One particular challenge for us, as a church trying to ’simplify’ our structures (see the “Simple Church” brochure on the Resource Tables at church for more details) and better meet our congregation’s needs, is figuring out how best to make Small Groups work in a way that fits well with our current ministry structure and yet doesn’t add an additional night or expectation/pressure to our already overburdened and busy lives. Easier said than done, right?!

So, after much thought, prayer, consultation with some other ministries, and discussion among the Education Ministry Team, here are the basics of Growth Groups:

• Called “Growth Groups” > In keeping with our 2nd C, “Cultivate Growth, we’re going to call them “Growth Groups” (GG). GGs are about Cultivating Growth Together.

• Meeting on Wed Nights, 6:15-7:30 p.m., at church > They’ll meet in rooms at church (i.e., built-in childcare.)

• Studying ‘Sermon-Based’ Curriculum > They will study a form of the current “Beyond Sunday” Devotional Study that is on the back of the Sunday morning outlines that will be adapted for GGs.

• Structured for ‘Study’ & ‘Support’ > The structure of the time for Wed Night groups will basically be divided between “Study” (6:15-7:00 – Discussion of GGs Lesson) and “Support” (7:00-7:30 – Share, Care, Prayer).

Here are detailed answers to many related questions:

• What does this mean for Wednesday Night structure?
  • Wed Nights (and Growth Groups) will begin Wed, Aug 11, in keeping with the school calendar (instead of waiting till after Labor Day) and will be from 5:30-7:30 (instead of 6:00-8:00). This was done to keep all our activities and dinner schedules consistent as well as to help enable families with younger kids and seniors not wanting to drive home later to get home earlier.
  • Two-Semester Schedule > All Wed Night activities (GG, dinner, childrens/youth groups) will follow this 4-months “On,” 2-months “Off” schedule: Aug-Nov “on”, Dec-Jan “off”; Feb-May “on”, Jun-July “off”. We will still follow the Greeneville City Schools schedule if they call off for any reason. Sign-up months will be Jan & July.
  • Fellowship Dinner will be from 5:30-6:15. Yes, we know that some will have a hard time getting to dinner by 5:30. Sorry. But you can still be in a GG. Also, each week will feature some sort of ‘kid-friendly’ dish (chicken nuggets, P B & J, etc.)
  • Adult Bible Study will still be available for those who may not yet be ready for a GG. Anyone is able to join any time… no sign up needed. In fact, for new folks at FCC who want to join a GG, but who come mid-semester, this will function well until they can sign up for the next session (sign-ups will be the months of Jan & July).
  • Additional Note: Adult Choir is currently deciding if they are continuing practice on Wed Nights as they have been or if they will try another rehearsal time. If they stay on Wed, this new structure will mean an additional 15 minutes of rehearsal time each night.

• How big are the groups? How do we form them? Who leads each group? Do they ‘divide’ when they get too big? Quick answers: 12 min-15 max. Sign up with whomever you want. Someone in the group leads. Basically no, they do not ‘divide’… Longer answers: We are asking that each group have a minimum of 12. That ensures enough folks are there each week. More than 15 becomes too large to be called, well, a ’small’ group. Groups are formed by signing up with whomever you want. If you don’t know many folks yet, sign up wherever. Once a group is formed start new ones at beginning of each semester. That means, initially, that ‘veterans’ will be with ‘veterans,’ but also that relatively new folks will eventually be with relatively new folks. In other words, if you wanna be in a group with a few folks you already know well, sign up together, in the same group. That’s what makes these groups “sticky”, keeping people involved and meeting their needs. Think of it this way… People are like Legos™, (Yes… people are like toy-shaped blocks), with a limited number of ‘relational connectors.’ In other words, ‘veterans’ of FCC will more naturally want to be in a GG with their friends. Fine. No problem. Go right ahead. Their ‘relational connectors’ are already, uh, connected. But new folks likely have more ‘relational connectors’ available. So they will begin GGs with and connect to other new folks. If your GG doesn’t ‘gel’ well enough for/with you, if you need a break from GGs for whatever reason, if you’re serving somewhere else in the building on Wed Nights, take a semester off or sign up for another one next semester. Each group fills out an Evaluation Form at the end of the 4-months semester.

