Francis Chan: “Luke warm and lovin’ it”

Where is the church?

Preparing for this Sunday’s message, Getting Church Right: Part 3, I ran across a quote from George Barna’s The Second Coming of the Church that rocked me! (I first read this on January 23, 2005!)

Americans today are more devoted to seeking spiritual enlightenment than at any previous time during the twentieth century. Yet, at this moment of optimum opportunity, Christianity is having less impact on people’s perspectives and behaviors than ever. Why is that? Because a growing majority of people have dismissed the Christian faith as weak, outdated, and irrelevant.

Interestingly, the stumbling block for the Church is not its theology but its failure to apply what it believes in compelling ways. The downfall of the Church has not been the content of its message but its failure to practice those truths. Christians have been their own worst enemies when it comes to showing the world what authentic, biblical Christianity looks like–and why it represents a viable alternative to materialism, existentialism, mysticism, and the other doctrines of the popular culture. Those who have left empty-handed, confused by the apparent inability of Christians themselves to implement the principles they profess. Churches, for the most part, have failed to address the nagging anxieties and deep-seated fears of the people, focusing instead upon outdated or secondary issues and proposing tired or trite solutions. (p 5)

You may not agree with everything Barna writes…but it’s enough of a wake up call to encourage us to get church right!

Desiring to be a New Testament church. . .

This week while I was preparing for Sunday’s message which is based on Acts 2:42-27 I ran into this great quote:

“A New Testament church is a church in which God is present through His Spirit, and in which He is powerfully at work to glorify Himself by manifestations of His power and grace. A New Testament church is a church where the fruits of the Spirit are as evident as the manifestations of His power. That is the kind of church we desire to be.” (Bible.org)

So many local churches simply don’t look or act like the churches we read about in the New Testament, and especially in Acts, because we just don’t seek and follow God’s Spirit. A New Testament church is a church where God’s Spirit is alive and active, moving in and through the lives of believers…and even non-believers!

When God’s Spirit moves, it is powerful! When the Holy Spirit is active, it is beautiful! And it only happens when we truly desire and seek God’s Spirit in our own lives. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”

More than anything else I desire for Neel Road to be a New Testament church. For every person to know the God who gives each of us new life each day, to have a relationship with Jesus Christ that is life-changing, and to be powerfully and wonderfully filled with the Holy Spirit!

For the next five weeks or so I will be preaching a series of messages based on the passage mentioned above. The title of the series is called “Getting Church Right.” I hope you can join us.

Eugene Peterson on Our Daily Life

Sunday Thoughts

Today was a great day at Neel Road Baptist Church! Here’s why. . .

1. Today was Senior Adult Appreciation Sunday. This was the first time in the history of our church that we’ve had this special day and it was great! We have a great group of senior adults at Neel Road and WE LOVE THEM!!!
   
2. Jerry Hayes brought a wonderful message to us today! Jerry really challenged us all to make reaching the lost people in our community a priority! Thanks Jerry!
   
3. We’re getting a new church sign! This is such a big deal! REALLY! I meet new people every week and I am so tired of people NOT KNOWING where Neel Road Baptist Church is! Our new sign will give us a way to share with the community the many GREAT things going on at our church!
   
4. Prayer study tonight. . . always a blessing and inspires me to spend more and more time getting to know God better through prayer.
   
5. Last thought. . . Today Jerry challenged us to be the kind of warriors that Gideon was! We don’t have to have the biggest army. We don’t have to have the best strategy. We DO have to trust in God and acknowledge our dependence on HIM if we’re going to be the church HE wants us to be!!!

6 Marks of (real) Christian Fellowship

This Sunday’s message is about fellowship. (Or maybe next Sunday’s message, if we have too much snow!) Anyway, fellowship is essential for the life of every believer and every church. Why?

Here’s why…because you and I were created in God’s image which means we were created to live in community and fellowship with one another. Our relationship with God TOTALLY DEPENDS on our relationships with one another and our relationships with one another TOTALLY DEPEND on our relationship with God.

But our view of fellowship – true Christian fellowship or koinonia (Greek) – is often times limited to covered dish meals, being polite, and occasionally praying together.

True Christian fellowship is much deeper and much more meaningful than this. There are many characteristics of true Christian fellowship. Here are 6 that are key.

1.   Forgiveness – It all begins with forgiveness! If we want to be forgiven by God so that we can be in fellowship with him and with each other WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO FORGIVE EACH OTHER. I’m not kidding! Check it out  Matthew 6:14-15.

2.   Acceptance - God totally accepts each one of us for who we are and we should accept one another the same way. For way too long churches have made acceptance conditional – we accept you if you dress like us, act like us, or whatever. Read Galatians 3:28.

3.   Encouragement – “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) This passage is awesome! One of the main reasons we gather for worship and meet to pray together each week is to encourage one another as believers! When we encourage someone we build them up spiritually!

4.   Service – Jesus was the model servant. He served us by giving his life for us. God has given each one of us different gifts and abilities to use to serve him. To be Jesus’ hands and feet on earth today we have to be willing to serve one another. Check out 1 Peter 4:10.

5.   Unity – Let me be really clear about this one – not only does God want us to get along with each other, but he wants us to agree with each other and to live with a spirit of unity and cooperation. Paul writes,  “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10) Fellowship doesn’t mean agreeing to disagree. It means agreeing that Scripture commands us to agree.

6.   Love – Jesus COMMANDS US TO LOVE EACH OTHER. Here’s the verse. It’s important here for us to realize that in the same way that Jesus’ love was not conditional – neither should ours be. Jesus commands us to love each other even when we don’t get along or don’t understand each other. Love is like a force-field that God places around those who seek authentic koinonia fellowship. When God’s love is present in us, God is present among us!