“God gave you a fingerprint that no one has, so that you can leave an imprint that no one else can.” (CourageousChristianFather.com)
Scientists tell us that of the eight billion people alive today, no two fingerprints are alike. That is a demonstration of the handiwork of God Himself. Fingerprints are a unique identity.
But did you know that churches have fingerprints? Yes. Each church family has a unique expression of grace to the world around them, whether locally or globally. Each church has a unique fingerprint just as individuals have a “one of a kind” fingerprint.
So how does the church, a local body of believers, become the best version of the church? I would suggest three simple principles in how a church’s fingerprint/identify gets established and expressed.
#1 – Spend time in prayer in the upper room.
In Acts 1:13 it states: “And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.” (NKJV)
Verse 14 says that “They all joined together constantly prayer” (NIV).
A church becomes its best version of itself when it spends time in prayer before God in the upper zoom. Every church body needs to go to the upper room and seek Him.
#2 – Listen and discern God’s assignments.
Romans 4:17 speaks about Abraham. “He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed – the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” (NIV)
God speaks to those who take time to listen. One of the challenges of the church in America is that it doesn’t spend enough time in the upper room to listen for God’s direction of what it is to do in the lower room. The lower room is where we live out what God instructs us to do in the upper room in dealing with people, programs and projects. Please note that God calls things that are not as though they were. Translation? Allow God to set your church’s agenda. The miraculous happens.
#3 – Make yourself available for God to do the extraordinary.
2 Chronicles 16:8 says: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.” (Berean Bible)
God is looking for church families through whom He can reveal His power and glory.
In closing, allow God to develop your church’s fingerprint. Spend time in prayer in the upper room. Listen for His assignments. Make yourself available to God and allow Him to do the extraordinary. Let your church become the best version of itself.
Larry Light, Pastor, New Hope Community Church, 607-865-5436