• What do we do with new people who come in the middle of a semester? Newcomers to Wed Nights will join the Bible Study Group until time for the next sign-ups (the month preceding the beginning of groups, i.e., Jan or July).

• Is Wed Night at church the only time and place groups are allowed to meet? Basically… yes. We want everyone to try the same approach/structure to help us measure success and ensure consistency and unity of purpose. This will also allow us to adjust GGs if needed.

• Why aren’t we doing home-based groups? We are being careful to ensure that implementation of GGs does not require adding yet another night to their already busy schedules. If we had home-based groups, they would likely be a night other than Wednesday because we will not cancel youth/children’s activities and the Adult Bible Study. The Education Ministry Team, charged with oversight of Wed Night programming and implementation of small groups, did the best it could to account for all the important concerns: already too busy church family; how to ensure childcare; providing fellowship and encouragement; ensuring meaningful study of God’s Word; not ‘killing’ already existing and effective programming; encouraging churchwide unity of purpose, etc. We believe this is currently the best possible scenario for our church. So, GGs are structured around existing programs.

• Can GGs still do things outside of Wed Nights? Absolutely! In fact, please do! While our structure limits GGs to meeting on Wed Nights for achieving its basic purposes (i.e., the 2nd C), we would like to encourage groups to gather socially outside of the Wed Night mtg time. In fact, meeting to ’study’ and ’support’ on Wednesday nights may provide margin and freedom for GGs to fellowship more effectively during other times.

• Why don’t we assign people to groups based on their neighborhood? Sounds great on paper, but one of the poorest predictors of a potential deep friendship is the neighborhood in which we live. In most cases, it simply indicates shared economic status.

• Why don’t we build groups around shared interests or a common ‘station’ in life? 2 responses: (1) We believe that groups will naturally achieve some of this when people sign up together with friends; (2) We think the diversity of a little mixing of ages, ‘place’ in life, etc. is a good thing! So, don’t sweat it and get to know some new folks.

• Why are we doing ‘sermon-based’ groups and not being allowed to choose our own curriculum? Briefly: Increased engagement, attentiveness, and note-taking during sermons, better/easier preparation, increased quality of GG discussion, better learning and greater effectiveness, church-wide focus, easier to bring people into groups, easier to recruit leaders, better assessment of effectiveness, and reaching more people.

• Why aren’t we expecting Growth Groups to serve in ministry together? We expect GGs to serve one another well. Perhaps someday the expectation for them to be involved in a service project of some type may work well, but we want to encourage participation in a Ministry Team (our primary means of achieving the “3rd C” at FCC, Communicate the Gospel in Word and Deed). Also, part of making a ‘win’ in the area of cultivating growth together achievable is not burdening GGs with additional goals. Ministry Teams are for our 3rd C, not GGs.

• What do we do in the intervening 2 months? We rest, take a break, play together, etc. The Education Ministry Team will be scheming with the Fellowship Ministry Team to find ways to meaningfully bring everyone together (not just GG members, but anybody) during the intervening months for an occasional large group gathering.

• Don’t the 2-month breaks mean that we’ll lose momentum? Maybe some, yes. But, breaks and rest provide margin to allow for effective GGs to continue meeting and leaders to continue serving effectively for years instead of months. Also, we assume that GGs will likely continue meeting for fellowship during these breaks… and you don’t need the Education Ministry Team to program that for you! Plus, the ‘white noise’ of ministry complexity (i.e., too many programs achieving same purposes, rendering all of them diluted) is what really kills momentum, both for participants who are living overstressed and overybusy lives as well as for leaders who would otherwise easily burn out. We need to find good ways to balance meeting peoples’ needs as well as enabling people to serve. That’s important for healthy long-term ministry. In fact, over the long haul, adequate breaks might just make all of Wed Night programming as well as the GGs more effective!

• What about those who are serving in some capacity during GGs? Basically there’s no great answer for this yet. This type of question will never be perfectly answered because there are always those who serve and lead who aren’t able to participate, regardless of the ministry or the structure. In other words, current Wed Night leaders are already in that exact circumstance on ‘not participating’ in something else. But, we’ve discussed this issue with some of those who are serving already on Wed Nights to try to work on a good long-term solution.

