I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about our church plant and how it will be different and unique compared to Boston's typical church culture. Last night Ella was sick so I had a lot of time to just lay there and think. I think that God gave me these 3 things as our emphasis as a church. Everything that we will do as a church should be measured by and enable these three initiatives. I will call them our 3 Core initiatives.
Spiritual Disciplines:
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Spiritual disciplines would include things like but are not limited to personal accountability, scripture memorization, bible reading, sabbath, prayer and solitude, regular repentance of sin, study of scripture, a meaningful time with God daily, listening to podcast, corporate worship.
Every sermon, small group, service project, worship experience, counseling session, etc will have to answer this question. How did this inspire or motivate one to pursue spiritual disciplines?
Engage The Culture
The bible is clear that once a person is saved by Christ, immediately the Holy Spirit comes into their hearts and stirs up a spiritual gift or gifts. That gift is implanted in order for you to Glorify Christ and lead people to him (1 Cor 12-14) Matthew 5:16 says that People will see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven. Then in Acts 17 Paul says that God takes us and our gifts and places us in a particular place at a particular time that is determined in eternity past in order that we and others may seek him and know him.
So, in other words, all who are followers of Christ are also missionaries. 2 Cor 5:20 says that we are Christ's ambassadors and he is using us to make his appeal to others. So our job is to engage the culture around us with the intent of Glorifying Christ in doing so. Engaging culture is not rebuking it, but rather becoming like Christ (God incarnated) and embedding ourselves in it. Jesus prayed in John 17 that he is not taking us out of the world but instead leaving us in the world to transform it. That goes for our workplace, the gym, the schools and colleges, the restaurants you enjoy, the after hours networking you do. Everything and Everywhere!!
Every sermon, small group, service project, worship experience, counseling session, etc will have to answer this question. How did this inspire or motivate others to engage their culture as missionaries?
Serve The Community
Matthew 20:27-28 "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
For anyone to have any influence they first must have moral authority. Moral authority is gained through serving others. Nobody is impresses with a self seeking or self sustaining organization. The organizations who are the most impactful are the ones who are wildly generous. It is my vision that we are a church that is wild about others; That we truly learn what it means to die to self. Jesus has commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. We will serve our community by giving our time, money, resources, and lives in order to gain the moral authority to bring the Gospel of Christ into our community. For years the church has lacked in this area, and become a self serving organization rather than a life giving movement to those around them.
Every sermon, small group, service project, worship experience, counseling session, etc will have to answer this question. How did this inspire or motivate others to be a servent and lay their life down for their neighbor?
