I had the privilege of sharing about our new work in Hamilton at the Oakville Sanctuary back in March. Below is a link to the audio recording of that message. It is a pretty good summary of what God has been doing in our hearts over the last while, and what we believe He is calling us to do in Hamilton.
Message
We are now madly packing in preparation for our big move on Saturday. Please be praying for all the details for our closing. The house is done, the appraiser booked and so if everything goes smoothly it should close on Thursday.
Showing posts with label John 13:34-35. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John 13:34-35. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Update Tuesday
I can't believe another week has passed already. I have been using the last few Tuesdays to share some of the thoughts and reflections that have been stirring in our hearts and have been influencing our thinking about what our new work might look like in its earliest formation. I have been sharing specifically about John 13:34-35 which has been a very influential passage of scripture for us (to read the last few updates please feel free to follow the Hamilton Update label at the right of the page and scroll through the last few weeks). This week I thought I would share about the part of the verse in which Jesus states "by this all men will know that you are my disciples."
As I was sharing about what I thought God was trying to help us see about community, and in particular a fellowship of faith, I mentioned that Jesus was in an intimate setting, with his 12 disciples when he gave this commandment to "love one another." I believe it says a lot about his expectation for His followers to be in relationship with one another. There is something powerful and unique about being in community with other believers. But even here, in a passage in which Jesus is commanding a community of love amongst believers, He never losses His attention for the world around them. I really believe that these words are a keen reminder about our mission here on earth. The church has a responsibility, in imitation of Jesus, to always be aware of the world around us with the intention of being a positive influence for the Kingdom in what we say and what we do. Even the way in which we interact with one another is a part of our mission and witness to the world. And here is how I see what being missional is about. It is about all that we and all that we do being a positive example and influence on the world around us, where ever God may have us, and being intentional about living out that role and responsibility. I think Jesus challenges us to consider how we see mission and evangelism. It is more than just words, as if the right question or script could introduce people to the fullness of Jesus and His kingdom in 30 seconds or less. It is so much more than just a program that we might run. It is, rather, all that we are. I am reminded of Jesus' words as he taught about prayer, praying "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." I believe that this is the purpose of the church, to be a community that does its best to live out the Father's will, that others may see Kingdom principles and Kingdom living being lived out before them, while being invited to consider participating themselves. Now of course, we could look missions from this angle and come to a mistaken conclusion that it is all about what we do and little about what we say. Let me be clear in saying that this is not what I believe, nor what I am suggesting. Sharing our faith and sharing the gospel particulars are a must if we are truly going to invite people to consider Jesus, consider a relationship with Him and consider His Kingdom. There is a sad discussion I often hear in which words vs. deeds are debated as if they can ever really be separated in a full and robust missional effort. They cannot and so we must endeavour to do all, and to consider all that we say and do as a part of our witness to the world. And, of course, if we take this more wholistic view then we realize that all that we say and do, for good or bad, are a part of our witness.
I am reminded of a term that I learned years ago with respect to missions, and an image that I found quite helpful. The church is supposed to be a "foretaste," of the Kingdom. What do we mean by "foretaste?" No matter what we think about the specifics of the end times there is general agreement in evangelical circles that it is not until after Jesus' return that we will see the Kingdom come in its fullness. In the meantime, we the church endeavour to live it out and demonstrate on a small scale, what is to come in its fullness later on. So this idea of a foretaste was described to me like this: Imagine the Kingdom to be a banquet, a big feast that is to happen. Currently however, the preparations are being made. Imagine that you sneak into the kitchen and there on the stove is the sauce for the main dish. You pick up the spoon and sample the exquisite sauce. You cannot say that you have experienced the banquet, not in its fullness, but you have had a sample. It was amazing and from that sample you know that the feast is going to be amazing. And that kind of sums up what it means to be a "foretaste," a sample of what is to come. The church is supposed to be that spoon that people get to lick!
