Archive for the ‘acts 1:8’ Category
My takeaways from Creating Community (Andy Stanley)
My takeaways from Creating Community (Andy Stanley)
- We must push people to get in groups. The alternative is "disconnected, isolated, lonely people…not a viable option."
- Group experiences across the church need to be predictable – not in boring but in what their purpose is, how they will meet, etc.
- Clarify the "wins" for groups
- Strive for 100% participation
- There are easily identifiable levels of relationship in a church.
- Stanley uses the metaphor of a foyer (guest), living room (friend), to kitchen (family) to identify the different levels.
- Our opportunity as the church is to help people discover the power of each relationship in community.
- We must be directional about helping bridge each gap. What is a specific step that will help them make the jump?
- Good intention is not enough.
- Be honest with people up front as to what groups are NOT about: i.e. not a social club, meditation group, support group, or an expert group.
- The primary purpose of groups is simple: social fellowship, Bible study, and prayer.
- Through implementing a process to the groups system, Stanley's church has seen 90% involvement in small groups.
2:00 am and driving to a hospital
The pastor that helped me begin to follow Jesus Christ, baptized me, taught me to golf, preached at my ordination and wedding, and mentored me through my early years in ministry died recently from complications with a brain tumor.
Phil embodied to me the calling of a pastor and the desire to pursue God in all things. As I drove home at around 2:45 am this morning from the hospital it was Phil I remembered teaching me about the life of a pastor. He told me to never be surprised when in the middle of the night I’d be called upon to offer comfort, hope, and peace to a family in crisis.
I was reminded of Matthew 18:19-20 as our small group huddled in prayer in the ER, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” NIV
Phil exemplified a simple life of prayer and care as a pastor. It was evident in his prayers and his leadership that he was not an angry man but rather a determined person seeking to walk in the presence of God as he did his best to shine the light of Christ into the dark times of our lives.
Perhaps the most telling thing Phil taught me was by an action where he didn’t say a word. When my grandfather died while I was a teenager at youth camp, Phil drove 6 hours roundtrip to stand in the back of the crowded room in a little Nazarene church. I didn’t see Phil to talk to him that day…his presence spoke volumes.
-Pastor Clark
Bowled over
Wendy, the boys, and I embarked on a new adventure this past Sunday as we were welcomed to our new church home in Edmond at Coffee Creek Baptist Church.
Something more and more rare in ministry, this church took great care of us as we transitioned to their ministry. We were welcomed with a luncheon and honored with an overflowing table of food and other staples for our new home. Stephen and Sam were remembered with fun toys which they immediately tore into.
We greatly appreciate the honor our new church family has given us and how they’ve made every step of the way thus far so extremely pain-free and easy even in the midst of the hustle and bustle of moving with toddlers!
I recall the text in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.” TNIV
We definitely are blessed to have a church family that is living out this philosophy! Thanks for the great welcome Coffee Creek – we’re excited about what God is doing in our midst!
Asking the tough questions
An increasing trend among my fellow pastors on facebook is the collaboration during message preparation. Often I’m the one asking for help with a text or thoughts on an illustration.
This week a friend posted a need for info on the topic of the “uniqueness of Jesus” in the context of faith. I offered my humble and probably insufficient words but as others add to it one has several thoughtful beginning points.
I wonder how many messages could be improved by use of other ideas, research, and viewpoints if we all took time each week to ask the tough questions?
I’ll be honest many times my in-depth study is frustrating as the more I study the more questions I have. Sometimes Sunday creeps up and I’m still mid-struggle and up to my ears in research without a clear victor.
That’s why you’ll hear me offer options and sometimes say, “I don’t know” – because the simple fact is as I approach the interpretive task many times the questions are haunting.
However I don’t see the message as a mountain-top experience – it’s just another step on the journey, another opportunity for us to talk about what it looks like to try to describe the undescribable.
Sometimes in my life I’ve been afraid to ask the tough questions – it seemed easier to just bury my head in the sand and pretend they didn’t exist. I’m sure I could have done much more good by authentically trying to answer those questions – even when the answers might never come.
Clive Staples Lewis once wrote, “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
Are you ready to ask the tough questions? What if doing so meant “loosing” some things that you’d “bound”?
Friday is for Friends: Blue Door Ministries
I am so blessed to be friends with Chris and Dana Byers who are currently serving in missions work in London. Increasingly I have friends who are doing longer-term missions that are still shy of what you would traditionally think of as “career” missions.
Chris and Dana sold their house, cars, and most earthly possessions then moved their family (toddlers Blake & Mackenzie) to London on an experimental basis back in October of 2007. What was to be a trial six-month run has turned into a nearly 2 year work now in church planting and ministry revitalization for churches in the UK.
Chris and I were friends at Oklahoma Baptist that had fallen out of contact when we reconnected about two months before they were set to begin their new work. My church’s team in 2008 had an opportunity to worship with Chris and Dana’s church plant and it was a blessing to see God working in their midst.
Besides the obvious blessing of God in their ministry I might add that another element working in Chris’ favor is that he really did marry above himself and has an awesome partner in ministry, Dana. You can see their videos online, learn more about their work, and donate to further the ministry online at their website: http://www.bluedoor.tv/
I encourage you to check out their good work in London and read their blog to understand the interesting things God is doing as He works through those that will go be the workers in the harvest.
“And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” -Luke 10:2 ESV
About
Clark Frailey is a husband, father, and Lead Pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.
clarkfrailey.com
