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Last month I shared with you the first half of a good article by Thom Rainer, who does extensive research on the American church. He’s one of the authors of Simple Church, a book that helps shape our thinking about our ministry structure (available to check out in our library… if you haven’t read it yet, you should. Then you’ll understand better where our leadership is coming from with regard to ministry decisions.) This month, the other half…

Join me in assessing the health of our church. How do you think we stack up against this list? (Rainer’s text is quoted and italicized. I have added my thoughts in normal text after his. Also, they are not listed in any particular order of priority and I have included the basics of Rainer’s first 5 bullet points.)

“The churches have a high view of Scripture. A number of research projects over the past four decades point to this trend. Healthy churches have leaders and members who believe the totality of the Bible, often expressed as a view called inerrancy.”

“A large number of church members read the Bible daily. The simplicity of this trend often surprises church leaders. But we can no longer assume that all of the congregants read their Bibles every day. That is a practice that must be encouraged and monitored. In our research on spiritual health of Christian, we found that the highest correlative factor in practicing other healthy spiritual discipline was reading the Bible every day.”

“The churches have a priority and focus on the nations. This priority is manifest in short-term mission trips, in care and adoption of the orphaned, in giving to mission causes, and in the number of congregants who commit their lives to reaching the nations with the gospel.”

“The churches have a missional community presence. The leadership and members do not look at their community as a pool for prospects. Rather, they love their community. They serve their community. The live in their community. They have deep relationships in their community.”

“The congregations have membership that matters. These healthy churches are high expectation churches. Membership is much more than completing a card or walking an aisle. These churches have entry point classes that set the expectations of membership. Church members are expected to serve, to give, to be in small groups, and to be accountable to others. Church discipline is practiced in most of these congregations. Because membership is meaningful, the assimilation rate in these churches is very high.”

Here’s the rest of Rainer’s list (with my comments following):

“The members are evangelistically intentional. The gospel is central in these healthy churches. As a consequence, the sharing of the good news is natural and consequential. But leaders in these churches do not simply assume that evangelism is taking place. There are constant reminders of the priority of evangelism. There is inherent in many of these churches some type of accountability for ongoing evangelism in a number of contexts.”

Did you know that slightly less than 1 out of every 4 adults have shared their fiath in Christ with a non-Christian in the past 12 months?

I came across some interesting statistics a couple weeks ago from George Barna which compared “evangelizers” and “nonevangelizers” (http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/125-49-million-born-again-adults-shared-their-faith-in-jesus-in-the-past-year; They’re a little dated, from 2003).

First, the similarities between “evangelizers” and “nonevangelizers.” Barna says, “The groups are equally likely to agree that religion is losing influence in our society, to contend that life is getting too complex to understand, to admit that they are experiencing more stress with each passing year, to submit that the moral condition of the nation is declining, to feel completely satisfied with their life, and to claim that they are in excellent physical condition. There was also consistency related to feeling stressed out, lonely, having family-oriented values, and being seen as a leader by others. In other words, both groups experience the same pressures and joys of life.”

But, after a comparison of nearly two dozen attitudes about life and faith practices, there were several notable differences: “Evangelizers, however, were somewhat more likely to claim primary responsibility for the spiritual development of their children (86% did so, compared to 71% of non-evangelizers); more likely to disagree that an individual is powerless to do anything regarding poverty in underdeveloped nations; more likely to claim to be very happy with their life (74% of evangelizers versus 63% of non-evangelizers); to indicate that religion is very important in their life (94% versus 81%); to say their religious faith is constantly growing deeper (78% versus 60%,); and to feel personally connected to other people (75% versus 62%). Non-evangelizers were more likely to say that they are “totally committed to getting ahead in life.” Three out of four non-evangelizers strongly confirmed that sentiment, compared to two-thirds of the evangelizers.”

The area displaying the most consistent differences between the two groups is that concerning religious beliefs and practices.

“In a typical week, evangelizers were more likely to attend church services (72% versus 52%); volunteer at their church (47% versus 28%); attend a Sunday school class (47% versus 24%); participate in a small group or cell group for spiritual purposes during the week (41% versus 22%); and read from the Bible other than while at a church service or class (74% versus 47%). Donation patterns were also notably different, resulting in a substantial gap in the average amount of money donated to their church in the past year: evangelizers gave an average of $801, which was more than three times the average among born again non-evangelizers ($250).”

