• They proclaimed an exclusive gospel. (1 Cor 1:23, Acts 4:12, John 14:6, Acts 20:21, John 3 & John 4/Acts 8, Acts 17 & Acts 10)
• They were intentional in sharing the gospel. (John 4)
• They were Spirit-led. (Acts 1:8, Acts 8:4-8, Acts 8:26, Acts 8:29, Acts 10:19-20)
• They understood the importance of culture. (Acts 17:22, Acts 17:28-29, Acts 26:1)
• They were flexible to the context.
• They began where people were in their spiritual journeys.
  Since Nicodemus believed that his genealogical account was sufficient to earn God’s favor, Jesus spoke of being “born again” (John 3:3).  Philip did not begin sharing with the Ethiopian a discourse about Adam and Eve, but rather started preaching from the passage about which the man had questions (Acts 8:35).
• They were sensitive to the fears, hurts, and concerns of others while speaking the truth in love.
  Though Jesus could have spent much time speaking about the evils of adultery and fornication to the Samaritan woman, He acknowledged her wickedness and continued on in the conversation (John 4:17-18).  Jesus could have scolded and severely rebuked Zacchaeus for having wicked business practices (Luke 19:7).  He decided, however, to stay at his house, bring salvation (Luke 19:9), and gain the reputation as a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7:34).  Jesus and the Apostolic Church never denied wickedness.  They always called people to repentance out of love (Mark 10:21), even when they spoke to the self-righteous.
• They were post-conversion oriented.
  Their practice was to make disciples, not converts.  A simple reading of the book of Acts and the Epistles reveals that the new believers were gathered together in new churches.  Paul followed up with the new believers through visits, letters, and messengers.  Church planting was (and still is) a major part of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Jesus, the True and Better Everything

• Everyone thinks Jesus was good man.
  • From NT evidence
  • Can we then ignore the OT? Jesus didn’t
  • Luke 24:25-27
• Whole Bible about Jesus, not just NT
• biblical theology = studying something throughout the entire narrative or story of the Bible
• Why Biblical Theology of Jesus? Culture has lots of Jesus, most of which aren’t from the Bible
  • Revolutionary Jesus
  • Hippy Jesus
  • Republican Jesus
  • Democrat Jesus
  • Therapist Jesus
  • Touchdown Jesus
  • Gandhi – “I like your Christ. I don’t like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ”
    • Fact is, he didn’t really like Christ or he would have believed
• All of these Jesus’ have enough truth to make them appealing, but not all of them have the full truth, Let’s look at what the Bible says and we’ll get a much clearer picture of who Jesus really is and how He really is the True and Better Everything.

Adam

• The story of Adam starts the Bible.
• God creates everything
• He puts Adam & Eve in the garden of Eden, which is perfect.
  • They lack nothing
  • Adam even got to name the animals. Awesome
• God gave them only 1 command
  • Genesis 2:16-17
• Adam and Eve – perfect place in community with God.
  • They were so close that they could hear God walking (Genesis 3:8).
• All they had to do: refrain from eating from that one tree.
• Sadly, they did not. The serpent comes, tempts them, and they both eat.
• Adam and Eve eat and everything changes. They’re ashamed of their nakedness and afraid of God. Let’s continue in Genesis 3:16-19
• So now, everything has changed.
  • Death
  • Pain
  • Toil
  • All because of the actions of one man, Adam.
  • The rest of the Bible is the story of humanity dealing with the effects of one man’s sin
• Because of that sin, a way was needed to be cleansed from that sin. This was done through the Old Testament system of priestly sacrifices

OT High Priest / Sacrifice

• Modern man don’t know about sacrifices
  • they were integral to the life of the Jewish people
• Here is the prescription for the sacrifice from Leviticus 16:15-22 which was a yearly sacrifice to make atonement for Israel (Leviticus 16:15-22)
• That is a lot to that.
  • Atoning for sin is serious.
  • Even rope tied to leg.
• Imagine if that’s how seriously we took atoning for our sin.
• Legacy of that sacrifice – term scapegoat.
• Don’t think God is blood thirsty
  • but God is a holy and just God
  • His holiness and justice requires repenting and atoning for sins committed against Him.
  • Alternative, facing His righteous wrath
    • If He isn’t holy, then why worship Him? He would be fallible .
    • If He isn’t just, then why repent? No confidence of forgiveness or mercy
• Blood of sacrifices reminds us
  • sin and its effects aren’t pretty.
  • God spilled blood in the garden to clothe Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21)
• If we sacrificed, we would think differently about sin
• Jewish people thought it could be atoned for yearly.
• Anything that needs to happen regularly isn’t truly satisfied, though.
• Repeating yearly = more work for the people
• With that work, comes need for rest

Sabbath / Rest

• God commands that work / rest cycle
  • Genesis 3:18-19
• Adam’s sin, life requires hard work.
• God told us to rest (Moses & 10 Commandments)
  • Exodus 20:8-11
• We’ve made Sabbath into the day that we gather to worship God, but physiologically, it’s very beneficial to have a day off every week, even if we rarely treat it like a day of rest.
  • Ends up being yardwork day or fix-it day
  • Tell story of growing up
• In the Bible, however, It seems like it required a lot of work to not do work.
  • Pharisees beefed with Jesus in Matthew 12 about his disciples plucking heads of grain
  • Are we that picky sometimes? How Christian is Christian enough?
• How did a day of rest become so much work, then?
  • When it became all about men and what they have to do, what things they can or can’t do.
• In fact, if you look at the three things we’ve talked about so far (Adam, High Priest and sacrifice, the Sabbath) they’re all about man
  • First Man sins (Adam)
  • Man needs to repent and atone for his, and others, sins which brings in the High Priest
  • Man needs to work and then rest (Sabbath)
• Each of these repeats and repeats and by the end of the Old Testament, there was no hope for an end. However, there would soon come a Man who would satisfy all of these and become
  • True and Better Adam
  • True and Better High Priest
  • True and Better Sacrifice
  • True and Better Sabbath

Jesus, the True and Better Adam

• Started with the First Man, Adam, the man who started everything off bad.
• Now it’s the Second Adam, Jesus, the God Man who makes everything right.
• Look at Romans, written by Paul
• Give Paul’s history.
  • Damascus conversion
  • Planted churches
  • Wrote letters to churches which became books of the Bible.
• His letter to the church in Rome, the book of Romans, is deep. Specifically, let’s look at Romans 5:17-19
• Paul contrasts
  • Adam, whose sin led to condemnation for all men,
  • Jesus, whose righteousness leads to life for all mankind.
• Jesus led a completely sinless, perfect life, even while being fully human.
  • We can’t imagine it
  • Jesus did it.
• He lead a sinless life so we can be reconciled to God and declared righteous.
  • This is the idea of imputed righteousness, that Christ’s righteousness has been credited to believers through no action of their own.
  • There is nothing we can do to deserve it and nothing we can do to lose it.
• When we receive Christ’s righteousness, we acknowledge him as the True and Better Adam because He was fully righteous and obedient before God.

