The Church Gathered
A CALL TO THE CHURCH: RETHINK–ENGAGE–REPENT–WIN
Howard Johnson TheChurchGathered@gmail.com
VISION: We are trying to move the dial toward the oneness that Jesus prayed for His Church. Your advocacy will make a big difference. Through pastors’ prayer gatherings, we will seek God’s intervention after acknowledging our failure. Starting next year in Orlando, Florida, leaders (Nicene Creed agreeing) can support this idea quietly or openly and may send a representative. We hope this local effort will expand and work for the whole Church. The goal is easy to state, but convincing of the need is more complicated. Please read below.
We are willing to accept outside help from people who write the songs for church, provide advice for growing our church, and teach truths we want our church to live out. However, 1 Cor 12 says that no part of the body can say that another part is not needed; the whole body should work together as one. We need each other so much that Jesus tells us to forget about pulling out the weeds (the false believers), or else the wheat will be damaged (Matt 13:24-30).
Denominations seem to work well for us, but God has a different view. Galatians 5:19-21 teaches that those who create divisions from impure motives are like those who practice witchcraft. What about maintaining divisions? What seems impossible for us, we are told in various wordings to agree (1 Cor 1:10, Phil 2:2, 1 Pet 3:8), “and that there be no divisions among you.” Jesus commanded us to love each other and told us to pray that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven. Jesus’s will for our oneness is clear from the Great Request (John 17:20-23), the purpose being a believing world and the perfection of the Church.
We grow in our salvation with fear and trembling at God’s word. As Christians, we understand confession leads to relationship—first with God and then with each other. Each one attending is an expression of the desire to follow Christ and makes the Church’s sincerity weightier before God. When leaders come, they will be saying to the Church, “While there is time, let us seek God together and strengthen what remains.”
Before He moves, God may want to see broad sincerity of repentance from the Church. And when God leads, he does not always give victory on the first day (Judges 20). As we pursue God, others will follow our lead. Light will overcome darkness; faith will triumph over faint-heartedness.
FIND YOUR PART: Like evangelism and salvation, this plan is easy to follow. God is the driving force. Email me, schedule a half-hour with me, listen to my part in God’s plan, and share your view. Advocating for leaders to participate is one of many ways to help.
SCHEDULE OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA, OUTDOOR, FOCUSED PRAYER GATHERINGS
Hope Lutheran Ch (Just North of Union Park, Dean Rd.) 25-Jan-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
St John Baptist Church (Westfield, Orlando) 21-Mar-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
Iglesia Jesus de Nazaret/Christ the King Ep Ch (Azalea Pk) 23-May-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
St Stephen Catholic Community (Winter Springs) 8-Aug-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
Rolling Hills Moravian Church (Longwood) 24-Oct-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
St Peter the Apostle Coptic Orthodox Church (Vista East) 23-Jan-25 7:30 to 8:00 am
Orlando Baptist Church (Montery, Orlando) 22-May-25 8:30 to 9:00 am
LifeSong Methodist Church at "The Table" (Stoneybrook East) 25-Sep-25 7:30 to 8:00 am
SUMMARIES OF SCRIPTURE MODELING CORPORATELY SEEKING GOD
Joshua 7-8 AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT TO DO
We have a relationship with God; He expects us to be proactive. Israel sought to conquer a small town. They did not ask God for help but should have. Through one man’s sin, Israel had lost God’s protection. Why had God let them down, they thought? In their total dejection and desperation, Joshua and the elders sought God. God immediately helped, and they moved forward to victory.
Joshua 7-8 AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT TO DO
We have a relationship with God; He expects us to be proactive. Israel sought to conquer a small town. They did not ask God for help but should have. Through one man’s sin, Israel had lost God’s protection. Why had God let them down, they thought? In their total dejection and desperation, Joshua and the elders sought God. God immediately helped, and they moved forward to victory.
2 Chron 20:12-29* THE EXAMPLE AGAIN
All of Judah gathered at the temple and prayed for deliverance: “We are powerless . . . but our eyes are on You.” God immediately answered. The enemy was easily defeated; the dread of God fell on all the neighboring kingdoms.
Acts 4:23-31 AND AGAIN
Under threat, the whole Church prayed for boldness. Their location was shaken; they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s word boldly.
Hebrews 4:16*
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” If Church leaders gather in repentance and seek God’s help, God will show us what to do.
REFERENCED SCRIPTURES*
1 Corinthians 12:18-21: But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many parts, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
Matt 13:24-30, 38: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat . . . The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them (the weeds) up?’ But he said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” “. . . and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one;. . .”
1 Corinthians 1:10: Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Philippians 2:2: make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
1 Peter 3:8: To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble;
John 17:20-23: “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.
