was without doubt used more than anyone in his day.

Speaker:

And I think that Paul, even in each subsequent journey, he saw greater breakthroughs and greater levels of success in his Ministry because his secret was to focus more on raising up and equipping other people as well.

Speaker:

So let's look at Paul's missionary journeys really quickly and tell you what I'm going to do for you guys later on.

Speaker:

Message me or email me Admin@awakenations.org and I will send you the notes for what I'm about to share with you regarding the Apostle Paul's life.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

It's a powerful overview of his Ministry and his mission.

Speaker:

So let's talk about Paul's first missionary journey, okay? It happened in years 47 and 48 Ad.

Speaker:

Acts, chapter 13, verse one, all the way through, chapter 14, verse 28, outline the details and Paul's first missionary journey.

Speaker:

The team was Paul and Barnabas, and at one point, John, Mark, he was with them for a portion of the trip.

Speaker:

Their methodology was that of traveling from town to town, making disciples, and then moving on to the next town.

Speaker:

They covered about 1500 miles in a year, so there was no small feat that they accomplished by any means.

Speaker:

The results were clearly God was all over what they were doing.

Speaker:

God was blessing them, but the work was primarily incremental growth.

Speaker:

It was growth.

Speaker:

By addition, churches were left behind, really with no skilled or mature leadership season leaders and required a lot of follow up work.

Speaker:

So we see Paul and Barnabas going back and visiting these churches.

Speaker:

Of course, Paul goes back later with Silas and others, Acts 1421 and 23, and so on.

Speaker:

Now there's another weakness with the approach, and the weakness with that approach was because Paul and Barnabas were the founding members.

Speaker:

They were the founders of the churches.

Speaker:

When they departed, there was no Church leadership left at all.

Speaker:

And so it was paramount that after they needed some time to just kind of see who would arise, the leadership, the cream of the crop would arise to the surface.

Speaker:

So they'd be able to eventually go back with Apostolic authority and appoint elders over each Church.

Speaker:

Now it's hard for us to really say, well, these guys, they were doing a great job.

Speaker:

What was wrong with what Paul and Barnes was doing? But the truth is God was realizing that in the not too distant future they were going to run into a leadership deficit.

Speaker:

Guys.

Speaker:

So the Lord uses an event that was an unfortunate event.

Speaker:

It was a disagreement between the Apostle Paul and Barnabas, and it ended up that it resulted in a split.

Speaker:

And Barnabas went his separate way and Paul went one way and then Paul at this point, what he does now is he brings with him Silas.

Speaker:

And then we see this second missionary journey.

Speaker:

There's Timothy, Luke, and then eventually Priscilla and Aquila also joined him.

Speaker:

So second missionary journey happens in the year 49 to 52 Ad, covered in Macedonia and ICA, and we can read about this in Acts chapter 15, verses 36, all the way through Acts 18, verse 22.

Speaker:

Now, Paul's second journey, God, began to shift Paul to a multiplying Church planning strategy, so to speak, where he ended up, Paul being left all by himself in one of the darkest cities in the world at that time in Coron.

Speaker:

So what happens is Paul and Timothy and Silas and Luke.

Speaker:

We read about them together in Acts 16.

Speaker:

And then in Acts chapter 17, we see Paul, Silas and Timothy.

Speaker:

So where did Luke go? Most likely, Paul left him in one of the cities to continue leading to churches, discipling people.

Speaker:

And then in Acts chapter 1714 to 18, five now Paul is in Corinth, and he's by himself.

Speaker:

And I don't think Paul really had any plans to stay there long term because Jesus actually appears to him.

Speaker:

We read this in Acts 18, verses nine to eleven.

Speaker:

Jesus appears to Paul and gives him this message.

Speaker:

He says, do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent or I'm with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you.

Speaker:

For many people in the city.

Speaker:

And then it says, And Paul settled there a year and six months teaching the word of the Lord.

Speaker:

So here's my take on it.

Speaker:

I think what ended up happening is Paul was like, okay, I'm here.

Speaker:

I have no plans to stay here.

