Faith in Action Weekend: 20 Reasons Why We SHOULD engage our communities outside the church
Four times a year Bridge Church, scatters instead of gathers, for what we call Faith in Action Sunday. This Sunday, October 9th will
be our final FIA for 2011. Looking forward to worshipping through serving senior adults, elderly widows, single moms, inmate families, public servants, multi-housing residents, families at local parks, and participate in a neighborhood revitalization campaign. As a Pastor, Faith in Action Sunday is a way to be intentional about disciple-making (Mark 3:14; James 1:21-23) and transforming the community (Matthew 5:13-16; John 1:14-16). But as I said in my last post, it’s uncomfortable, it’s not a good church growth gimmick, not everyone you serve will appreciate it. Here’s a few reasons why:
- Because following Jesus includes putting our faith in action (Luke 6:46-49)
- Because Christianity is about more than just attending worship services
- Because Jesus said “Go…” (Matthew 28:19-20)
- Because if we love God, we will love people “in actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18, 4:7-8)
- Because if we love God, we do what He says. (John 14:21, 23; 1 John 2:3-6)
- Because success is community transformation, not just a big organization.
- Because proclaiming and demonstrating God’s love go hand-in-hand. (Luke 9:2)
- Because there are needs in our community that are going unmet. We drive by them on our way to church each week. I don’t want to be a DRIVE-BY disciple.
- Because God cares for the whole person. (James 2:15-18)
- Because God desires individuals to live in healthy communities and just societies. (Jeremiah 29:7)
- Because everyone can serve. (1 Corithians 12:17; 1 Peter 4:10-11)
- Because people follow examples better than they follow instructions. Along the way discipleship is the need of the hour.
- Because God has a special heart for those who are poor and vulnerable. (Jeremiah 22:16)
- Because God’s people are to be an instrument of blessing to the world. (Genesis 12:2)
- Because disciples are shaped through serving, not just sitting. Jesus practiced the rhythm of SENDING regularly and usually after big group victories (Matthew 9:35-10:5).
- Because the church’s ministry should be incarnational. Jesus was always close to the needs of people. (John 1:14; 20:21)
- Because God empowers us to participate in ministry. (Ephesians 2:10)
- Because God created us for good works. (Ephesians 2:10)
- Because it’s joining God in what He’s doing in the world. (John 5:19)
- Because it’s fun.
While even a Faith In Action Sunday can become a meaningless ritual or an isolated event, our desire is that giving away will become a part of the flow of peoples lives as it’s part of the flow of Bridge Church.
Faith In Action Weekend: Why we SHOULDN’T serve our community
Four times a year Bridge Church takes a Sunday and SCATTERS instead of GATHERING, taking on some of the major needs in ourcommunity together. Lot’s of interest for and against this idea when it comes up. Let me give you a few reasons to not do this:
- It’s uncomfortable. Someone actually said to me a while back – “I’m uncomfortable with canceling Sunday services at
church.” My response: “Me too!” I’d much rather be sitting in a padded chair, listening to someone talk about how to do Christianity and soaking up good praise and worship music, etc. Or better yet, having people listen to me. But as a leader in my second journey I’m learning that the discomfort is needed to really grow as a disciple and to truly make disciples. - It probably WON’T grow your church numerically, at least not immediately. Actually, every Faith in Action Sunday we tend to lose people. It’s messy to see the needs in people’s lives. It’s chaotic and hard to organize projects around the community. There’s lots of other options around that don’t require as much effort. And it’s just not for everybody, even though we have projects that every person can do, no matter their age or physical ability. But, our desire is to multiply disciples and missionaries, not just put out more chairs every Sunday. I believe in Church Growth, but I’m learning that sometimes church growth can come at the expense of making mature disciples. Serving and doing messy, difficult, uncomfortable, radically generous things personally and corporately can be a powerful tool for life change, discipling, and creating a culture of transformation. The laws of the harvest: you reap what you sow, you reap later than you sow, you reap more than you sow. If we want to produce life-giving disicples who bring real change to the community through Christ, providing opportunities for those disciples to do it together may be necessary.
- You will get taken advantage of. When we talk about the needs of the poor around us today, we do it without ownership. They get help from the government; they could be doing more for themselves; they have big TV’s and cigarettes so why can’t they be more responsible. The idea that drives Faith in Action weekend is to do nothing is not an option. To bring change we must start somewhere. And God has sent us to be the solution and good news in this world (John 20:21, Acts 1:8, Ephesians 2:10). To list reasons why not to help someone guarantees they continue down the path they are in. It takes time and effort, but build partnerships with community agencies, love people for who they are, get a vision for who they can be with Christ and don’t be afraid to lose something for a great cause. If we really believe in the upside down principles of God’s kingdom – “give and it will be given to you” ; “die and you’ll live” ; “lose and you’ll gain” – fear wouldn’t hinder engagement in the hard to reach areas.
