PRESENTATION OUTLINE
I. Elements of a Healthy Church:
What and how do we attach ourselves to things?
When we have been given to so generously what is our response?
When we have been handled so graciously what is our response?
When we have been cared for so well what is our response?
“As the Christians were seen and heard by the other people in Jerusalem, their activities formed an opportunity for witness.”
-Marshall
How can community be evangelistic?:
The early Church had problems like the church today does...
As soon as we have made ourselves to be professionals we have stripped the Church from the real professional staff members Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
“Into our pervasively individualistic worldview, we speak the gospel message of reconciliation, unity, and identity as the people of God. This is perhaps the most significant “culture gap” that the church has to bridge….
By becoming a Christian, I belong to God and I belong to my brothers and sisters.”
-Total Church
"The Church refused to look like a community"
-Autopsy of a Deceased Church
"The Church refused to look like a community"
-Rainer
“When a church ceases to have a heart and ministry for its community, it is on a path toward death. Whenever local churches are mentioned in the New Testament, they are always exhorted to be other centered.”
-Rainer
Is our church a “fortress” that keeps everyone out or a “refuge” that welcomes everyone who is lead to travel within its proximity?
How do you know you are a part of a community?
How long does it take to get to a place of deep heartfelt community?
For those who struggle with finding community what is your advice?
“Churches need to get better at communicating why belonging to a community of faith is better than worshipping alone, and then they have to prove it to be true in their own communities.”
-Jayson Bradley
“We expect people to come when we ring the church bell or put on a good service, but the majority of the population are disconnected from church. Changing what we do in church will not reach them. We need to meet them in the context of everyday life.”
-Everyday Church