Speaker:

But the Lord supernaturally intervened and said, Paul, I want you to stay here.

Speaker:

And when you look at Paul the next 18 months, he poured into the lives of so many.

Speaker:

He raised up incredible leaders.

Speaker:

When you look at those who were raised up in Ministry during this time, you'll see later on in some of Paul's writings, he refers to them, incredible leaders were raised up during this time.

Speaker:

So it was time where Paul was being prepared and really learning a new paradigm to be able to do effective Ministry.

Speaker:

So by the time he leaves Corinth after a year and a half, eventually the third missionary journey, we read about that, Acts 1823 through Acts 20, 116, occurred in the years 52 to 56.

Speaker:

Ad covered Asia Minor about 4000 miles in that day, powerful.

Speaker:

And so what happens is Paul had learned a valuable principle.

Speaker:

And on his next journey, he invented himself completely to the task of multiplying leaders from the harvest who could be deployed into the harvest.

Speaker:

Now, what I'm saying is, Paul goes to Ephesus.

Speaker:

And while he is in Ephesus for two years, he starts off in the synagogue, he gets rejected, and he goes down the street to the lecture hall of Tyrannis, the school of Tyrannis.

Speaker:

And he brings the disciples with him.

Speaker:

And for two years he's pouring into them, he's training them, and it says, an olive, Asia Minor heard the gospel.

Speaker:

Now, at this point, Paul is raising up others.

Speaker:

He's mentoring others how could one man effectively reach all of Asia Minor? I mean, you read Revelation two and three, and you see the seven churches that are listed there.

Speaker:

Those were significant cities that is part of Asia Minor.

Speaker:

And how could one man in just three years, he didn't even leave the city of Ephesus.

Speaker:

So how could he have left impacted all of Asia Minor? Well, I believe it's because he raised up leaders whom he sent out to go to these cities, to go to these towns, and that's his strategy.

Speaker:

So Paul is actually establishing a training base, so to speak, for world missions.

Speaker:

And this training center happened to be the formation of the Church in Ephesus.

Speaker:

Now think about that for a moment.

Speaker:

He didn't go there and plant a Church.

Speaker:

He went there and he made disciples.

Speaker:

He had this training center, so to speak, where he was equipping and pouring into them.

Speaker:

And out of that, of course, was the formation of a Church.

Speaker:

Paul planted a Church based leadership training missions base to strategically multiply and mobilize a mission force to reach all of Asia Minor.

Speaker:

Wow, that's powerful.

Speaker:

So Paul was used so effectively by the Lord in this season because he poured himself into others.

Speaker:

He multiplied himself.

Speaker:

Jesus did that as well.

Speaker:

When you look at particularly the latter part of his life on the Earth, he was pouring into his disciples and he was getting them prepared to carry on his mission very powerful.

Speaker:

So Paul was raising up others.

Speaker:

He was a leader who never stopped learning.

Speaker:

He was a leader who realized that he had to shift, he had to change.

Speaker:

He was going to reach more people.

Speaker:

And rather than just have a gathering where Paul did all the preaching and all the Ministry and people came and we'll talk about these characteristics in just a second, it was all about equipping and raising up people to do what to be discipled and to fulfill the great Commission of Jesus Christ.

Speaker:

So let's look at seven significant Apostolic shifts the Church must make today if we are going to impact the world, if we're going to reach more people with the gospel.

Speaker:

Here are, I believe, seven things that we need to do.

Speaker:

Now, again, this is not an all inclusive list.

Speaker:

There's obviously other things I'm sure that you could come up with that.

Speaker:

It's important in seeing the Church become more effective and more missional and having a greater impact in the world.

Speaker:

But the first thing is we have to move away from a modern pastoral paradigm to the ancient Apostolic approach to Ministry, meaning this that pastors where you go to a Church and you have a pastor who does all the Ministry, and maybe they have some staff members, but they do all the Ministry and they Minister to you.

Speaker:

If they don't give you the time that you deserve or treat you the way you think you should be treated, people get offended, people leave churches.

Speaker:

And it's all about a consumer mentality.

Speaker:

I'm going to Church, and I need a pastor, and I need this.

