How are you helping people connect at your church?

How are you helping people connect at your church?

Posted on by Matthew Laker

 

food 4 640x427How are you helping people connect at your church?

 

Over a period in 2015/16, I ran four newcomers lunches at the church.

 

A newcomers lunch is an organized lunch to gather new people and build relationships.  The core of the luncheon is food, a small intro talk by me (3-5 min.), then plenty of time for conversation.  We invited some people from the congregation to join and encouraged all people to ask questions of each other in order to get to know each other’s story.  This was not a time to try and sign people up for things but help them build relationships.

 

How about you, how are you helping people connect at your church? Here are some observations from our newcomers lunch.

 

  1. It is about relationship

People stay in a church because of people.  As a church and as individual followers of Jesus, we have to place a high value on relationship.    It is through relationship both the kingdom and yourself grows.

 

2. Local churches need to be intentional about connecting with new people.

Each local area has a different culture, but it is important to create a simple system to help build relationships.  There needs to be both an organized time and a kind of unorganized time.  In another context, I saw this best done by a few people in the church who made it a point to go for coffee or lunch, or connect in some way outside of Sunday morning with new people.

 

How are you creating a margin to connect with new people at church on Sunday?

 

There needs to not only be a system/program, there needs to be a culture of hospitality.

 

3. The need for mid-size groups

We never had this over the past year but did have a conversation about how this could help people move further in faith and relationship. I would love to hear from you on this and your thoughts and experiences.

 

4. Everyone has a story.

Giving space for people to share their story and for them to hear part of your story creates stronger relationships and opens doors for the gospel to be shared.

What does this mean for you?

 

I have seen too many people who just show up in the larger church gatherings and make no intention of getting to know new people.  Yes, the new person has to take some initiative as well.  However, the bigger weight lies on the people already part of the church.  It is a scary thing to come into a group you are not part of.

 

This is where you come in.

 

If God is bringing people to your church, how are you part of helping them connect with Jesus and people?  Not everyone is going to run a newcomers lunch.  But everyone needs to be ready to help people connect.

How are you helping people connect at your church?

How to be filled with the Spirit – Part 3

Posted on by Matthew Laker

How to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

This is Part Three of a series on How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

What is our motivation for wanting to be filled with the Spirit?  When we seek this, we do not always understand what we are asking for.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit,  means that Jesus is taking charge in our life, we will not be the master.  There is no magical formula, dance or puppet string we attach to our body. It simply is, but what is not so simple is offering your life on the altar of God to him.

Acts 5:32 (ESV)

32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, [by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is where it starts and continues, offering our life to Jesus that he be Lord of our life.

Let’s test it in our life.

In prayer and song we sing about how we are sinners and need God, thinking that we have submitted to Jesus. Then, someone at work or a close family member or class mate or teacher says to us, “You are so selfish.”  How do we react?  Do we say you are right, show me how I was selfish?  Many of us will put up walls and get out our guns.  We will try to defend our self in hopes that they feel our pain of their judgment.

We could ask, “What lies are you believing in this moment?”  Paul says in Galatians 5, we are led by the Spirit, not the sin nature which is contrary to the Spirit.  However, in the midst of the text is an  understanding of the struggle between the two in ones’ life.  Perhaps there is some need for confession in your life.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is about Jesus being Lord of your life.

What do you find hard about living in Romans 12:1-2?  Where do you need to empty yourself so the Spirit can come in?  Seek the things of God and not self and the Spirit will rest with you.

Galatians 6:25-26 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

Repentance is the road to being led by the Spirit.

How to be filled with the Holy Spirit – Part 1

Posted on by Matthew Laker

holyspirit 1

What do we mean by “filled with the Holy Spirit?”

How are we filled with the Holy Spirit?  (This is part one of a series on How to be filled with the Holy Spirit (add later Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 links).   For me there are four thoughts behind the term – “Filled with the Holy Spirit”

1. When one first follows Jesus, there is a placement of the Holy Spirit into one’s life.

The Holy Spirit is a marker, a guarantee, of our inheritance in God’s kingdom. (1 Cor. 12:13).  The full presence of the Spirit is given, but the full anointing is not always seen or experienced.

