How one church evangelizes and serves on Sundays when other churches gather altogether

See this brilliant post by Jeff Vanderstelt.  It’s helpful in thinking out of the box and trying to be rigorously biblical since it challenges some evangelical traditions and customs that I almost hold as biblical without realizing it.

My only critique at this point is the modified presbyterian polity of churches like Jeff’s.  Other than that, which is not unimportant, I find his principles biblical and the application of it in his churches as one faithful expression of obedience to the truths we hold dear.

Questions for Communal Christian Living as a local Church

My friend Donovan sent me an email that will help Christians, pastors, and church planters:

This message is from a recent Acts29 Boot Camp. It’s pretty quiet at first, but hang in there – the volume quality gets better. Here’s the message:  http://www.acts29network.org/sermon/influence-through-community/. If you don’t have time to listen to it, consider these questions posed in the message:

- Who in your life knows the sin you struggle with?

- Who do you meet with regularly to pray?

- With whom are you living a life of love in front of amazed unbelievers?

- Who has corrected you in some area of your life lately? Who have you corrected lately?

- Who are you currently discipling and teaching with Scripture?

- Who do you meet with regularly to discuss what you’re learning in Scripture?

- Who will be by your hospital bed to comfort and encourage you? Whose hopsital bed will you be at when they need someone there?

- Who will fight to keep you straying from the faith?

- Who do you serve with, using the gifts God has given you?

- Who are you partnering with to reach the lost?

- Who do you meet with when your marriage is struggling? Who prays for your marriage consistantly?

- Who are you encouraging daily?

- Who have you counseled with the Word of God lately?

Howard says every Christian should be able to answer these questions. If not, they’re probably just going to a service, not genuinely a part of authentic Church community. And if we allow this in our churches, we facilitate an unbiblical understanding and practice of “church” amongst our people.

Blessings and Benedictions in the New Testament Letters

I wrote some reflections and observations on this list, but I’ll save those for another post when I can write out my thoughts on it more completely and clearly. All verses are in the ESV.

Romans 16:25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

1 Cor 16:22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!  23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

2 Cor 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Gal. 6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

Eph. 6:23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Phil. 4:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Col 4:18 Grace be with you.

1 Thes. 5:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

2 Thes. 3:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

1 Tim. 6:20 Grace be with you.

2 Tim 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Titus 3:15 Grace be with you all.

Phile. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Heb. 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Heb 13:25 Grace be with all of you.

1 Pet. 5:14 Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

2 Pet 3:18 To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

3 John 15 Peace be to you.

Jude 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Revelation 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

New D.A. Carson MP3 Q&A

D.A. Carson asked good questions at the New Word Alive Conference about the New Perspectives on Paul, what’s missing in Tom Wright’s gospel presentation, call to the ministry, reforming a church, how to train up elders in a church, federal headship, and a bunch of other stuff.

To see all DA Carson audio I can find, click here.

D.A. Carson’s thought on the position of “senior/lead pastor”

This is taken from a 9Marks talk in Washington D.C. (listen to or read the whole thing):

Question: Where in the New Testament is the idea as we currently see it today of the senior pastor or lead pastor?

D.A. Carson (All the italics and underlining is mine): If by “senior pastor” you mean a separate category, i.e. someone rather different from “pastor,” then obviously there is no New Testament warrant for the office. But where you have a group of elders, a group of pastors, a group of overseers, then inevitably, in the very nature of the case, some are going to be more senior than others, whether because they have been in the task longer, or because they are more experienced or they know more, or because they are better teachers of the Word of God. So inevitably a functional discrimination is made. That is also true within the pages of the New Testament. For example, Timothy is told to find others who will be able to learn the foundational Christian things and pass them on to others. That means there should be some kind of mentoring going on within the local church. Functionally, then, you have a senior elder and a trainee elder. So there is nothing intrinsically wrong with such functional distinctions. Those who try to insist on a purely democratic structure to every elders’ board, as if everyone on that board has exactly the same authority, not only overlook the degrees of competence and maturity attested by the New Testament, but they forget that at the end of the day the authority is not in the individual but in the Word. Inevitably, this fact suggests that the person who knows the Scriptures best and who teaches them best is likely to end up with an enhanced functional authority, whether formalized or not. If formalized, then he is being recognized by the church (whether or not the title is used) as the “senior pastor.” This doesn’t mean he knows everything, or that on every topic he is invariably the best teacher, but by and large, in terms of his experience, his example, his knowledge of Scripture and his ability to teach the Word of God, that person will become, de facto, the senior pastor, even if he does not have that title.