Speaker:

But the Apostolic certainly ministers to you and shows pastoral care.

Speaker:

But the Apostolic is about, let's not leave you as someone who is dependent on a leader.

Speaker:

Let's not leave you as someone who's just not growing and not changing.

Speaker:

But let's challenge you and let's equip you and let's call out of you and pull out of you the potential that God has for your life, to see you transformed and raised up so you can fulfill your destiny and live like Jesus on the Earth and make a Kingdom impact in your city, your nation, wherever you may be, regardless if you're in the marketplace or full time Ministry or whatever.

Speaker:

So that's a significant shift that has to take place.

Speaker:

And then for those of you who were in the last session, we talked about the difference between the gospel of Salvation and the gospel of the Kingdom, which by and large is based upon our misunderstanding of the gospel of Salvation.

Speaker:

So we need to recognize the gospel of the Kingdom.

Speaker:

If you're not part of the gospel of the Kingdom.

Speaker:

Course, guys, you can still sign up.

Speaker:

You've just missed the one session.

Speaker:

Just go to awakenations.

Speaker:

Orgequip and you can sign up there.

Speaker:

Okay, then.

Speaker:

Thirdly, from pressing people to make a decision for Jesus to leading people into discipleship, there's so much pressure put on people today.

Speaker:

You need to accept Jesus as your Lord and savior right now.

Speaker:

Say this prayer, put up your hand.

Speaker:

And I believe in the urgency of people coming to Christ.

Speaker:

It's an urgent thing.

Speaker:

I believe in that.

Speaker:

But what is happening often is we get people to confess or make a profession.

Speaker:

And in reality, inside, they've not really grasped what the gospel is.

Speaker:

And we need to focus more on discipleship, not just while we get them to, quote, unquote, accept Jesus, then we disciple them.

Speaker:

That's not the way you see Jesus, by and large, or even the Apostle Paul.

Speaker:

For example, in Acts 19 working, he's preaching, he's teaching, and he's contending, and he's refuting their arguments even when he's dealing with the Jews.

Speaker:

And he's speaking to them about the Kingdom of God.

Speaker:

And people are listening eagerly, and he's ministering to them this gospel and telling them what it's like to be a father of Jesus and to be a member of God's household and be in his Kingdom.

Speaker:

And people are listening, and the revelation is just soaking in their spirits.

Speaker:

And eventually they're getting this.

Speaker:

And they're wanting to follow him out of not compulsion or being in any way compelled, but they want to do it out of their own spirit and free will.

Speaker:

The Church needs to move away from superficial relationships, fleeting relationships where we see people just for a few moments before or after a gathering and really start focusing on building community.

Speaker:

So important.

Speaker:

We need to build community time together where Grace and honor are modeled.

Speaker:

So many people need to see that Grace, the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the unconditional love of God the Father, and how we respect and honor people.

Speaker:

Jesus said, they will know you are my disciples by your love, one for another.

Speaker:

So moving into authentic community, we need to shift from passive participation, just going to Church, quote, unquote, to actually active engagement where we become the Church and we are mobilized for mission.

Speaker:

So important, so many people.

Speaker:

I'm going to Church.

Speaker:

I'm trying to get rid of that language.

Speaker:

We are the Church.

Speaker:

We don't go to Church.

Speaker:

We go into all the worlds.

Speaker:

We go together.

Speaker:

I get that.

Speaker:

We go to assemble with other believers, to worship, to pray, to be taught.

Speaker:

I get all that, and that's important.

Speaker:

We don't want to forsake the assembling together of ourselves.

Speaker:

We need one another.

Speaker:

There's over 40 Commandments in the New Testament talk about one another and how the body will not truly grow until each part is making its contribution.

Speaker:

But we need to do more than just show up because there are a lot of people that are showing up, but they're not growing up.

Speaker:

There are a lot of people that have been very successful in life, especially people that are now older, but they still lack significance.

Speaker:

And what the younger generation is looking for, especially is significance.

Speaker:

Purpose, doing something, missions, being radical, doing something all sold out to God and really living life on mission.