A.W. Tozer shares “Everyone has the filling of the Spirit but not the anointing.”

Check out this post to learn more about who the Holy Spirit is, and his role in the believers’ life.

2. Connection to the Sanctification process.

“In what may be an over-simplification, salvation depends on Christ as our Saviour; sanctification seeks to establish Christ as the Lord of our life.”

As Jesus becomes Lord of our life, there is opening to the power of the Spirit in a greater capacity.  As Jesus becomes Lord of all areas of our life, the Spirit can flow through us in a greater capacity.

Resources:

This is an older resource, but may help to stir some thoughts.

http://www.wesleyan.org/d/TSyVx/The-Baptism-with-the-Holy-Spirit-Greathouse.pdf   

3. Extra Anointing moments or refreshing moments.

The giving of the Spirit to an individual or group for a task or the mission of the Church.

The giving of the Spirit to an individual or group for a refreshing, restarting of faith, or refocusing of mission to a group of believers.

4. Someone following the leading of the Spirit.

Paul says in Galatians that we are not controlled by the Spirit, so we should keep in step with the Spirit.  As we do that, the fruit of the Spirit is produced in our life. Thus, when we speak of someone filled with the Spirit, there is a recognition that they are not only being led by the Spirit, but also following the Spirit.

This is an area not all believers in Jesus will agree on, but it is my working understanding.

Next week we will start to help you understand how to be filled with the Holy Spirit in your life.

Advent Can help Grow your Faith

Posted on by Matthew Laker

0e1851833_series-4gsheaderThere is so much noise in life, and with the daily grind of life day in and day out, we can get a little lost.  Our culture can seem so dark at times, with so many running here and there.  Advent is about hope coming, and waiting on the Lord.

Advent is a season about waiting for the Lord.  It is season of seeking Jesus.  Advent is like the stones the Israelites used  when they set up a stone monument after crossing the river.   God did not tell the church to create advent, but perhaps the Holy Spirit secretly did.  We may never know, but Advent can be like those stones; A tool to remember who God is and what he has done.  Advent can be a reminder of our need, where we have come from, and where we are going.  When we understand who God is and what he has done, we find direction on who we are.

There is a place for the advent lighting in the larger community, but what will you practice in a smaller community and in your home.  How will you use this season to teach others about who God is?  How will you use this season to climb a mountain and meet with God? Then, celebrate on the 25th of December,  come back down and engage in mission work.

Advent challenges our daily grind, all is not lost.  Advent reminds us that God has not left us and hope is on its way. What will you seek the Lord for this advent season?

During the advent season what might you do differently to meet with God?

How will you search the Scriptures and everyday life to find Jesus?

What advent resources have you used to help journey in this season?

 

Here is a resource:

Advent devotional reading – pdf

Why Go to Church?

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Why go to church? dowtnown 1

Behind such a question is a need to understand the purpose of church. We live in an age with information at our finger tips so why would we go to church?”  Some might think, ‘I can gain good information without having to go anywhere.’ However, church is more than just information.  Kenneth Schak shares in his post what pastors should know about the bible:  “The bible is not just about information but transformation.”

The same can be said about the church.  It is a people who have embraced the gospel of Jesus, and who bear witness to the gospel, and who act as a catalyst for transformation  not only in their own lives but also in the lives of others.  In the West, we struggle with the stereotype that  going to church is about a building and meaningless ritual.  However, this is not Jesus’ intention.

Ephesians 2:10 “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms”

From the beginning, in Genesis, God has called a people to be in relationship with him and each other, and be his witness and stewards of his creation/kingdom.

Therefore, three reasons to “Go to Church” are:

1. We are called to be together.

2. The intention is that the  “Jesus community” becomes a place for the fruit of the spirit to be developed in each of us. .

3. We bear witness together.

John 13:35 – By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Perhaps it is the wrong question to ask “Why go to church.”  Implied in the question is a certain form or expression.  A better question to ask is, “What is the purpose of the church?”

The gathering of God’s people in a local setting is part of our new identity as disciples of Jesus.  The shape of that will look different over the years.

To follow Jesus means to gather with his people.

What do you find to be the joys and challenge of the spiritual discipline of gathering with Jesus followers?