So, as well as being based on discipleship and community, we will strive to make our new work a missional community. We hope to start with a neighbourhood fellowship that seeks to impact it's neighbourhood for Christ. Right from the first house church that we grow, we hope to be that "foretaste" for our community and then, as we learn to do that, to multiply and seep into the surrounding neighbourhoods. And, although we don't have a sense of what everything will look like before we begin and before we meet who God brings to us, we can state that we intend to take Jesus' words in Acts 1:8 seriously as well, and consider where and how He longs to use us globally.
So there are the three key foundations to our new work as we see it so far: Discipleship, Community and Missions and so we would invite you to pray for those three things and for the specific ways in which the community we start will live them out.
On another note, I would like to thank all of you who have joined us in praying thus far. I shared some key requests in an update a number of weeks ago that came from Luke 10, those being finances, workers and people of peace. It has been an amazing week for the finances part of that prayer. We are praising God for the ways in which we have seen Him respond to this request this past week. Between what our small Milton church has been able to sacrificially give in support over this next year, an incredibly generous grant from a long time friend of the Sanctuary church planting efforts and the generosity of some new friends we have come very, very close to covering the costs of the whole first year of our new work! Thanks be to God and thanks to all of you who have been praying. We thank you for your continued prayers in support of the work beginning Hamilton.
As I was sharing about what I thought God was trying to help us see about community, and in particular a fellowship of faith, I mentioned that Jesus was in an intimate setting, with his 12 disciples when he gave this commandment to "love one another." I believe it says a lot about his expectation for His followers to be in relationship with one another. There is something powerful and unique about being in community with other believers. But even here, in a passage in which Jesus is commanding a community of love amongst believers, He never losses His attention for the world around them. I really believe that these words are a keen reminder about our mission here on earth. The church has a responsibility, in imitation of Jesus, to always be aware of the world around us with the intention of being a positive influence for the Kingdom in what we say and what we do. Even the way in which we interact with one another is a part of our mission and witness to the world. And here is how I see what being missional is about. It is about all that we and all that we do being a positive example and influence on the world around us, where ever God may have us, and being intentional about living out that role and responsibility. I think Jesus challenges us to consider how we see mission and evangelism. It is more than just words, as if the right question or script could introduce people to the fullness of Jesus and His kingdom in 30 seconds or less. It is so much more than just a program that we might run. It is, rather, all that we are. I am reminded of Jesus' words as he taught about prayer, praying "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." I believe that this is the purpose of the church, to be a community that does its best to live out the Father's will, that others may see Kingdom principles and Kingdom living being lived out before them, while being invited to consider participating themselves. Now of course, we could look missions from this angle and come to a mistaken conclusion that it is all about what we do and little about what we say. Let me be clear in saying that this is not what I believe, nor what I am suggesting. Sharing our faith and sharing the gospel particulars are a must if we are truly going to invite people to consider Jesus, consider a relationship with Him and consider His Kingdom. There is a sad discussion I often hear in which words vs. deeds are debated as if they can ever really be separated in a full and robust missional effort. They cannot and so we must endeavour to do all, and to consider all that we say and do as a part of our witness to the world. And, of course, if we take this more wholistic view then we realize that all that we say and do, for good or bad, are a part of our witness.
I am reminded of a term that I learned years ago with respect to missions, and an image that I found quite helpful. The church is supposed to be a "foretaste," of the Kingdom. What do we mean by "foretaste?" No matter what we think about the specifics of the end times there is general agreement in evangelical circles that it is not until after Jesus' return that we will see the Kingdom come in its fullness. In the meantime, we the church endeavour to live it out and demonstrate on a small scale, what is to come in its fullness later on. So this idea of a foretaste was described to me like this: Imagine the Kingdom to be a banquet, a big feast that is to happen. Currently however, the preparations are being made. Imagine that you sneak into the kitchen and there on the stove is the sauce for the main dish. You pick up the spoon and sample the exquisite sauce. You cannot say that you have experienced the banquet, not in its fullness, but you have had a sample. It was amazing and from that sample you know that the feast is going to be amazing. And that kind of sums up what it means to be a "foretaste," a sample of what is to come. The church is supposed to be that spoon that people get to lick!