Speaker:

Very powerful.

Speaker:

Moving from just intellectual knowledge about God.

Speaker:

Well, we memorize the four spiritual laws, the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and again, there's nothing wrong with doing those things.

Speaker:

But if it's only up here, if it's only intellectual, then that's not enough.

Speaker:

We are to grow in the Grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Speaker:

John, that's two Peter 318.

Speaker:

The Grace and knowledge of Jesus.

Speaker:

Not necessarily the Word.

Speaker:

The Word teaches us about Jesus and we need to study the Word and we should know the Word.

Speaker:

I spend hours every week in the Word, but the point I'm trying to make here is the Word points us to Jesus.

Speaker:

Jesus said in John five, you diligently studied the scripture and the Scriptures testify of me, but yet you refuse to come to me that you might have eternal life so you can study the Scriptures and your life is you're not connected to Jesus.

Speaker:

You don't know Jesus.

Speaker:

So there needs to be encounters.

Speaker:

People need to experience the power, the anointing, the glory of God and have supernatural encounters with the Lord.

Speaker:

This is so important, so powerful.

Speaker:

So lastly, from Church as a place, we go to worship God and to serve in Ministry, to Apostolic centers that equip and send people out to transform cities and nations.

Speaker:

That's the big difference right there.

Speaker:

For a long time.

Speaker:

We've heard about when you've come to this Church, we're going to share with you the vision of the house.

Speaker:

And we are going to ask you to get behind that vision, serve, give your money, pray, do all these things.

Speaker:

And again, there's nothing wrong with that.

Speaker:

And we should have a vision.

Speaker:

But ultimately, the vision needs to be God's vision.

Speaker:

The mission needs to be God's mission.

Speaker:

And we can all come into agreement and alignment with that.

Speaker:

There can be a cohesiveness about that.

Speaker:

But we have to recognize that the call of five full Ministry, according to Ephesians 411 through 16, is to see people equipped and come into the fullness of the stature of Christ and to fulfill their destiny, their calling, their purpose.

Speaker:

So they are sent out once they are Apostolic people, Apostolic means Apostolos and Greek.

Speaker:

It means to be sent out.

Speaker:

So there are people that are living on mission to fulfill the great Commission to reach all people.

Speaker:

We talked about this in the Gospel of the Kingdom session, reaching the unreached Peoples, reaching all nations with the gospel, so that all people everywhere not only hear the gospel, but they're also disciples, conform to the image and likeness of Jesus Christ.

Speaker:

Hey, guys, Glenn Blakeney here.

Speaker:

I want to tell you about one of our sponsors, Audible.

Speaker:

Head over to audibletrial.

Speaker:

Comkingdomcommunity and sign up for the free 30 day trial and download any audiobook that you wish.

Speaker:

And at the end of the 30 days, if you don't continue with the subscription, the book is still yours to keep.

Speaker:

And there's so many great resources on Audible.

Speaker:

Again, just head over to audibletrial.

Speaker:

Comkingdomcommunity.

Speaker:

The last part I want to touch on, and I know I'm giving you a lot of information, but I want to just look at some important features of Apostolic centers.

Speaker:

Important features of Apostolic centers.

Speaker:

First of all, Apostolic centers.

Speaker:

We're referring to Jerusalem.

Speaker:

We're referring to Antioch.

Speaker:

Corinth is the type of an Apostolic Center, maybe more of a precursor, prototype, and then ultimately Ephesus.

Speaker:

They were started by an Apostle or Apostles.

Speaker:

And even in Paul's case, when an Apostle decided to move on, like after he left Ephesus, for example, he appointed elders, and it seems that maybe even he had Timothy appoint the elders, or at least he told Timothy who the elders were to be.

Speaker:

But yet this Apostolic relationship and authority continued.

Speaker:

And you see Paul coming back.

Speaker:

You see Paul still speaking into that Church and addressing the elders and the leaders.

Speaker:

So they respected his Apostolic authority.

Speaker:

And that Apostolic relationship continued after he left.

Speaker:

Many places today that no longer happens.

Speaker:

Apostles are foundation layers.