- Some people may take this as the Gospel. Every Faith in Action weekend we have two mantras: “We do not serve to be accepted by God. We serve because we ARE accepted by God AND empowered by Him for good works” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Second, the Gospel is incomplete until it is shared. Showing the Gospel is a powerful tool for cultivation, but “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). I am afraid as a leader that someone may think they’re making themselves more acceptable to God through serving, but we can counter that fear by good teaching and serving provides a perfect platform to explain why our efforts are not good enough. But at the same time, we can’t rip out the passages beckoning us to serve b/c of this fear – Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10, James 1:27, 2:14-15, 1 Peter 4:10-11.
Please leave a comment with your reasons why we shouldn’t do Faith in Action, etc.
Faith in Action Sunday is this weekend. Take a quick look at our Itinerary. See a quick video from our last FIA weekend here. Later I’ll give some of the reasons why we SHOULD do this. Unless you talk me out of it.
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” Steve Jobs
“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: ‘If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
— Steve Jobs, from the Stanford Commencement Address
A Simpler Northshore Baptist Association
Beginning in the mid 1600’s in England, Baptist churches have formed associations for fellowship, missions partnership, encouragement, and doctrinal accountability. Most likely the lines were drawn for relationship due to geography which would hinder or provide for ease of transportation between the partner churches. Such was the case for Baptist churches in the Florida Parishes on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain when 100+ years ago the St. Tammany, Chappapeela (Hammond-Ponchatoula area), and LaTangi (Springfield-Albany area) Baptist Association were forming. Last night these three Associations went out of business and formed the Northshore Baptist Association, which spans 2/3 of the I-12 Corridor from Holden to Slidell. Lots of reasons to do this:
- Geography and Demography are no longer issues with ease of transportation and the entire region experiencing 20% growth each year.
- We can do more as an association of 90 churches than an association of 20-30 churches.
- Less meetings, less paperwork, less administrative hassle. From 3 to 1 All Come Annual Gatherings, From 9 to 2 Executive Board/Business Sessions, From 20+ Committees to 5 Ministry Teams, from 3 to 2 Monthly Ministers Conferences.
- Even better strategic partnerships across the I-12 related to Church Multiplication, Compassion Ministries, Church Health, Community Engagement, Disaster Response, and more.
And I believe all of this will result in healthier congregations and better communities on the Northshore and beyond. Get to know the Northshore Baptist Association on our website, connect on Facebook and Twitter. Or drop by a Ministers Conference the 2nd and 3rd Monday’s of each month.
Getting Your Church Unstuck
Follow American church-life today and there is one word that keeps popping up – DECLINE. Every major denomination except one – (the Assemblies of God, whose aggressive church multiplication strategy is making a great impact) – is experiencing a decline. And even the positive note of big churches getting bigger is dampened by decline in belief/discipleship metrics among Christians – like belief that the Bible is the Word of God, or that marriage is between a man and a woman, or that adultery is a sin. Books and blogs and doctoral dissertations are filling up the shelves about what’s wrong and how to change it. Reading many of them myself and looking forward to reading more. Let me suggest a resource if you’re in this battle to stop the decline in your own church or if you’re planting a church that you don’t want to stall:
Tony Morgan’s FREE E-books The Leisure Suit Trap: 8 Reasons Your Church is Stuck and Hanging Up the Leisure Suit: How to Get Unstuck. These can be read in an hour and give practical helps that you can put into action right away. Follow Tony’s Blog for other helpful thoughts on organizational effectiveness, systems, etc.
A few other helpful resources for revitalization:
- Comeback Churches by Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson. Research based on 300 churches that turned it around.
- We use this graphic from Comeback Church to help diagnose a church’s need for Revitalization.
- And also this graphic from Tony Morgan about the why behind churches in decline.
What is a Disciple?
Getting back to Vince Lombardi’s “This is a football. These are yard markers. I’m the coach. Your the players” mentality about the basics is a good thing to do every now and then. Questions I’m asking: If I wanted to be a disciple what would I do? If I wanted to make a disciple what would I do? If I wanted to reproduce a discipleship movement how would I do it?
In Real Life Discipleship Jim Putman defines a disciple according to Matthew 4:19, where Jesus says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” So a disciple is one who knows and follows Christ, is being changed by Christ, and is committed to the mission of Christ. That’s the target in the simplest terms possible.
What does a disciple do? Here’s an acrostic I found and liked:
What is your definition of a disciple? What helpful tools and resources are you using to become and help others become effective disciples?
Courageous Movie Stuff
The movie Courageous opens tomorrow! It will highlight men’s and fathering issues like nothing before. Here’s some great ideas for your church. And some input from the National Fatherhood initiative. Check out the official music video below. The movie trailer is at the end of the clip. Or find it here. Also, check out the Courageous Song lyrics below the video. Also, check out this post by Randy Alcorn about the importance of fathers and the accompanying video with cast members and ministry leaders talking about the importance of fathers.