Please join us in praying that God will use GGs to help us build Christian community that Cultivates Growth Together! If you’ve got any questions about GGs, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Our Vacation Bible School program for 2010 is Sunday, July 18 through Thursday, July 22. Sunday night begins at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 8:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday we serve dinner from 5:30-6:00 p.m. and the VBS program runs from 6:00-8:15 p.m. Click here for a good overview of “Hero Headquarters”.

Thanks for choosing to register for Hero Headquarters! Please fill out the form below. If you have any questions call or email the church office.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Here is a helpful description from a book review on Amazon.com:

The book is laid out in seven brief chapters which aim to uncover the extravagant (prodigal) grace of God, as revealed in this parable. Keller shows how the parable describes two kinds of “lost” people, not just one. Most people can identify the lostness of the “prodigal son,” the younger brother in Jesus’ story, who takes his inheritance early and squanders it on riotous living. But Keller shows that the “elder brother” in the parable is no less lost. Together, the two brothers are illustrations of two kinds of people in the world. “Jesus uses the younger and elder brothers to portray the two basic ways people try to find happiness and fulfillment: the way of moral conformity and the way of self-discovery.” Both brothers are in the wrong, and when we see this, we discover a radical redefinition of what is wrong with us. “Nearly everyone defines sin as breaking a list of rules. Jesus, though, shows us that a man who has violated nothing on the list of moral misbehaviors may be every bit as spiritually lost as the most profligate, immoral person. Why? Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life.” As these quotes hint, Keller’s exposition of the two sons lays the groundwork for a penetrating analysis and critique of both moral relativists and religious moralists, showing that the latter are just as lost as the former. What both need is Jesus, whom Keller presents as “the true elder brother,” the one who comes to our rescue at his own expense. Through his grace, we are given hope and invited to the great feast of the Father.

Here are the series details:

• “He Welcomes Sinners” (Luke 15:1-10) – June 6
• “Give Me My Share” (Luke 15:11-32) – June 13
• “He Refused to Go In” (Luke 15:25-32) – June 20
• “Everything I Have is Yours” (Luke 15:1-6, 25-32) – June 27
• “We Had to Celebrate” (Luke 15:11-32) – July 4

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday mornings!

COME GROW WITH US AS OUR MINISTER OF WORSHIP!

Come join the team and help us create an environment of worship that will usher our congregation into greater appreciation of God and His glory! We’re looking for the right man or woman of God who will lead and equip our congregation to better accomplish our calling to CELEBRATE God, CULTIVATE Growth, and COMMUNICATE the Gospel in Greeneville, TN! We are a growing church with an average weekly attendance of 240 and a diverse congregation whose strong missional focus, generous provision of support and resources, and committed staff and leadership will ensure that your ministry here will be meaningful Kingdom work!

We’re praying (and paying) for a special person gifted with excellent musical ability, worship leadership experience, computer skills (Office, Publisher, MediaShout (preferred), internet savvy, intuitive figure-it-out-ability), exemplary communication skills (verbal and written), top-notch administrative giftedness and, above all else, faith in Christ and demonstrable Christian character who can fill this critical role as WORSHIP MINISTER at First Christian Church. The ideal candidate has experience in servant leadership in local church ministry, should have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university, and also demonstrates the following balance of characteristics:

keen eye for detail,
insatiable appetite for organization,
dogged sense of follow through, and
visceral distaste for disorder and clutter

… along with:

humble and flexible attitude,
warm and tactful speech,
wisdom and initiative to make proper judgements and find resources, and
tender-hearted love for people.

Church ministry is not for the faint of heart! Those without a strong personal relationship with God in prayer and the Word need not apply. Those who are not actively worshiping and participating in a local church need not apply. Those unable to work hard in a sometimes fast-paced environment where strong internal motivation is a must need not apply.

If you don’t meet all the conditions of our ideal candidate but you still think you’re the right man or woman for the job, send/bring in/email us your resume and show us why you’re the one God has picked to help create an environment where meaningful worship of a living God motivates and equips the body of Christ to glorify God!