Jesus, both the True and Better High Priest AND the True and Better Sacrifice

• Adam’s sin required atonement.
• I talked about High Priest, who needed to make sacrifices to atone for the sins of Israel.
  • Done yearly
  • Dangerous (rope)
• We need High Priest who once and for all atoned and became the perfect mediator between us and God
• Let’s read Hebrews 4:14 – 5:10
• Contrasts between High Priest and Jesus as High Priest
• Sacrifice defines mediatorial relationship
  • High Priests between the Jews and God.
  • Jesus is acting on our behalf as a mediator between us and God.
• Frequency of sacrifice
  • High Priests – yearly
  • Jesus – once
• Jesus’ mediation better
  • Jesus is fully man – experience of being human and “sympathizing with our weaknesses”
  • Jesus is fully God – authority to be our mediator, no chance of “messing up”
• And not only is Jesus our High Priest, he’s also the rest of the atoning act by being the Sacrifice as well . Let’s look at 1 John 4:10
  • 1 John 4:10
• Propitiation is the idea of satisfying wrath, or “appeasing wrath by the offering of a gift”
  • Our sins, our rebellion against God rightly deserve God’s wrath
• We can’t satisfy God’s wrath.
• How do we respond?
  • Despair of knowing we’re going to hell.
  • No. We can rejoice that God sent Jesus to appease God’s wrath, as the atoning sacrifice or propiation for us.
    • Jesus = fully human = proper payment
    • Jesus = fully God = the ability to take God’s punishment for all the sins of man that have ever and will ever happen.
• That’s amazing to think of, that Jesus satisfied God’s righteous wrath forever, on our behalf, that through it we might worship God.
• Jesus is the True and Better Priest, because He perfectly acts as the mediator between us and God, making petitions for us in love and mercy.
• Jesus is the True and Better Sacrifice, because He gave His life on the cross, forever satisfying God’s righteous wrath against sin.
• And now as a result of that mediation and that sacrifice, we can find rest.
• That rest, however, is not the temporary rest of the Sabbath, but the permanent rest for those who live in Christ.

Jesus, the True and Better Rest

• To recap,
  • Adam’s sin = condemnation.
  • Christ’s life = True and Better Adam
    • we are made righteous.
  • High Priest’s sacrifice = Israel’s sinned were atoned for, with a goat being the yearly sacrifice.
  • Christ’s life = True and Better High Priest
    • we have a mediator between us and God
    • we can approach Him based on Christ’s righteousness.
  • Christ’s death = True and Better Sacrifice
    • propitiation has been made for our sins
    • God’s wrath has been appeased
    • we are no longer in fear of judgment.
• That’s good news, due in no part to us but due all to Christ
• But some people still think they need to work for it, that they still have to toil to be righteous.
  • They are still looking at the law, with its command to Sabbath
  • They think they need to do work to be righteous before God and to obey and please him.
  • There’s no grace, it’s all work
• They aren’t believing the promises made to us in Scripture that in Christ we find rest.
• Matthew 11:28-29
• Those verses promise
  • rest in Christ.
  • release from our burdens
  • understanding from Christ.
• Do we live in the truth of those promises? NO
  • We work, trying to prove our worth to Jesus
  • We worry about the burdens in our lives
  • We seek to learn about Christ without going to Him
• How then, should we rest in Christ?  What does that even mean?
• It means resting in the Gospel, secure in the Good News of who Jesus is and what He has done — The perfect God man who lived a holy life, dies on the cross taking the penalty for sin and facing God’s righteous wrath, and rising from the dead triumphing over death. Resting in the Gospel means trusting that it’s not “I do it” but “Jesus did it”
• It means resting in your identity in Christ, as a beloved son or daughter of God.
  • Dad issues
    • God is the perfect father and run to Him as a child.
  • Christians
    • Rejoice in your faith and share God with others.
  • Non-Christians
    • The offer of rest in Christ is made to everyone.
    • Requires nothing special but
      • acknowledge of your sin, your rebellion
      • acknowledge your inability to both stop sinning & pay the just penalty for your sins.
    • When you
      • seek after God,
      • repent of your sin, your rebellion against God
      • ask for forgiveness and turn away from sin,
      • you will find that you are turning into God, who has been seeking you all along.
      • Then you find true identity in Christ
• It means resting in contentment,
  • Having joy in pain
  • Having peace in struggle
• And finally, it means resting in worship because
  • Our sin being cleansed.
  • Our debt being paid for.
  • Our need to work being replaced by rest.
• Our reflection on the grand narrative of Jesus in the Bible, from Adam through the High Priests and the Sabbath, should cause us to
  • fall on our knees in worship.
  • sing and shout praises to God.
  • want to share that good news, that gospel, with others.
  • look forward to the day foretold in Revelation 7:9-12

In chapter one of 1 Timothy Paul shows us that sound doctrine is “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.” Literally, the good news of the glory of the happy God. Sound doctrine shows us the something about God, namely that he is glorious and blessed! Sound doctrine isn’t merely getting your beliefs right; it is getting your heart happy in a right view of God. …

This deep heart change happens through doctrine, God-centered teaching …

If we’re to make progress in godliness, we must be continually taught and trained in Jesus …

Practically speaking, how would you encourage churches to make disciples?

Recover the centrality of the gospel in producing Jesus-shaped godliness, a godliness that is missional and God-centered. Apply the gospel everyday.

Recover a practice of discipleship that is communal not individualistic. Jesus make disciples in community, sent them by two, make them by threes and a dozen. Be a disciple with other disciples.