I think all of Carson’s thoughts here argue for a functional seniority and not formalized seniority (see where I’ve italizicized or underlined his words).  Here’s what I’ve written in the past regarding this:

I do think there is inevitably a first among equals in most churches, but the title of this position emphasizes and formalizes the idea of “first among equals” rather than letting that seniority and leadership flow naturally with one’s ministry of the Word.  If one rises as a first among equals it should be by virtue of his grasp of the Scripture and application of it and not by virtue of his position.  This helps give the other pastors the confidence of equality and ability to humbly challenge the first among equals in ways that can bless the leadership and church.  This also helps keep the pastors out of the way of Jesus Christ, the chief pastor, leading his church by virtue of his Word and Spirit, while all the other pastors seek to follow his lead.  Certainly the one most in tune with Christ’s Word and Spirit will carry more weight in the discussion, but that would be by virtue of his echoing Christ and the Spirit and not by virtue of his office and title “senior/lead pastor.”

As I’ve learned at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, a pastor doesn’t have coercive power but power insofar as he communicates and applies Scripture to the church.  In that case, the power and influence of different pastors in a discussion and decision should flow from communication and application of Scripture, not formal title as “senior/lead pastor.”

Martin Luther on comfort in temptation

I got an email today of what was said by Luther on this day, May 16, a couple of hundred years ago.

1540 – German reformer Martin Luther remarked: ‘In the worst
temptations nothing can help us but faith that God’s Son has
put on flesh, is bone, sits at the right hand of the Father,
and prays for us. There is no mightier comfort.’

Steve Timmis Total Church Training session 2 notes

See the video here.

Devolution – the shift of power, resources, and identity away from the center and out to the margins.

This is a great model for churches of all sizes.  It’s not a dismantling of the center.

Gospel communities are the way to do this.  Steve Timmis thinks large churches must do it.

Two questions to answer:

HOW DO WE DO IT?

• Mind your language – language matters.  It’s not just descriptive, it’s creative.  Do not describe gospel communities as small groups, home groups, bible study groups.  They are communities designed by the gospel for the gospel.  Think of your big meeting as the aggregate of your gospel communities rather than thinking of the gospel communities as the subset of your large meeting.  This is important because it shapes where you put your focus, your energy, and where you direct people.  You can be certain that community is not going to happen in that big Sunday meeting.  Other good things will happen, but not community.  See what context the one-another commands in the bible can be applied (i.e. Col. 3:16)
• Re-design your structures – make sure they reflect a gospel community focus.  That gospel communities is where the action and church takes place.  Allow the GCs to shape the church.  Allow the initiatives to come from GCs.  Let the GCs shape the church.
• Put your money where your mouth is! – Make sure your staff who oversees the GCs is on the senior staff level.  They must have influence and sway among the elders or else it won’t be meaningful and influential and effective.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

• Gospel communities are a significant point of entry – There may be people involved in GCs that are not involved in the central gathering.  As the GCs become increasingly missional, then this should be expected, encouraged, and celebrated.  The central gathering will also be another point of entry.
• GCs are suitably prioritized – Whatever is run centrally should not overrun what is done in the GCs.  We’re not using GCs to harvest people for what we want to run centrally.  The GCs will help decide who should be used for central functions.
• GCs are the pens into which the sheep are shepherded – If you’re not part of a community group then you don’t know what the church is like –Tim Keller.  “If you’re not part of a GC, you need to become part of one.  If you don’t want to be part of a community, then please don’t carry on coming here.” – Steve Timmis.
• GC leaders are trained and supported – At Austin City Life (Jonathan Dodson) they have (1) leadership seminars (pastoral and missional tasks), (2) on the fly training, (3) monthly coaching, and (4) missional community leaders’ meeting.

