The teaching for the next couple of E4’s will centre around church leadership and in particular the role of Elders, Deacons and the “Church Meeting”.
Now I know what you’re thinking.
“Isn’t there anything else more useful that we could be hearing about? Surely there must be something (anything in fact) that’s more relevant to “whole-life missionary discipleship” than stuff about church government?”
Well, here’s the thing:
The church is a reflection of God’s Son. That’s why leadership of the church is of utmost importance. The church is how the great hope – eternity with God in Christ – is to be seen. In the time between Christ’s ascension and His return, Christians in covenant with one another – loving and caring, encouraging and sharing, correcting and bearing over the years – present the clearest picture of God’s love that this world can see. (Mark Dever in Elders in Congregational Life, Phil Newton)
If the church is the hope of the world (and I passionately believe it is), if it exists to reflect Jesus to the world (as Mark Dever says) and if it’s designed to display God’s plan of salvation to the heavenly realms (as Ephesians 3:10 says) then how the church is organised and led must matter. It must be the case that the stuff in the Bible about how to arrange things concerning church leadership is important to pay attention to because, to put it bluntly, it impacts the greatest enterprise that’s taking place on the face of the planet.
For a long time now I’ve been prayerfully considering what the Bible has to say about the important role of Elders and Deacons and our Leadership Team spent part of an away day twelve months ago reflecting on some of the issues. I’m planning to share some of this material at E4 with the aim of strengthening our understanding of what the scriptures teach and also to encourage people to pray into what we discover.
If you’re around it would be great to see you for the first of this series which will be on Sunday 28 February, 11:45am.
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Walking in the Light
At MSG on Tuesday we were thinking about “walking in the light” (1 John 1:5-2:6) and how in doing so we expose our hearts. It’s quite a painful thing in many ways because as long as you’re in the “dark” you can kid yourself that things aren’t that bad. But, step into the light and you see that actually….
....the reason you didn’t help a neighbour out wasn’t that you “just didn’t have the time” (as you’d told yourself and them) but that you didn’t think of it as terribly advantageous to you…
....and the reason you got “delayed at the office” wasn’t that you really were so busy but that you couldn’t be bothered to help bath and settle the kids and so chose to walk through the front door just as your wife was coming down stairs….
Walking in the light of Christ shows us to be who and what we really are and then, and then we can repent, trusting in the work of Jesus for forgiveness, receiving grace and mercy, moving on knowing the strengthening work of the Spirit. All the time I walk in the dark I’m ignorant of my true situation and I miss His grace.
Anyway, we talked about this and other stuff for a while and then I shared a list I’d compiled, from a number of sources, of questions we can ask ourselves (or those who have given us permission) to help ensure we’re walking in the light. One of our number, quite understandably, made the point that reading the list was pretty depressing because, if we were honest, we were probably not doing very well on any of them.
On one level this person was right……if it were a list of things we “had to do” then absolutely let’s give up now! But on the other hand it could, I suggested, be viewed as a joyous thing that keeps us from deluding ourselves (and how badly do we need that!) These questions expose our hearts and if we aren’t where we should be we can respond accordingly, namely repent and receive grace. When we do this with others it’s even more of a transformative and life-giving thing.
Here’s the list we shared. May it help us walk in the light that we might have fellowship with Him.
Questions we can ask one another to help us walk in the Light:
1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass onto another what was told me in confidence?
4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
5. Am I self‐conscious, self‐pitying, or self‐justifying?
6. Did the Bible live in me today?
7. Do I give it time to speak to me every day?
8. Am I enjoying prayer?
9. When did I last speak to someone about my faith?
10. Do I pray about the money I spend?
11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
12. Do I disobey God in anything?
13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
16. How do I spend my spare time?
17. Am I proud?
18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisee who despised the publican?
19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I going to do about it?
20. Do I grumble and complain constantly?
21. Is Christ real to me?
22. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions?
23. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not your spouse this week?
24. Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you?
25. Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships this past week?
26. Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face‐toface?
27. Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? Explain.
28. Have you secretly wished for another's misfortune so that you might excel?
29. Have you been completely honest with me?
....the reason you didn’t help a neighbour out wasn’t that you “just didn’t have the time” (as you’d told yourself and them) but that you didn’t think of it as terribly advantageous to you…
....and the reason you got “delayed at the office” wasn’t that you really were so busy but that you couldn’t be bothered to help bath and settle the kids and so chose to walk through the front door just as your wife was coming down stairs….
Walking in the light of Christ shows us to be who and what we really are and then, and then we can repent, trusting in the work of Jesus for forgiveness, receiving grace and mercy, moving on knowing the strengthening work of the Spirit. All the time I walk in the dark I’m ignorant of my true situation and I miss His grace.
Anyway, we talked about this and other stuff for a while and then I shared a list I’d compiled, from a number of sources, of questions we can ask ourselves (or those who have given us permission) to help ensure we’re walking in the light. One of our number, quite understandably, made the point that reading the list was pretty depressing because, if we were honest, we were probably not doing very well on any of them.
On one level this person was right……if it were a list of things we “had to do” then absolutely let’s give up now! But on the other hand it could, I suggested, be viewed as a joyous thing that keeps us from deluding ourselves (and how badly do we need that!) These questions expose our hearts and if we aren’t where we should be we can respond accordingly, namely repent and receive grace. When we do this with others it’s even more of a transformative and life-giving thing.
Here’s the list we shared. May it help us walk in the light that we might have fellowship with Him.
Questions we can ask one another to help us walk in the Light:
1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass onto another what was told me in confidence?
4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
5. Am I self‐conscious, self‐pitying, or self‐justifying?
6. Did the Bible live in me today?
7. Do I give it time to speak to me every day?
8. Am I enjoying prayer?
9. When did I last speak to someone about my faith?
10. Do I pray about the money I spend?
11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
12. Do I disobey God in anything?
13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
16. How do I spend my spare time?
17. Am I proud?
18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisee who despised the publican?
19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I going to do about it?
20. Do I grumble and complain constantly?
21. Is Christ real to me?
22. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions?
23. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not your spouse this week?
24. Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you?
25. Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships this past week?
26. Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face‐toface?
27. Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? Explain.
28. Have you secretly wished for another's misfortune so that you might excel?
29. Have you been completely honest with me?
Monday, 15 February 2010
Another Monday
They come round with frequent regularity and here we are again, almost at the end of another Monday.
Stephen is a student at Moorlands College and he's on a five week block placement. He wants to find out whether pastoral ministry is for him so not only is he shadowing me (an eye opener I think after just one day) but he's also moved in to our house. I figured he may as well as get the whole "pastor with wife and three kids" 24/7 experience!
I'm 24 hours free from my Episodic Cluster Headaches so I'm praying that they've gone for another season. They really are the weirdest (and most painful) thing. By the end of this cluster I could set my watch to within a few minutes of when they would come - bizarre. I got supplied with another 4 O2 cylinders today as well!
Preparing for an overseas conference I'm speaking at this w/e. Well OK, it's the Isle of Wight which is as close as I'm likely to get.
Really behind on prep for E4 where I'm going to be teaching on biblical eldership.....really need to put some time into this as its a critical subject for reasons I hope to blog about shortly.
Soooooo looking forward to listening to Part 2 of Matt Chandler's series on progressive sanctification tomorrow night at MSG. Again need to prep for this to get maximum return on it. Love the fact my group get to hear this great teacher.
Back working at Costa tomorrow afternoon which I'm really looking forward to.
Need to reflect on the degree to which many evangelicals have a faith more akin to something out of the New Age rather than the Bible....it's just that I'm meeting so many people who believe that if they do a pile of stuff like read the bible, show up at church, do a mission trip, not get drunk etc then somehow God owes them a nice life. When life hits them in the face, as it does they say, "How could you do this to me God?!" and stomp off. Anyway......