These statistics bear out something we’re banking on with our 3C vision at FCC… “evangelizers” are more engaged in our process than “nonevangelizers.” In other words, intentionality with your personal spiritual growth parallels intentionality in sharing the gospel. That’s the goal… creating disciples who make disciples. (See the 3CLIFE Map near the Resource Tables.)

I dare you to pray this prayer at the beginning of every day: “Lord, give me one opportunity today to communicate the gospel.” Just one. Every day. Make it a habit of your heart to seek out those opportunities because they’re there if you have eyes to see them. You will find yourself becoming increasingly intentional about evangelism.

“These healthy churches have pastors who love the members. That love is obvious in their words, their actions, and their pastoral concern. It does not mean that a pastor is present for every need of a member of a church member; that is physically impossible. It does mean that the church has a ministry in place that cares for all the members. Above all, though, you can sense intuitively when you walk into these churches that the pastor deeply loves the members, even those who may often oppose him.”

I’ll let you be the judge of this one, but allow me to say a couple things. First, I know firsthand that our Ministerial Staff love this church and its people. We pray for you in Staff meetings and I know of many personal stories of care and concern for this church family. Second, in case you missed what I recently said at the beginning of a couple sermons over the course of a couple weeks, I’ll repeat it because it doesn’t get said often enough, and I’ll continue to grow in that: With God as my witness, I love this church! During my 9 years here, we’ve seen God do some great things and those of y’all who have been around a while know we’ve been through some hard things, too… and I want to say publicly that I consider you all my friends because this church is my family… and we are partners in the gospel… and I love you, I want what is best for you because I love this church, and I love my calling as your minister/pastor. For me, being a minister has never been a job. This is my life’s passion because I love connecting people to the love and truth of a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ, and I love First Christian Church of Greeneville, TN!

“The churches allow their pastors to spend time in sermon preparation. Our research has confirmed over the years that pastors in healthier churches spend more time in sermon preparation than those in other churches. For that to take place, the congregation must understand the primacy of preaching, and they must be willing for their pastor to forego some areas of activity and ministry so he can spend many hours in the Word.”

Frankly, I think we have struggled with this until more recently. It’s easy to say, on the one hand, that we believe in and value the power and proclamation of the Word of God, and yet, on the other, really feel on the inside like time spent studying the Bible isn’t an effective use of the church’s financial resources. I know that’s true because I feel it myself. There is a temptation for me to do certain things in ministry that get lots of mileage with people, but all the while neglect the ministry of the Word of God to which I am called. But, I am learning to push back against these temptations to do things considered more “practical” so that I can be the most effective teacher and communicator of the gospel because I believe that leveraging the power of God’s Word to change lives is the most practically effective use of anyone’s time! Writing and delivering a sermon each week is the one thing I am called to do here at First Christian Church that no one else is called (or paid) to do. So, I will continue to work toward doing so well.

“There is clarity of the process of disciple making. Such was the theme of the book, Simple Church, written by Eric Geiger and me. For the healthy churches, the ministries and activities are not just busy work; instead they have a clear purpose toward moving the members to greater levels of commitment toward Christ.”

As much as possible, we want to ensure that the main things we do accomplish what God has called us to do, i.e., make disciple makers (Acts 2:42-47 is the template/model from which we get the 3Cs and Matt 28:18-20 is the goal of “making disciples”). That means clearly communicating to all at FCC that living the 3CLIFE is the goal. We want everyone to “make disciple makers” by:
- Celebrating God and His work in our lives (weekly worship),
- Cultivating Growth in relationship with God and one another (Study Groups and Life Groups), and
- Communicating the Gospel in word and deed (Impact Team, in whatever form that takes, internally or externally. See the last two months’ newsletter articles.)

So, if you’re participating in these main environments for making these 3 purposes happen (worship, small groups, and communicating the gospel), and helping facilitate others’ involvement in this process, then you’re living the 3CLIFE! Clear?

Again, another plug for reading the book Simple Church… It’s a very biblical and practical model for designing environments that make disciples. I can’t recommend it enough.

