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Reasons and Disclaimer

One other thing that I’ve learned about preaching is the value of preaching larger sections of scripture at a time.  There are a few reasons for this:

1. People learn more about the context of the story and it ensures that I don’t bend the Word around my own agenda for the day.  Instead I am forced to let the Story speak for itself.
2. It gets the listeners more interested in reading the Bible.  As you preach through larger sections of the book, more and more loose ends begin to connect.  This brings people to a place where they want to read more to see what else can get tied up in there.
3. It challenges me to deal with verses that are hard to talk about or that I don’t understand, like to think about or that I haven’t made room for in my heart yet.  Here’s a good example:

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Reasons and Disclaimer

One area that I feel like I’ve learned/grown the most in is teaching and preaching.

I was very blessed to serve at the Orchard in Tupelo under Reverend Doctor Bryan D. Collier, who is not only an incredible preacher, but who also kicked me out on a stage in front of way too many people and encouraged me to give it my best shot.  

I also credit preaching at my dad’s funeral for quickly getting me over any fear of public speaking I had.  I figured that if I could make it through that, I could make it through anything.

I had the opportunity to preach at Orchard Tupelo occasionally, but nothing prepared me for the rigors of preaching every Sunday like, well, preaching every Sunday.

I read a passage from Paul’s letter to Timothy the other day that made me realize just how much I had grown in my understanding of preaching AND it helped me to refocus the time that I spend in front of my church on the essentials.

 

2 Timothy 2:11-13 

This is a trustworthy saying:

   If we die with him,
      we will also live with him.
 If we endure hardship,
      we will reign with him.
   If we deny him,
      he will deny us.
 If we are unfaithful,
      he remains faithful,
      for he cannot deny who he is.

 

Paul is quoting a hymn for his young friend.  And it is his next line that shows the importance of those words:

Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God’s presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them.

Paul encourages TImothy to help the people remember these important, timeless truths about God and his kingdom.  They were to be a regular part of his teaching because they displayed the core tenets of the faith he was calling people to.  If he was not grounding his teaching in these things, then he was just creating more useless argument and speculation.

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Reasons and Disclaimer

From the beginning, people have asked why we didn’t put the fact that we are a Methodist church in our name, on our sign or on the front page of our website.  They had a lot of questions:

-Are you trying to hide something?

-Is this a real Methodist church?

-Do you think every new church plant should hide their denominational affiliation in order to reach new people?

The answers: No, Yes, No.

The Skinny:

Some people think that we are trying to intentionally hide the fact that we are United Methodist or that we are even a “church”.  This is not true.  We are a church. We love being a church.  Throughout human history, the Church (universal term for the gathering of believers worldwide) has been a beautiful thing.  On many occasions, it was the place of hope and peace within the communities that it was a part of.  Although the Church has fallen short at times, we still believe that the church is God’s plan for bringing his redemptive message to the world and we are honored to be a part of it.  We also believe that John Wesley’s (founder of the Methodist movement) perspectives on Scripture and community are as important and inspired today as they’ve ever been.  We enjoy the connection and support of the Methodist conference in MS and we are blessed to be able to see what God is doing in churches all throughout the state and the world.

At the same time, we also recognize the fact that in Oxford, MS, there are many people for which the Church has failed.  Many went there searching for peace and wholeness and were unable to find it.  This has been especially true for many seekers in the Bible belt.  Because of this, we are desperately trying to bring fresh ideas and a fresh face (a different name, different terminology) into the conversation about faith, with the hope that they will give pursuing a lifelong relationship with God another try. 

I don’t think that every new church should feel the need to do this.  For some communities (and it’s up to the local pastor to decide if their’s fits in this category or not), it’s actually best for a church to display a denominational affiliation more prominently as they introduce themselves there.  It all goes back to knowing the city that you are trying to reach and being willing to responsibly do what it takes to reach it.

Reason and Disclaimer

One of the best pieces of advice I got in the planting phase of our church came from a book called Community of Kindness by Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati.

Chapter 8 “Scaffolding People” talks about one of the phenomena of church planting.  Here’s the gist:

In the early days, you will have people come and join you on your journey to begin this church.  They will be there in the early days, help you get started, and then, oddly enough, they’ll leave.  I thought surely this wasn’t true the first time I read it, but it is.

Scaffolding people (named for the structures that go up during the construction of a building and then come down once it’s finished) come in all types.  Some will be energetic, passionate people who seem even more excited than you do about the church.  Some will be very kind, meek and dedicated to serving.  Some will be pushy and immature.  You hang onto all of them because they are all that you’ve got at first.  But then some of them will leave, for various reasons.

Some will tell you why they leave and some wont.  

Some have great reasons and you love them even more for being honest with you.  Some leave because they are trying to do the best thing for their family at the moment.  Some leave because they feel a connection to the mission of another church (and that’s a good thing).  Some leave because their unchurched family members don’t really understand what you are doing, so they go back to the traditional church and pray that they will come along.  Some leave because they found that they were growing at the church they went to long ago and they go back there and give it another try (also a good thing).

Some leave for bad reasons.  Some leave because the gospel you preach asks too much of them and you worry about which half-gospel, new age thought they’ll eventually give their lives over to.  Some leave because the church didn’t grow fast enough, play the right kind of music or have all the programs that they thought it should have…and you pray for them, that one day they’ll realize that the Church doesn’t revolve around them.  Some leave because they thought the church should swallow them, bringing them into community without any effort on their part.  They refuse to join a small group, go to a service project or even branch out to meet someone new, then they claim “I just couldn’t find a place at your church.”

Whatever the reason, some will leave and it hurts. It stings and it scars.

My advice? Find peace in knowing that you aren’t the first person it has happened to.  Learn if there are things to be learned.  Forgive and set your heart free.  Then move on.

And keep your head up, because for every Scaffolding person who takes down and goes home, God is faithful to send more patient and kind and faithful people in their place.  

That’s been the story of The Orchard.

Reasons and Disclaimer

Blended worship: the phrase used to create something uneasy inside me.  I always pictured people with big hair singing a very operatic version of “Lord I Lift Your Name On High.”

I’ve been a part of the conversation about contemporary vs. traditional church music for a long time now and I am just as surprised as anyone that I now pastor a church that has a more blended (“both”) musical style.

One important thing that we’ve learned over the past few months is that when contemporary songs are sung alongside traditional (although newly-arranged) ones, it raises the impact and value of both.  People who find themselves more connected to singing new songs are discovering the depth and creativity of hymns.  People who grew up singing hymns are realizing the accessibility and spiritual nurturing that can happen as people sing contemporary songs together.  It is amazing to see people of all ages and places in life connect in one hybrid worship service.

A lot of what we’ve learned has come from a dedication not to worship style but to the theological basis and purpose of singing in the life of a church.  Something really does happen when music seeps into a person’s soul in a safe and common place like church.  Words take on a different meaning and place in our lives when they come out of the deepest part of us. Singing is a vulnerable act and when we partake in it together we place ourselves in the right position before God, remembering what he’s done for us and what he has called us to do in light of it.  And all of this is secondary behind the fact that praising God is a Biblically-mandated action for believers (Psalm 67:3, Joel 2:26, James 5:13).

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In Tupelo today at the Summit. Been doing it for years now…

www.willowcreek.com/SummitNextSteps