Recover a discipleship that is missional not comfort or knowledge based. Sound doctrine sends disciples that imitate Jesus. The incarnation is the paradigm of mission. Be a disciples that makes disciples, not on your turf but on their turf.

Follow the biblical distinctives of discipleship in the Gospels. Ask yourself where you are 1) relying on the Spirit 2) embracing suffering 3) dying to yourself 4) living in the hope of resurrection. If our lives aren’t risky enough to force us to rely on the Spirit, to suffer the reproach of others or loss of comfort, to surrender our rights, and demonstrate hope in a much greater world to come, then we have very little to point to as Christian discipleship. Take these 4 areas, plucked from the Gospels and Acts, and ask a group of disciples to provoke you to live this kind of life, one that puts Jesus at the center of your failures and your successes.

Q: So the example of the elders and leadership is more important, even in a large church, than having the right programs or preaching?

Absolutely. That is 100 percent true. There are a lot of churches with leaders that aren’t living out their faith together, and they don’t have trust. Instead they’re trying to bring transformation by creating programs. That’s why you often hear of people who say, “I love church but once I got into the leadership, the inner workings, I was so disillusioned.” That’s a terrible indictment.

Q: How can we know if our ministry is being empowered by the Spirit?

Churches that are built through our effort rather than the Spirit’s will quickly collapse when we stop pushing and prodding people along.

Now we should push, prod, and persuade men, but I’ve learned to spend a lot more time praying and asking the Spirit to move and begging God to send forth laborers.

The more you look at Scripture, the more you realize that nothing happens unless God is behind it. Jesus is building his church. I just want to be a part of that. I’ll keep doing my work, but the fruit is up to him. We can only pray, “Please, please, please let us see your Spirit at work. May it be like a mighty wind that moves us.”

Q: Cornerstone is a megachurch by definition. Is the size of the church evidence that a “wave” of the Spirit is happening?

A large gathering where everyone is singing really loud is nice, but it’s not an indication that the Spirit is at work. We don’t see that biblically. If that’s success, then we’d be spending more money on better musicians and better worship leaders. But that’s not how our elder board measures success.

In God’s eyes success is people loving each other deeply, caring for one another, digging deep in each other’s lives, sharing their possessions, and sharing the gospel in their communities. Are they fully devoted followers of Jesus? Is there transformation happening? Do they see themselves as part of something bigger than themselves—a body with a mission larger than the individual?

Our job is not to keep as many people as possible. Our job is to make sure that we’re setting a biblical pattern.

Q: But you have had people get upset and leave.

Yeah, and it’s hard. But Jesus really didn’t have a problem with turning people off if they weren’t ready for the commitment. What I see in Scripture is that’s it’s all or nothing. We are called to die to ourselves; it’s complete death, surrender.

I tell people, “It’s great that you’re checking us out and learning, and I pray that you’ll come to understand that God is good and nothing compares to him. I hope at that point you’ll give your life to Jesus and follow him.”

The commitment to follow Jesus is like marriage. It’s a lifelong commitment for better or for worse. And if someone is not ready to make that commitment, then they shouldn’t get married.

Q: How do you respond when someone walks away because they’re not ready for the commitment?

We always have to check our own hearts and make sure we communicated with them in love. Early on when people first started to leave, there wasn’t a lot of love or compassion. We sort of considered it a victory that people walked away. There was some arrogance in us, and that breaks my heart. Even now it’s always hard when a person leaves. And so we rally around each other, encourage one another, and remind each other that this is going to happen but we’ve got to keep teaching it.

Q: Do you ever get accused of being pharisaical for calling people to such a high commitment?

Oh, absolutely. The comment I get is that we’re becoming a cult because we call people to make a commitment. We define cults as communities overly committed to a belief system. By that definition Jesus would have been leading a cult. So today Mormons are willing to ride their bikes around town, Jehovah’s Witnesses will knock on doors, but as Christians we don’t have to do anything. We’ve been taught a watered-down version of following Jesus for so long that people think it’s Christianity, but it’s not biblical.

I have to be honest and say there were so many times I wanted to quit, because it is really painful when friends leave and your loudest fans become your loudest critics. It does get lonely. And it’s hard when leaders who are with you start getting attacked. I get very defensive of my leaders because I love these guys. I don’t want people to think it’s easy to lead the church into greater depth and commitment. It stinks at times. But when you look back to the Word, you realize this is the way it’s got to be, and you have peace.

“We’ve been taught a watered-down version of following Jesus for so long that people think it’s Christianity, but it’s not biblical.” That line is hitting me hard right now. Am I really willing to follow Christ, knowing that it will require complete surrender to Him? Am I really willing to commit, come what may? I feel like some recent events (the twins, financial questions, etc) have put me in a position of needing to wholly depend on Christ and be completely committed. I’m not scared of what is to come. In face I’m really excited that God has called me to Himself through Chris tand that my whole life is an opportunity to give Him His due praise and glory.

Q: Who is Jesus?
A: Jesus is God’s Son.

Q: Why did Jesus come to earth?
A: God sent Jesus to live and die in the place of every sinner who would ever trust in Him, love Him, and obey Him.

Q: What do we celebrate this week?
A: The death and resurrection of Jesus.

Q: Why did Jesus die?
A: The wages of sin is death. Jesus died for the sins of other people. Jesus took their punishment. And Jesus perfectly obeyed God on their behalf.

Q: Which people did Jesus die for?
A: Every sinner who ever puts their trust in Him, loves Him, and obeys Him. To them, Jesus is a merciful Savior, Lord, and Treasure.

Q: Are you a sinner?
A: Yes. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Q: What are sins?
A: Disobeying Mommy and Daddy and not doing what I should.

Q: Was Jesus a sinner?
A: No. Jesus never sinned. Jesus rose from the dead because death had no power over Him.

Q: Do you need a Savior?
A: Yes

Q: Who is the only Savior to whom you should go?
A: Jesus, God’s Son, who lived and died on behalf of every sinner who would ever trust in Him, love Him, and obey Him.

1. Requirements from Scripture (For example, what do 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 say?)
2. Requirements from your Denomination or Network (For example, what does it mean to be an elder in a Presbyterian, Baptist, or an Acts 29 church?)
3. Requirements from your context and church (For example, what does it mean to be an elder at my church, at this time, this stage, this size, in this part of this specific city?)

