How Do We #ReCenterChrist​? Personally? Corporately? Organically not Programatically?

[Reimagine Curator]

 

How Do We #ReCenterChrist​?

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Personally? Corporately?

Organically not Programatically?

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​ In our Ministries and Meetings?

Our Groups and Gatherings?

With Family and Friends?

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ReCentering Christ

We intentionally shift from running an agenda

to responding to a Person.

We devote intentional time to four simple, repeatable practices:

 

1. Invite — Welcome Our Savior’s Presence

“Jesus will be called Immanuel” (which means “God is with us”). — Matthew 1:23

What we are doing:
Addressing Jesus personally. Honoring Him as present Lord — not speaking generally “to the room,” but to Him.

Language we can use:

• “Jesus, we welcome You.”
• “We worship You and recognize Your authority over this time.”
• “Our desire is to listen, learn, and follow Your lead.”

Practice: Worship — brief, focused, Christ-directed.

Outcome:
A gathered awareness that Jesus is not an idea we discuss but a Lord we encounter.

 

2. Invoke — Petition Holy Spirit Participation

“The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 13:52

What we are doing:
Yielding control. Asking the Holy Spirit to guide, convict, clarify, unify, and empower.

Language we can use:

• “Holy Spirit, fill us — give us ears to hear and hearts to obey.”
• “Guide our conversation; shape our motives; interrupt us if needed.”
• “Intercede with us and teach us how to pray.”

Practice: Fellowship — shared yielding and shared listening.

Outcome:
A posture of dependence replaces self-direction, and the gathering becomes    Spirit-led rather than leader-driven.

 

3. Investigate — Probe & Ponder Holy Scripture

“Keep on asking… seeking… knocking…” — Matthew 7:7

What we are doing:
Letting Scripture set the agenda. Asking better questions. Seeking discernment before decisions.

Language we can use:

• “Lord, help us ask the right questions.”
• “Grant us discernment as we seek Your will in Scripture.”
• “Show us the next faithful step.”

Practice: Discipleship & Leadership — obedience-based discernment.

Outcome:
Decisions are shaped by the Word of Christ, producing clarity, courage, and concrete obedience.

 

4. Involve — Participate in Christ’s Ongoing Work

“Remain in Me… and you will bear much fruit.” — John 15:5

What we are doing:
Moving from insight to obedience. Aligning our plans with what Christ is already doing. Participating rather than merely planning.

Language we can use:

• “Lord, where are You already at work?”
• “How do You want us to join You?”
• “What step of obedience are You calling us to take now?”

Practice: Mission & Implementation — responsive action.

Outcome:
Ministry shifts from activity for Christ to participation with Christ — bearing fruit that reflects His life and leadership.

 

 

Ponder This . . . 

When we consistently Invite, Invoke, Investigate, and Involve, Christ is no longer a name we reference at the beginning of a meeting — He becomes the living center of everything that follows. Our worship shifts from routine to reverent awareness. Our leadership shifts from control to dependence. Our decisions shift from preference to obedience. And our plans shift from self-generated activity to Spirit-guided participation.

Over time, this rhythm reshapes culture. Meetings become sacred space. Conversations become discernment. Ministry becomes partnership with the reigning Christ. What begins as four intentional practices becomes a transformed way of leading and living — Christ not added on, but truly centered.

What does that look like? Feel like? What is the evidence of our transformation?

 

Tools For Your Leadership

√ReCenterChrist_Slide_Deck.pptx

√ReCenterChrist_Styled_Worksheet.pdf

√ReCenterChrist_Workbook_Spread.pdf

 

© Phil Miglioratti @ Reimagine.Network (with Assistive Inquiry) * Permission to Post, Print, Project

[Jim Morgan]

Featured Contributors Respond ~

 

Jim Morgan:  Christ-follower, Disciple-maker, Husband, Dad, and President/Founder of Meet The Need Ministries.

 

Jim: "This is powerful.  Well done.  Very helpful."

 

 

• "Jim, how would you differentiate between focusing on Christ and recentering Christ?"

 

>>> What I observe, and sense sometimes in myself, is forgetting who we're talking about and talking to when we bring up Jesus in meetings, conversations, or even prayer.  Jesus created and saved mankind.  He reigns supremely over all yet works personally in each of our lives.  Even Christians won't sincerely Invite, Invoke, Investigate, and Involve Jesus in their gatherings, actions, and words if they forget in the heat of the moment who He (really) is.  It's easy to lose perspective (becoming too "of the world" while in the world) on the magnificence, power, and love of God - and therefore not adequately or reverently seek His presence to preside over our proceedings.  

 

 

• "We have become satisfied with learning about Christ but we are weak at living with Christ in our daily decision-making and recognizing the leading of Christ in our ministry planning and modeling (worship, fellowship, discipleship, stewardship)!" Agree-or-Disagree then explain why . . .

 

>>> I agree that in most cases Christian leaders tend to jump to conclusions rather than fall to their knees.  Presumption typically precedes prayer, particularly when we become too confident in our capabilities.  Our true intentions and underlying motives are exposed by how quickly we respond to opportunities or criticism.  Recentering (Invite, Invoke, Investigate, and Involve) takes time and reflects complete dependence on God, not ourselves, for designing the process and determining the outcome.

 

 

 

• Please write a prayer we can pray to begin a Spirit-led, Scripture-fed journey to recenter Christ 

 

>>> Heavenly Father, help me and my Kingdom colleagues recenter on your majesty, your glory, your capabilities, and your will - not our own.  In the name of Jesus, the only One worthy and worth putting at the "center".  Amen.