Building A Great Congregation Series – Purpose
During the next 8 weeks, I am revisiting a series of lessons I delivered several years ago on “Building a Great Congregation…” The series is partly an adaptation of parts of the book “How to Build a Great Church” by Mac Layton. Mr. Layton’s book was inspiring as I was putting some thoughts together on church growth to use in an upcoming lesson. I highly recommend getting Mr. Layton’s book and letting the words inspire you.
Take a moment and give the sermon a quick look at see what you think. Hopefully, I will be able to combine all the lessons into one PDF file at the end of the series and make it available to you.
The series will be as follows:
- May 30th – Building a Great Congregation Involves Purpose
- June 13th – Building a Great Congregation Involves Vision
- June 20th – Building a Great Congregation Involves Followers
- June 27th – Building a Great Congregation Involves Leadership
- July 11th – Building a Great Congregation Involves Work
- July 18th – Building a Great Congregation Involves Teaching
- July 25th – Building a Great Congregation Involves Outreach #1
- August 1st – Building a Great Congregation Involves Outreach #2
Just some thoughts,
Chris
Memorial Day 2010
Today as you light the grill for the annual cookout during your extended weekend, take a moment and say a prayer for those who made this day possible. As you share your time with family, there are others wishing for one more day with a family member. There will be wives and husbands wishing for one more day with their spouse. Children will ask for parents who will not return. Parents will long for their children who are gone. Memorial Day should hold a special place in our lives as we appreciate our freedom paid for by the sacrifice of others so we might live in a land of the free and home of the brave.
The courageousness of thousands are marked with white stones reminding us of their life in honor of this country. The markers are the cost of the freedom you and I live in each in this land. Each marker displays the name of a life given so you and I can possess the opportunity of freedom each day. Thousands of other names are engraved on a solid wall paying tribute to those who lost their lives in a foreign land. There will be more memorials as war takes the lives of good men and women.
Not only should the men and women which have passed be honored, but those who have fought and lived should be honored as well. Those living live with the memories of their own platoons, friends and neighbors who never made it back from a foreign land. Their minds are solemn on this day as they seek to find peace, knowing the price of freedom will be respected and honored.
Let us not forget the sacrifice, let us not forget the people, let us not forget the purpose.
As Christians, this day might hold a double honor as we pay tribute and respect to the men and women of this physical life as well as those of spiritual sacrifice. Physical war takes an unknown toll on the lives of soldiers, families and countries and spiritual has an everlasting toll that will be known in a land which knows no day and no night.
It has been said thousands of times but it is important we remember it each day, “Freedom is not free.” The price for our physical freedom is the countless lives of men and woman fighting a physical war, but the ultimate price is the cost of the only Son of God in a spiritual war. In a world where physical wars seem to never end, one day the spiritual war will end. When the spiritual war ends, there will be rewards and punishments, but the fact is, the Bible already tells who will win. Whose side will you be on?
Let us not forget the price of freedom in our land, but let us definitely not forget the price paid for our spiritual redemption!
Just some Memorial Day thoughts,
Chris
Is Social Networking Damaging Your Marriage?
The age of social networking (aka – Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.) is one of great possibilities, but also one where each individual needs to do some life maintenance ever 3,000 clicks to keep their networking lives in order. This age of immediate media and constant contact has a world of good ahead of it, but it can also cause damage to current relationships. The damage comes as a result of mixed priorities.
For instance, I have heard of numerous marriage being damaged because of the social networking websites. Spouses are putting their social network and even people in their social network above their spouse and thereby creating damage to their marriage. Take a look at the list below and see five ways social networking may be damaging your marriage.
Five Way Social Networking may be Destroying Your Marriage
5 – If you are spending more time on our social networking pages than your marriage, you are damaging your marriage. (Stop looking at quality vs. quantity time to justify your family and make them a priority!)
4 – If you are not listed as married and/or have photos of your spouse and family on your social networking page, you are damaging your marriage. (You are not showing your commitment to your marriage and family.)
3 – If you are spending more time looking at ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend photos than photos of your family, you are damaging your marriage. (Yes, this does happen.)