Night in tonight - yes!!
Stephen is a student at Moorlands College and he's on a five week block placement. He wants to find out whether pastoral ministry is for him so not only is he shadowing me (an eye opener I think after just one day) but he's also moved in to our house. I figured he may as well as get the whole "pastor with wife and three kids" 24/7 experience!
I'm 24 hours free from my Episodic Cluster Headaches so I'm praying that they've gone for another season. They really are the weirdest (and most painful) thing. By the end of this cluster I could set my watch to within a few minutes of when they would come - bizarre. I got supplied with another 4 O2 cylinders today as well!
Preparing for an overseas conference I'm speaking at this w/e. Well OK, it's the Isle of Wight which is as close as I'm likely to get.
Really behind on prep for E4 where I'm going to be teaching on biblical eldership.....really need to put some time into this as its a critical subject for reasons I hope to blog about shortly.
Soooooo looking forward to listening to Part 2 of Matt Chandler's series on progressive sanctification tomorrow night at MSG. Again need to prep for this to get maximum return on it. Love the fact my group get to hear this great teacher.
Back working at Costa tomorrow afternoon which I'm really looking forward to.
Need to reflect on the degree to which many evangelicals have a faith more akin to something out of the New Age rather than the Bible....it's just that I'm meeting so many people who believe that if they do a pile of stuff like read the bible, show up at church, do a mission trip, not get drunk etc then somehow God owes them a nice life. When life hits them in the face, as it does they say, "How could you do this to me God?!" and stomp off. Anyway......
Night in tonight - yes!!
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Two Films, Two Fridays
Yesterday I watched The Damned United, the film of David Peace's book about the 44 day reign of Brian Clough at Leeds United. Now I’m not a football fan but what a cracking film! The previous Friday I'd watched Ron Howard’s film Frost/Nixon which, by coincidence, also starred Michael Sheen.
Two Fridays, two great films but I realised afterwards that what would have really added to the enjoyment would have been to have watched them with someone else - so long, of course, as they didn't chat, ask questions or generally make any noise at all during the showing (I'm a bit OCD like that!).
Now I like my own space, which is why I'll often watch films by myself but I now realise that there is a loss, there is a downside, and that is the fact that with noone to share the experience then the enjoyment is, well, just not as great as it might have been.
And as it happens CS Lewis said a similar thing in his book Reflections on the Psalms
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . .
Good point well made!
Two Fridays, two great films but I realised afterwards that what would have really added to the enjoyment would have been to have watched them with someone else - so long, of course, as they didn't chat, ask questions or generally make any noise at all during the showing (I'm a bit OCD like that!).
Now I like my own space, which is why I'll often watch films by myself but I now realise that there is a loss, there is a downside, and that is the fact that with noone to share the experience then the enjoyment is, well, just not as great as it might have been.
And as it happens CS Lewis said a similar thing in his book Reflections on the Psalms
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . .
Good point well made!
Monday, 1 February 2010
A Passion for World Mission
I've just finished leading the first meeting of our newly launched World Mission Team - I'm buzzing.
I went into the meeting knackered and suffering the aftereffects of my second cluster headache of the day (yes, they're back! Google it if you want to find out more) and, as much as I wanted to be there, I didn't want to be there. However the enthusiasm and energy in the room was so energising!
We've got a clear plan for giving WM the high and central profile it should have in the church and we've got a team of people committed to making it happen. Love it!!
There's not much more important than taking the Good News about Jesus to those who know nothing of it; partnering with others to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. It really is a privilege.
I went into the meeting knackered and suffering the aftereffects of my second cluster headache of the day (yes, they're back! Google it if you want to find out more) and, as much as I wanted to be there, I didn't want to be there. However the enthusiasm and energy in the room was so energising!
We've got a clear plan for giving WM the high and central profile it should have in the church and we've got a team of people committed to making it happen. Love it!!
There's not much more important than taking the Good News about Jesus to those who know nothing of it; partnering with others to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. It really is a privilege.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