Scott Thomas of the Acts 29 Network recently published a study guide that is very useful in training and raising up new leaders. Here’s an overview of the guide.

This study guide is an interactive curriculum of the book, Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) written by Wayne A. Grudem and edited by Elliot Grudem.

Christian Beliefs (160 pages) is a condensed version of Grudem’s book, Bible Doctrine (528 pages), and that itself is a condensed version of Grudem’s award-winning Systematic Theology (1,290 pages).* This guide is designed to introduce Christians to the core beliefs of Bible doctrine in preparation for church leadership or to help new Christians to distinguish truth from error. This guide can be used to prepare elders, deacons, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers and all those who want to learn more about maturing in their Christian faith and becoming equipped to give a gentle and respectful answer to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). An instructor in a class or small group or in a one to one environment can facilitate the questions or it can be utilized as a self-study or as a tool to equip a family in Biblical doctrine.

Theological Clarity and Application seeks to preserve the contents of Grudem’s Christian Beliefs by using questions to stimulate further understanding and application. The participants in this curriculum would benefit by first reading each chapter in Christian Beliefs before answering questions. It is also highly recommended to have a respected study Bible and a copy of Grudem’s Systematic Theology available for reference.

Each chapter of this guide corresponds to the chapters in Christian Beliefs. At the end of each section, a prayer text and Scripture memory is included. Additionally, a reference to the corresponding chapters and supplementary readings in Grudem’s Systematic Theology are included as well as further readings by noted conservative scholars and authors who contribute to the specific topic covered in the chapter.

This material is not something that should be rushed through to complete. It is a refrigerated locker full of meat that must be eaten regularly and systematically one meal at a time, allowing ample time to chew and digest the information and ideally to savor with others. One can complete the study in 20 weeks by covering one chapter a week or complete it in 40 weeks (approximately one school year) by covering one chapter every two weeks. The latter allows for a deeper reading of the accompanying Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.

You can download it here

• B&W Questions Only (63 pages),
• B&W Workbook (color cover) 91 pages,
• Color Questions Only
• Color Workbook

twice a month your children get together with kids from other classes and take part in a mini-service modeled after the Big Church, with songs and liturgy and prayer and all. The idea is to introduce the kids to a typical Sojourn worship service so they’re ready when they leave the Sojourn Kids program, and also to get them thinking about how good and glorious and beautiful and true God and His gospel are.

Here are examples of their Kids Music Liturgy.

January 2010

This morning’s lesson is about God’s Amazing Grace! What is God’s grace? God’s grace is kindness and favor that you and I don’t deserve. Let’s repeat that again together: God’s grace is kindness and favor that you and I don’t deserve. Our first song is a Bible memory verse. So we are going to memorize a Bible verse by singing it. Some of you may remember it. The “address” is Ephesians 2:8 and 9.

Let’s say the verse together. Please repeat after me:

For by grace you have been saved through faith
and that not of yourselves
it is the gift of God
not as a result of works
that no one should boast
Ephesians 2:8 and 9

This verse is saying that we can be saved from God’s punishment by faith in Jesus. We cannot earn or work for God’s forgiveness– His forgiveness is a free gift to us when we trust in Him. And because it’s a free gift– we can’t brag about it– because we have done nothing to deserve it. Let’s sing this verse together.

I. “Ephesians 2:8-9,” words from NASB translation  © 1995 The Lockman Foundation. Music by Mark Altrogge on Hide the Word 1 © Forever Grateful Music.

Let’s pretend that you have been very mean to your brother. And your Daddy comes to you and says, “Because you have been mean to your brother, you have to sit in time-out. Plus, you can’t go to a Birthday party that has cake and presents for everybody.” You would feel sad, but you would deserve the punishment that your Dad has given you. Then, your brother, the one you were mean to, comes and says, “Daddy, I’ll sit in time-out and I’ll miss the birthday party so that he/she can go.” Now, your brother doesn’t deserve the punishment, but he is showing you GRACE. Grace is kindness and favor that you don’t deserve.

This story is not true. But Jesus is true. How much more amazing is God’s grace in Jesus! We have sinned against God and we deserve to be punished. Perfect Jesus who never did any thing wrong took our punishment for all of our sins when He died on the cross. That’s amazing grace! Let’s sing to God about His amazing grace!

2. “Amazing Grace,” words by John Newton, 1779. Music: NEW BRITAIN, in Virginia Harmony, by James P. Carrell and David S. Clayton, 1831.

Let’s learn another new song about God’s amazing grace, His undeserved kindness. This is a song called “You show me kindness.”

3. “You Show Me Kindness,” words and music by Peter Gagnon and Bob Kauflin ©2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From To Be Like Jesus.

Jesus is a mighty, mighty Savior! He can save us from the punishment of our sins. Let’s sing to our mighty Savior!

4. “Mighty Mighty Savior,” words and music by Mark Altrogge. © Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From Awesome God.

We are going to pray. Fold your hands and be still and talk to God. Let’s pray to God.

Jesus, your grace is amazing! You have not treated us as we deserve. You have not punished us like we should be punished. You took our consequences and punishment on the cross. Thank you! We want to believe in you and turn to you to forgive us for our sins. We want to love you more each day. Help us to forgive each other like you forgive us. Amen.

5. “God’s love goes on forever,” words and music by Chandi Plummer, © 2009 Chandi Plummer/Sojourn Music.

February 2010

What do we celebrate in February? (Allow children to answer.)  That’s right, we celebrate Valentine’s Day!  Valentine’s Day is a chance to make or send cards to tell others that you love and appreciate them. It’s fun to get cards in the mail.  Did you know that God has sent you a “love letter”?  What is God’s love letter to you? (Allow children to answer.) The Bible! What is the Bible? The Bible is God’s written word.

Who wrote the Bible? (Teach the children this answer exactly. It is from their children’s catechism.  Have them repeat it after you.) “Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.” You know we think about sending love letters and telling people we love them SOME times, but God thinks about you and loves you ALL the time. His love is the BIGGEST LOVE in the universe. Even while you were sleeping last night, God was loving you and thinking about you all night long.  We are going to sing some songs this morning about God’s HUGE love for us.  Let’s (STAND UP and) sing a love song to God!

