“Take up your cross, and follow Jesus” the powerful words of the hymn resound in the magnificent walls of a well re-known church in Nairobi's city center. Many of the faithful brethren eagerly bellow the words from the pits of their stomachs. However, how many of these have actually taken up their crosses and and followed Christ? Many believe that going to church every Sunday is enough. No one actually puts in time to read the Bible or pray for themselves. Yet for a relationship with God to grow, one has to put in effort. A case study could be the Daystar community. I was appalled when I went for one of the worship experiences and I found less than thirty students that had sacrificed and had gone before God in prayer. At a totally different …show more content…
According to MacArthur, spiritual growth is matching my position with my practice. He further explains that our actions should be a reflection of our relationship with God. The church is supposed to guide its members into a deeper realization of Christ in all his fullness. Church growth is not measured by the number of people that attend every service, or the number of branches that a given church has it is the content that matter after all, all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord. Sadly, the church in Kenya is yet to realize this as almost everyday an almost ordinary person receives the call to start a church. According to Ndegwa, a columnist with The Standard, Mr Amos Wako the Kenyan attorney general as of 2007 there were at least 60 applications for church registration every month not forgetting the 8,520 churches that are already registered and the 6,740 applications that are still pending. With such high numbers in 2007 alone, one wonders the numbers in existence today. …show more content…
A lot of lies have been spread with every Christian guilty of adding a lie or two; all in the name of trying to spice up the conversation. What is said to someone in confidence will soon turn into the topic of discussion over a cup of tea; and its not that these holier-than-thou Christians will offer any solutions. Other people's struggles are seen as a form of entertainment and in most cases, the rumors are far from the truth. The Bible warns us about gossip and how we should use our words in Ephesians 4:29 'let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers'. The fact that todays church has something negative to say about a situation a church member is going through and their words are never the kind to give counsel. This not only makes people disinterested in the things of God but also there are a lot of things that are hindering Gods word to bear fruit. This makes going to church every Sunday a fruitless venture for the pastor because he is like the sower that planted his seeds in infertile ground. It is a no wonder that the Church is not being looked at as a place to get
Gary McIntosh earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Rockmont College. He pursued a career in the business world before being called by God to enter into ministry. He attended Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, graduating in 1982 with a D.Min. in Church Growth. McIntosh has served as Vice President of a church consulting company as well as accepting a call to teach at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology. In 2005 he earned a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological seminary. He is the recipient of several awards, including one from American Society For Church Growth. McIntosh is a distinguished author when it comes to church growth, appearing in several journals as well as having authored over eighteen monographs regarding church growth.
Welcome to Gospel Spreading Church. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2011, from Gospel Spreading Church: www.http://gospelspreadingchurch.com/
Christianity is one of the largest religions in world with believers spreading across barriers of language and culture. Christianity can come in many forms with beliefs on different subjects varying wildly, but there is one practice that remains relatively the same: church attendance. The ritual of getting up every Sunday morning and attending a church service including a sermon by a pastor and sometimes a smaller, more focused lesson given during what is called “Sunday School”, is something that is practiced by many faithful Christians across the world and the United States, in particular. Attending church is a practice that is integral to the Christian faith as it is shown in the Bible. It informs and impacts the lives of many believers of
It is apparent that the issues are similar at Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They are addressing these issues by adding additional services and by assignment of small groups or small ministries to meet their congregation's needs. They have been successful in addressing the issue based on each church's individual needs. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate the service seekers or the un-churched. New Hope attempts to match congregation member's needs through joining auxiliaries or other ministries of the church.
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
For those of you who are going on to another Christian community, I challenge you to be the different ones. Christian groups too often say, "yeah, praise God," and then not always walk in His steps. They see Christianity as just obeying the big rules instead of a daily faith relationship with God. They might even ask you to do subtle things that break God's rules. Take that extra step and really be a leader. Be the one person that everyone can look up to and say that you have the love of Jesus in your heart. Show them that you are truly on fire for God.
Robert Coleman penned the “The Master Plan of Evangelism.” The author is a notable Professor of both; discipleship and evangelism at Wheaton College at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary where he serves as the director of Billy Graham’s Center Institute of Evangelism. This book not only takes a humble approach, but also an extremely astute one concerning the approaches that Jesus demonstrated in discipleship when he walked on earth.
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
Growth is key and greater essence in ministry but it comes through hard work and humility. The pastor/leader must admit in humility of his/herself-weaknesses and be prepared to change for the better. Seek divine counseling from those who have gone ahead of you in ministry, precisely your spiritual fathers and mothers as well as spiritual mentors. These are people who love you, and always pray for your success in ministry. I have personally been positively impacted by the chapter on professionalism in ministry as I was exposed to the private, professional, and public lives of the minister. Kathy Howard’s ten characteristics of a blameless life touched my heart. Even though I was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this timely book, I equally had my fair share of its content. It takes a life of humility to read such a book because it comes at you right in the face like a mirror, indeed, it is a spiritual mirror to expose, encourage, and challenge all ministers for productive
I’ve met many people who say they’re Christians but don’t really exhibit the Christian attitude. They don’t try to have a loving or patient attitude or try to spread God’s word to others. There are some who also don’t go to church. Personally, I think some of these trends have reasons. Some of the “non-dedicated” Christians may still be learning how to properly communicate God’s word. Also, attending church is not required. Faith in God is what truly makes one a Christian. There may be some people who don’t have true faith in God, but, as I said before, we should force feed God onto them. If they truly desire God, then God will go to them.
I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this cave of what I feel is best labeled “Christian ignorance”. In the process though, I have had to come to terms with letting go of the things that brought me comfort and provided me with what I thought it took to have a close relationship with God. Some of those things were tangible. Most were not. The things that were the least tangible actually ended up being the hardest to let go of.
... forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Being apart of a local church that preaches the Gospel of Christ, instead of religiosity, allows one self to be in a position to hear God’s Word.
...have begun the process of becoming a better person. Those who practice Christianity boast of having higher levels of joy and happiness in life no matter what circumstances they may be facing. “A person that is truly Christian, one who studies, practices and teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ on a regular basis, has a fullness of joy regardless the difficult adversities that they may face in their life”(Smith). To help guide many people of the world in finding joy and happiness associated with becoming a christian, churches have worked hard to make it their top priority to “Strive to be an "open-door" church, actively reaching out and welcoming all persons”(NBUMC).
First and foremost, preachers should preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both individuals and the body of the church as a whole experience Jesus Christ through the gospel and sacraments, in other words, persons are fed spiritually by the gospel, so the Good News of Jesus Christ should be evident in preaching. According to the Lutheran confessional text, The Augsburg Confession, in the Lutheran tradition, preaching is acknowledged as given by God as follows:
Spirituality includes various different spiritual practices. The activities I practice currently that help me feel spiritually healthy are meditation and yoga. About three to four times a week, I sit in the sauna with my eyes close for about 5-10 minutes and just focus on my breath. I don’t allow my mind to think about my day or worries or anything else besides my breath and breathing. This allows me to unplug from my crazy days and focus within and on myself in peace and quiet. Other day I sit in the sauna and go through a serious of body stretches that help me relax and bring my mind to ease.