Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Story Church - Our third preview
Yesterday, November 15 was the third preview service for Story Church. It was the first time we attempted this in the morning, going with a 10am service as opposed to the previous two which were at 6pm. We felt it was important to do at least one of the previews in the morning so that we could figure out timing, lighting, and everything else. Overall it was a good morning. We added some signage this time with some banners out front. We further streamlined our setup and adding some light trees to the auditorium.
I taught on the parable of the Good Samaritan and tried to teach it in such a way that we heard the story in the same way the original audience heard it. I think we were able to accomplish that for the most part. We also tied it in to a movement we are embracing as a church called the Advent Conspiracy. It's a movement that focuses on fighting consumerism at Christmas by giving of ourselves more to each other and by giving to the poor. One of our goals is to deliver a life-giving message every week. I think that this particular message could have used more life. I could have done a better job of connecting the freedom and life that come from loving people as neighbor instead of focusing as much as I did on the ways in which our hearts are closed off to certain people. Both are valid, but one without the other isn't complete. I was trying to get there with our emphasis on Advent Conspiracy, but I'm not sure it got there.
For me, I am still getting back into the swing of preaching. My preparation is getting better, but I am definitely still rusty at times. As a church planter, and the only staff person, it's sometimes tough to find the balance between everything that needs to get done, and the things that only I can do. In other words, I'm trying to learn how to use our team more and more and to focus my own energies on the things that only I can do.
Anyway, as for this preview here are a few things we learned this week:
- Moving our kids registration into the hallway instead of the main room was a good idea.
- Get people involved as soon as possible. We had people serving as greeters who had never been to one of our services. How cool is that?
- We continue to be amazed that people show up. Haha. It's the thing I hear from lots of church planters, but the fact that people actually show up is pretty awesome. They see signs, they find us online, all of it is really cool.
- We're beginning to make the school feel like it's ours. The banners out front and at the entrance really helped.
- We still need more signage inside. We need our kids registration area better marked - though it feels like that is kind of a moving table right now.
- We still need musicians. We had our fearless leader Alastair and we added Jon on electric guitar. But we had no drummer or bass player. I think we missed the energy a full band provides.
- We need a sound guy.
- We need someone who can design our slides each week. I spent a few hours on that this week and it was hard.
- Our clean up seemed to take a long time. Not sure why. I know that more of us were enjoying talking to new people, but we need to figure out how to get cleaned up before noon on Sundays.
- The new sound equipment was awesome. I am excited that we are getting that part of our setup nailed down.
- We need more kids workers.
- I'm still not thrilled with the lighting in the room - I wish we had more control over that.
- It still feels like an elementary school at times. I think we need to invest in some pipe and drape or something like it to cover up some of the realities of where we meet.
- The stage could still use a backdrop as well.
- Offerings still aren't covering the cost of meeting there. At some point that will need to change.
I haven't yet got feedback from our team about their thoughts on the preview. I'll try and post their thoughts this week. We're definitely still figuring things out.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The gospel and suffering
My friend Luke is a prison chaplain. At the prison he works at, there are five different facilities that house inmates, each one with varying levels of freedom. The lowest level are men who work outside, who aren't locked into cells, and don't have gates keeping them there. At the highest level is full lockdown with double doors, double windows, gates, bars, razor wire, the whole thing. As one of the chaplains, Luke gets the opportunity to preach in each of these facilities. Though he is new, other chaplains have described to him something that he is beginning to see as well. Chaplains describe that the enthusiasm for the gospel is inversely related to the level of freedom that the inmates have. Those that have quite a bit of freedom are generally emotionless and subdued in hearing the gospel preached to them. Those that are kept under higher levels of security express much greater enthusiasm for the gospel.
I suppose this shouldn't surprise me. Jesus had crowds of "sinners" that couldn't get enough of him. Those that outwardly were probably furthest from God were the most attracted to a message of hope and grace and freedom. On the other hand, religious people hated Jesus. Those that outwardly seemed to have it all together had the least need for Jesus (or so they thought) and therefore saw Jesus words as a threat rather than a welcomed hope.
We see the same thing outside of prison walls though don't we? Why is it that the church in the United States is in decline while everywhere else in the world it is flourishing? Why is it that in some of the most difficult, painful places in the world the gospel is seeing unprecedented growth and advance? Freedom, prosperity, and consumerism can be numbing. The church in America is largely filled with affluent people who have always had everything they wanted. We have rarely been in a position where our freedom has been limited. We have probably never gone without a meal - except by choice. If we don't like Church A, then we'll just go down the street to Church B. Or maybe we'll just stay home.
While the reality is that the church here is in decline, I am hopeful for the church. I believe that our best days are still ahead of us. The church in the western world has unprecedented opportunity. But we need a desperation for God. We will never change the world by being comfortable. We must be willing to step into brokenness, to embrace the suffering, and to learn from our brothers and sisters around the world who are poor and marginalized. Our freedom and our prosperity must never be allowed to numb us to the power of the gospel. Jesus said that he came for the sick. He came to set the prisoners free, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry. I want to be part of a church that is full of sick, naked, hungry prisoners. I want to be surrounded by people who are desperate for God, aware of their own failures, and eager for more of Jesus.
I suppose this shouldn't surprise me. Jesus had crowds of "sinners" that couldn't get enough of him. Those that outwardly were probably furthest from God were the most attracted to a message of hope and grace and freedom. On the other hand, religious people hated Jesus. Those that outwardly seemed to have it all together had the least need for Jesus (or so they thought) and therefore saw Jesus words as a threat rather than a welcomed hope.
We see the same thing outside of prison walls though don't we? Why is it that the church in the United States is in decline while everywhere else in the world it is flourishing? Why is it that in some of the most difficult, painful places in the world the gospel is seeing unprecedented growth and advance? Freedom, prosperity, and consumerism can be numbing. The church in America is largely filled with affluent people who have always had everything they wanted. We have rarely been in a position where our freedom has been limited. We have probably never gone without a meal - except by choice. If we don't like Church A, then we'll just go down the street to Church B. Or maybe we'll just stay home.
While the reality is that the church here is in decline, I am hopeful for the church. I believe that our best days are still ahead of us. The church in the western world has unprecedented opportunity. But we need a desperation for God. We will never change the world by being comfortable. We must be willing to step into brokenness, to embrace the suffering, and to learn from our brothers and sisters around the world who are poor and marginalized. Our freedom and our prosperity must never be allowed to numb us to the power of the gospel. Jesus said that he came for the sick. He came to set the prisoners free, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry. I want to be part of a church that is full of sick, naked, hungry prisoners. I want to be surrounded by people who are desperate for God, aware of their own failures, and eager for more of Jesus.
