You can listen to this talk at christchurchw4.com/talks from Friday 8 July… here’s a summary of J John’s training to church leaders on being a church on a mission…
This is what he argues the church needs to be…
A community of prayer:
I went to talk to John Stott and he asked me how I prayed. I didn’t understand the question so I asked him how he prayed. He responded:
I try and pray:
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an hour a day
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an afternoon a week
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a day a month
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a week a year
For the past 17 years
A community of outreach
We spend 95% of all our resources on worship and well-being (of the flock and community).
What if we spent:
33% of our resorces on worship 33% on well-being 33% on outreach
When you travel around UK it looks like the church only exists for its members, despite Archbishop Temple’s quote that the church in the only organisation that exists for the benefit of its non members.
When Paul told Timothy to be an evangelist in 2 Timothy 4 he did not tell him to stop being an evangelist – he was telling him to lead the church as an evangelist. If you’re a worship leader worship lead as an evangelist, if you’re a youth worker lead the youth as an evangelist.
Why do we believe in the message of the Bible but not the methods… e.g. when someone is sick the elders need to visit, there is confession of sins, there is anointing with oil…
LISTEN TO THIS STORY IN THE TALK: I know we know we are an Easter People, but it feels to us like Easter Saturday a lot of the time, but this is what we’re commanded to do, so I always carry oil with me… story of brain dead lady in coma who woke up while they were praying the Lord’s Prayer… her husband didn’t believe she had woken up and then she came home the next day…
There’s miracles and there’s mystery….
A community of growth in holiness
We don’t use these words anymore, but this is our responsibility within the congregations God has given to us
A community of compassion and care
Church does so much in this area: If Christians didn’t do all the justice actions it does the country would be a mess… persist in this care and action.
Story about Hillsongs: where ‘members’ are people who come twice on Sunday and tithe to the church… J John felt called to do coffee rota every week he was at his home church… we need to build up a DNA where we know we are here to serve as well as visit.
Church is like an ice factory trying to put out a fire: all the assets are frozen…
A community of teaching and preaching
Bad preaching is killing the church… need to take time to prepare well. Need to see those 20 minutes as vitally important – be a general inspiring the troops.
To be effective with evangelism we have to cultivate the other points above…
Many Christians have taken literally Jesus’ words: Go and see that you tell no-one. But we are a sleeping giant as a Church… imagine 1 million witnesses in the CoE telling people around them what they know.
Next post: J John evangelism tips
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