Churches of God Eastern Regional Conference Commission on Evangelism BLOG: Recent Comments

Comment on THE MISSIONAL CHURCH ... simple

Dave Anderson — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:33:07 GMT

Great video, direct and to the point.
I'm reminded of a favorite passage from Lesslie Newbigin's book "The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society,
Newbigin writes,
"If the Gospel is to challenge public life of our society, if Christians are to occupy the “higher ground” which they vacated in the modern era, it will not be by forming a Christian political party or by aggressive propaganda campaigns. It will only be by movements that begin with local congregations in which the reality of the new creation is present, known, and experienced, and from which men and women will go into every sector of public life to claim it for Christ. But this will only happen as and when local congregations renounce an introverted concern for their own life, and recognize that they exist for the sake of those who are not yet members, as a sign, instrument, and foretaste of God’s redeeming grace for the whole life of society."
The idea that the church exists for those who are not yet members will not be very popular in our consumer-minded churches today, but it is at the heart of the Great Commission and The Great Commandment. But how do we steer church members away from the idea that the church exists to serve them and meet their needs?

Comment on THE MISSIONAL CHURCH ... simple

STEVE DUNN — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:24:29 GMT

Perhaps it begins by knowing who they are, meaning those not yet involved in the church. Once in consulting I challenged a church to have a dialogue with that target group before deciding "what they need" and to also assume that they did not yet see what that church had that they needed - or they would already be there.

Comment on THE MISSIONAL CHURCH ... simple

Chuck — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:36:49 GMT

I looked at Keller's "Characteristics of a missional church" - one of the keys: unbelievers coming and meeting us - in and out of church - and saying "you're just like me. How can that be? I'm not a Christian . . . but you are?"

How does that change how we "do" church? How does that change how we reach people who don't know Jesus? How does that change how we (as pastoral leaders) lead our churches - and instruct, equip, and empower our people?

That may be one of the reasons why church planting is effective: we hopefully start out with a mindset:how can we relate to the culture (building a relational connection) in order to build with them a "third space" where Jesus comes through us and enables us to walk together on an equal journey of faith (and ultimately Jesus) discovery?

I think many of our established churches in this country - which I love - struggle with the paradigm shift Keller is talking about. We invite people to come in to our churches - rarely going out to them - in order to be like us. And unfortunately many times we establish a litmus test of what it's like to be like us (and be accepted by us): i.e. political, economic, ethnic values, etc. And they quickly come to know more of what we're "against," than what/Whom we're "for."

Keller nails it: be missional, authentic, and connect with people where they are. And help them see we have the same issues, struggles, needs, etc.

And then love them.

Sounds like Jesus to me.

Comment on DO YOU HAVE A BOOK TO NOMINATE

Dave Anderson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:20:50 GMT

I’m not sure how recent a book must be to be nominated, by I'd like to nominate Ed Stetzer's book "Breaking the Missional Code", which I believe came out in 2006. Stetzer explores what it means for a church to have a more missional approach to evangelism.
Of particular interest to me, is when he says churches need to encourage non-believers to become involved in the life of the church and experience discipleship before conversion. Allow these individuals opportunities to serve along side established church members and to see first hand discipleship in action. Also the church is showing and modeling the love of Christ rather than just talking about it. In this way they can be part of the the larger church community. They can also understand what t means to be a church member.
However, conversion is still essential. If they want to be full members of the true church and the Kingdom, they need to realize that they are sinners, saved by grace through faith, repent and accept Jesus into their lives.
Discipleship before conversion gives the non-believer a better idea of what the Christian Spirit -filled life is like,more than just fire insurance.
Stetzer also has a newer book titled “ Lost and Found” about reaching younger unchurched, that I would be very interested in reading.

Comment on DO YOU HAVE A BOOK TO NOMINATE

Dave Anderson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:34:51 GMT

Comment on 2010 - WHAT IS JESUS GOING TO DO IN AND THROUGH YOUR CHURCH?

Tom Weil — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:12:34 GMT

Currently I am waiting on God for a church to love which makes me an evangelistic leader of one. The Jesus in me its bustin out all over with excitement to share and broadcast to anyone that can hear. For those who can't hear may they see my fervor and ask, whassup. Whether the time before His coming is short or long no one knows "so you better not wait, you better get out, you better tell everyone what Jesus is about, for our Saviour is coming and salvation is offered to all." Sing that to the tune of Santa Claus is coming to town. Merry Christmas, hugs.....Tom

Comment on THE NUMBER ONE TIME FOR VISITORS

Chuck — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:43:27 GMT

Thanks for sharing - and I totally agree. In fact, in our first church plant in 2000, we launched on the first Sunday of December because we felt that's when many unchurched would like to go to church. 220 showed up.

Comment on THE NUMBER ONE TIME FOR VISITORS

Tom Myers — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:12:52 GMT

In our congregation, We have a time for the family to come and share in an intimate gathering with celebrating the Lord's Supper; then later on, a time for all to come and celebrate Christ's birth.

Starting 2 hours before the Candle Lighting service, people from our congregation will come as individual families to the altar and partake of the elements together. They will then go for a time of fellowship with those who have already celebrated at the Lord's table.

Thirty minutes before the Candle Lighting service begins, we clean up the elements and prepare to worship with everyone in our community. Friends and visitors are always welcome and invited to join in the celebration of Christ's birth. We have even had someone accept Christ as Lord of their life at a Candle Lighting service; so, the message of Christ is not tamed down to make people comfortable. The true joy of the Christmas celebration is the salvation that has came through Christ.

Comment on Quote for Pastors

Steve Dunn — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:40:29 GMT

We are not trying to simply give people a better life--but introduce them to eternal life and the abundant life it produces. People don't need one more set of self-help ideas. They need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Comment on A Good Question

Pastor Dan Masshardt — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:23:38 GMT

Thank you for your comment. ERC stands for Eastern Regional Conference. Essentially it is an "in house" blog for churches and pastors within the ERC, so it doesn't normally generate questions. We are redesignng the blog later this year and will take your suggestion into consideration.