Ministries
July / August 2006
Lynne Hammond
Dearest Friend and Pray-er,
Over the past few years, there’s one question people often ask me. “Lynne,” they say, “what are you praying about the Church?”
You might think the answer would change from month to month, or at least from year to year. But oddly enough, it doesn’t, because for the past seven years, my prayers for the Church have revolved around one central theme. I’ve been praying about the emerging pattern of the apostolic church.
The more I pray about it, the more certain I am that in the next few years before Jesus returns, that’s the Church pattern that will rise to the forefront of Christendom. That’s the pattern God will use to take the Gospel to every nation and bring in the last great harvest of souls.
The very idea that God might have several different patterns for the Church may well sound strange to some people. “God just has one way of doing Church!” they might say, “He wants it done the way it was in the Bible. He wants our churches to be like the churches in the book of Acts.”
Certainly He does. The question is, which church in the book of Acts does He want us to use as our pattern?
The Jerusalem church? The church at Antioch? Or the church at Ephesus?
Different Seasons… Different Patterns
Each one of those churches was wonderful. Each one furthered the plan of God. And they were all very different.
When you think about it, though, that’s not especially surprising. Even in the Old Testament, God had different patterns for His house. In Exodus 25, for example, He spoke to Moses about how He wanted the first Tabernacle constructed. He said:
Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. And you shall make it according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle or dwelling and the pattern of all the furniture in it. (verses 8-9 Amp.)
Those verses clearly tell us that God provided very specific directions for the Temple in the wilderness. It was built according to a certain pattern so that it could accomplish God’s purposes on the earth for that season of time. Exodus 35 tells us that He even anointed craftsmen and artists with the ability to bring that pattern forth perfectly.
Most likely, when the Israelites saw the pattern for the wilderness Tabernacle, they thought it was the last word in Temple-building. They assumed God would always want His house to be built according to that pattern and look exactly that way.
But when the spiritual season changed and it was time for the Temple in Jerusalem to be built, God provided an entirely different pattern. He gave it first to King David:
Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord… All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. (1 Chronicles 28:11-12, 19 KJV)
Two Powerful New Testament Patterns
Obviously, our God is a God of patterns. We see that not only in the Old Testament but also in the New. The first few chapters of Acts, for instance, reveal God’s initial pattern for the New Testament Church. It is represented by the church in Jerusalem.
When we study the Jerusalem church, we find it was a massive church that was marked by explosive growth. It grew from 120 to 8,000 members in just a few weeks. This church was outfitted with strong leaders and signs, wonders, and miracles. The members loved each other and were such committed givers that, according to Acts 4:34-35, no one among them lacked anything “for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.”
What an amazing testimony of love and generosity! There was only one problem. That generosity primarily focused on meeting only the needs of their own local body. That kind of thinking seemed to be a hallmark of the Jerusalem church. Despite Jesus’ command to preach the Gospel to every creature, the believers there found it difficult to concentrate on anything else but the work in their own city.
The only people they evangelized were the people right around them—people from their own race, religious background, and culture. Even when members of the Jerusalem church were scattered by the persecution, initially they “traveled as far away as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, without delivering the message [concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God] to anyone except the Jews” (Acts 11:19 Amp.).
Don’t misunderstand. The Jerusalem church was a marvelous church. It provided a strong base in the early stages of Christianity. It served as a wonderful pattern of power and unity among believers. It advanced the kingdom of God.
But after the persecution began, God revealed another powerful pattern for the New Testament church—and He did it through the church at Antioch. The first church to preach the Gospel to the gentiles, members of the Antioch church boldly evangelized where none had gone before: “And the presence of the Lord was with them with power, so that a great number… turned and surrendered themselves to Him” (verse 21 Amp.).
The Antioch church had the power of the Jerusalem church but they took that power beyond their own circle of friends. They became a multicultural church that welcomed every nation, tribe, and tongue.
When the Jerusalem church heard what was happening there, it caused such a stir that they sent Barnabas to check it out. He was so delighted with what he found that he talked Saul (a.k.a. the apostle Paul) into joining him there. They stayed in Antioch for a year and “instructed a large number of people” (verse 26).
As a result, this church became a strong teaching center, a center for sound doctrine. The saints were spiritually well-fed and equipped there. So much so, that “in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” or “little Christs” (verse 26).
What does that mean? Does it mean they were just all smiles and loved everybody? No, it means the Antioch believers lived like Jesus lived. They talked like He talked and did the works that He did. They went about healing all that were oppressed of the Devil. They duplicated the ministry of Jesus.