Judges 20 (condensed):
Israel inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first.” Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel. Israel went up and inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall we again advance for battle against Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against him.” And Benjamin struck eighteen thousand men of the sons of Israel. Then Israel inquired of the Lord “Shall I yet again go out to battle against Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
*New American Standard Bible
Howard Johnson TheChurchGathered@gmail.com
VISION: We are trying to move the dial toward the oneness that Jesus prayed for His Church. Your advocacy will make a big difference. Through pastors’ prayer gatherings, we will seek God’s intervention after acknowledging our failure. Starting next year in Orlando, Florida, leaders (Nicene Creed agreeing) can support this idea quietly or openly and may send a representative. We hope this local effort will expand and work for the whole Church. The goal is easy to state, but convincing of the need is more complicated. Please read below.
We are willing to accept outside help from people who write the songs for church, provide advice for growing our church, and teach truths we want our church to live out. However, 1 Cor 12 says that no part of the body can say that another part is not needed; the whole body should work together as one. We need each other so much that Jesus tells us to forget about pulling out the weeds (the false believers), or else the wheat will be damaged (Matt 13:24-30).
Denominations seem to work well for us, but God has a different view. Galatians 5:19-21 teaches that those who create divisions from impure motives are like those who practice witchcraft. What about maintaining divisions? What seems impossible for us, we are told in various wordings to agree (1 Cor 1:10, Phil 2:2, 1 Pet 3:8), “and that there be no divisions among you.” Jesus commanded us to love each other and told us to pray that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven. Jesus’s will for our oneness is clear from the Great Request (John 17:20-23), the purpose being a believing world and the perfection of the Church.
We grow in our salvation with fear and trembling at God’s word. As Christians, we understand confession leads to relationship—first with God and then with each other. Each one attending is an expression of the desire to follow Christ and makes the Church’s sincerity weightier before God. When leaders come, they will be saying to the Church, “While there is time, let us seek God together and strengthen what remains.”
Before He moves, God may want to see broad sincerity of repentance from the Church. And when God leads, he does not always give victory on the first day (Judges 20). As we pursue God, others will follow our lead. Light will overcome darkness; faith will triumph over faint-heartedness.
FIND YOUR PART: Like evangelism and salvation, this plan is easy to follow. God is the driving force. Email me, schedule a half-hour with me, listen to my part in God’s plan, and share your view. Advocating for leaders to participate is one of many ways to help.
SCHEDULE OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA, OUTDOOR, FOCUSED PRAYER GATHERINGS
Hope Lutheran Ch (Just North of Union Park, Dean Rd.) 25-Jan-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
St John Baptist Church (Westfield, Orlando) 21-Mar-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
Iglesia Jesus de Nazaret/Christ the King Ep Ch (Azalea Pk) 23-May-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
St Stephen Catholic Community (Winter Springs) 8-Aug-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
Rolling Hills Moravian Church (Longwood) 24-Oct-24 7:30 to 8:00 am
St Peter the Apostle Coptic Orthodox Church (Vista East) 23-Jan-25 7:30 to 8:00 am
Orlando Baptist Church (Montery, Orlando) 22-May-25 8:30 to 9:00 am
LifeSong Methodist Church at "The Table" (Stoneybrook East) 25-Sep-25 7:30 to 8:00 am
SUMMARIES OF SCRIPTURE MODELING CORPORATELY SEEKING GOD
Joshua 7-8 AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT TO DO
We have a relationship with God; He expects us to be proactive. Israel sought to conquer a small town. They did not ask God for help but should have. Through one man’s sin, Israel had lost God’s protection. Why had God let them down, they thought? In their total dejection and desperation, Joshua and the elders sought God. God immediately helped, and they moved forward to victory.
Joshua 7-8 AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT TO DO
We have a relationship with God; He expects us to be proactive. Israel sought to conquer a small town. They did not ask God for help but should have. Through one man’s sin, Israel had lost God’s protection. Why had God let them down, they thought? In their total dejection and desperation, Joshua and the elders sought God. God immediately helped, and they moved forward to victory.
2 Chron 20:12-29* THE EXAMPLE AGAIN
All of Judah gathered at the temple and prayed for deliverance: “We are powerless . . . but our eyes are on You.” God immediately answered. The enemy was easily defeated; the dread of God fell on all the neighboring kingdoms.
Acts 4:23-31 AND AGAIN
Under threat, the whole Church prayed for boldness. Their location was shaken; they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s word boldly.
Hebrews 4:16*
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” If Church leaders gather in repentance and seek God’s help, God will show us what to do.
REFERENCED SCRIPTURES*
1 Corinthians 12:18-21: But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many parts, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
Matt 13:24-30, 38: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat . . . The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them (the weeds) up?’ But he said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” “. . . and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one;. . .”
1 Corinthians 1:10: Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Philippians 2:2: make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
1 Peter 3:8: To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble;
John 17:20-23: “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.
Judges 20 (condensed):
Israel inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then the Lord said, “Judah shall go up first.” Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and struck to the ground on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel. Israel went up and inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall we again advance for battle against Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against him.” And Benjamin struck eighteen thousand men of the sons of Israel. Then Israel inquired of the Lord “Shall I yet again go out to battle against Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”
*New American Standard Bible