“These churches do less better. They realize that they can’t be all things to all people; and they shouldn’t have such a flurry of activities that they hurt rather than help families. So the leaders of these congregations focus on doing fewer ministries, but doing those few better than they could with an overabundance of activities.”

Not much to say here other than this: There are lots of churches who are good at providing activity, but there aren’t many churches who are good at making disciples. We want to be really good at the latter. Need we say more?

“The process of discipleship moves members into ongoing small groups. A member is almost guaranteed to leave the church or become inactive in the church if he or she does not get involved in an ongoing small group. These groups have a variety of names: Sunday school; small groups; home groups; life groups; cell groups; and others. The name is not the issue. The issue is getting members connected to ongoing groups.”

Perhaps the most important question in a believer’s life is, “Are you growing?” The reason we have 3CLIFE Class once a quarter is to intentionally build into our church’s DNA the expectation of being involved in a small group (Study Group, Life Group, Impact Team) because that is where you will grow best. Period.

“Corporate prayer is intentional and prioritized. Prayer is not incidental in these churches. The leadership regularly emphasizes the importance and priority of prayer. The congregation is led regularly in times of corporate prayer.”

I believe we are growing in this area. We provide a Prayer List each week in the Worship Guide so you can keep up with prayer needs and praise reports. We ensure that we are responding to God in prayer each week in worship. We build it into our Life Groups structure to ensure that significant time each week is spent praying and caring for one another. Our Staff meetings each week are surrounded by prayer. Elders meetings are begun with a time of prayer in a specific room at FCC so we can focus on a specific population of people in our congregation. So, we pray… but we need to be better with intentionally emphasizing regular focus on prayer. Maybe it’s my fault that it hasn’t happened yet, but I’d love for us to have a regular prayer meeting of some sort where we do nothing but pray for our community, for our church family and leaders, for our lost neighbors and friends, for the advance of the Kingdom of God, and for missionaries who are proclaiming the gospel around the world. Are you praying prayers that come from the heart of God for His people and for the lost? Are you praying big picture prayers that are risky and radical?

Pray this with me for the sake of our church and the glory of God:

Lord, grant us the blessing of passionate personal relationship with You that wakes us each day to the joy of proclaiming Your glory with our lives! Forgive us for setting before You idols of greed, fame, materialism, sex, food, control, and security and teach us to love You with our whole hearts. Make of us a church body who is fed daily from a diet of Your truth. Make of us families, marriages, and homes where the gospel is spoken of as a matter of course. Make of us a people who long to please You above men. … all for the glory of God alone! Amen.

For Christ and His Kingdom,

Scott

I wanted to share with you the first half of a good article by Thom Rainer, who does extensive research on the American church. (The other half is coming next month.) He’s one of the authors of “Simple Church,” a book that helps shape our thinking about our ministry structure (available to check out in our library… if you haven’t read it yet, you should. Then you’ll understand better where our leadership is coming from with regard to ministry decisions.)

Rainer’s article is a helpful way to do some informal assessment of FCC, so I’ve included some of my thoughts after each, some of which are… long (and nerdy) and some of which are… less so. Join me in doing some healthy assessment of our church. How do you think we stack up against this list? (Rainer’s text is quoted and italicized. I have added my thoughts in normal text after his. Also, they are not listed in any particular order of priority.)

“The churches have a high view of Scripture. A number of research projects over the past four decades point to this trend. Healthy churches have leaders and members who believe the totality of the Bible, often expressed as a view called inerrancy.”

Simply put, I have a high view of Scripture, and our congregants do as well… and we are continuing to grow in this area. This is about increasing awareness that the Bible is the primary authority for our lives. So, we will continue to work toward increasing the role of God’s Word in our congregational life: in our worship, in our Study/Life Groups, and in our communication of the gospel to our community and world. The critical point of growth for us all is the extent to which theory of a high view of Scripture becomes practice, both corporately, as part of our ministry structure, and individually, in our personal devotional relationship with God and in our speech in the world. So, ask yourself some questions:

Do I view the Bible as the Word of God? (We use these words interchangeably, but they’re not exactly the same. Bible just means something like a ‘collection of books,’ or ‘the books.’ The “Word of God” carries the weight of full truth and authority.)