2 – If you get more excited of gaining more social networking friends than gaining your spouse’s attention, you are damaging your marriage. (Your spouse needs to be the object of your affection!)
1- If instant message your spouse instead of talking to them, you are damaging your marriage. (Communication is the key to marriage; and I do not believe the key is typing, but talking!)
Understand that social networking has its place, but its place is not in front of the most important priorities: God, marriage and families. Social networking can enhance relationships but you must put social networking in its place.
Put social networking in its place today!
Just some thoughts,
Chris
Modesty? and Immodesty?
The summer heats blasts across the southern states and as with every year, clothing will become less and less of a 
wearable object. As the summer months continue, certain words will float through every congregation, yet no one is sure of what to think – the word…modesty!
In such a touchy topic, I wonder if there are some common sense thoughts which apply to each follower of Christ? I will readily admit, no where does the Bible give us a list of physical clothing which should cover our bodies. There are Old Testament guidelines given to the priests (Exodus 28). Personally, I am not sure if God would have given us a simple list of clothing if some would still not followed it. No matter what guidelines God provides, there are always some who wish to push the envelope.
There are a couple of interesting points to make at this point:
- It is interesting that modesty provide a double standard in our society. A lady can wear a mini-skirt while walking down the street and she will be called immodest, when 20 minutes later, she may go to the beach and where a bikini and not be consider immodest, but instead be considered to be “in style.”
- Certain people have never considered the area of clothing to be a problem.
- There are some cultural differences in terms of clothing; but remember, culture does not necessarily make something the right thing to do.
- This topic needs to be examined and studied more than it currently is; no matter what you believe at this point in time.
While God does not provide a list of “Thou Shalt Wear” and “Thou Shalt Not Wear,” I do believe He provides some guidelines for each person to consider themselves. I have posted some thoughts below to hopefully stir some discussion regarding the topic of “Modesty and Immodesty.”
Did God have a different standard than Adam and Eve?
Could there be a significance in the an “apron” of fig leaves that Adam and Eve made for themselves and the “coats of skin” God made afterward? There are two different words used in the Hebrew language:
- Apron (Genesis 3.7; KJV – the Hebrew word is “chagor” meaning a belt of girdle for the waist.
- Coats (Genesis 3.21; KJV) – the Hebrew word is “kethoneth” meaning a shirt, rode and garment, coming from the root word meaning “to cover.”
Is is possible that Adam and Eve created garments for themselves the were different that the garments God wanted? Remember, Adam and Eve had no knowledge of nakedness until after the fruit (Genesis 3.7). After they made aprons (KJV) or loinclothes (ESV) for themselves, God made them coats (KJV) or garments (ESV) and clothed them (Genesis 3.21; ESV).
Are there some parts of our body that need covered?
I believe Paul answers this question in 1 Corinthians 12.22-25:
“On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” (English Standard Version; emphasis mine, CMG)
To Paul’s statements to the Corinthians, I would ask:
- What are the unpresentable parts of our bodies and why to they require greater modesty? I find 1 Corinthians 12.23 very interesting in the Contemporary English Version: “We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts…” Did you notice that, “We are modest about our personal parts.” The CEV seems to make that verse a little clearer to the unpresentable parts.
If there were specific physical clothes to be worn by priests under the Old Covenant, are there considerations Christians should make to the clothes they wear as “priests” under the New Covenant?
- “…you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2.5; ESV,emphasis mine, CMG)
So, what are your thoughts?
Just some thoughts for a Wednesday morning…
Chris
Struggle with Prayer?
Have you ever struggled with your prayer life? Maybe God did not provide the answers you were seeking. When God does not provide the answers we need, it should strengthen our faith knowing His plan is greater than ours!
The lesson below deals with the fact that prayer changes lives and sometimes we hinder ourselves because we want to pray, but we might not be ready to change. I ran across a great book called “Prayer: When I Kneel at the Throne of God’s Grace” by Dan Winkler. I highly recommend this study guide for a good study on prayer. It is available at Winkler Publications (http://www.winklerpublications.com)
Enjoy!
Hope you enjoyed!
Just some thoughts,
Chris
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