Why do we need to go to church? Why does participation in a congregation play such a central role in our lives of worship? You may ask yourself these questions or find yourself trying to answer this for someone else. Here are 12 points Donald Whitney makes in his book “Spiritual Disciplines within the Church”:
Isaiah 40:3-5 – 3 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Bob Grahmann preached two weeks ago from Isaiah 40. I never really liked Isaiah 40:3-5.
I spent several years as a wilderness leader climbing mountains and paddling rivers. Mountains and valleys are basically my favorite things in the natural world. I know it’s going to sound like a shallow objection, primarily because it is, but the mental picture that the coming of Christ was glorified by all of life’s topography being erased bothered me. And for some reason, I equated this with heaven – that somehow this passage was saying that heaven isn’t a place where the mountains are high and the valleys low but instead is a place of flattened-out sameness.
There are two tasks that are absolutely integral to building strong Christian movements, believing individuals and solid families:
Small group communities and large group worship services have a hard time addressing these tasks. On one level I really wish that large group worship services and small groups were sufficient to meet the ministry needs of families and individuals. It would be so much simpler from an organizational and leadership perspective to have ministries to adults, youth and children based on these two types of environments. But there are a couple of problems.
Continue reading What big church & small church can’t do: The call of medium-sized groups
At the end of Pastor Nic’s sermon on Sunday – he asked a few small questions. But your answers may not have small implications.
1. Is your faith a fall-back faith?
To get a little more specific on that one think about these: Have you retired from spiritual investment? Does spiritual investment or earthly consumption win out in your life? Do you have trouble investing spiritually when there’s not result?
2. Is your life pitiable and inspiring? (1 Cor. 15:19, 1 Cor. 15:30-32)
3. Is God increasing your faith your number one priority?
You can listen to the sermon here. And see the sermon notes here.
This year we have a generosity tree. Instead of sharing something new with you every week, we wanted you to know all your options for getting involved to give and serve those in need. Get more information here.
Engage & Equip 