Do I memorize and meditate on Scripture? (If you’ve got an Android or iOS-based smartphone, download the Desiring God Fighter Verses app for $2.99. It’s awesome… and a real help in this area. I love it and use it daily. Or just use a Bible and some paper!)

Be forewarned: this gets a little nerdy… One interesting point (at least to me; maybe not 90% of you!) is that the word “inerrancy” was once less well accepted in Restoration Movement (RM) churches (Christian Churches/Churches of Christ) because it’s “not a Bible word.” (Neither is the word “trinity.”) Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, along with our brothers and sisters in the other two ‘branches’ of the RM, the non-instrumental Churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ, have long held to a slogan that we “Call Bible things by Bible names.” This principle (perhaps a kind word… it ironically became a creed for an anti-creedal movement!) came out of a historical context where the RM was reacting against churches who turned extraneous non-core issues of personal conviction into matters of fellowship. In fact, the RM began to use this principle, initially motivated by unity, to divide from others who didn’t “use Bible names.” However, I don’t want to sound dismissive of this principle because I still affirm the heart of this principle’s motivation, but with a qualification… I personally like the word inerrancy to describe the Bible. (Just as I would emphasize trinitarian-based theology, though “trinity” isn’t in the Bible.) My current understanding of the nature of the authority of God’s Word in my life is that I am what the scholars and Bible nerds call a “critical” or “full” inerrantist (“plenary verbal inspiration”, if you’re more familiar with this term.) I think this because I think Jesus did (cf Matt 5:18 where Jesus affirms the full authority of the OT (“Law” here refers back to v 17, “the Law or the Prophets”, a common way to speak of the entire OT), even down to the smallest components of the written text.) This means I affirm that the Bible is “completely true in all that the Scripture affirms, to the degree of precision intended by the original author. This view does not seek to harmonize every detail. Scientific matters are considered to be treated with phenomenological language rather than technical and scientific thinking. This view allows the cautious use of critical methodologies in interpretation. It takes seriously both the human and divine elements” (http://atkinslightquest.com/Documents/Religion/Fundamentalism/Variations-of-Inerrancy.htm). I would qualify this statement by saying, “This view does not need to seek to harmonize every detail (though that doesn’t mean they can’t be or we shouldn’t try to harmonize best we ar able. It just means they are harmonized in ways different than we expect or than the data yet show.) Scientific matters are occasionally considered to be treated with phenomenological language rather than technical and scientific thinking (if warranted by the context.)” This allows for more balance where scientific data may explain what we misunderstand phenomenologically. Christians needn’t be scared of science, history, and other fields of study because, as Arthur F. Holmes, a philosophy professor of mine college always said, “all truth is God’s truth.”

I would also like to add, incidentally, that I believe Scripture is the primary authority for our lives (prima scriptura), through which other sources are filtered. Augustine would say that this is “faith seeking understanding.” That does not mean there are no other sources of authority that inform our understanding: reason, tradition, history, experience, etc. In fact, my sermon preparation must be informed by all these sources. Otherwise there’s too much of Scott Wakefield’s experience in the mix. (Look up the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral” for a good example of this.) But, a word of caution… To say Scripture is the primary authority does not mean it’s the only one… In fact, be careful of those for whom there “is no other authority at all” and who act as if they know everything there is to know about Scripture and that their interpretation is “pure” and “undefiled.” Without even being aware of their own biases, they can twist and misuse the Word of God. (I.e., even the most pure-hearted and wonderful preacher on the planet today is affected by their own brokenness.)

By whatever name, the truth of 2 Tim 3:16, where it speaks of God breathing out and inspiring Scripture, must be the foundational guide for who we are and what we do, as individual believers and as the body of Christ. We continue to do well in this area… which doesn’t mean we don’t have room to grow, but at least we start in a good place with regard to this question of authority… we stand on the shoulders of many who have come before us who had a high view of Scripture!

“A large number of church members read the Bible daily. The simplicity of this trend often surprises church leaders. But we can no longer assume that all of the congregants read their Bibles every day. That is a practice that must be encouraged and monitored. In our research on spiritual health of Christian, we found that the highest correlative factor in practicing other healthy spiritual discipline was reading the Bible every day.”

