Wednesday, April 27, 2011

EXPONENTIAL II

I'm giving some thoughts over these next few days about church planting and multi-site concepts. This from Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson:

* We have to come to the place where confession equals commitment to God and where baptism equals ordination for service.


* Thanks to the multi-site movement, there are now more churches opening than closing in the U.S. But in large part, we are all going after the same 50% over and over. That means we have a ‘strategic problem.’ We can no longer expect those people to come to us; we have to go to them.


* One question is: "What will sound like ‘good news’ to THOSE people?" That is our ‘missional problem.’ We must learn to communicate the Gospel in ways that are meaningful to those outside of faith - people who, whether we like it or not, don’t find our models and methods of doing church engaging. They aren’t going to come to our present church no matter how good we are. More of the same isn’t going to draw them.


* Most of the ways we try to resolve the problems of church today come within the paradigm of what we already know. That can resolve some problems, but not problems that are fundamentally different than what we currently understand.


* So what might a 'new' church look like? One thing is certain: it won't be ‘business as usual,’ but the happy news is it also probably isn't as far off as we might think from where we are now - we just need some new glasses to look thru.


And be blessed.

5 comments:

Bill Tait said...

I think the big question is do we make Jesus more appealling to sinners by changing the look and feel of " The Church Building and its programs"...... or do we ask Jesus to change the hearts of men, bringing them into his body, through his Word, his Spirit, and a demonstration of his power.

PK's BLOG said...

It is BOTH ... AND.
But the AND has to be kept in context. It is about Jesus all day every day and what HE wants. But our programs have to reflect what God is doing as well as how people are searching -- and our building has to cared for and updated in meaningful ways that reflect our values.

Anonymous said...

I am only one person, but the one thing I learned in the new believers class....is that Jesus is God in human form. I never really knew that before. It was a HUGE revelation for me and changed my relationship with Him. Maybe if more people knew that fact, they would believe in Him as our savior.

I am sure that many people who come to church are searching, like I was. That made all the difference for me and I will never lose sight of it. Just sharing what worked for me. I'm still not perfect, but I will always believe in Jesus and talk to Him about the things going on in my life. I love having a face to put to my prayers. Not just a "Higher Power", but a Man I can relate to.

Veronica said...

If the person is truly commited to Jesus then the person would show themselves being led by the gifts of the holy spirit.

Galatians 5:1617,18
Life by the spirit.

If your desire is to have the qualities listed in Gal. 22,23{22 but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness 23: gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law.}
Then you know that the Holy Spirit is leading you. At the same time be careful not to confuse your subjective feelings with the spirit's leading.Being led by the spirit involves the desire to hear, the readiness to obey God's world and the sensitivity to discern between your feelings and his promptings. Live each day controlled and guided by the spirit. Then the words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of Christ will be behind you actions, and the pwoer of Christ will help you conrol your selfish desires.

If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our lives to his (see John 15:4,5). WE must know him, love him, remember him, and imitate him. As a result, we will fullfill the intended purpose of the law-to love God and our neighbors. Which of these qualities do you want the Spriit to produce in you? Because the God who sent the law also sent the spirit, the by products of the spirit-filled life are in perfect harmony with the intent of Gods law. A person who exhibits the fruit of the spirit fulfills the law far better than a person who observes the rituals but has little love in his or her heart.
This doesn't mean, however, that we will never see traces of its evil desires again. As Christians we still have the capacity to sin, but we have been set free from sins power over us and no longer have to give in to it. We must daily commit our sinful tendencies to God's control, daily crusify them, and moment to moment draw on the spirit's power to over come them. (see Gal. 2:20; 6:14).

So, why is the question:?

Quote: big question is do we make Jesus more appealling to sinners by changing the look and feel of " The Church Building and its programs.

Yes, I feel it most assuredly has to reflect the fruit of the spirit.

Veronica said...

How many more thousands of years before anyone/everyone admits they know what they need to do?