1. “Your Love,” words and music by Bob Kauflin, © 2004 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. FromAwesome God.

Who loves you the most in the world?  You might instantly think of your Mommy or Daddy, because they do love you so much.  But God loves you even more than your parents. God made your parents, so their love is His gift to you too.  Even though others let us down, God’s love is completely pure and never fails.  How has God shown us that He loves us? (Allow children to answer.) God has shown us that He loves us in JESUS. God has shown us his love in that while we were still sinners, He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to take the punishment for our sin. We are going to sing this truth as a Bible memory verse.

2. “Romans 5:8,” words from NIV translation, © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. Music by Mark Altrogge, © 2004 Forever Grateful Music. From Hide The Word 2.

Jesus told stories to teach us something. One time Jesus told this story. There was a shepherd who had 100 sheep. That’s a lot of sheep! He was counting them and realized one was missing. Does anybody know what the shepherd did? He left the 99 and went looking for the one missing sheep until he found it. What was Jesus teaching us? That we are like little sheep and God loves each and every one of us. You are like the missing 100th sheep. You are special to God and He wants you to come to Him and be close to Him. Let’s come to God this morning and sing about His Love.

3. “You Are Always With Me,” words and music by Mark Altrogge, © 2004 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From Awesome God.

The Bible says in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (NIV). The greatest love is laying down your life for someone else. That means to die for someone. Jesus has the greatest love because He died for our sins. We do not naturally love Jesus. Jesus first loved us. We do not love others like Jesus. We need Jesus to change us to love Him and to love others. We are going to sing about loving Jesus in our next song.

4. “Because You First Loved Me,” words and music by Doug Plank, © 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAPI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From To Be Like Jesus.

We are going to pray. Fold your hands and be still and talk to God. Let’s pray.  “Jesus, you are wonderful! You’re love is amazing! We want to love you too. Help us to love each other like you love us. Thank you for coming to earth to save us from our sins! In Jesus name we pray. Amen.”

5. “God’s Love Goes On Forever,” words and music by Chandi Plummer, © 2009 Chandi Plummer/Sojourn Music.

March 2010 (St. Patrick’s Day)

Does anybody know what fun day is coming up this month? I’ll give you a hint– you get pinched if you don’t wear green on this day. (Allow children to answer.) It’s St. Patrick’s Day! Do you know who Patrick was?  Patrick was a real REAL (emphasize real — “this was a real story that happened a very long time ago”) little boy who has an amazing story! Patrick grew up about 1500 years ago in Britain. His parents were Christians, and he grew up learning about Jesus. But one day people invaded his town and kidnapped Patrick! They took him away to their own country, Ireland, and made him a slave! He was a shepherd for six years, until God led him to a boat that took him back home.

But the story doesn’t end there. When Patrick grew up, he had a dream that the people who kidnapped him were begging for his help. He could have been angry at them for what they did, but instead Patrick became a missionary, and moved to Ireland to tell the people there about Jesus!

Just like God was with Patrick even when he was scared, God is always with us and watching over us no matter what’s going on. Let’s STAND UP and sing “You Are Always With Me!”

1. “You Are Always With Me,” words and music by Mark Altrogge, © 2004 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From Awesome God

Every day that Patrick was in Ireland working as a shepherd for the people who kidnapped him, he prayed to God. Patrick didn’t forget about God when he had a big problem. But even more importantly, God didn’t forget about Patrick! When you have a big problem, or when you feel sad, remember that God answers our prayers when we ask Him for help. He cares about our problems and He loves to help us!

We’re going to sing a new song today. It comes from Psalm 55:22.
(Take some time to go through the words and motions with the kids. There aren’t too many words to it.)
Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you
He will sustain you
He will never never never let the righteous fall
Let the righteous fall, no-o

2. “Cast Your Cares (Psalm 55:22),” words from New International Version ©  1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Music by Seeds Family Worship. From The Power of Encouragement.

God saved Patrick. God rescued him by getting him on the boat that took him back to his family. But God also saved Patrick in a bigger way: He sent Jesus to die on the cross, so that Patrick’s sins could be forgiven! When Patrick placed his faith in Jesus, He was rescued from the punishment of sin. He was saved from eternal death in hell. Jesus died to take away our sins. Let’s sing to Jesus and thank Him for loving us like that.

3. “Jesus Came To Earth,” by Solomon Campbell, Dave Campbell, and Bob Kauflin © 2004 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP) and Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From Awesome God.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” When we hear the word “enemy,” we might think of some supervillain or bad guy in a cartoon or movie. But Jesus is saying we should love everyone, even when they are being unfair, or mean, or not doing what we want them to do. We naturally love our good friends, but we need God’s help to love our enemies. Patrick loved the people who kidnapped him! Jesus loved His enemies by dying on the cross for them. Let’s sing together and ask God to help us love everyone like He loves us.

4. “You Show Me Kindness,” by Peter Gagnon and Bob Kauflin © 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From To Be Like Jesus.

We are going to pray. What is prayer? (Allow kids to respond.) Prayer is talking to God.  Let’s be still and talk to God. Let’s pray.

“God, thank You so much for taking good care of us. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for us. Help us to remember You every day, to love everyone and to tell them about Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

Patrick told people that Jesus died on the cross. Now let’s go and tell our family and friends about what God has done for us in Jesus! Let’s tell them that they can be forgiven because Jesus died to take away sins!

5. “Go (Matthew 28:19),” words from New International Version ©  1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Music by Seeds Family Worship. From The Power of Encouragement.

March 2010 (Palm Sunday)

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.  Most classes are studying the Jesus’ Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:28-40) or Jesus’ Death (Matthew 26-27; Luke 22:63-23:56).  Each class will keep in mind the day’s main theme—that Jesus is God’s King, sent to deliver his people from sin and death. Here is the cool part!  Each child will receive a palm branch to take home after the service.  And some classes (ages 4-grade 2) will be led in a “Hosanna” parade into the adult worship gathering.  Kids will run down the aisles shouting Hosanna then gather at the front of the auditorium to help in singing this song with the gathered community!  Then, they’ll gather upstairs with the entire children’s ministry for the following liturgy:

Leader 1: Welcome to Sojourn Kid’s Worship. This morning we are going to worship the Lord together as we celebrate Palm Sunday. Why is today called Palm Sunday? (Pause for answers.) More than 2000 years ago Jesus was greeted by crowds of people who were happy to see him coming into the city of Jerusalem. To show Jesus they were glad to see him, they waved palm branches in his honor and shouted praise to him. Listen as I read this story from the Bible, it’s from the book of John chapter 12 verses 12 to 14. Listen as I read God’s word:

¹²The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the King of Israel!”

