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Wes McAdams / Marcus Stenson Podcast:
"How to Create a Disciple-Making Culture"
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Jesus described four soils that represented the four types of human heart. Some are hard and refuse the truth. Some hear and get excited but aren't ready to stand up in the face of the work. Some get past that but are just so distracted with this world. And a few will receive the word, be changed by it, and produce for God.
Neither of us can say we are good and always good. But if you can determine where you've been lately in that spectrum and what it means you need to do next - then self evaluation can be of great benefit to you.
This is also true of the term Growing and Going. Right now there are four options for where you are in your walk: not growing or going, growing but not going, going but not growing, or both growing and going! We look at each of those in today's episode, and how we can move in the right direction no matter where you are starting today. -
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Here is a link to Phil Wickham's Song: The Jesus Way
(Note - It is new to me, but I see it's been out for a year!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fhv4arL3yk
If you curse me, then I will bless you
If you hurt me, I will forgive
And if you hate me, then I will love you
I choose the Jesus wayIf you're helpless, I will defend you
And if you're burdened, I'll share the weight
And if you're hopeless, then let me show you
There's hope in the Jesus wayI follow Jesus
I follow Jesus
He wore my sin, I'll gladly wear His name
He is the treasure
He is the answer
Oh, I choose the Jesus wayIf you strike me, I will embrace you
And if you chain me, I'll sing His praise
And if you kill me, my home is heaven
For I choose the Jesus wayI follow Jesus
I follow Jesus
He wore my sin, I'll gladly wear His name
He is the treasure
He is the answer
Oh, I choose the Jesus wayAnd I choose surrender
I choose to love
Oh, God my Savior, You'll always be enough
I choose forgiveness
I choose grace
I choose to worship, no matter what I faceI choose the Jesus way
I choose the Jesus way
I choose the Jesus way
I choose the Jesus wayI follow Jesus
I follow Jesus
He wore my sin, I'll gladly wear His name
He is the treasure
He is the answer
Oh, I choose the Jesus wayI follow Jesus
I follow Jesus
He wore my sin, I'll gladly wear His name
He is the treasure
He is the answer
Oh, I choose the Jesus way
Oh, I choose the Jesus way -
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Phone: 813-380-8487 -
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Click link for ESM Journal Page:
Excel Still More Journal on Amazon.
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Sponsors:
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Phone: 205-326-7364
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Phone: 813-380-8487
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone - "What I have in Christ is far greater than what I have or don't have in life... He has prepared me for a moment such as this. That I may use the gifts He has given me to point all the attention back to Him."
"I credit all that I do to God. He's given me a gift. He's given me a drive to just want to continue to improve myself. I have a platform and I want to use it to glorify Him, and so whenever I step on the track, it's always the prayer of 'God let me be the vessel in which you're glorified' whatever the result is, how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform."
"I feel like I was running from God for years. That's when I was like, 'God, I surrender it to You. I don't know what this looks like I don't know what it means. Just show me what you're trying to show me.'"
"For a long time, my identity was in track and field. But I realized that first and foremost, I'm a child of God. It set me free to run th race God has set out for me to run." -
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Click link for ESM Journal Page:
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Phone: 813-380-8487
Below is a link to each of the four songs mentioned.
As well as the lyrics to "Altars over Stages"
Garden in Manhattan
I am Barabbas
The Prodigal
Altars over Stages
"Sir, they've all gone off to him, " I said to that baptizer
We watched as all his friends left him in the dust
"It's a cold world, and we all just need the Son"
He said with a smileI choose altars over stages 'cause Heaven is my wages
I don't need the spotlight, so make me a silhouette
And I won't fret, I don't care
You can take me anywhere
Heaven is my wages, I choose altars over stagesEven angels in the sky can fall down to the depths
Clip their wings with their pride, and rot what's in their chest
The funny thing about pride is that you have it all your life
But the moment you think you don't, it's gotten in your eyesWhoa-oh
Has it gotten in my eyes?
WhoaI choose altars over stages 'cause Heaven is my wages
I don't need the spotlight, so make me a silhouette
And I won't fret, I don't care
You can take me anywhere
Heaven is my wages, I choose altars over stagesWhoa-oh
I choose altars over stages 'cause Heaven is my wages
I don't need the spotlight, so make me a silhouette
I won't fret, I don't care
You can take me anywhere
'Cause Heaven is my wages, I choose altars over stages -
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Video to describe the ESM Journal.
Sponsors:
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Phone: 205-326-7364
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https://tylercain.floify.com/
Phone: 813-380-8487
Every decision you and I make that we hope or contend involves God is to be a FAITH DECISION. That is, it must come from knowledge of His nearness and be made to reflect our trust in Him. Anything, any decision, that refuses to do that, is FOOLISHNESS. That sounds simple. But it is not. Because we often rationalize and justify our choices. We look at circumstances and people and what is needful in the moment. And while it may not be what God said, or what we know is right, it becomes right to us. And this is deception and foolishness.
We need to learn from Saul in I Samuel 13. He had all the reasons in the world, and felt like he'd acted in faith. But God rejected him and called his heart into question. Saul's son Jonathan, on the other hand, did incredible things, God's way, because he knew God was with him. In the end, life isn't about doing the wise thing or the foolish thing, as our own reasoning will often conflate the two. The question is - does this decision in my home, work, life, church... does it trust God. Is it patient, humble and willing to wait? And if I choose any of the 99 other roads, can I stop and call that what it is? Foolishness. God's way is always right. Choose faith. -
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II Samuel 24
David:
God is angry with the people.
David responds with his own sin.
Davis is sorry for what he's done.
God punishes him and the people.
David feels sorrow for the people.
David pays a cost in his offerings.
God relents on the deadly plague.
Me:
People around me sin.
I sometimes respond in sin.
I need to be sorrowful for that.
There are often big consequences.
I need to fell compassion about that.
I must willingly pay a cost to God.
God may relent on punishment.
KING JESUS:
God was angry at mankind's sin.
Christ responds in righteousness.
He is sorry for what we have done.
He takes the stripes in our place.
He is ever yearning to save others.
He paid with His own offered life.
God's wrath is satisfied in His death. -
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Which is it? Do we do well by the grace and power of God? Or do we grow and excel as the result of our own effort? I've really struggled with this balance for much of my life. It feels like something that is never quite right, like a pendulum. Some days I want to take it all on, chock progress up to grit, and make it happen. God is nowhere to be found. Other times I give it all to God in my fatigue and just wait for Him to do it. Neither of these work! A balanced view is needed.
Maybe balanced isn't the right word. A - grace first, God is amazing... now lets go out in His name and do our very best - approach is what we need! This episode leans into the idea of grit, fight, discipline, and effort. But we try desperately to keep those attached to God. After all, God uses discipline to accomplish great things in you. So with Him at work first in that way, our discipline should naturally be present to accompany and compliment His.
Do you want freedom? Chances are God wants that for you to. Let's go get it. But let's do it with Him and by Him. The sooner you accept this the better: Discipline Equals Freedom. -
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Here is the layout for the slide I found in January 2020 and used in the sermon and podcast episode. I'll add in a few verse references as well.
Jesus is our Only Perfect and Eternal King (Revelation 1:16-17)
Jesus is Lord over All the Earth and Every Nation (Colossians 1:15-17)
Jesus is Coming and it will just be Souls and the Word
Submission to Civil Government is God's Will (Roman 13:1-7; I Peter 2:11-17)
Pray for All People Involved (I Timothy 2:1-2)
Vote for Protectors of the Innocent (Romans 13:1-7)
Apply Ephesians 4:29 to Every Comment
Use Time like These to Carry out the Mission (II Timothy 2:20-26) -
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Tucked deep within the book of judges is a sad little story about people who looked out for themselves over others. Micah starts it off by admitting he stole from his momma. And it just kind of goes downward from there. I ran across it this week and learned some things I wanted to share with you.
This event services the truth of Galatians 6: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, what a man sows this he will also reap." This is a life principle that is true for all of us, whether we believe it or not. Micah's story in Judges will help us see it.
The takeaway from Judges 17 and 18 are these:
1) What Goes Around Comes Around
2) Enablers Are Often Part Of The Problem
3) Our Will In God's Name Won't Last
4) You Can't Win The Self Service Battle
5) God Is Still In The Right Place -
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I had the most amazing experience. I got to attend a graduation ceremony for the Hwy 80 Mission / Triumph Village rehabilitation program. 7 men were graduating the 10-12 month program. One of whom, Ike, is a member at our local work.
Adam Bradley was there. He is a deacon at our church, is 14 years sober himself, and is really the guy who got all of the things started we've been able to join into with the programs. Especially once a great catalyst, Kyle Berry, came to town.
Adam presented a lesson with this opening line "Addiction is addiction." It was AWESOME. Sobering, a little scary, but so on the nose, right to the heart, true that I wish all could hear it. I took notes as quickly as I could and want to share it with you.
In summery, here are some bullet points to consider:
- Addiction is addiction not matter what you are facing.
- So you are not alone in the fight.
- But you also must not exchange one addiction for another.
- There is one solution for all addiction: Jesus Christ.
- But you have to admit the problem is internal. It is yours.
- Christ renovates hearts and mind, the inside, and then lives.
- He can do this for anyone who submits to HIm.
- But deliverance to freedom is the beginning, not the end.
- You MUST deepen your relationship with Christ daily and always. -
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Phone: 813-380-8487
Most of us know the story of David and Goliath really well. But can I open by asking: "Who is that story about?" And "What is the point of that story for your life?" I think it is a common take to suggest that we need to be like David and approach our own Goliaths with faith, courage and wisdom. I'd certainly agree with that! But have you noticed how hard that is. All of the sudden it hits us - our lives aren't really like David's life - and maybe we won't get the same outcome he got!
Part of the shortfall here is maybe this story isn't about you and me, at least not at first. Maybe this event, like so many before and after it, are about Someone else, Someone grater. Not just greater than you, but even greater than David. Like, David's story is just a two dimensional shadow of the Man's life that overshadows all others.
Once we find Jesus in the story first, we unlock a special connection. We ARE connected to Jesus, as disciples and as a people He saved by His valiant victory over Satan. Let's find Him, remember Him, and praise Him. Then, let's learn from Him. Let's live victorious lives because of Him, and let's be wise and different like He was, and continue to catch the enemy by surprise! -
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Phone: 813-380-8487
Notes: "Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees" (Matthew 16:5-12)
Avoiding the False Teaching of Jesus's Day
Matthew 5:20-48 - 1) They made the Law Too Easy. Primarily External.
2) Law was Adjusted in the Direction of Less Mercy
Matthew 12:1-8 - 1) Their First Impulse is Rejection and Accusation.
2) Interpretation of the Law became the Law to them.
Matthew 15:1-9 - 1) They turned their Traditions into the Law of God.
2) Loving Others was set aside in the Name of God.
Matthew 21:23-27 - 1) Deeply Conflicted between Hard Hearts and Fear.
2) They kept Missing Jesus as God's Authority over all.
Matthew 23 - Jesus is fed up and calls it like it is.
SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS (v5-7)
HYPOCRITICAL (v1-4)
LEGALISTIC (v23-24)
SUPERFICIAL (v25-28)
OBSTACLES (v13-18)
Jesus calls us to be different (the opposite of those above)
THE HUMBLE SERVANT
LIVING OUT YOUR FAITH
LED BY A God-LIKE HEART
HONEST ABOUT THE INSIDE
DRAWING PEOPLE TO CHRIST -
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Phone: 813-380-8487
Welcome to the Practical End of the book Practicing the Way. I've added some caveats and concerns about the book. But if you'd like a copy, you can get it HERE.
Today we talk about Vision and a Plan. Vision is the ability to see the better version of yourself and stay excited about it. The plan is the means by which you get from here to there. Both are awesome. But the second one is far more important than the first. God may already be taking you to places you can't even imaging! If you follow a great plan, you get to great places, whether you have vision for them or not.
To get there, you need 9 things - In the episode we look at them in three pieces. Firstly, number five, the one in the middle. It is central. The first four lead us to a richer interaction with number 5, and the last four come from it.
1) Sabbath
2) Solitude
3) Prayer
4) Fasting
5) SCRIPTURE
6) Community
7) Generosity
8) Service
9) Witness -
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We covered a lot today so I wanted to just provide an outline you can follow. Firstly, here is a link to John Mark Comer's book: Practicing The Way.
Today we covered the idea of "No Accidental Saints" - The path to greater discipleship, apprenticing under Christ, is a distinct and intentional one. But that doesn't mean the hardest working people are the ones who get there. It's about faith.
We looked at three losing strategies:
1) Willpower (your own ability to try harder)
2) More Bible Study (if knowledge is all you get out of it)
3) The Zap from Heaven (expecting results without the struggle)
Why can't these things work? They seem good enough to get the job done. Well, there are many reasons. But here are two big ones:
1) Sin (mine, others, the world - there is just too much need for God's grace)
2) You (Ha. You being formed, shaped by habit and others into stories you believe)
So what do we do? Well, next week we will dig in on NINE amazing things. But for today, here are five words that represent A Working Theory of Change:
1) LEARN - Learn something. Get up everyday expecting to be changed.
2) PRACTICE - Be working on something. Have a daily focus of incremental change.
3) SHARE - That is, be around people and share with those who want all this too!
4/5) GOD and TIME - God is with you and at work on you and in you. You are not alone. Let faith in that sustain you. But God likes to use time. He likes it to take a while, so you can, you know, learn new practices. So relax a little. Don't expect or demand immediate change. God is at work in the struggle over time to greater things. -
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Celebrate R.E.C.O.V.E.R.Y.
Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. (Step 1)
“Happy are those who know that they are spiritually poor.” Matthew 5:3a TEVEarnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2)
“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 TEV, NIVConsciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)
“Happy are the meek.” Matthew 5:5a TEVOpenly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps 4 and 5) “Happy are the pure in heart.” Matthew 5:8a TEV
Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (Steps 6 and 7)
“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires” Matthew 5:6a TEVEvaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others. (Steps 8 and 9)
“Happy are the merciful.” Matthew 5:7a TEV; “Happy are the peacemakers” Matthew 5:9 TEVReserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Steps 10 and 11)
Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12)
“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.” Matthew 5:10 TEV -
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A Manifesto for Myself on Social Media1. I don’t have to comment on every post I disagree with. People will be okay without my input. I can walk away and move on to something else.
2. I need to give the benefit of any doubt when I first hear something instead of having knee-jerk reactions.
3. If I think someone should be cancelled because I disagree with something said, I don’t really believe in freedom of speech. I believe in freedom only insofar as I like it.
4. Trying to get people fired from a job because they differ with me is a form of bullying. This is especially true if the person I’m trying to oust is not even remotely part of my life. I’m trying to hurt someone who said something that affects nothing in my daily routine. This reveals a bitterness on my part and does not bode well for having any kind of open mindedness.
5. To promote inclusion and tolerance and then exclude those who believe something I don’t like is hypocrisy. “Inclusion” comes to mean “people who agree with me.” This is irrational and causes me to lose my credibility for reasonable discussion. In such cases I am not for freedom of speech or inclusion.
6. If I react to something without reading it in full or hearing it out first, I am being foolish. I need reminding of Proverbs 18:13. If I’m reacting to headlines and not carefully considering what was actually said or done, I do not deserve a place at the table of discussion until I back off and do my due diligence. I need to be able to consider the possibility that I am wrong about something and willing to change if the evidence warrants it.
7. If I see a shocking headline, I need to remind myself that there is a great deal of satire out there and I must not conflate these things with real news. This is one reason why reacting too quickly is a problem. I need to be careful about what I accept as true in the media and social media. If I get worked up about something that is not even true, I will have benefited no one. This hurts everyone.
8. If someone disagrees with me, I will not be morally outraged by it. I need to be willing to discuss calmly. I will make my arguments and try to persuade, but just getting mad because someone takes a view different from mine is neither rational nor conducive to understanding one another. It’s a form of arrogance on my part.
9. I will not engage in hurling insults at those who disagree with me. I need to be respectful and honorable. I want there to be peace, understanding, and mutual respect. This needs to start with me. And even if they insult me, I will refuse to reciprocate the ugly and inappropriate. Think about Jesus.
10. I will avoid passing on gossip about others. I don’t want to hurt someone just because I may not agree with them. I want to treat others as I would like to be treated. If I am truly concerned about a situation, I need to be willing to go to the person in question so as to minimize potential damage.
11. If I read a post like this and get angry because I am guilty of any of the above, I need to calm down, eat some fruit, then join in reasonable discussion without feeling scarred for life because someone differed with me. I need to quit taking things so personally, especially when those who differ with don’t even know I exist or care about my life.
12. Above all, and most importantly, I will seek to glorify God. I need to do all in the name of Christ and to the glory of God. I will rely on God’s word as the revealed standard from God and seek to please Him in all matters. I have failed, but I will not give up.
-
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I saw a sign recently outside of a church: No Perfect People Allowed. What do you think about that sign? What does it mean? Would you be comfortable with it outside of the place where you worship? There is a powerful and needful message in that sign that should be demonstrated by us in as many ways as we can. It should be sending two messages: how the possible visitor sees themself, and how we see ourselves as the people of God. Are we prefect and they are not?
Here's a distinction that matters. We are "perfected" and they are not! "Perfected for all time!" But that isn't about how good we are compared to them - that is about Jesus and how great and perfect and wonderful He is. Come along with me as we look at that sign and talk about it. And then look at church culture and aspects of three different but closely related words: Perfect, Perfected, and Perfection.
- Are you more inclined to tell others about what you do that is right, or about Christ?
- If someone visited your church from the world, would they feel welcome?
- Would they feel like their imperfection is okay and that we are all in that same boat?
- How does reliance on Christ to perfect us bring us all together in humility and not pride?
- And how does striving to be perfect fit beautifully into all of this if it comes third in line? -
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NOTE - Two things below:
Passages from Philippians about the Gospel AND The Life-Saving Station
"In/Off the Gospel" -- I'd encourage you to make these phrases:
9 References: Phil 1:5,7,12,16, 27; 2:22; 4:3, 15
Life-Saving Station
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a little life-saving station. The building was primitive, and there was just one boat, but the members of the life-saving station were committed and kept a constant watch over the sea. When a ship went down, they unselfishly went out day or night to save the lost. Because so many lives were saved by that station, it became famous.Consequently, many people wanted to be associated with the station to give their time, talent, and money to support its important work. New boats were bought, new crews were recruited, a formal training session was offered. As the membership in the life-saving station grew, some of the members became unhappy that the building was so primitive and that the equipment was so outdated. They wanted a better place to welcome the survivors pulled from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged and newly decorated building.
Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members. They met regularly and when they did, it was apparent how they loved one another. They greeted each other, hugged each other, and shared with one another the events that had been going on in their lives. But fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions; so they hired lifeboat crews to do this for them.
About this time, a large ship was wrecked off of the coast, and the hired crews brought into the life-saving station boatloads of cold, wet, dirty, sick, and half-drowned people. Some of them had black skin, and some had yellow skin. Some could speak English well, and some could hardly speak it at all. Some were first-class cabin passengers of the ship, and some were the deck hands.
The beautiful meeting place became a place of chaos. The plush carpets got dirty. Some of the exquisite furniture got scratched. So the property committee immediately had a shower built outside the house where the victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting there was rift in the membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities, for they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal fellowship of the members. Other members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all those various kinds of people who would be shipwrecked, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. And do you know what? That is what they did.
As the years passed, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a place to meet regularly for fellowship, for committee meetings, and for special training sessions about their mission, but few went out to the drowning people. The drowning people were no longer welcomed in that new life-saving station. So another life-saving station was founded further down the coast. History continued to repeat itself. And if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of adequate meeting places with ample parking and plush carpeting. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.
Thomas Wedel, “Ecumenical Review,” October, 1953, paraphrased in Heave
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12 Thinking Shifts Among Millennials/Gen Z Christians…
(The Second Six) by Wilson Adams
Each generation brings unique changes and challenges. Sometimes older generations sweep them away with broad brushes to the point they are discouraged from even having an opinion. True, not all opinions are workable, but some are. For starters, no one knows how each generation thinks better than that generation. How to reach Millennials and Gen Zs? Sit down and have a conversation.7. A shift from affluence to sufficiency. Rather than being impressed by big churches with big budgets, Millennials and Gen Z have a more minimalist mindset: God gives us enough, so let’s use our God-gifts “as we have opportunity.” They see affluence leading toward less reliance upon God and more reliance on self (they are right). After all, if we have everything we need, why pray/surrender? Church affluence (big buildings, big debt, and giving to service the debt) is seen as opposite of Scripture-principle.
8. A shift from large buildings to homes. Church buildings that once housed hundreds (some places) are down to dozens while sitting on expensive pieces of property. Millennials ask, “Why?” Sometimes wisdom behooves us to downsize, seek greater kingdom vision than property maintenance, and move forward in more intimate ways to facilitate growth. I know Millennials who open their homes to weeknight studies. FYI: many of them do not have big homes.
9. A shift from “done for you” to “done with you.” Rather than looking at the back of heads, we may see more circle seating where worship is face-to-face. This translates historically -from long buildings of double aisles (50s-60s) to more rounded seating (70s-90s). It’s happening again. Younger generations seek more participation–less “spectation,” more activity–less passivity, more connection–less anonymity. Bottom line: they want to be used.
Changes in thinking don’t need to be unbiblical changes (auto default when questioning man-tradition). First, those with overseas travel experience know that brethren often do what God asks in expedient ways that work in their culture. Second, we obviously saw changes in a post-covid culture. Now, as culture changes more, will we notice and adapt (in biblical ways)?
10. A shift from going to church to being the church. Explain: Millennials hear “going to church” and equate with “going through the motions” and box-checking -because they've seen these attitudes displayed. They want more than ritual that doesn’t produce heart change. They want to be the church, live the gospel, and make disciples of those who look different than they do. Millennials and Gen Z do not care about race or socio-economic differences.
11. A shift from big-names to no-names. Millennials and Gen Z don’t care about big name preachers -they have no idea who they are anyway. They seek meaningful lives with God, a way to introduce friends to Jesus, and invest in a Good News message that changes people. Some of the biggest influencers for the gospel in days to come may be names you’ve never heard of.
12. A shift from dogmatic to pragmatic. Dogmatic: we’re going to do what we’ve always done whether it works or not. Pragmatic: we’re going to look for ways to get the gospel out of a church building and into the public square. It’s one reason coffee shop studies are gaining momentum (and conversions). Pragmatic and practical optimizes the first two letters in “gospel” – GO!
We must be like those who “understood the times” (1 Chron.12:32). Many Millennials and Gen Zs are active in standing for truth/sharing their faith. However, status q
- Visa fler