So, as well as being based on discipleship and community, we will strive to make our new work a missional community. We hope to start with a neighbourhood fellowship that seeks to impact it's neighbourhood for Christ. Right from the first house church that we grow, we hope to be that "foretaste" for our community and then, as we learn to do that, to multiply and seep into the surrounding neighbourhoods. And, although we don't have a sense of what everything will look like before we begin and before we meet who God brings to us, we can state that we intend to take Jesus' words in Acts 1:8 seriously as well, and consider where and how He longs to use us globally.
So there are the three key foundations to our new work as we see it so far: Discipleship, Community and Missions and so we would invite you to pray for those three things and for the specific ways in which the community we start will live them out.
On another note, I would like to thank all of you who have joined us in praying thus far. I shared some key requests in an update a number of weeks ago that came from Luke 10, those being finances, workers and people of peace. It has been an amazing week for the finances part of that prayer. We are praising God for the ways in which we have seen Him respond to this request this past week. Between what our small Milton church has been able to sacrificially give in support over this next year, an incredibly generous grant from a long time friend of the Sanctuary church planting efforts and the generosity of some new friends we have come very, very close to covering the costs of the whole first year of our new work! Thanks be to God and thanks to all of you who have been praying. We thank you for your continued prayers in support of the work beginning Hamilton.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Update Tuesday
Last week I began to share some of the things that have been impressed upon my heart and mind after spending time with words of Jesus in John 13:34-35. Last week I shared about what we have been learning about discipleship and how we intend to incorporate those ideas into our new work in Hamilton. The next important thing that we have seen in the above mentioned passage is community. The words "one another" have really begun to stand out as extremely important.
The new command that Jesus gives in this passage is to "love one another," and thus the most obvious place to start is to say that in order to live out this command there really must be a "one another," other people with whom to be in relationship. When we consider the context of the passage in which we find this verse we notice that Jesus is in the intimate setting of the last supper with just his disciples. Although we have many other examples of where we are called to love everyone in our midst, our neighbours, our enemies etc. in this example I believe that Jesus is saying something about community and fellowship with other believers. I have heard many people say over the years, that they can be a good Christian without church. I suppose that really depends on how they are defining "church," but if what they mean is that they can do it without other believers then I would suggest that they are not following this command from Jesus, and if they are not following this command, are they being disciples? And is there really being a Christian apart from being a disciple? Jesus seemed to start with his disciples by calling them to himself and then putting them into relationship, the group of twelve, with whom to work, serve, learn, make mistakes, encourage and find accountability. They were never perfect, and nor will we be perfect. They got mad at each other and offended each other (Mark 10:41), and so will we, but that did not seem to change things for Jesus - he still saw it as important and still continued to use community as a key in his approach. I think that the early chapters of Acts also give us some important glimpses into how the early church saw fit to continue to live out this command.
There is more to community, however, than just being a command. As it turns out with so many of the commands, there is much wisdom in them and much benefit for those who follow. I have had many experiences that have demonstrated to me just how powerful this idea of community is.
Our first experiences probably comes from our time spent at the Oakville Sanctuary where we worshiped and served before coming to Milton. We got involved in the small group ministry fairly early on, and as we look back on our time there, the best and most powerful memories come from the small group we were a part of. It is where we forged deep relationships, where we were able to not only explore questions of faith but had the opportunity to walk with each other as that faith hit the realities of life. Together we walked through birth and death, good times and tough times, family struggles and celebrations and even a few lost jobs and unemployment. We saw all that life had to offer and were able to walk with each other through each situation.
For Kim and I, we remember making the decision to go through the process to adopt children. It was our home church that prayed with us through every step. It was that same group who came and rallied around us and painted our house (interior and exterior!) and cleaned it and did all the things, including selling our house, as we moved to a bigger place preparing for whomever God might choose for us to adopt. I will never forget the night when our biological son Liam, age 3 at the time, got to announce to the home church that he had a new brother and sister and bring out a picture of Daniel and Caroline. We were able to laugh and cry and celebrate together that night, as God saw fit that we would receive the phone call telling us that we had been chosen to parent Daniel and Caroline just as we were preparing to host our weekly gathering. And again, it was our home church that threw us a giant "not babies" baby shower, inviting our family and church, as we prepared to welcome our new children into our life.