The crowd shouted “Hosanna” to Jesus. Hosanna means

“Praise the God who saves!” Let’s sing to Jesus and wave our arms to Him singing “Hosanna!”

Hosanna in the Highest (Palm Sunday edition), Words & Music by Jeremy Quillo (c) 2010 Sojourn Music

Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, In the highest.
Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, In the highest.

Look! The Lord is drawing near!
Let the children shout and sing!
Tell the world that Life is here,
Jesus Christ, our God, our King!

Leader 2—read this portion with excitement:

We’re going to praise God by saying “HALLELUJAH!” Hallelujah means “Praise the Lord!” I will say something that is true about God and you will repeat after me: “HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!” Listen to what I say and then respond with “HALLELUJAH!”

Leader 2: Jesus is God! Jesus is Lord!

Children: HALLELUJAH!

Leader 2: Jesus suffered and died on the cross for my sins!

Children: HALLELUJAH!

Leader 2: Jesus was in the tomb. He was dead in the grave for three days! Death could NOT keep Him dead!

Children: HALLELUJAH!

Leader 2: Jesus is alive! Jesus is risen! He rose from the dead!

Children: HALLELUJAH!

Leader 2: Jesus is the champion. Jesus is victorious. He is the winner!

Children: HALLELUJAH!

Leader 2: Now stand up and let’s shout: “JESUS IS ALIVE!”(Repeat several times. Optional: have children jump while chanting “Jesus is alive!”)

2. “Jesus Came To Earth,” by Solomon Campbell, Dave Campbell, and Bob Kauflin © 2004 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP) and Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. FromAwesome God.

Leader 3: Romans 5:8 says: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”  So how has God shown us He loves us? (Answer: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.) Yes! Let’s sing this verse together and remember that Christ died for us!

3. “Romans 5:8 (NIV) Scripture Memory Song,” Music by Mark Altrogge, As Recored on “A Ransom For Many,” Hide The Word, Volume 2  © Forever Grateful Music

Intro to the next song involves saying the lyrics and doing the hand-motions:

(Raise arms and hands in praise and then cross arms over heart to say “love.”)

Leader 1: Holy God, in love, be – came

(Place fists on hips to stand like a man)

Perfect Man to bear my blame

(Stretch arms out to sides to look like cross.)

On the cross He took my sin

(Raise arms above head in praise.)

By His death I live again

These are the words and the lyrics for the next song we will sing to the Lord. Let’s sing to God together.

4.  The Gospel Song, Words and music by Drew Jones and Bob Kauflin, As recorded on Awesome God, (c) 2002 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

This song is less familiar to the children. Please sing it several times to teach it to them. Feel free to make the tempo a little quicker if that works better.

Leader 2: It is a gift to be able to pray to God. Let’s fold our hands quietly, close our eyes, and talk inside our hearts to God. God sees in our hearts and He hears us:

“Jesus, you deserve our praise! But Lord we are often like the crowds, quick to praise you and then to turn away from you. You died on the cross for our sins. Thank You, Jesus. We want to love you and follow you always. Amen.”

5. “Low in the Grave He Lay,” Words and Music by Robert Lowry (1826-1899)

Jazz up this traditional hymn. Sing the verses very slowly and quietly. Then play the chorus “Up from the grave” with increased excitement moving the tempo faster and faster. For the motions: have the kids down on the floor crouched down singing the verses “Low in the grave He lay. . .” Then stand up slowly on “Up from the grave He arose. . .” You can jump up and down for the chorus and/or sing with your arms stretched upward for the final “He arose. . .” section.

April 2010 (Easter)

Singers introduce themselves.

Singer 1: This month we celebrate Easter!  Why do we celebrate Easter?  What is Easter?  Allow children to answer: Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus died for my sins.   Jesus is risen from the dead.  Fill in any part left out and encourage right answers. Gently correct wrong answers.  Let’s start this morning by remembering the Easter story and saying, “HALLELUIA!”

Call and Response:
Singer 2: Hallelujah means, “Praise the Lord!” Say, “HALLELUIA!” (HALLELUIA)
Now say, “PRAISE THE LORD!”  Listen to what I say and when I pause say, “HALLELUIA!”
Leader: Jesus is God! Jesus is Lord!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Jesus suffered and died on the cross for my sins!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Jesus was dead! But death could NOT keep Jesus!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Now Jesus is alive! Jesus is risen! He rose from the dead!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Jesus is the champion! Jesus is victorious! He is the winner!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Now stand up and let’s shout, “JESUS IS ALIVE!” (“JESUS IS ALIVE!”) Repeat several times.
Have children jump up and down chanting, “Jesus is alive!”

1. “The Cross Is Not The End,” Words and Music by Bill & Courtney Bell.  © 2009 Bill & Courtney Bell/ Sojourn Music

Singer 2:
We are going to sing a song to help us memorize a Bible verse, Romans 5:8. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”  So how has God shown us He loves us? (Answer: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.) Yes! “God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Let’s sing this together!

2. “Romans 5:8 (NIV) Scripture Memory Song,” Music by Mark Altrogge, As Recored on “A Ransom For Many,” Hide The Word, Volume 2  © Forever Grateful Music

Guitarist: Jesus is risen! (Have kids answer again: ALLELUIA!) JESUS IS RISEN! (Have kids answer again: ALLELUIA!)
Singer 2: Let’s pray! Let’s fold our hands quietly, close our eyes, and talk inside our hearts to God. God sees in our hearts and He hears us:  Jesus, You are the winner! Death did not win! You died on the cross for our sin. Thank You, Jesus. Jesus we want to love you and follow you all of our lives. Amen.”

3. “Low in the Grave He Lay,” Words and Music by Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
(Traditional Hymn… but jazz up the refrain! Sing verses slow. Jazz up and sing the chorus VERY LIVELY! Make sure the kids do the motions.  Have the kids down on the floor crouched down singing the verses, then stand up and jump up and down for the chorus, “Up from the grave He arose…” You may need to help teach them the song a bit the first time as they probably won’t know it. Then add in the motions. If they seem too bored, just do it all together and repeat as needed to learn it.)

