This week is actually a request in our MusicMonday series. Have you heard the song Even So Come by Kristian Stanfill? The song contains a powerful image of the church. Let’s look at the words for a minute: Continue reading
Tag: #sacramental (Page 4 of 5)
Last week we started with the idea of an amateur
being a lover of things. You can read that post here. This week we’re going to look at this discipleship idea as a personal way of life. Remember, most of the time we talk about discipleship as a program or process that occurs in other; but an alongsider can only come alongside you as far as they’ve already gone.
The author suggests, and I completely agree, that we’ve all too often lost our desire for more of God. Think about it for a minute. It’s like we just know what’s coming. There’s no adventure left in our walk with God. We just have grown comfortable with the bible and what it has to teach us because we’ve heard that before. Continue reading
Discipleship is all the rave in the church these days. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books on the topic. But which one of them is the right one? Which one of them is the proper way to go about making disciples and following the famous line from Jesus and make disciples of all nations? The simple answer…none of them is the way to do it. Continue reading
Being a Monday morning it’s time for another song of the week. This one is a song that I really didn’t understand until I read the lyrics closely. The words are very easy to understand but maybe it’s because I only listen to the radio while driving with the sunroof open going down the highway. At any rate, I never really understood how powerful these lyrics were – then like a hero that takes a stage when we’re on the edge of our seats saying it’s too late well let me introduce you to amazing grace. Give it a listen here… Continue reading
My kids are big into The Avengers. I’m not sure if they have a favorite because all of them are so amazing. Take the HULK for instance. The man, Bruce Banner, is a fairly normal guy. He’s smart but nothing out of this world, but when he gets angry – look out! His anger turns to rage and the beast we know as the HULK comes out and there’s just not stopping him. Then there’s Iron Man a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist who likes to respond to trouble by suiting up in his home-made, jet propelled suit of armor.
But the problem is…none of these guys are realistic! They are all setting up the idea in our minds that we have to be someone with extreme powers to be worth something in the world. It’s not just superheroes either. It happens all over the place, even in the church.
Many church going people get the image in their minds that they need to preach like the Apostle Paul or they’re not good enough. Or they must have a following of someone like Billy Graham. Or they have to do as many good deeds as a Mother Theresa. These superheroes of the faith are wonderful people who did many great things, but we don’t have to be them!
The truth of the matter is everything needed for our salvation was already done. We don’t have to do anything because Jesus did everything. This means that while powerful preaching is great, it’s not necessary for our salvation. Gathering great crowds of people to demonstrate the greatness of God is a worthwhile endeavor but it’s not essential to our eternity. Doing good works is definitely something great to pursue, but even this is not a mandatory piece to gain favor with God. Everything needed for our salvation was already done for us in Jesus.
When Jesus went to the cross he completed everything that was required of you and me. His death was the payment needed for our sins. His resurrection was the completion that opened heaven for us. Now there’s simply nothing we have to do because it’s all been done already on the cross. This now opens us the world for us. We now by the power of Christ in us are empowered to accomplish great and amazing things in our daily lives. We’re not superheroes, nor are we supposed to be. But we’re ordinary people who God calls to live our lives following Him.
It’s that simple. The message of the church throughout the book of Acts was just that – Jesus did it all. Now we’re invited to follow Christ on his mission in the world today. You don’t have to do anything because Jesus did everything for you.
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
There’s a lot of talk these days about safe places. These are places where people are free to be themselves. They are places that lack judgment and allow the freedom to be accepted no matter the person’s preferences, history, or genetic make-up. Continue reading