With these experiences behind us, we sought to bring something similar to Milton. We have had the privilege of walking with those in the worship team in a small group experience each week. One of the things that God had been impressing upon my heart was that if we were to be a worship band, then we needed to be growing as worshipers and thus early on we added a bible study time to our weekly band practices. It has grown to be the most significant part of our time in Milton. As we walk and grow together, similar to our experience in Oakville, we have been faced with life and death, unemployment, celebrations and struggles. Again, it has been this small group were we have experienced growth and encouragement, accountability and support. One significant factor in this has been our sharing a meal each week. No one can take credit for the idea, certainly not me. It came out of necessity and practicality. If you live in the GTA and commute to work then you know that the traffic is about as bad as you will find in all of North America. It was a real challenge for our group to get home from work, have dinner and then make it to our place early enough to have both a bible study and practice. Breaking it up over two nights would mean a commitment of two weeknights, Sunday morning (which includes packing your instrument at home, bringing it to church and setting up, playing for the service, tearing down, heading home and again unloading and setting up your equipment) and again at special occasions. So in order to meet the challenge, we offered to host a meal so that people could come straight here. Well, the meal has been far more significant then we could have imagined. It has forged much closer relationships, it had deepened our bible study and discipleship as people trust more deeply and share more honestly. It has even affected our music. Knowing and trusting each other more deeply somehow means that we play together better as well. Once again we continue to learn about what relationship and community can mean for those following Jesus.
I need to be honest, sometimes people bug me and get on my nerves, and often times I know I bug others and get on their nerves. Sometime we really blow it with each other and, yes, sometimes people in the church are downright cruel. I don't think that this, however, nullifies the need for community. We don't give up on it when we make mistakes. It was to important to Jesus and it has proven too important in my own life to give up on.
So what does this mean for our future work in Hamilton? It means that what we hope to do will be highly relational. One of our core principles will be developing community. As we seek to live out the discipleship that I shared about last week, it will be done in the context of community. We will begin by having people into our home, sharing our lives and sharing meals together. We have been praying that God would lead us to people of peace. We hope to meet them as we meet people in our neighbourhood, have them over and build relationships. We will then prayerfully begin the discipleship and grow a home church in our home. We will share meals together, share the word together, share in prayer together and share our lives together as we seek to live out what we learn about God and all that He has for us. I cannot say with certainty where God will take it and lead it, and I certainly won't pigeon whole Him, but if you were to ask me now, I would suggest that what we will be starting is a network of interdependent house churches that will continue to spread across Hamilton.
Again, I hope that you can see why we have asked for prayer for people of peace. We hope also that you can see how strategic the right home in our community will be and that you will continue to hold that in prayer.
So, Discipleship and Community - two of the core fundamentals our our new work. Next week we will look at one further observation and the last core fundamental with which we will move forward.
The new command that Jesus gives in this passage is to "love one another," and thus the most obvious place to start is to say that in order to live out this command there really must be a "one another," other people with whom to be in relationship. When we consider the context of the passage in which we find this verse we notice that Jesus is in the intimate setting of the last supper with just his disciples. Although we have many other examples of where we are called to love everyone in our midst, our neighbours, our enemies etc. in this example I believe that Jesus is saying something about community and fellowship with other believers. I have heard many people say over the years, that they can be a good Christian without church. I suppose that really depends on how they are defining "church," but if what they mean is that they can do it without other believers then I would suggest that they are not following this command from Jesus, and if they are not following this command, are they being disciples? And is there really being a Christian apart from being a disciple? Jesus seemed to start with his disciples by calling them to himself and then putting them into relationship, the group of twelve, with whom to work, serve, learn, make mistakes, encourage and find accountability. They were never perfect, and nor will we be perfect. They got mad at each other and offended each other (Mark 10:41), and so will we, but that did not seem to change things for Jesus - he still saw it as important and still continued to use community as a key in his approach. I think that the early chapters of Acts also give us some important glimpses into how the early church saw fit to continue to live out this command.
