2 Timothy 2:2

We need to answer questions like:

Do you baptize a same sex couple who has been legally married if they confess faith?
How do you teach scripture without generating homophobes?
How can you best minister to people who have a pro homosexual lifestyle?

Quotes:
You must quit focusing upon conversions and start focusing upon making disciples in everything you do.

A better show does not attract unsaved people. Unsaved people don’t like us. A better show attracts people from other churches.

In the last three years 31 million Americans have left the church.

2-3% of churches are growing by conversion growth.

80% of Christians say that they are not experiencing God in the church that they attend.

We need to quit talking about what isn’t working, and start focusing on what Jesus wants us to do.

Will come along side churches in order to mentor them in implementing a plan to make disciples.

7 Ways to make change
1. Include a hymn or two in every service and sing one in original arrangement.
2. Respect different expressions of worship and don’t demand someone change, ie don’t ask everyone to clap.
3. If involved in leading worship dress modestly and mute suggestive movement
4. Keep amplification and volume reasonable. There is power when people on stage can hear congregation and vice versa.
5. Avoid repetition. Edit songs, old and new, so that they aren’t too repetitive.
6. Leave people wanting more. Limit singing and standing to 10 minutes. “When a member of the body suffers we all suffer.”
7. Take time to listen to people. Even schedule meeting times with multiple generations.

5 Characteristics of an EFC
1. They believe that the community cannot be healthy without the church.
2. They believe that Christians cannot grow until they serve. (Growth will not happen in a 101, 201, 301 system.) Ephesians 2:8-10
3. They understand the power of service. Lenin didn’t outlaw Christianity in USSR but outlawed acts of service by the church. You have to rake a lot of leaves before the community begins to ask your opinion.
4. They are evangelistically effective.
5. They partner with other entities.

Micah 6:8…Acts of mercy allow you to get traction in order to do justice.

Rick’s Comment: The American Church has lost the ability to speak into the culture because we have withdrawn from it…because it’s dirty. We’ve got to get close enough where we can whisper into people’s lives.
Robert’s Digestion: PCA should be finding ways to help public schools along with educating children in a “protected” system. They need to be building up kids so that they can direct culture. Harmony should think about doing as much for public schools as it is for PCA.

The question we always need to be asking, “How do we take the unchanging message of Jesus to the always, rapidly changing world?” We always need to be evaluating the delivery, and looking or creating new kinds of delivery options.

When problems surface in the church and confession is not made but someone is confronted then it is highly likely that there is more to the story.

Whoever wrote, “A picture is worth one thousand words.” used words. So, preach the Bible it will always be relevant.

Key Preaching Principles
1. Preaching will always be relevant.
2. The Bible is the ultimate source of power – rely on it. MEANING: preach fewer “eye catching” topics, make edification main purpose not evangelism, don’t be obsessed with innovation, preach through books of the Bible or on its characters.
3. Study time should be scheduled. MEANING: 20 hours a week in preparation by reading, developing examples, and condensation.
4. Consistency is critical in building a healthy church – maintain it. MEANING: If you can’t bring the sermon with the same energy the week after Easter as you did Easter weekend then get someone else to preach.
5. A sense of passion/intensity is essential for an effective delivery
6. Sharing the whole counsel of God takes courage – preach it!

At LifeBridge Christian Church

At LifeBridge they focus on saving the lost and serving the least. They do that by helping the lost discover grace, then encourage people to grow in grace and to live gracefully(serve the lost).

All of their staff is required to volunteer 15 hours a week either in the community or church or both. “How can you lead where you aren’t willing to go?”

Often when we say service we mean serve us, but it needs to transition to serve others – Ephesians 2:10. LifeBridge values inside and outside service. They value the Little League coac as much as the children’s worker. LifeBridge is trying something where they took four small groups and are giving them back half of their giving to find some service to do.

Start with people who are already doing it.

Use big events as an entry point into consistent service. (painted three middle schools one summer)

If big events are the only thing you do for service then stop.

At LifeBridge everybody does something externally focused. Mens, womens, childrens, youth, small groups have an externally focused arm.

They measure all kinds of metrics at LifeBridge, but what they do not do is measure metrics on how service is impacting attendance, because they want to protect the integrity of their service.

This weekend was a simple acoustic set. Reasons include it’s all the musicians that were available, and they try to simplify once every 4-6 weeks. They are trying to move away from a performance driven worship service.

Greg’s personal opinion: If the American church doesn’t shift dramatically it will shut down.

1980′s-present churches have used the attractional model to grow. However, Greg believes it’s outlived it’s usefulness as the area becomes more postmodern. We need to transition to a missional model. I agree.

So, RiverTree is trying to transition from a program driven church into a people development driven church. Three years ago they did away with membership, and now they ask people to partner with them.

This means you move from standardized to customized. You may need to write your own material or purchase customizable curriculum.
You move from scripted to Life Coaching.
You move from the goal being participation to Life Transformation.
You move from didactic teaching to debriefing life experiences.
You move from curriculum guided to life centric (relates to what is really going on in people’s lives)
You move from getting people “plugged in” to getting people “pushed out.” So , you run into challenges on keeping the organization going.
You move from growing into service to growing through service.
You move from generational segmentation to integrated. So, there may be a youth mission trip but grandparents go too. Youth are in worship bands. Children will lead prayers. They have moved away from “children’s or youth specials.”
You move from building the organization to changing people’s lives.

There are three ways people are transformed:
1. Information
2. Experiences
3. Relationships

The American church is heavy on Information yet only two people could in the room could come up with five sermons that have changed their life. Almost everybody came up with five relationships and experiences in half the time.

Relational and experience takes TIME.

Recommended Book: American Church in Crisis by David T. Olsen

Here, because it is late and I have to be up at 6am, I will just plainly state that Paul stated basically the characteristics of an effective minister in one of his sessions and in a third session he defined leadership in the new millennium and compared it with the modern era’s context.

I can share more on it when I return.

What we did: Took the DiSC test, which is a leadership style profile. Talked about the results, and then talked about leadership.

What I learned:
1. 80% of the people who return for a second visit say they identified with the pastors spiritual journey.
2. 72% of the people who come the first time do so because they were personally invited.
3. 50% of the people who return a second time say they liked the worship.
4. #1 reason why people don’t come back is because they perceive the children’s ministry to be inadequate.
5. #2 reason they don’t return is because of the condition of the facility.

Conclusion: Connections to Dean’s story are why people will return, and even though advertising is necessary it cannot be divorced from personal invitation. Worship style is not as big of a deal as was once thought. In fact, many church plants that will reach a younger demographic are instituting “High Church” symbols back into worship (ie. robes, incense, etc.). If our children’s ministry is not a priority then we will fail to attract and keep families. If the facility is not kept clean, neat, and in a state of continual repair or expansion then new comers will not be back. They will notice the stain in the carpet, crooked pictures, misspelled words, etc. that church people will overlook.