Click here: A Prayer Guide through Colossians 3:12-17 It is very sad and unfortunate that many view Christianity primarily as a moral code instead of the grace-filled relationship that it is. I, for one, grew up thinking that becoming a Christ-follower involved keeping rules with clenched fists. However, I have come to learn that … Continue reading Praying for Your Church: A Flourishing Community of Grace
Community
Revival: The Last Hope for the Church in Our Day
What would happen if a true heaven-sent revival came to your church today. Below are a few outcomes that I have adapted and expounded upon from Iain Murray. If revival came to our church, it would... Energize worship - A spontaneous energizing of our body by the Holy Spirit to worship the living God. “In … Continue reading Revival: The Last Hope for the Church in Our Day
We Love God’s People
Membership Vow #5 Do you submit yourself to the government and discipline of the church, promising to promote its purity, peace, and unity? Core Value: CONNECT Core Value: We believe that the gospel creates a nurturing community where love rules every relationship. Outcome: All who come into our church family will experience genuine friendship and … Continue reading We Love God’s People
The Irresistible Magnetism of a Loving Church
Where true love flourishes, its magnetism is all but irresistible. As the late Bishop Stephen C. Neill has written, “Within the fellowship of those who are bound together by personal loyalty to Jesus Christ, the relationship of love reaches an intimacy and intensity unknown elsewhere. Friendship between the friends of Jesus of Nazareth is unlike … Continue reading The Irresistible Magnetism of a Loving Church
One Powerful Lesson for the Church
On November 18, 1978, at the direction of charismatic cult leader Jim Jones, 909 members of the People's Temple died, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning," including over 200 murdered children. Mel White, a Christian writer and filmmaker and adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, set out to investigate the causes of the Jim … Continue reading One Powerful Lesson for the Church
The Major Markers of Spiritual Progress
Have you ever wondered what does it really look like to make spiritual progress in your journey? What kind of Christians does the Holy Spirit want to develop? Christians whose lives display the following seven features: Doxology, the habit taught and modeled by Paul of constantly praising God and giving him thanks; Humility, the downward … Continue reading The Major Markers of Spiritual Progress
Take Courage! There Are No Exemplary Families in the Bible
It is easy to despair when we realize how far we fall short as husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. Below is an excerpt from Eugene Peterson’s book Like Dew Your Youth: Growing Up with Your Teenager (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998). It has been a source of tremendous encouragement for me … Continue reading Take Courage! There Are No Exemplary Families in the Bible
Behold THE Face to Meet All Faces
“Because Jesus Christ alone is the Lord of glory, we are to reject the kinds of pretense and discrimination toward other people that depend on a working theory of our own personal superiority. Because of His glory, we are able to relax, without the need to impress other people with our glory. This becomes for … Continue reading Behold THE Face to Meet All Faces
Five Keys to Authentic Community (Romans 16:1-16)
We all desperately need community. This hit me again with great force recently as I was watching the movie "The Count of Monte Cristo" starting James Caviezel as Edmond Dantes. Abbe Faria, aka the Priest, becomes a lifeline to the weary Dantes during his stay at the prison, Chateau d'if. Abbe is a great scholar … Continue reading Five Keys to Authentic Community (Romans 16:1-16)
2Cherish2Commend 