There is more to community, however, than just being a command. As it turns out with so many of the commands, there is much wisdom in them and much benefit for those who follow. I have had many experiences that have demonstrated to me just how powerful this idea of community is.
Our first experiences probably comes from our time spent at the Oakville Sanctuary where we worshiped and served before coming to Milton. We got involved in the small group ministry fairly early on, and as we look back on our time there, the best and most powerful memories come from the small group we were a part of. It is where we forged deep relationships, where we were able to not only explore questions of faith but had the opportunity to walk with each other as that faith hit the realities of life. Together we walked through birth and death, good times and tough times, family struggles and celebrations and even a few lost jobs and unemployment. We saw all that life had to offer and were able to walk with each other through each situation.
For Kim and I, we remember making the decision to go through the process to adopt children. It was our home church that prayed with us through every step. It was that same group who came and rallied around us and painted our house (interior and exterior!) and cleaned it and did all the things, including selling our house, as we moved to a bigger place preparing for whomever God might choose for us to adopt. I will never forget the night when our biological son Liam, age 3 at the time, got to announce to the home church that he had a new brother and sister and bring out a picture of Daniel and Caroline. We were able to laugh and cry and celebrate together that night, as God saw fit that we would receive the phone call telling us that we had been chosen to parent Daniel and Caroline just as we were preparing to host our weekly gathering. And again, it was our home church that threw us a giant "not babies" baby shower, inviting our family and church, as we prepared to welcome our new children into our life.
With these experiences behind us, we sought to bring something similar to Milton. We have had the privilege of walking with those in the worship team in a small group experience each week. One of the things that God had been impressing upon my heart was that if we were to be a worship band, then we needed to be growing as worshipers and thus early on we added a bible study time to our weekly band practices. It has grown to be the most significant part of our time in Milton. As we walk and grow together, similar to our experience in Oakville, we have been faced with life and death, unemployment, celebrations and struggles. Again, it has been this small group were we have experienced growth and encouragement, accountability and support. One significant factor in this has been our sharing a meal each week. No one can take credit for the idea, certainly not me. It came out of necessity and practicality. If you live in the GTA and commute to work then you know that the traffic is about as bad as you will find in all of North America. It was a real challenge for our group to get home from work, have dinner and then make it to our place early enough to have both a bible study and practice. Breaking it up over two nights would mean a commitment of two weeknights, Sunday morning (which includes packing your instrument at home, bringing it to church and setting up, playing for the service, tearing down, heading home and again unloading and setting up your equipment) and again at special occasions. So in order to meet the challenge, we offered to host a meal so that people could come straight here. Well, the meal has been far more significant then we could have imagined. It has forged much closer relationships, it had deepened our bible study and discipleship as people trust more deeply and share more honestly. It has even affected our music. Knowing and trusting each other more deeply somehow means that we play together better as well. Once again we continue to learn about what relationship and community can mean for those following Jesus.
I need to be honest, sometimes people bug me and get on my nerves, and often times I know I bug others and get on their nerves. Sometime we really blow it with each other and, yes, sometimes people in the church are downright cruel. I don't think that this, however, nullifies the need for community. We don't give up on it when we make mistakes. It was to important to Jesus and it has proven too important in my own life to give up on.
So what does this mean for our future work in Hamilton? It means that what we hope to do will be highly relational. One of our core principles will be developing community. As we seek to live out the discipleship that I shared about last week, it will be done in the context of community. We will begin by having people into our home, sharing our lives and sharing meals together. We have been praying that God would lead us to people of peace. We hope to meet them as we meet people in our neighbourhood, have them over and build relationships. We will then prayerfully begin the discipleship and grow a home church in our home. We will share meals together, share the word together, share in prayer together and share our lives together as we seek to live out what we learn about God and all that He has for us. I cannot say with certainty where God will take it and lead it, and I certainly won't pigeon whole Him, but if you were to ask me now, I would suggest that what we will be starting is a network of interdependent house churches that will continue to spread across Hamilton.
Again, I hope that you can see why we have asked for prayer for people of peace. We hope also that you can see how strategic the right home in our community will be and that you will continue to hold that in prayer.
