A Simple Church intro
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Introduction
Introduction
Thank you all for coming back out tonight. I’m grateful for you.
Again, tonight very practical, very informational, stay with me, and then I’ll ask at the end of the night for you join me as we move forward.
Quick recap of last week:
We talked about a Simple Church model
We discussed how in a Simple Church we are seeking 4 things:
Clarity
Movement
Alignment
Focus
Clarity is our mission and how we make disciples. Here, that is Connect Grow Serve Share.
It is underneath the Vision that we have for our church to “Love God, Serve Others, and Make an Impact.”
A reminder for what those four words mean
We Connect to God as we Grow Closer to Him and each other while serving the church and community to share the gospel locally and worldwide.
Movement deals with people taking the next step of faith. That next step could be trusting Jesus, Baptism, serving, or stop drinking, or whatever it may be. We want to help people in their discipleship journey and focusing on movement between the four areas of our mission WILL help with that.
Then there is Alignment. Alignment is us “trimming the fat” if you will. It means not having big church events or gatherings that do not fit into the mission. And only having those once a week. So if we have our Groups on Wednesday night, then we are not going to schedule a Bible study between Wed and Thursday. We should have a serving and sharing opportunity.
You might ask “Pastor don’t you thin studying your Bible is a good thing?” Absolutely. However, what happens when that’s all you do? Are you moving along in your discipleship journey? Are you taking your next steps of faith?
Being a Disciple of Christ is more than just gathering around the Word of God. That is definitely apart of it but we must do much more. As an individual, I think you should study your Bible every day. That’s why we provide resources in the back that do just that.
As a church, I want to help partner with you in your discipleship journey to help lead you to your next step of living for the Lord. I take that as meaning I am a facilitator of opportunities that should purposefully move you through the discipleship process.
Once things are aligned then we must remain focused. This is where two months from now someone says, we should have a get together for this group. I then have to ask the question…How does that move them along their discipleship journey? That gathering, if it is to be sponsored by the church, must help people serve or share the gospel.
I’ve been saying this in our staff meetings. Let’s give them purpose. Let’s gather around the purposes God has given us. Times to get together and let your hair down to just hang out should come from your personal time with others.
I just had dinner with a family from our church where we just hung out. We talked about work, we talked about stocks, we talked about cultures, we talked about the Lord and of course I love talking about the ministry, and we ended the night in prayer.
You say, pastor that sounds like a great night. I AGREE!
I don’t agree with utilizing church time and resources to do it though.
Why?
Because I believe we need to take what we learn adn apply it in our lives. If we get so consumed with waht is going on at the church house and englect our own homes and families, then we are not living as disciples of Christ, we are living as members of a social club.
Do I think churches are evil for operating a different way? No. Do I think anyone who disagrees with me is against me? No.
This is what I believe. And I was told once you have to stand for something or your fall for anything. So here I stand. Not in opposition, but in love. With a desire for us to, as I mentioned Sunday, manage our focus as a body of believers.
That will entail saying no to good things so that we may focus more on the best things.
So that’s a quick recap of what we went over last week and the direction I’m looking for us to go.
What does this look like?
Romans 14:12
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
I preached Sunday about our individual responsibility to the Lord. This type of church model is successful when those who are involved own it. They own their Christianity and live it out personally.
That’s what makes it easier for the church to focus on moving people through the discipleship process. Those who are farther along being apart of the process in helping others. The more people involved in the disciple making process, the more disciples we can make. That’s not to say we are trying to just push people through.
Discipleship is a life long journey that we are all on. You are never done growing in that area. That’s why we frame it as “next steps.”
With people taking individual responsibility we can then focus on our mission to accomplish our vision.
One practical thing we are going to be doing is concerning announcements. From the platform we are going to be seeking to make announcements only in regards to evangelistic events.
First question: How are we supposed to know whats going on?
Great question.
We will be using our screens, bulletin, wall space, email, and all social media channels.
This goes back to something I believe I said last week. Personal invites result in more people attending an event or gathering than anything else. That doesn’t just mean to your friends or those you know, it’s ok to ask people you don’t know.
Remember this is all done with the intent to simplify our process.
We are also seeking to deepen our personal relationship with God.
This model comes with some expectations. One of them being that we expect each other to be ministers and missionaries.
That doesn’t mean we expect to be served by others by it’s reasonable to assume that people in your church are praying for you and will be there for you. I’d like to take it a step further and say we are expected to be proactive ministers .Proactively seeking ways to be a blessing and encouragement to others.
