Communion - SatPM Rewind

Last SatPM @ Warehouse was great; I love it when we celebrate communion!  It's always a personal time for me as I remember what Christ went through on my behalf & as I reflect on my current spiritual condition.  Though I always make this highly personal, I have another aspect that I look forward to during communion.  I love to watch everyone's expression as they come forward to receive the bread & juice - some are very reverent, some are excited, & others look somewhat scared. 

All of us walk into a worship service from different circumstances; you never know the complete story in a person's life!  I know SatPM we had some who just left their nightmare job, while others wish they could find a job.  Some were wrestling with their finances, some with terminal health issues, some with broken hearts, & some with lonely hearts...  You never know the complete story of a person's life.

That's why I love communion so much.  Communion is the somber celebration of the fact that we have been given a story!  We approach with great reverence as we think about our disqualifications for righteousness &, at the same time, a smile comes across our soul as we remember that Christ said He did this for us - we are the recipients, the ones who benefit!

You never know the complete story of a person's life... yet, all are invited to Christ's table.

The Scripture used SatPM was: Luke 7:36-50 & Philippians 2:3-7

Grace & Peace, Jeff

Day One - Exponential Church Planting Conference

Tuesday was my 1st day in Orlando for the Exponential Church Planting Conference.  I got to see some friends: Ron Sylvia (www.thesprings.org) - my coaching mentor, Timm Collins (www.timmcollins.com) - friend from coaching network, Bobby Triplett (www.bobbytriplett.blogspot.com) - a great guy who was in my youth group about 10 years ago.  He's getting ready to start a new church in Brandon.

Ed Stetzer & Andy Stanley spoke & did their usual, fabulous stuff.  Another highlight of the day was hearing the research discovered by Willowcreek Church (www.revealnow.com).  Greg, the presenter for Reveal, is going to send me more specific details of what he shared - this information could play a HUGE part as we design our discipleship process @ Warehouse 727!

It's been a great day & now it's tiome for some great sleep... Wednesday will soon be here.

Blessings!

Jeff

Good Marriages are No Accident!

We have just concluded our 4 week teaching series on marriage, titled Wedding Vows. Many couples have shared that they now are refocusing on their spouse & that they weren't even aware of some "little" things that they have neglected in their marriage.

The book, Love Is a Decision, lists the following six elements as being essential to staying in love:

1. Making your spouse feel truly honored
2. Learning the art of touching—tenderly
3. Keeping courtship alive in your marriage
4. Re-opening a heart closed by anger
5. Building—or rebuilding—trust in a relationship
6. Becoming best friends with your family

Love as a feeling doesn't last very long & it certainly is not strong enough to hold a marriage together through every storm! Love does not just happen by luck or coincidence. Love is a Decision.

True love is waking up every day committed to honoring your mate by focusing on the six elements listed above. A great marriage is possible & is up to you.

Blessings!

Jeff

Cultural Relevance in Serious Worship

Should Christian worship focus more on cultural relevancy or godly reverence?

Is the issue of cultural relevancy biblically mandated?

I believe the answer to this question is found in the story that forever-changed history: when the Word became flesh and lived with mankind.

The doctrine of the Incarnation is primary to the Christian belief and practice. It is the Incarnation that distinguishes Christianity from every other religion and belief system. In this doctrine, the divine nature permanently identifies with human culture. God entered into the culture for the purpose of communicating his ways and accomplishing his mission of restoration. To be effective, Jesus had to participate in some of the elements of the culture and, at the same time, discern which elements He had to be separate from. He had to be in the world, yet separate enough so He was not of the world.

This is the same paradox that the church finds itself in today. The church model in the New Testament was a community that was an alternative to the world. Its mission was to communicate the Christian faith through contextualization. To contextualize means to protect the message so that it remains unblemished, but present it in such a manner that it “fits” the present environment. The message of the Gospel must remain whole, but the method or manner of communicating and expressing the Gospel must adjust according to its cultural context.

To be sincere, worship must be reverent; to be serious, it must be relevant.

That is our struggle & that is our goal every week @ www.Warehouse727.com

Change in the Church

The church in the United States is not very healthy.  Statistics from the Southern Baptist Convention, certainly known for being evangelistic, continue to show that seventy percent of all Southern Baptist Churches are plateaued or declining in attendance.  When the survey is extended to include all Protestant churches in the United States the figure escalates to eighty to eighty five percent.  Many of the churches that are growing are mostly increasing because of biological growth (babies born to members) or transfer growth and less than one percent of churches in America are growing by conversion growth.

For the first time, since the firm began tracking religious attendance in 1986, the Barna Research Group found that less than forty percent of Americans attended a worship service the week prior to being polled.  This trend does not correlate with the growth of the ancient New Testament church and it should be startling to the present church. 

If Jesus Christ is truly the answer for the world, but seventy four percent of Americans do not believe there is any value in attending church, something is wrong.  There is a failure of the American church to follow the New Testament pattern of penetrating the culture with the Gospel.

Perhaps, in order to be the agent of change, the church needs to experience some change.

Warehouse 727 desires to be a part of the change...  we must be a clear picture of life-change & share a clear process for others to experience life-change.

Surrounded By Lions

Psalm 57:4 I am surrounded by fierce lions who greedily devour human prey - whose teeth pierce like spears & arrows, and whose tongues cut like swords.

I once was in a long season of being devoured & cut up.  It was a time when no matter how considerate I was or how many ways I tried to bless a friend, their words were intent to destroy my reputation and cut down my self worth.  Their words & schemes certainly scarred my soul.

What is the godly response?  Initially, I stood my ground against the injustice & the insanity...  After months of battle & bite marks I realized the LORD wanted humility.  Humility brought more hurt & frustration but it was also the door that opened to liberation and soon to the unveiling of a new dream.  No matter what circumstance, God wants our response of humility because then He is able to do His new work in our lives.

Psalm 57:5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! May your glory shine over all the earth.

It is our humility that sets up a scenario for God's liberation & grace to be apparent in our life.  When others see the evidence of God's rescue, then His name & His fame is even larger & louder!

I desire that my life will make His name even more famous...