Speaker:

One Corinthians 310 speaks about that.

Speaker:

And when you build a foundation as an Apostle and maybe someone else comes and builds upon that, you lay that foundation.

Speaker:

Paul says, I planted Apollo watered, but God gave the increase.

Speaker:

But the point is that what happens is sometimes you leave, you move on, but you have this relationship still.

Speaker:

But in many places today, denominations, they bring somebody in.

Speaker:

And I've seen it happen so many times.

Speaker:

They totally destroy the work that the Apostle did, all the hard work that the Apostle did, because they bring someone in who really in many instances I'll just say it.

Speaker:

I don't believe it was God's will.

Speaker:

That person comes in to continue because the Apostle should be involved in appointing a successor.

Speaker:

That's the biblical way.

Speaker:

And what we see if he has relationship with the people, he's involved in that or at least with the leaders, he has relationship.

Speaker:

So really important Apostolic centers in the New Testament were strategically established in Metropolitan areas.

Speaker:

I've already touched on this.

Speaker:

For example, Antioch was the capital city of Syria.

Speaker:

Corinth was the capital city of Icaia.

Speaker:

Ephesus was the capital city of Asia Minor.

Speaker:

They were all Metropolitan regions and provincial capitals.

Speaker:

Very important.

Speaker:

When you're talking about doing something that's going to impact a large area, it seems to be the pattern in the New Testament is to go to these Metropolitan regions, these cosmopolitan areas.

Speaker:

Apostolic centers release the power of the Kingdom with signs and wonders following.

Speaker:

They take territory from the enemy and they shift the spiritual atmosphere.

Speaker:

Guys, they pray, they do warfare, but they also demonstrate the power of the Kingdom.

Speaker:

Again, looking at Paul's example, Acts Chapter 1911 through 20, God wrought or God performed extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul's.

Speaker:

So that handkerchiefs or aprons were taken from his body and they were placed on the sick.

Speaker:

And those who were ill and had various diseases were healed and those who were possessed, demons came out of them.

Speaker:

And God did something powerful in such a way that when people saw the miracles, they came and they brought their enchantments and their witchcraft and occult paraphernalia and they burned it in the fire.

Speaker:

So many people came to Christ.

Speaker:

It had such an impact on that area with people turning away from idols to the living God, that the local craftsman who made these idols became incensed and they attacked Paul and they wanted him killed, really, but because he had impacted the economy.

Speaker:

It's like you go into an area that there's so many people that are drug users and you can begin to go in there and people get radically saved and transformed and they stop thinking drugs and the drug dealers get upset with you put it in the modern day context that you're looking at something close to that.

Speaker:

So Apostolic people, Apostolic centers, guys, they come together to wage warfare and demonstrate the power of the Kingdom and see the enemy dethroned and toppled in a region.

Speaker:

Jesus said, I saw Satan fall like lightning after they came back from their missionary trip when he sent them out in Luke Chapter Ten.

Speaker:

And it shifts the spiritual atmosphere.

Speaker:

Okay, Apostolic centers are discipleship and leadership development hubs for equipping God's people into maturity and Ministry.

Speaker:

Focus on training and equipping God's people.

Speaker:

We're working with churches right now where these churches are like, yeah, we want to change and we want to be equipped so we can really raise up people instead of just having an audience that shows up every Sunday.

Speaker:

What if you had an army, an army that came together to receive marching orders, to be trained and equipped, to be sharpened, but then to go out and make an impact and to serve together in your city and region? Powerful Apostolic centers also raised up and released five fold Ministry teams.

Speaker:

We see Apostles and prophets, plurality of leaders working together in a region.

Speaker:

We see an example of that.

Speaker:

We don't have time to get into all this.

Speaker:

I have an entire, really several sessions I teach on how to build 500 Ministry teams, and it's based on the New Testament.

Speaker:

Apostolic centers send out a resource missionaries.

Speaker:

They send out a resource missionaries.

Speaker:

Acts 13.

Speaker:

Paul and Barnabas are sent out, but in Acts 14, verse 26, they come back to the Church in Antioch where they had been sent out.