Check out www.fccgreeneville.org for more information about us. Email for a more detailed job description.

Please send resume and cover letter to:
Minister of Worship Search Committee
First Christian Church
1130 Temple Street
Greeneville, TN 37745
searchcommittee@fccgreeneville.org

“Wait, do you mean like an ‘onomasticon’?”

Umm, yes, actually… we do.

“That’s what I thought.”

Yeah… right.

Well, this is exactly like that but totally different. The goal of this Theosaurus series is to define God words so we can have language to express deep truth at the ready. It’s about theological literacy and knowing God. But it is also about knowing how to think clearly about sometimes complex theological concepts so our everyday interactions can be peppered with truth that a lost world desperately needs to hear! For some, it’ll be an education in big fancy God words. For others, it’ll be a refresher course and reminder to sprinkle their conversations with the gospel.

“Oh please, don’t bore me with big fancy God words. I know enough, uh… what do you call those things?… Oh yeah… words. I know enough words to describe God.”

Clearly.

Well, can you imagine trying to describe profound truth about an infinite God using just words from a McDonald’s menu?! Yeah, good luck with that. It takes more than talking about the big “Ronald McDonald in the sky” to describe some of the incredible truths revealed to us in the Scriptures.

“Why do you call it a ’sporadic series?’” Because we’ll go one-word-a-Sunday for a week or two (or five?) between other series here and there. It will fit in well when the calendar doesn’t want to cooperate with our preacher’s plans. (”I know, rude, isn’t it?!”) For example, Dr. Mike Sweeney, President of Emmanuel School of Religion, will be preaching Sun, Apr 18, and then we’re starting Theosaurus with Baptism on week one, Sun, Apr 25. Here’s the schedule for this first installment of Theosaurus:

• “Baptism” – Apr 25 – 2 Kings 5:9-14; Matthew 3:13-17
• “Lord’s Supper” – May 2 – Exodus 12:43-51; Galatians 2:11-14
• “Mother” – May 9 (Friendly Reminder… This is Mother’s Day!) – Matthew 23:36-38; John 19:25-27
• “Incarnation” – May 16 – Colossians 2:6-12; John 1:1-4, 9-14
• “Holy Spirit” – May 23 – Genesis 1:1-3; Acts 2:1-4; John 14:15-20

So, actually, it’s more like five straight words! (”Remember ‘or five?’”) After this first installment of Theosaurus we’re starting our (more serial-like) series called “The Prodigal God” for 5 straight weeks. At the beginning of “The Prodigal God” we’ll be launching our new Growth Groups (small groups) for the summer and they’ll be sermon-based (look in the bulletin for each week’s curricular focus for more.) Then we’ll probably do another week or two of Theosaurus… maybe… if it works well with the calendar. See? Clear as mud?

“Why the name ‘Theosaurus?’” Because “theos” is the Greek word for ‘God’ and “saurus” means ’storehouse,’ or ‘treasury’. “Oh, okay. Makes sense.” Well yeah, but does it make sense that “peruse” originally meant to study hard and now it is often used to mean giving a cursory glance? “Huh?!” Lemme explain… In our postmodern world where words are constantly being deconstructed and relativized, sometimes to the point of rendering meaning, uh, meaningless, we must take care to ensure we Christians understand what we mean when we make truth claims about God. Did you know that, in modern intellectual property law precedent, policing words and trademarks is the responsibility of the owner of that particular word or brand? It might be okay if the world steals benign words like “peruse,” but what happens when they start stealing “redemption” or even “God”? And while “Theosaurus” is certainly not about legal action against non-Christians’ use of supposedly Christian words, it is about being a people whose language communicates the gospel in ways a needy world can hear!

“What kinds of words will we study?” Oh, lots of ‘em… kinds (of words), that is. They will range from relatively simple words you may have heard numerous times before like Baptism, Communion (or The Lord’s Supper, or maybe even Eucharist), or Stewardship to nerdy sounding words like Atonement, kenosis (”Keno-what? And why didn’t you capitalize keno-what?”), Redemption, and Justification.