So, Discipleship and Community - two of the core fundamentals our our new work. Next week we will look at one further observation and the last core fundamental with which we will move forward.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Update Tuesday
Well, it is Tuesday again and time for another update. I have alluded to John 13:34-35 as being a very influential verse as we think about what we are going to be starting in Hamilton, so I thought that I would use the next few updates to flesh that out a bit. Hopefully it will help to bring a bit of definition to what we hope to be doing and will also help give a bit more direction to those of you who have been faithfully praying with us.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
As we were reading these verses that come from the lips of Jesus himself speaking to his disciples on his last night with them before his arrest, it struck me how important this command must have been to Jesus, and how central it should be for those of us coming after Him and in His name. As I looked closer there were three things that really began to jump out at me as we considered what it would mean to live out this command, the first of which were the words "As I have loved..."
I have come to see the words "As I have loved" as a call to discipleship. If we are to live out the command to love as Jesus calls us to do then it will mean doing so in obedience and in imitation of how Jesus himself did so. This really begins with learning who Jesus is and what He has done which then leads to a response, what He wants to do in us and through us including this command to love. I am indebted to my friend Mike for helping to show this simple but deeply important foundation of discipleship. Could it be that simple - Who He is, what He has done, what He wants to do in us and through us? I believe that it is, and again keeping it simple, the best way to get there is to go right to the source and read the words of Jesus himself and the stories about him as recorded in the gospels. I have noticed over the last few years, just how many people's ideas about Jesus are based on any number of things other than the life and words of Jesus. They have never had, or taken the opportunity, to go to the source themselves and thus make an informed decision about Jesus. They have notions about church or religion from what others have said, from the media or past experiences with the church or church people. They have not, however, had the opportunity to make a decision about Jesus from Jesus. So a big part of our "strategy" or plan is to offer people the opportunity to go to scripture and check Jesus out for themselves in order to make an informed decision and to walk with them through that process.
It is interesting as I think about it, that so many of the terms and ideas and definitions of church life that I once understood are bleeding into one another or dissolving. There is a de-compartmentalizing going on. Whereas I once may have seen evangelism and discipleship as distinctly different I am coming to see discipleship as much broader. I can introduce people to Jesus and walk with them as they get to know about Him with the goal of making an informed decision. I think that this may come closer to what Jesus meant when he encouraged people to count the cost of following him. So we don't see a very big difference between what we hope to do in evangelism and what we hope to do through discipleship. Rather, a key to our evangelism will be an invitation to discipleship.
As an aside, I see this same overlapping happening when I consider worship. Perhaps because I have spent much of my time in the last number of years "leading worship" (by which is meant music in the church), people are interested to know what we will do for worship in the new work. But again, where my heart has taken me over these last few years of exploring worship, is to a place where I recognize that discipleship and worship are not exclusive or different. As I read Romans 12:1-2 I recognize that worship is a wholistic response ("offer you bodies as living sacrifices"...) to who God is and what he has done (the "Therefore... in view of...", in 12:1 following 11 chapters of theology that culminates in the Doxology of 11:33) and that this is our "spiritual act of worship." I have not actually thought very much about the specific ways in which we will express our worship. I think that if we focus on introducing Jesus and helping people through a process of getting to know who he is and what he has done then together we can explore what he wants to do in us and through us, including our expressions of worship. So again, the distinctions that I once held seem to be dissolving a bit, or at least overlapping and I am excited to see what God may do with that.
So how do I sum up this rambling into something that will be helpful. Maybe I can summarize like this:
We want to meet people and invite them to consider checking out Jesus for themselves.
We want to take them directly to scripture.*
We want to walk with them through a process of looking at:
Who Jesus Is
What He has done
What He wants to do in us and through us.
* we will most likely use a simple approach to looking at scripture that I put together and have been working on (by which I mean I stole from multiple sources and mashed together) that you can read about in a previous post entitled Snowbirds: check it out HERE.
