I can remember as a child standing in a large, empty room and clapping my hands. I would do it to wait for the echo. I’m not sure why, but hearing an echo was so intriguing as a child. It was almost like there was something magical about an echo or like there was someone hidden in the room who was responding to me. But as I grew older I stopped caring as much about echoes. Maybe it’s because we’re so caught up in our own words that the echo seems less important. But perhaps an echo is exactly what is needed right now. Continue reading
Tag: #fivetwo (Page 1 of 3)
We’ve all heard the word and undoubtedly we have some image in our minds when we hear this word. Some of us think a large church building on a Sunday morning typically around 10am that meets for an hour. We hear a wonderful pipe organ. We’re sitting in hard wooden pews that are anything but comfortable. While others of us see more of an empty warehouse of sorts with stackable chairs that can be used for many different things. We hear loud music that is played on guitars and drums. Either way that’s really not the point of worship. Continue reading
It’s no secret that this is likely the easiest piece but seemingly the most overlooked. We live in a day and age in which community is something that just isn’t all that important. Think about the last time you came home from a long day at work. If you’re like many in my neighborhood, you pull your car in and close the garage door before you even get out of your vehicle. We’ve taken human interaction out of the equation in much of what we do in our day-to-day lives. Continue reading
If you were at the church I pastor, Living Word Church, this past Sunday you might have heard something of three numbers. These numbers are very important to me and I pray they gain the same significance to those in the ministry I serve. Apart these three single digits are really not all that impressive nor important. But when you look at them together and see the impact that these three numbers can have, it’s truly nothing short of miraculous. Continue reading
There’s an old camp song that many of us in “church-topia” used to sing called It only takes a spark. The idea is that God is ready to light us on fire with passion and desire to share the love of Jesus with the world around us. The message is so simple and the song so calming. Continue reading
Now I have to be honest. It’s easy to get overcome by the troubles in life. We get stressed about the things life throws our way. As a matter of fact, I’m writing this devotion just days before my family goes on a vacation, on a cruise. And to be completely transparent, I’m scared. No – I never was held under water as a child. I have no reason at all why I should be afraid. It’s a completely irrational fear. I’m afraid of not being in control. I’m afraid of something happening that I can’t anticipate. In short I just simply am having a hard time getting the courage to step onto that boat. But I know that I have to do it. Continue reading
Several months ago I read a book titled Joining Jesus on His Mission, by Greg Finke of Dwelling 1:14 Ministries. As I read the book, I realized that the stuff he was writing was stuff that I had always been teaching, just in a little different way. At first I had that why didn’t I write this book feeling, but after that subsided I began to see some possibilities and opportunities.
This began a several month planning session with my team at church. We all read the book and just about everyone said It can’t be that easy! But truth be told, it is just that easy. The long and short of the book is that the mission is not ours rather it belongs to Jesus. And the cool part is He just wants us to hang out with Him on His mission. Sounds a lot less scary now doesn’t it!
With some leadership buy-in, we decided to reach out to Greg and see if we could
host a training workshop at Living Word the church I am privileged to pastor. He was on the calendar and we were off to the races to make this the start of a movement in the congregation instead of a one weekend event. So we decided to launch a summer long party the day we wrapped up the training.
In the weeks leading up to the event, we had posters and fliers and even a few promo videos from members who have read the book. Then we started to look at follow-up for the event. How are we going to make this a movement and not just a one day event? Party was the answer! Everyone knows what a party is and the great thing is, party means something different to just about everyone. So we’ll help the congregation throw parties in their homes throughout the summer months in an effort to simply establish relationships with people where we live, work, and play.
Now here’s the hitch – there’s not catch to the parties. There’s no church t-shirts or bait and switch things happening here. It’s not a church party! It’s a party, gathering
of people where you happen to carry inside you all of the power of the risen Jesus. While you will not be leading a bible study or preaching anything at these parties. You will be on Jesus’ mission of redeeming and restoring the world unto himself. Pretty easy. Everyone likes food. Just about everyone likes to have fun. So why not put them together and have a little party?
It truly is that easy. Intentional missionaries strategically deployed around the community with the sole purpose of redeeming our community through relationships. Can’t get much easier than that! Want to join the fun and throw a party where you live, work, or play? Give us a shout and we’ll do what we can to help you get started!
In the book Five Challenges for the Once and Future Church we’re introduced to five specific things that are happening in our world today of which we as the church need to be aware. I’ve already summarized challenges one, two and three. Feel free to check them out.
In this post we’re going to look at the fourth challenge that lies before the church. In a word the challenge is community. In digital age is one where we hold our community in the palm of our hand but never really engage with physical people. It’s merely a virtual world in which there’s only community through media. Intimacy and physical interaction isn’t necessary but it’s so needed!
You can live your entire life without ever having to interact with someone in a real way. If the church is going to maintain its presence in society it will need to begin to create safe spaces for community to happen. We need to make sure to be clear on this point. The issue is community. The world doesn’t simply need another worship opportunity – it needs community.
The challenge we’re going to face here is that many people believe that when you get people together for a church event, we feel the need to preach at them. But this is not community. We have to be willing to let people gather for the sake of the relationships that are being built around the cross. Even if the message of Jesus isn’t proclaimed fully, Jesus promises to be present.
At Living Word we’re embarking on a mission to create safe spaces for community to occur. This is our summer mission. We’re providing the materials for members of the church to host parties in their homes. We’re calling them Party Pails. In each Party Pail, we’re going to have everything a person will need to throw a party. We’re even going to have backyard games available for people to take home and use. The purpose is simply to establish community spots throughout the neighborhoods represented in our church.
When we realize that we carry the presence of Christ in us, we’ll be able to see these safe communities as Christ Communities. Since Christ is in me and I’m in community with the people where I live, work, and play then I know Christ is working in my community as I am working in my community. Often without saying a word, we’ll bring Jesus and his message of forgiveness and grace to these communities just by how we live his love out loud. It’s something called the sacramental we. Jesus is present in me through his promise and his Spirit.
So take a minute and think about how you, carrying the presence of Christ in you, can establish community where you live, work, and play.
Several years ago I read a book that struck a nerve, but I did with it what I do all too often. After reading it, I just put it on the shelf and seemingly forgot about it. Well, I forgot until the other day when I was writing my article for the church newsletter. Then as I was writing, it hit me. I frantically started digging through my shelves for the book that had no name. Continue reading
It’s kind of amazing isn’t it? I mean go into a dark room, one with no lights or windows, then strike a match and see what happens. It doesn’t take much light to completely obliterate darkness. You don’t need a massive flashlight or a super bright lightbulb, just a small flame will work. Continue reading