As missionaries, we are carrying the gospel and the invitation to the church with us wherever we go. We are seeking opportunities to invite others to church. We can do that in person but we can also do that online. We can share truths from the message on Sunday, we can like, comment, and share the posts the church puts up.
We can share to the local talk and chat pages and any other groups where it doesn’t violate the rules to share something like that.
Again, I believe this is us taking our Christianity and living it. We are following the great commission. Let me break that passage down a bit.
Matt 28:19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
That first phrase “Go ye therefore” is not just a call to go to a specific place. It is a call to conduct yourself this way “as you are going”
As you are living your life, teach people about Jesus. Bring them to the church to be Baptized. Disciple them by teaching them to observe all things that he commands us.
This type of living will multiply our ministries influence. For what reason? For God’s glory. So that Christ may be Exalted. So people may know Jesus and the amazing relationship we have through the Father by faith in Him.
We don’t just do things for Christ, we should be living for Christ. And when we decide to live for Him, we are living out
gal 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
So what is it exactly, you could that would help make the process of making disciples work? What’s your part?
Sunday AM
Sunday AM
Be early
Come to both bible Study and the service. be early for both. That’s a time of fellowship. Enjoy the coffee and snacks. If you are apart of a ministry, if you are a teacher or anything else, be early to have everything prepared by 15 til so that when new people show up, and everyone else, the property and atmosphere is ready and welcoming. There is nothing worse than walking into a building with lights off, trash on the floor, chairs not set up, and being perceived as not being prepared. I’ve asked our worship team to stop practice at 20 til. Why? I don’t like for them to be practicing when people come in because it makes us appear unprepared.
2. Be Expectant
Expect Visitors. Expect new people. Be looking for them and welcome them. Let’s not go crazy and smother them. However, be willing to say “Hi, welcome to Liberty. Is this your first time?”
maybe your thinking, what if they’ve been here and I’ve just not noticed them…It happens. Don’t be embarrassed. Apologize sure but don’t let your fear of embarrasement keep you from being welcoming and hospitiable.
hebrews 13:2
2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Have a smile on under your mask. Maybe you don’t like to wear one but someone is, be willing to wear it around them. We should not allow our personal preferences of comfort to keep us from church in general or from engaging others.
Then, Expect God. Wake up on Sunday, drink some coffee, and pray for God to show up. Pray for your heart to be convicted and challenged by the message. Pray for People to be saved. Pray for visitors. Pray to be an encouragement to someone. The Bible says
Matt 18:20
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
When we gather as a church we can be confident God is with us. We can expect Him to do something when we humble ourselves and look for Him to.
3. Be an example
Serve on a ministry team. Be apart of making this an amazing experience. Our Connection team are the ones at the doors and Mrs. Carolyn makes the coffee which kind of falls under that. Why? Because all of that is about making a connection to the people.
Give. Give to the Lord through the local church. I don’t talk about money a lot around here. Maybe I should bring some things up more but remember, there is always a bill to pay. There is always something we can be improving. I do plan on bringing the things we are looking to improve at our victory night on January 11th.
Then please…clean. I know we pay cleaners. However, sometimes something happens over the weekend after the cleaners and something is missed. OR, outside trash blows in, or it gets caught in the flowers.
Let’s no longer walk past trash or anything in this building or outside of it. This is the property that God has given us to use for His glory. Let’s make sure it isn’t just used for that purpose but that it is reflective of how amazing He is.
So if you see something on the floor, please pick it up. If you bring something in to eat during the week or at an event, please pick up. If you come in on Sunday and there is something outside that detracts from the beauty of our God, then please, take care of it. Let’s all take responsibility for this property. It’s a good sized property. There’s always something to be done.
Then there is Wednesday nights
Do all of the same things for Wednesday that we do Sunday. Let’s not think…well it’s just Wednesday night. It’s just us home folk. I don’t want my home to be a mess when I’m in it. I don’t want the music to sound bad just because it’s me. let’s have enough greeters and nursery workers so we can have fresh new smiling faces at every service. Welcoming and greeting everyone that walks in the door. It is my desire that NO ONE, open the door for themselves at LBC. We should open the door for each person that comes through.
Also, with Wednesday nights
Please Be engaged.
That could be said for Sunday but it looks different. Be engaged in the group discussion. be engaged throughout the week if there are devotions or questions to answer. Be engaged with the individuals in your small group. That is where alot of our church care takes place. In those groups.