Expectations are everything. Though not a Bible verse (I’m pretty sure), this maxim is very wise and widely used. Expectations are everything. It seems with the right expectations everything goes smoother, becomes more enjoyable or more endurable, and we stick to our goals better. We all have our own expectations, but there is one expectation …
Continue reading Why Planting A Church Is Challenging… And Why that Is A Good Thing
Do you know how your body grows? Mitosis, of course! Mitosis is your body’s natural process of duplicating its cells into more cells, thus growing and renewing your body. Amazingly, your body duplicates its smallest organism in order to make its greatest growth. To boot, Mitosis, which means “threads” (referring to the cell’s thread-like chromosomes), …
Continue reading What Mitosis and Church Plants Have In Common
Have you looked around your house lately and saw an appliance that just made you wonder… who thought this thing up and how come I can’t live without it? I’m thinking about our TVs, microwaves, vacuums, electric handmixers, convertible heat pumps and more. These are the sort of things that the first few people who …
Continue reading What Is an Interest Meeting… and What Is It Good for?
We hear passages like Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him…”, and roiling questions rush into our minds: Who am I to judge? What will their response be? Isn’t this a pastor’s job? What if I do more harm than good? Whichever the case, it all reduces down to one …
Family missions can take on a number of variations, mainly falling into two categories - either the parental mission of discipling children toward Christ or going on a evangelistic/service missions trip together as a family. Both are right and good, but they are not the only ways a family can be missional. Home discipleship being …
Church is a blessing. The church, a local group of redeemed sinners worshipping God through loving Him and loving others, is a blessing to those who participate in it. Our goal is to help young adults and teens see and experience God’s blessing by participating in the church body. We first looked at the Sunday …
Continue reading Raising Teens into Church Life pt. 3: Fellowship
Church is a blessing. The church, a local group of redeemed sinners worshipping God through loving Him and loving others, is a blessing to those who participate in it. The center of the church’s worship is Sunday morning; through prayer, singing, giving, and responding to God’s Word in faith the church collectively blesses God and …
Continue reading Raising Teens into Church Life pt. 2: Serving Others
Church is a blessing. It nourishes the Christian through fellowship; a community devoted to loving God and loving others. The activity of the church’s loving fellowship is compelling. This is just as true for adults as it is for teens (and younger). As families and a church body, one of our goals in raising up …
Continue reading Raising Teens into Church Life pt. 1: Sunday Worship
As Christians we are to cherish what God cherishes. Amazingly God cherishes repentance. He doesn’t begrudge the repentant, rather He calls out to a perpetually adulterous Israel in Jeremiah 3:22, “Return, you faithless children.” He always desires the sinner to return to Him. Why? Jeremiah 3:22 continues, “…I will heal your unfaithfulness.” He cherishes repentance …
Some say "It takes a village to raise a child." I may not completely agree with this statement and it's common applications, but I do think it points to a basic developmental reality sometimes overlooked or under-appreciated by the Church: Community shapes youth. Community is powerful. It is powerful because it is partnership. A community …
Familyhood 