4.  “His Love Will Last Forever,” Words and Music by Chandi Plummer  © 2009 Chandi Plummer/Sojourn Music
Rock it out!

1. Divine, not human: The gospel is God’s saving message to a world living in darkness and a humanity lost in its sin. The gospel is not a human message, nor was its conception a function of human initiative, but its origin and its impetus derive solely from God. For this reason our role with regard to the gospel is not that of evaluation, criticism or reformulation, but that of grateful acceptance and obedience. Humans are not equal partners with God as far as the gospel message is concerned; they are rather his commissioned representatives, charged with proclaiming the gospel in the exact form in which they received it (e.g., John 17:20; 20:21; 1 Cor 15:3–4).
2. Required, not optional: Acceptance of the gospel is not optional for salvation but rather required, owing to pervasive human sinfulness. As the Book of Hebrews states, “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”; “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time . . . to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Heb 9:27–28). Apart from believing in Jesus Christ, “God’s wrath remains” on people (Jn 3:36), and they are spiritually dead (Jn 5:24; Eph 2:1). People must be “born of God” (Jn 1:12; 3:3, 5; 1 Jn 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18), that is, be spiritually regenerated (Tit 3:5; 1 Pet 1:3). As Paul writes in his epistle to the Ephesians, “[a]nd you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit . . .” (Eph 1:13). Inclusion in Christ comes only by hearing and believing the gospel.
3. Christological, not merely theological: The gospel is not vaguely theological, as if it were amenable to various ways of salvation depending on a person’s belief in a particular kind of god, or depending on the degree to which people were able to hear the gospel presented in a clear way; it is decidedly and concretely Christological, that is, centered on the salvation provided through the vicarious cross-death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence Paul is able to speak of “the gospel . . . regarding his [God’s] Son . . . Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 1:2–4). Significantly, this gospel is not a New Testament novelty but was “promised beforehand through his [God’s] prophets [such as Habakkuk, Rom 1:17 citing Hab 2:4] in the Holy Scriptures” (Rom 1:2). Abraham already had resurrection faith (Romans 4; Galatians 3; Heb 11:8–12).
4. No other gospel: The messianic motif pervading all of Scripture and centering in the Lord Jesus Christ coupled with the risen Jesus’ “Great Commission” for his followers to go and disciple the nations inextricably link an understanding of the gospel as the exclusive message of salvation in Jesus Christ with the church’s mandate to engage in missionary outreach. This is clear especially from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, John, the book of Acts, and several of Paul’s writings. Conversely, any messages proclaimed in the name of Christ that feature a “different gospel” or a different Christ (such as compromising his simultaneous full humanity and deity, e.g. 1 John 4:2–3) are rejected. The church must engage in missions, because “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). If anyone confesses with his mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead, he will be saved (Rom 10:9; see also vv. 10–13).
5. No other name but Jesus: In light of the clear biblical passages mentioned above and in view of the strong and pervasive trajectory of scriptural references to the gospel there is no proper foundation for arguing for salvation apart from explicit faith in Jesus Christ. Scripture makes clear that humanity is universally sinful, and that God’s wrath remains on every individual who has not placed his or her trust in Jesus Christ on the basis of his substitutionary death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection. While there may be philosophical or larger theological objections to such a notion (such as the difficulty experienced by some of reconciling this notion with the love of God), while there may be commonsense concerns on the basis of human conceptions or “fairness” or other similar considerations, there can be little doubt that Scripture nowhere teaches, or easily allows the implication, that there is a way to salvation other than through explicit faith in Jesus Christ during a person’s lifetime (e.g., Heb 9:27–28). In fact, this is not an obscure topic; it is the central contention of the biblical message concerning the gospel, that “[s]alvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Jonathan Dodson of Austin City Life is currently writing a series on his blog about Why People Aren’t More Missional. Read it. His ideas are challenging and gospel-centered and his recent breakout session at the 2009 Acts 29 Houston Boot Camp could be my favorite talk from all the Acts 29 events, and I’ve listened to all but 3 of them.

Here’s Part 1 of the series

Do you ever struggle in motivation for mission? Do you ever see your people lacking in motivation for mission? After all the shifts in ecclesiology, the planting of many churches, and the landslide of missional literature, why aren’t people more missional? Perhaps it is because we are motivating them with the wrong things.

What should motivate us for mission? There are numerous motivations for mission in the Bible. Many of them can be grouped under three headings that point us to the goal of the gospel, the demands of the gospel, the graces of the gospel. In this first post, I’ll address our missional identity.

Missional Identity

The missio Dei, a Latin phrase meaning, “the sending of God”, reminds us that mission is not merely something we do, an action; it is something God is. Mission is an attribute of God. He’s a sending God. He sends his Son (Easter) and sends his Spirit (Pentecost) to renew the world. So, mission doesn’t start and end with us. It starts and ends with God. His mission is nothing short of the redemption of peoples and cultures, the renewal of all creation for his own glory. It’s God’s great, burdensome, and glorious mission—the renewal of all creation! My goodness, we can’t manage that, but God, in his mercy has invited us to participate in his mission. Through the gospel, He rescues us from a life of self-serving mission to participate in a life of God-serving, Christ-glorifying mission. We are remade into missional people by the redeeming work of the Spirit and the Son.

Therefore, if we are in Christ, we have a missionary identity. We are adopted into a missionary family. We serve a missionary God. Mission becomes part of our identity, because we cut from the cloth of a missionary God. So, the church is a missionary church, with missionary people, that do missionary things. It is who we are and it is also what we do. Mission is not merely for the superspiritual, an option, an appendix to Christian faith. To be Christian is to be on mission.  It’s who we are and it is what we do. We redemptively engage peoples and cultures, by sharing, showing, and embodying Christ in our context. This includes evangelism, social action, and cultural engagement, counseling, empathy, celebration. It’s bringing the renewing power of the whole gospel into the whole city.

