The Prophet in the Congregation(s)

"At that time there were prophets in the church of Jerusalem, and some of them came to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up in one of the meetings and prophesied by the Holy Spirit that a severe famine was about to come over Israel. (This prophecy was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius Caesar)."

Prophet Jesus had a small congregation of common men. Fishermen. Tradesmen. A tax collector. A political zealot. And out of them, he built a church, unlike any church that ever existed or ever would.

What he heard from his Father, he taught them—things they'd never imagined, much less thought of. Things about God not even the religious leaders knew. A God who was three persons, yet one, and one of them was sitting there on the side of a hill, teaching them.

He taught them about a kingdom they couldn't imagine. In fact, they thought he was talking about the Jewish kingdom and its deliverance from Roman occupation.

Despite the fact that they so often didn't get it, Prophet Jesus was patient with them and made up stories to help them understand. These men and the Prophet's teachings were the brick and mortar of the new church.

They winced when Jesus went head to head with the ruling Pharisees. They couldn't believe the things he said to them. But, why not? He was a king, wasn't he?

And right from the start, they watched bug-eyed as Prophet Jesus performed the most amazing miracles. Healing sick people. Casting out demons. Multiplying fish and loaves of bread to feed thousands. Calming storms raging across the sea. Even raising the dead!

One day, he called them all together and gave them authority to do the same things.

And it worked!

Everybody had heard about Prophet Jesus, and thousands followed him wherever he went.

The government knew about him, too. Groups of them would show up and question him, trying to get him to slip up, trying to get him to do or say something they could use to take him out. But he exposed them as fools, instead of the religious men they pretended to be who spoke for God.

Year followed year, filled with so many miracles that John would add, when he had finished writing his account years later,

"if every one of his works were written down and described one by one, I suppose that the world itself wouldn't have enough room to contain the books that would have to be written!"

But the third year was their last with him. They kept waiting for the big takeover, the big miracle, driving Rome out of Israel. But it didn't end that way. Rome crucified him. And then came an even bigger surprise. Prophet Jesus rose from the dead, returned to his Father and a short time later, sent the Holy Spirit to guide them in building his church.

Well, Jesus is our prophet model. He's anointed us to do everything he did and more, to finish what he started.

We disciple emerging prophets. We share the continuing revelation of God. We tear down and rebuild whatever is in the church that was built independent of God's plans. We perform his miracles and share his words. And we rebuke and strengthen and encourage his beloved children that he has entrusted to our care.