Grow Up, Go Out, and Do What You’re Called to Do
When it came to giving, like the believers in Jerusalem, the Antioch Christians were generous. But there was one difference. Their giving extended beyond the boundaries of their own church. When a prophet among them foretold the famine that was coming on Judea, for example, the church at Antioch sent financial relief to the brethren there.
The Antioch church not only sent finances to other regions, they also sent people. Acts 13 gives us insight into how they did it. There we see that:
…i;in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God…(verses 1-5 NKJ).
Notice that church leaders came to Antioch not only to fellowship with each other and be edified, but also to minister to the Lord. They took time to sing praises and worship Him, to fast, pray, and experience His presence. And when they did, they experienced demonstrations and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. When they ministered to the Lord, He ministered back to them. As a result, the Antioch church became a place where people could find their God-ordained purpose. It was a place that sent people out to do the work God had called them to do.
That, in a nutshell, is what an apostolic church is all about.
It’s not a church where believers can go and remain babies all their lives. It’s a place where Christians grow up, go out, and do what they’re divinely designed to do.
Spiritual Plow Mules Breaking Fresh Ground
The Antioch church proved just how productive that can be. By sending out Paul and Barnabas, it replicated itself again and again. It gave birth to the church at Ephesus, the Colossian church, the Corinthian church, and others. It bore fruit far and wide. It reached out and took the Gospel to new places and to people who had not heard it before. It plowed new ground for the kingdom of God.
That’s the primary mark of the apostolic church. Its leaders are like spiritual plow mules. They have the toughness, anointing, and divine ingenuity to break fresh ground for Jesus. They’re not just conscious of what is going on in the local church, they’re looking beyond themselves. They’re dreaming Holy Ghost dreams and making Holy Ghost plans to touch other cities, other cultures, and other nations.
The apostolic pastor doesn’t see the growth of one local church as an end in itself. He sees that church as a base from which other outreaches can be launched and new areas can be reached.
Already there are many such churches springing up in nations all over the world. I know personally of a few that have developed strategies to reach people in nations that have been, for all practical purposes, completely closed to the Gospel for years. By sending out their members to minister the Gospel, disguised as doctors, nurses, school teachers, and nannies, they are bearing fruit in places like Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
They are taking the Gospel and going, like the Antioch church, where none has gone before.
Get Ready to Go
Recently, I was talking with a man from a particular Pentecostal denomination (a denomination that puts little emphasis on teaching the saints and bringing them to maturity but strongly emphasizes evangelism) and he made an interesting observation. He said, “Lynne, as a whole, the Word of Faith churches teach their people well. They dig a mile deep in the Word of God, but they only go about an inch wide. They don’t reach out very far beyond themselves. My denomination, on the other hand, goes only an inch deep but we’re a mile wide. Somehow we ought to get together.”
I believe in this age of the apostolic Church, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I believe God is going to coax us all out of our little denominational cliques and start sending us out. He’ll send us out to other nations, other cultures, and other regions to preach the Gospel to those who are still waiting in darkness to hear it. And He’ll send those of us who have been trained in the powerful principles of faith across denominational lines to share what we’ve learned with the rest of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Years ago, when Jesus spoke to brother Hagin, the spiritual father of what we’ve come to call the “faith movement,” He said, “Go and teach My people faith.” He didn’t say, “Go and teach a few of My people faith,” or “Go and teach it just in Word of Faith churches.”
No, every Christian on earth—Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, and every other kind—needs faith teaching to complete their God-ordained course. And before Jesus comes back, He is going to get that teaching to them. He’s going to break down the bars of exclusivity that have separated us all and start sending us out—to one another and to the world.
So get your Gospel shoes on and get ready to go. Until I write again, keep praying for the apostolic Church to arise, and be sure to remember that...
You are loved by,
Lynne Hammond
Testimonies from Around the World
Phoenix, AZ
I would like to thank Mac Hammond Ministries for allowing Lynne Hammond to visit my church last year. I attend Faith Christian Center in Phoenix, Arizona with Pastor Sean Moore. Ever since she came to our prayer conference, I have had a renewed fire for prayer. A few of the other members and I started a prayer group after that conference. We pray weekly for our church and the southwest; we are affecting our region with prayer. Thank you, Lynne! I also have recently read Renewed in His Presence and The Master Is Calling. They have increased my fellowship with the Father tremendously. I also read GPAN daily. Because of all that I have received through Pastor Lynne’s ministry, the Lord has led my husband and me to partner with you. We are praying for you all. Thank you again.
–A.M.