Now, the good news of the gospel is that we get to be the blessing of mission, while God carries the burden of mission. Ultimately, it is God’s mission. The Spirit does all the changing; we simply share, show, and embody the wonderfully renewing power of gospel. However, if we aren’t walking with God, keeping in step with the Spirit, and following Christ, out life will hardly be missional. In fact, it will be rife with dangerous disobedience. If you are in Christ, you have a missional identity. To disregard your missionary identity is to reject your identity in Christ. The first motivation is the missio Dei, that mission is in our DNA, our identity. It is who we are in God, through Christ, by the Spirit.

Here’s Part 2

Despite the preponderance of missional church resources, American Christians are slow to live missionally. Why is this? In our last post, we suggested that one reason is that we are motivating the church with best practices of mission, instead of an identity of mission grounded in the Missio Dei. Today, I’d like to suggest another motivation, with a twist.

Any evangelical can tell you that they are supposed to be on mission, but very few are. They can rattle off the Great Commission by memory, while running along no differently. Yet, all four Gospels contain missional mandates from the resurrected, King Jesus himself (Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24/Acts 1, John 16/21)! Why does missional disobedience persist? Perhaps because…

1. We don’t take Jesus seriously. Jesus is our friend, not our Lord.
   
2. We think the missional mandates are for apostles or super Christians only.
3. We have a functional God that we like more than Jesus.
   
4. We believe that mission is optional and that we won’t be judged for our missional disobedience.
5. We don’t actually believe the gospel.

The first article deals with trinitarian aspects of the church

1. Doxological: Oriented to the Glory of God

The church is doxological, or oriented to the glory of God. Like everything else that God has created—the heavens and the earth (Psalm 19:1; Psalm 108:5), the angelic realm (Psalm 29:1-2), and human beings as the divine image-bearers (Psalm 8:5), the church is characterized by an orientation to give God glory (Ephesians 3:21).

Specifically, the church is to be orthodoxological, or oriented to the proper (Gr. ortho) glory (Gr. doxa) of God. Implied in this imperative is the possibility for the church to engage in false glory giving, or idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:20-21; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4). Manifestations of the church’s false gods include money, power, societal approbation, its pastor or its programs, political persuasion, size, and the like. The church must avoid such idolatry and be oriented to the proper glory of God.

2. Logocentric: Focused on the Word

The church is logocentric, or focused on the logos, the Word, understood in two senses to refer to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and Scripture, the inspired Word of God. As for the first sense, the eternal Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, took on the fullness of human nature and became the incarnate God-man, Jesus Christ John 1:1, John 1:14). He promised, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18), and he is its cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20) and its head (Ephesians 1:20-23). The church is centered on this incarnate Word of God.

In the second sense of logos, the church is Word-centered in that it focuses on Scripture, the inspired Word of God. This inspired, sufficient, necessary, truthful (inerrant), clear, authoritative, and productive Word announces salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), brings new birth (1 Peter 1:23), ignites faith (Romans 10:13-17), presents sound doctrine and equips the church for good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and, while providing cohesion and nourishment for the church, also destabilizes it by confronting its many sins. The church is centered on this inspired Word of God.

3. Pneumadynamic: Empowered by the Spirit

The church is pneumadynamic, or created, gathered, gifted, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He inaugurated the first church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-5), and this church in Jerusalem multiplied and expanded through the evangelistic centrifugal movement orchestrated by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). In these churches, the Spirit distributes spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11) for “the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7), while also being the creator and sustainer of unity (Ephesians 4:3) by supplying genuine love among church members (Romans 15:30; Colossians 1:8) and fostering an atmosphere of righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17). Certain members are installed as leaders in the church by the appointment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28; Acts 13:2-3). Thus, the church is Spirit-activated.

The second article deals with the “gatheredness and sendedness of the church”.

4. Covenantal: Relationship with God and Others

The church is covenantal, or gathered as members in new covenant relationship with God and in covenant relationship with each other. As for the first covenantal aspect, the new covenant:

1. is a unilateral agreement, established by God and God alone
2. creates a structured relationship between him and his covenant partners, Christ-followers “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9)
3. features binding obligations on the part of both God and his covenant partners (e.g., 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 28:19-10; Galatians 6:2)
4. is sealed by two covenantal signs, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

As for the second covenantal aspect, the new covenant places church members into relationship with one another (Ephesians 4:17-5:14). This aspect may be best expressed by means of a church covenant, an agreement that binds those who affirm it to life together in the church.

5. Confessional: United by Common Faith

The church is confessional, or united by both personal confession of faith in Christ and common confession of the historic Christian faith. All church members must have a credible profession of faith in Christ as they have heard about his person and work through the gospel (Romans 10:8-13). This aspect is the act of faith that leads to salvation.

Additionally, the church as a corporate assembly regularly makes a common confession of the Christian faith (e.g., 1 Timothy 3:15-16), professing together the sound doctrine that unites the church (Ephesians 4:4-6) and brings it to maturity while keeping it from going adrift (Ephesians 4:13-15). This aspect is the content of the Christian faith that marks the church throughout the ages.

6. Missional: Divinely Called and Sent

As discussed above, the church is missional, or identified as the body of divinely-called and divinely-sent ministers to proclaim the gospel and advance the kingdom of God.

7. Historical Reality, Future Hope

The church is spatio-temporal-eschatological (here and not-here, oralready but not yet), or assembled as a historical reality (located in space and time) and possessing a certain hope and clear destiny (eschatology) while it lives the strangeness of its existence in the here-and-now. Christians meet together to worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24) in local churches that, while they may be anywhere (that is, the location is not the issue; John 4:20-21), they are always somewhere also. This spatial characteristic means that the church takes up physical space—often a building—and prompts reflection on an important question: Does this physical space advance or obstruct what the church is seeking to be and do?

Legacy

The temporal element means that a church has a heritage that goes before the current manifestation of gathered people, and this legacy exerts a powerful influence for either good or bad on the current expression of the church. Additionally, if the Lord wills, the church will have a future that goes beyond the current manifestation of gathered people, and this hope prompts reflection on what kind of reputation this current expression of the church will bequeath to its next iteration.

Sojourners

Beyond its being “here,” the church is also “not here,” in that what the church experiences now is only a foretaste, a down payment, of a promise of yet more to come. The church lives in a “boundary epoch” between the two advents of Jesus Christ, so it is composed of strangers and aliens (1 Peter 1:11), sojourners who are in the world and for the world, but not of the world. The eschatological church awaits a greater reality (Revelation 21-22).