Q/A session:

1. GCs are where we do the stuff of church.
2. Another failure is that they rested on their laurels as The Crowded House and they fail because they believe the press they get since people are impressed with what they’re trying to do rather than them concentrating on actually doing it (because they’re patting themselves on the back).
3. You want them to want this way of living.
4. So they’re excluded from the eating and breaking bread together.
5. Then tell those in your GC to invite unbelievers to dinner at your house.

Steve Timmis Session 3 on Total Church Gospel Communities

See the video here.

What does a gospel community (GC) look like?

GCs are about community:

• Creating a mindset in which the GC is viewed as the primary community
• From GCs around location or focus, not existing friendships
• Always be looking to include non-Christians in what you do
• Avoid becoming “event-centric.”

A GC is a group of Christians sharing lives together and living their shared life on mission for the glory of God.

GCs are about the gospel

• Steve would translate “ekklesia” as “GC” because Christians will think of the meeting and non-Christians will think of the building if you use the word, “Church.”
• The gospel forms the GC and defines their mission.
• Gospel initiatives form GCs to spread the gospel, not to fill seats.
• It’s ordinary life lived with gospel intentionality.

Q/A

How are children involved?  People will relate to them.  We treat children like human beings.  Steve wants to see other people take responsibility for his kids. Include the kids in your whole meeting, or if you teach the kids, teach them the same content in their class but incorporate what they learn into the whole group (maybe where they can share that with everyone).

Free solid theological children’s curriculum

My friend Ben just posted this great news:

I’m guessing there are about 30 8-year-olds running around my church who have a better grasp on theology than I did until I was about 24. One of the big reasons for that is Praise Factory, the children’s ministry program designed and written by Connie Dever. Today that program went live online.

Now, I’m a huge fan of Kids4Truth, and I hear lots of great things about Children Desiring God too. And I can’t offer you any sort of comparative analysis. But I do know this: Praise Factory is all free, and the theology is solid as a rock. Trust me, every now and then you get way more than you pay for.

Encouraging Fellowship and deep realtionship (buzzword: community) in your church

As I’m re-reading Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, hearing/watching Steve Timmis lecture on it, and remembering what Brian Howard taught about community last week at the Acts29 Boot Camp, I realize that CHBC did practice deep relationships and “community” well for a 700-member church, so I thought to look back in my email archives for a list we compiled a last year.  I found it and list it below.

Here is a list from some of my brothers at Capitol Hill Baptist Church when I interned there:

1. single service, single location – Mark Dever explains this
2. evening service -Mark Dever explains this
3. small group policy – Mark Dever explains this
4. Corporate application during sermons
5. Elders getting to know people (one thing we look for in elder candidates is a track record of getting to know people in all pockets of the congregation)
6. Emphasis on personal discipleship relationships–even at the expense (sometimes) of small groups
7. Encouraging hospitality among (not to exclude outside of) church membership
8. Praying through the membership directory
9. Public Prayer requests at the prayer meeting/family time
10. No age-graded adult Sunday school
11. No singles ministry (or other demographic-focused ministry for adults)
12. Encouragement of West Hall fellowship after church
13. Potluck
14. Few small groups demarkated by demographic (married groups the exception)
15. Publicly holding up service across cultural lines as exemplary (Jeannie + Jesse caring for Annie Brown)
16. Encouraging a culture of spiritually-significant conversations
17. Full congregation vote on new members
18. Weddings always open to the entire congregation
19. Communion only for entire congregation (not in small groups)
20. Focus of Membership Matters class
21. Have all the staff pastors live on the block and sort of like a mini-community and getting people to fellowship with that community on the block.