Come join us for this interesting study of some cool God words we’ll define from Scripture so we’ll be equipped to know God deeply and share the gospel with winsomeness and tact!

We’re kicking off a new sermon series called “Don’t Go Solo (in 2010)” that will take us right up to Easter and will focus on encouraging one another to do the work of producing Christian koinonia, or “fellowship” (see these links for more about koinonia: Definition of “Fellowship” in the Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Scriptural use of word “Fellowship” found on NetBible.org.) Let’s face it… We all at times feel lonely and isolated. We could all use more koinonia in our lives!

• “Alone in the Garden” (Genesis 2:8-18) – Feb 21 – God doesn’t want us to be alone.
• “Alone on Top” (Exodus 18:13-23) – Feb 28 – The need to share responsibility.
• “Alone in the Palace” (2 Samuel 11:16-26) – Mar 7 – The isolating effects of sin.
• “Together With Friends” (Matthew 9:10-17) – Mar 14 – The need for friendship.
• “Together in Transformation” (Mark 9:2-13) – Mar 21 – The long process of change.
• “Together on the Path” (John 6:60-70) – Mar 28 – Sharing the burden of the cross.
• “Together in Celebration” (John 20:19-22) – Apr 4 – Celebrating the resurrection.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday mornings!

We start off with dinner, from 6:00-7:00 pm (almost) every week (except if school is out… We follow the school schedule.) Costs are $4/adult, $2.50/child (11 and under), $12 max/family. First-timers are free for dinner! Here’s the rest of the lineup:

• Children’s Ministry Activities, 6:45-8:00 pm – led by Shelley Smith, Children’s Minister, (Email Shelley)
• Nursery/Toddlers (infant-2 years)
• Preschool/Elementary “Kids Club” (Preschool-5th grade)
• Youth “180″ (6th-12th grades), 6:45-8:00 pm – led by Tommy Staggs, Minister of Youth/Families, (Email Tommy)
• Adult Education Classes, 7:00-8:00 pm – Sign up on the Resource Tables or by calling the Church Office
  • “Simple Church” book discussion group – led by Scott Wakefield, Senior Minister, (Email Scott) – Come learn about our church’s vision for ministry & making disciples! Cost will be $10 to defray costs of buying books. Couples may share a book. Childcare provided.
  • “The Gospel of John” – led by Steve Duer – Learn about life of Christ in the Scriptures in this good old-fashioned verse-by-verse bible study class. Childcare provided.
  • “Financial Peace University” – led by Bill Richards – Learn a proven way to develop good habits that will bring financial peace, meets from 6:30-8:00 pm. Cost will be $90 per FPU kit. Financial scholarships available. Childcare provided.

1. I’m driving a minivan with a few dings in the back and I really don’t care… in the least. It needs a few things done to it. The shocks need to be replaced. The brakes squeak. The engine sounds, well, like it doesn’t work… well. But I really don’t care. So, I’m a 36-year-old man, sitting in line to pick up my daughter at school… driving a minivan. And I have no goal to drive anything fancier.
2. My daughter asked me to hold her windchime she made in VBS this past summer. It’s a little upside down clay pot with a few colorful beads and bells hanging on some wire. So, being an in-the-tank parent, I say with enthusiasm, “Why don’t I put it on the rear view mirror?!” And I realized a few seconds after I’d attached it, ‘Wow, that really does look pretty dorky!’ And, finally…
3. I’d been looking for literally the last few years for those clip-on sunglasses that will fit over my glasses. Y’know, the ones you find in Walgreens or CVS that are all together on a display. But I hadn’t been able to find ones that fit my nerdy hipster Verizon-guy glasses… until last week. It said, “Fits plastic frames.” I finally found them, and I was excited! I even tried on those gargantuan plastic sunglasses that fit over the entire frame, just to see. And I was excited. Actually excited that I finally found them.

So here I am, 36-year-old man, pulling out of my driveway in the morning in a dinged-up minivan, with my child’s homemade wind chime hanging from the rear-view mirror, and goofy clip-on sunglasses… signs I’ve given up being cool. At least I’m not wearing those clip-ons with the flip-up shades my grandpa used to wear… at least not yet!