Speaker:

And it's obvious it's implied that the Church in Antioch was supporting them as they sent them out as well.

Speaker:

Apostolic standards.

Speaker:

Lastly, link local churches and ministries together, like in a network, in order to establish alignment.

Speaker:

So there's cooperation and collaboration so we can see synergy for greater Kingdom impact.

Speaker:

It's amazing.

Speaker:

If we come together, what we can see takes place when we work together, rather than all these people doing their own things, just kind of autonomously operating.

Speaker:

What if we came together churches in a region, the people of God.

Speaker:

What if we pooled our resources and we shared vision and strategy and we worked on some things together, because sometimes we're all members of the body, and each one of us has a very important role in special place and unique contribution to make.

Speaker:

And when we come together in that Apostolic mandate, to preach the gospel that came into the nations, to make disciples of the nations, and to see God change cities and nations around the world as he rocks them with the power of God, as people are discipled and they are set free from the powers of the enemy, and they are transformed through the word of God and through a lifestyle of following God and serving him and coming under the Lordship of Christ.

Speaker:

What an incredible thing.

Speaker:

What an incredible thing that is when we see that happen on the Earth.

Speaker:

Wow.

Speaker:

I believe that Apostolic centers are needed today more than ever before in key regions.

Speaker:

There's different ways to collaborate.

Speaker:

There's different ways to do this.

Speaker:

You may be a person that simply has a hunger to begin to gather people just to pray and to begin to contend for transformation in your area and to begin to equip and raise up others to become more like Christ and to be able to Minister like Jesus did when he was on the Earth.

Speaker:

God will use you if you have that heart.

Speaker:

Get connected to an Apostle.

Speaker:

Get connected to other spiritual leaders five hole Ministry that's going to greatly help you and also offer you safety and covering as well.

Speaker:

Welcome to the Kingdom Community.

Speaker:

Many in the Body of Christ long for authentic community and a spiritual family to belong to.

Speaker:

We exist to connect, equip and send you out into the world to fulfill your destiny and advance the Kingdom of God.

Speaker:

The Kingdom Community is unique in that we are not seeking to build a denomination or a religious organization.

Speaker:

Our aim is to promote the Lord Jesus Christ, build up and equip his body and advance the Kingdom to the nations of the world.

Speaker:

We invite you to connect with us and become part of the Kingdom Community family.

Speaker:

We are here to stand with you and celebrate your place in the Body of Christ.

Speaker:

We need each other and we are much better together.

Speaker:

We exist to equip you to live an overcoming life and fulfill your purpose in God's Kingdom.

Speaker:

Through our live monthly training sessions, our webinars, online courses, discipleship resources and personal mentoring, you will be transformed and equipped to make a difference in the world.

Speaker:

Jesus said, the harvest is great and the workers are few.

Speaker:

The Kingdom Community is here to see you released into your calling with the full manifestation of God's blessing and favor on your life.

Speaker:

We offer Apostolic covering and relational connection.

Speaker:

The Kingdom Community has a team of seasonal leaders who can help you with guidance, counsel, coaching and mentoring.

Speaker:

Ministerial credentials are also available to those who qualify.

Speaker:

The Kingdom Community is all about one, creating an atmosphere of expectation for the supernatural.

Speaker:

Two, strategically equipping the Saints of God to fulfill their purpose in the Kingdom.

Speaker:

Three, connecting you to people and resources for personal growth, leadership development and collaboration in mission and Ministry.

Speaker:

To learn more and to connect with us, visit our website, Kingdomcommunity Global.

Speaker:

Our website again is Kingdomcommunity Global.

Speaker:

We look forward to hearing from you.

Speaker:

Thanks for joining us today at the Kingdom Community.

Speaker:

We trust that you are encouraged as a result of spending time with us.

Speaker:

We exist to connect, equip and send you out into the world to fulfill your destiny and advance the Kingdom of God.

Speaker:

To learn more about the Kingdom Community, please visit our website, Kingdomcommunity Global again.

Speaker:

Our website is Kingdomcover Community Global.

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube