Would Anyone Give a Rip?
Here's a good question: if all the churches closed down in our town, would anyone care? Would anyone grieve (outside of the pastors who'd lose their jobs)? Would anyone give a rip?
And outside of the obvious--no more church services, pot-lucks, pig roasts, bake sales, paper drives, pancake breakfasts, etc.--would the community REALLY be worse off? I hope the answer is YES. The church is supposed to be the hope of the world. The church is supposed to be the vehicle Jesus uses to prevail against the darkness. The church is supposed to be leading the charge in bringing what's happening in heaven right now to this earth.
We're working hard to do that at Crossroads. We're committed to making Crossroads a "mission outpost"...a movement of Jesus people doing Jesus stuff. We're going to keep leaning into the messiness of the world and be part of the remedy.
And outside of the obvious--no more church services, pot-lucks, pig roasts, bake sales, paper drives, pancake breakfasts, etc.--would the community REALLY be worse off? I hope the answer is YES. The church is supposed to be the hope of the world. The church is supposed to be the vehicle Jesus uses to prevail against the darkness. The church is supposed to be leading the charge in bringing what's happening in heaven right now to this earth.
We're working hard to do that at Crossroads. We're committed to making Crossroads a "mission outpost"...a movement of Jesus people doing Jesus stuff. We're going to keep leaning into the messiness of the world and be part of the remedy.
posted by Pastor Phil Print at 9:15 AM
2 Comments:
Phil, I've been thinking of your last couple posts and as a newer attendee am wondering if you would explain how the actions and words match up.
I agree that not everything we learn should come from you, but do think we can learn from others who are more educated in this area than ourselves. In order to "feed" myself I went to a women's bible study that is advertised in the church's bulletin. The method of study is to read verses out of various types of bibles (King James, Message, etc.) and talk about which verses speak to you. The only interpertaion of any of the verses comes from the leader watching Joyce Meyer. There is no historical interpertaion of anything biblical. There is about 20 minutes of this and the rest of the time is social . . .what is going on in each persons lives.
I agree that the social time is important, but am not catching on to how this method of teaching is suppose to feed us and have therefore stopped going.
I also don't see where this group follows the ministering to others philosphy in that this year they are doing 1 service project and some years do none (I asked b/c I was trying to figure out there focus)
Since this group is advertisied in the weekly bulletin and therefore appears to be supported by the church, I am not seeing where the church's actions and words are matching up here and would appreciate an explanation. Thanks !
charlie, the good news is we're going to spend a couple of months (Feb.-March) talking/teaching about how to feed yourself from the Bible. It will be a BIG DEAL around here. 8 messages will be devoted to how to do it. Then we will practice the method in Meal Groups, as well as discussing a book about why it's essential for each of us to feed ourselves. As far as right now, the group you described isn't where we're wanting to go yet. Nor is it following the Meal Group format that we'd like all groups to follow. Groups at Crossroads do have some freedom to go their own way. Please be patient with us. We're heading somewhere really good.
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