If you are hungry to follow Jesus with courage and faith, then let’s go:

• BEYOND the Old Life (Mark 1:14-20) – Daring to follow Jesus past the edges of the way things are–even when you know it means leaving treasured things behind–so he can lead you to a new place. You need to drop some nets, because the life you are living right now is the Old Life. In so many ways, Jesus is calling you BEYOND.




• BEYOND the Great Omission (Matthew 28:18-20) – Making more and better disciples–with Jesus-like passion for both and letting God stir in us an equal passion for reaching the lost and growing up disciples.




• BEYOND Words (Matthew 4:23) – Being Jesus in word and deed through holistic global impact–that makes our mission more than just talk. When the Word becomes flesh, faith becomes action.




• BEYOND Racial Zones (Galatians 3:28) – Moving past our self-segregating ways to the way Christ’s church looks in Acts. When we realize this issue is close to God’s heart we’ll move beyond racism… to gracism.




• BEYOND The Walls (Matthew 5) – Reaching beyond our buildings into our community with uncommon love and service. We need to stop going to church. It’s time to be the church.




• BEYOND Me (Numbers 13-14) – Living today with an eye on eternity will help me make an impact, and finish well. The biggest obstacle to going BEYOND is… me.

On the shores of Galilee, Jesus called out to some friends one day with words that would change their lives forever. “Follow me.” When they dropped their nets and followed Jesus it changed everything. Those first disciples found themselves going BEYOND what they knew to new worlds of trust, love, courage, and powerful action. That’s what it meant to follow Jesus back then.

It still does. In days like these, those who truly follow Jesus are being led BEYOND where we’ve been as disciples. BEYOND where our comfortable Christian lives are these days. BEYOND where our churches are right now. BEYOND the horizons of our expectations, and BEYOND the limits of our comfort zone.

The world is in trouble without Christ. Our culture is adrift. More and more people are hurting and misguided–so many aimless sheep without a shepherd. The colossal problems we see in our families, our communities, our cities, and our nation are overwhelming. It’s truly BEYOND us.

What’s worse, the Christian church in America is losing ground–big time. Many congregations seem invisible. Most have lost their impact. Too many Christians are seen as irrelevant, often missing the issues people–and Jesus–care about. In the world’s eyes, the reputation of Christians is bleak: we are bigoted, marginal, irrelevant, weak.

And inside the church we sometimes wonder if we’re really getting the job done–are we truly making real disciples, transforming lives, changing the world the way Jesus intends?

This is no time for business as usual. We need the Power and the Presence that will take our lives BEYOND where we are now and lead us BEYOND. It’s time for our ministries to go BEYOND our current ways of “doing church.” We need believers with guts and leaders with faith who will drop the old nets and follow Jesus–wherever he leads–even if it means changing everything. Ready to go BEYOND?!

At the conclusion of our time we have a little worship service together that ends with participating in the Lord’s Supper. This time my Dad started by talking about the generations of Wakefields who have followed Christ. He held up pictures I’d never seen and read from a Bible owned by my great grandmother. I felt a great sense of pride and belonging as we sat around the table and listened to him talk about how generations of Christians before me remained faithful, sometimes at great personal cost.

With my arm around my daughter, and my son sitting on my wife’s lap, we heard him talk about his own dad’s faithfulness… How for years he served in church leadership; how he helped plant a church in Southern Illinois; how he was generous in helping those who needed help, even if money was scarce; and how he stood for what was right, once telling the church leaders that if they wouldn’t let him bus in both black and white kids to Sunday School, they could find another bus driver. (”You go, grandpa!”)

And then he read, from that old Bible, these beautiful words from Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (English Standard Version).

Our faithfulness to Christ, recognized as the true founder of our faith, is bolstered when we remember the “great cloud of witnesses” who have gone before. And we are encouraged to keep from sin and remain faithful, like them, based on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

May we stand on the shoulders of our forebears… acknowledging today that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is reason to remain faithful, no matter the cost to us. Friends, Jesus’ death on the cross was too costly a price to pay for us to be anything less than faithful!

For the sake of the Kingdom,

Scott