Simply put, I worry that many churchgoing people, who would call themselves believers and would emphatically declare they hold a high view of Scripture, do not read the Bible much for themselves. Statistics show an alarming reduction in regular Bible reading among American Christians during the last 20 years (Google “George Barna This must be a high priority in the life of any growing believer, period. While we all struggle against sin, and circumstances sometimes impede our progress, nevertheless we must make this a high priority if we are growing into Christlikeness. John 8:31-32 say, [31] So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, [32] and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Acts 20:32 says, And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

“The churches have a priority and focus on the nations. This priority is manifest in short-term mission trips, in care and adoption of the orphaned, in giving to mission causes, and in the number of congregants who commit their lives to reaching the nations with the gospel.”

This is an area in which First Christian has a long history of faithfulness of supporting missions financially, both locally and around the world. Orphan care is a growing concern among us: there are families who have adopted and are adopting and fostering. There is at least one missionary (who we support) from our congregation–Laurie Barnes, in Prague, Czech Republic, who, with her husband Jim, runs an evangelistic and educational library. In the last 10 years or so, we have at times had regular relations with our missions and missionaries and at times been pretty lacking. Last year’s Missions Team conducted a missions audit and we now have a decent handle on how our monies (on loan from God that we are distributing for missions) are being spent. So we’ve made some progress in this area. Our youth have regularly taken short-term mission trips, but our adults have not regularly done so and this needs to change. Be looking soon for some more information about an upcoming brainstorming meeting we’d like to hold as we discuss how we as a congregation might grow in our efforts to accomplish the 3rd C of our vision: Communicate the Gospel in word and deed.

“The churches have a missional community presence. The leadership and members do not look at their community as a pool for prospects. Rather, they love their community. They serve their community. The live in their community. They have deep relationships in their community.”

We have been an important part of Greeneville, TN since 1919, when the first tent meetings were held downtown, and will continue to be as long as the Lord allows. Briefly, lemme say that, yes, we have a missional community presence. We have long well-supported many local missions and social service agencies, have had groups volunteer at them, are monthly collecting supplies for the Food Bank, take communion to those in the hospital, conduct a monthly blood pressure check, and have had Sunday School groups, Ladies Circles, and Life Groups who serve in various ways. These are are just some of the things I can think of off the top of my head, but, it needs to be said that anything like this that any of our members do counts as such, even if it’s not an official FCC-sponsored ‘program.’ So, if you’ve volunteered somewhere, or helped with your childrens’ teams or school groups, or taken care of someone… whatever the service, you are a missional community presence. I am increasingly of the opinion that, instead of trying to programming this, we continue to develop and encourage disciples who have a heart to serve… and they’ll serve… there will be an unstoppable missional communtiy presence.

“The congregations have membership that matters. These healthy churches are high expectation churches. Membership is much more than completing a card or walking an aisle. These churches have entry point classes that set the expectations of membership. Church members are expected to serve, to give, to be in small groups, and to be accountable to others. Church discipline is practiced in most of these congregations. Because membership is meaningful, the assimilation rate in these churches is very high.”

In an American church culture that increasingly eschews ‘membership’ and institutional structures as antiquated relics, we want to be clear that membership in the body of Christ matters. (After all, in many places the New Testament does talk about being a “member” of the body.) Every quarter we offer our 3CLIFE class to help fulfill this need. The great thing this does is that it helps ensure that people know what they’re getting into! ) As a result, we continue to receive great people who love the Lord and want to serve Him.

For Christ and His Kingdom,

Scott

We encourage all parents to print this document out and post it in a central place in your home, such as the refrigerator, where it can be used to regularly review each week’s Bible story and memory verse.

2012 Spring Scope and Sequence

Winter 2011-2012 Scope and Sequence

• Oct 16 – “The Gospel Demands Radical Sacrifice” - Luke 14:25-35
• Oct 23 – “The Gospel Demands Radical Abandonment” - Mark 10:17-31
• Oct 30 – “The Gospel Demands Radical Giving” - Luke 16:19-31
• Nov 6 – “The Gospel Demands Radical Compassion” – Matthew 9:35-38
• Nov 13 – “The Gospel Demands Radical Courage” – Matthew 10:16-33
• Nov 30 – Thanksgiving: “The Gospel Demands Radical Thanksgiving” – Luke 17:11-19

2011 Fall Scope and Sequence