Courageous Lyrics
We were made to be courageous
We were made to lead the way
We could be the generation
That finally breaks the chain
We were made to be courageous
We were made to be courageous
We were warriors on the front lines
Standing, unafraid
But now we’re watchers on the sidelines
While our families slip away
Where are you, men of courage?
You were made for so much more
Let the pounding of hearts cry
We will serve the Lord
We were made to be courageous
And we’re taking back the fight
We were made to be courageous
And it starts with us tonight
The only way we’ll ever stand
Is on our knees we’re lifting hands
Make us courageous
Lord, make us courageous
This is our resolution
Our answer to the call
We will love our wives and children
We refuse to let them fall
We will reignite the passion
That we buried deep inside
May the watchers become warriors
Let the men of God arise
Seek justice
Love mercy
Walk on
Be with your God
In the war of the mind
I will make my stand
In the battle of the heart
And the battle of the hand
Church Growth vs. Kingdom Growth
“what’s good for my church numerically may not be best for the kingdom – but what’s good for the kingdom is always best for my church.”
Challenging post by Bob Roberts. I actually got to hear Bob teach this while I was a Southwestern Seminary. His books Transformation, Glocalization, and The Multiplying Church (I blogged about this book here) have been very influential in my thinking about ministry.
What about the health factors in ministry that might shrink the church numerically. Bob mentions a few:
- church planting can impact the size of your local church. That isn’t bad – it’s good. We’ve helped over 20 churches get going all around us. There are over 10,000 people in those churches combined – but I doubt seriously if we’d ever run 10,000 at our local church.
- loving other people radically can hurt your church attendance. People want lost people to find Jesus – but they want nice, acceptable, like us lost people – I’m so glad Jesus wasn’t that way. We must go after the ostracized, the neglected, the marginalized – these are the ones that Jesus went after.
- being serious about making disciples will actually hurt your “church attendance” at times. We live in a very consumeristic culture…being a disciple isn’t going to church – and it’s not just feeling good about life and all your dreams coming true.
Read the entire post here.
What are other markers of Kingdom Growth?
From and To / Faith in Action Weekend, Oct 8-9
For God’s people RESTORATION means that God saves us FROM something, but also TO something. (check out a great site and tool for sharing God’s story at – http://viewthestory.com/). This past Sunday at Bridge Church we went through a list of all the things God saves us FROM and TO. It was a fun little exercise. Here’s a few of my favs:
- From Defilement to Purity.
- From Conflict to Peace.
- From Overcome to Overcoming.
- From Lost to Found.
- From Works to Grace.
- From Death to Life.
- From Now to Forever.
- From Distracted to Engaged.
- From Enslaved to Free.
- From Alone to Adopted.
- From Weak to Empowered.
- From Me to Others.
- From Selfishness to On Mission.
“From and to” are great Gospel words of transformation. I also like “that was then”, “who I was”, “before and after.” All these phrases that many of us use in our personal testimonies express that there is great power to change with Christ. And I believe God has sent us to bring people and places “from” where they are “to” where He wants them to be, so they can testify to the “that was then” “before and after” power of God and work of God’s people.
That’s why I love Faith in Action Weekend. Once per quarter our church SCATTERS into our community instead of GATHERING behind four walls for worship. Why?
- It’s a statement that worship transcends singing and listening – it’s head, heart, and hands. It’s living out our great salvation – by grace through faith for service (see Ephesians 2:8-9 AND 10).
- It’s sharing the Good News of Christ’s love that drove Him to die in our place and power that overcame death.
- It’s a discipling tool that helps continue my own transformation. Serving, sharing, giving always changes me.
- It’s a way to bring FROM and TO, that was then, before and after change to our community.
This Faith in Action Weekend we’ll be working with the West 30’s Revitalization Committee to bring visible transformation through
painting six homes in a needy part of the city of Covington. You can join us: Saturday, 8:30am at Peter Adkins Park. We’ll be partnering with Homeworks of America. And for Faith in Action Sunday, meet us at 9am at the West St. Tammany YMCA for breakfast and then scattering to paint in the West 30’s. We’ll also be doing a Family Day Block Party at our local jail during Sunday’s visitation hours, bringing some light to a dark season of some of our neighbors lives. Our ladies will be making Fall wreaths for resident doors at a local Nursing Home. There will also be some projects at a local mobile home park. Looking forward to some physical and spiritual from and to, before and after, that was then stories after Faith in Action Sunday.
Basic Bulgarian with Benjamin – Lesson 1
Ben’s Mom and Dad are serving as art consultants in Bulgaria. He’s picking up the language quite well. Looking forward to learning more Bulgarian with Benjamin.
Follow the Randolph’s at http://justinandbethrandolph.blogspot.com/.
Lane Corley 