So that sort of summarizes how we see discipleship as one of the key foundations of our new work in Hamilton. I hope that it also helps to see why we have invited you to be praying with us for people of peace, those who are receptive to hearing about Jesus, as we move into the new community. We will not be starting with an event to which to invite people and from which we can then steer them towards discipleship opportunities but rather the opposite. We hope to invite them into discipleship, who Jesus is and what He has done and ,prayerfully, to the response of what He wants to do in me. From here God will have the freedom to work in hearts that are committed to Him to then grow whatever he wishes to grow.
Thanks again for all the support and prayer. We look forward to this journey together.
I have come to see the words "As I have loved" as a call to discipleship. If we are to live out the command to love as Jesus calls us to do then it will mean doing so in obedience and in imitation of how Jesus himself did so. This really begins with learning who Jesus is and what He has done which then leads to a response, what He wants to do in us and through us including this command to love. I am indebted to my friend Mike for helping to show this simple but deeply important foundation of discipleship. Could it be that simple - Who He is, what He has done, what He wants to do in us and through us? I believe that it is, and again keeping it simple, the best way to get there is to go right to the source and read the words of Jesus himself and the stories about him as recorded in the gospels. I have noticed over the last few years, just how many people's ideas about Jesus are based on any number of things other than the life and words of Jesus. They have never had, or taken the opportunity, to go to the source themselves and thus make an informed decision about Jesus. They have notions about church or religion from what others have said, from the media or past experiences with the church or church people. They have not, however, had the opportunity to make a decision about Jesus from Jesus. So a big part of our "strategy" or plan is to offer people the opportunity to go to scripture and check Jesus out for themselves in order to make an informed decision and to walk with them through that process.
It is interesting as I think about it, that so many of the terms and ideas and definitions of church life that I once understood are bleeding into one another or dissolving. There is a de-compartmentalizing going on. Whereas I once may have seen evangelism and discipleship as distinctly different I am coming to see discipleship as much broader. I can introduce people to Jesus and walk with them as they get to know about Him with the goal of making an informed decision. I think that this may come closer to what Jesus meant when he encouraged people to count the cost of following him. So we don't see a very big difference between what we hope to do in evangelism and what we hope to do through discipleship. Rather, a key to our evangelism will be an invitation to discipleship.
As an aside, I see this same overlapping happening when I consider worship. Perhaps because I have spent much of my time in the last number of years "leading worship" (by which is meant music in the church), people are interested to know what we will do for worship in the new work. But again, where my heart has taken me over these last few years of exploring worship, is to a place where I recognize that discipleship and worship are not exclusive or different. As I read Romans 12:1-2 I recognize that worship is a wholistic response ("offer you bodies as living sacrifices"...) to who God is and what he has done (the "Therefore... in view of...", in 12:1 following 11 chapters of theology that culminates in the Doxology of 11:33) and that this is our "spiritual act of worship." I have not actually thought very much about the specific ways in which we will express our worship. I think that if we focus on introducing Jesus and helping people through a process of getting to know who he is and what he has done then together we can explore what he wants to do in us and through us, including our expressions of worship. So again, the distinctions that I once held seem to be dissolving a bit, or at least overlapping and I am excited to see what God may do with that.
So how do I sum up this rambling into something that will be helpful. Maybe I can summarize like this:
We want to meet people and invite them to consider checking out Jesus for themselves.
We want to take them directly to scripture.*
We want to walk with them through a process of looking at:
Who Jesus Is
What He has done
What He wants to do in us and through us.
* we will most likely use a simple approach to looking at scripture that I put together and have been working on (by which I mean I stole from multiple sources and mashed together) that you can read about in a previous post entitled Snowbirds: check it out HERE.
So that sort of summarizes how we see discipleship as one of the key foundations of our new work in Hamilton. I hope that it also helps to see why we have invited you to be praying with us for people of peace, those who are receptive to hearing about Jesus, as we move into the new community. We will not be starting with an event to which to invite people and from which we can then steer them towards discipleship opportunities but rather the opposite. We hope to invite them into discipleship, who Jesus is and what He has done and ,prayerfully, to the response of what He wants to do in me. From here God will have the freedom to work in hearts that are committed to Him to then grow whatever he wishes to grow.
Thanks again for all the support and prayer. We look forward to this journey together.
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