My course is a book and dvd course. The book is titled "Suprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to each Them" by Thom S. Rainer. The dvd course is "Church Growth", taught by Terry Forrest. I'll dicsuss 2 chapters and I'll watch 3-4 classes on the dvd class.
The book chapters i'll discuss this week are: 3. Relationships that Click 4. Impressed by 1st impressions The book so far has been very imformative. They do research and surveys with people who are Christians but have recently joined a church or been saved. the titles describe the subjects very well.
Hey, Sean. I find the title of chapter three to be interesting. I have friends that, when I first met them, we just hit it off. I feel that God has something to do with it. What does that chapter discuss?
Hey Sean, first impressions are very important, you can learn alot about someone by their first impression. When I read about Jesus's triumpant entry into Jerusalem I wonder what kind of impression Jesus gave to the city. What does your study say is important more than your spirituality? Or is this the most important thing?
I remember that the first thing Jesus did was cleanse the temple. I guess that the first impression was that Jesus was not going to let this go on anymore. I sometimes wonder what the disciples thought at that moment.
I think I heard somewhere that the cleansing of the temple came right on the heels of the triumphal entry. I bet that was confusing to the disciples, but Jesus knew that He must go to the cross; so, it didn't matter to Him if he continued to receive the praise of ment.
Ch 3 talks about how relationships played a part in the unchurched decision in joining a church. The book gives a lot of statstics on it. It said about 57% said it did play a part in it. The 2nd highest reason was that the church had people who cared for others. #1 was Doctrine/ Theology being the biggest factor in choosing a church.
Ch 4 was interesting in pointing out some things that were important to newcomers. Here's a list: Adequate parking Clean facilities Modern facilities High Quality preschool/nursery Variety of quality programs Revelant and quality music Clean bathrooms Friendly people Outgoing Greeters Clearly marked and functional welcome center Good signage Comfortable Pews & chairs Attention holding preaching This is a long list and at first I thought "this shouldnt matter". But after some thought I realize that a lot of people that visit aren't looking for the Spirit. THis is something that they accept when they're ready. This list of things make sense because they need to return to feel "comfortable", or undistracted by things that bother them or worry about.
in my DVD course, one discusses missionaries. It talks about a book by McGavin. He says all people should be: 1. Found 2. Reconciled to God 3. taught responsible membership Basically he emphasises that the church needs to do more that just "spread the word".
One of the other classes discusses doctrine. It uses the word ecumenical, which means open. He discusses how some churches want to be open to different things. He says that in doing so, these churches have grown fast, but have stopped or fallen off because people usually want something that is clear. It later goes into the differences in our belief and Catholics. Another interesting point he says is that the Protestant movement was formed in "protest" of the Catholics. belief.
Sean, you guys did a great job last night. I was proud of all the youth. It is such a blessing to see those young men and women get up and praise the Lord. I will continue to pray for you guys as leaders and the young people as well.
You will notice some posts below that relate to various topics of discussion by our online community of preachers.
One of the purposes of Preachers' Meeting is to provide a place for young ministers or those recently called to preach to interact around the principles in a course of study recommended by our local group of preachers in the Southern Illinois area.
We invite you to look in on our conversations. If you would like to add comments as a guest, you are welcome to do so. If this looks interesting to you, you may join us as we start a new session. You can look in the side bar (or sometimes it is moved to right below this post) to see the weekly requirements. We start new courses every 8 or 9 weeks. As already mentioned, you are welcome to comment as a guest before that time.
Below these posts, you will see the word, "comments." Just click on it, and you will see a box on the right side of the screen where you may add your comments.
Look around. Enjoy yourself, and come back often!
Weekly Requirements
Here is a review of the general requirements for each week.
You have three assignments each week
(1) Make at least two initial posts in your posting area. The first one will be the name of the course, and the names (or numbers of the DVD's) of the chapters or lectures you will be covering during the week. The second one will be a comment on one of those chapters. You will receive one point for getting the first post in on Tuesday or Wednesday. You will also get a point for getting at least one more initial post in.
(2) Go to your fellow student's posting areas, and ask them a question or make comments about their intial posts. You will recieve one point for completing this assignment before 12:00 a.m. on Friday morning (that would be before midnight on Thursday).
(3) Answer the questions asked.
(4) On Fridays, I will also give directions for making remaining posts during the week. Be sure and read those, and take them into account when making at least one of your remaining posts.
In all, we want to make at least nine posts during the week. You will receive points for that as follows:
9 or more posts - 12 points
6-8 posts - 10 points
3-5 posts - 6 points
1-2 posts - 3 points
You will have the extra points you had accumulated by getting things in on time. Those are bonus points that will be used only to move your grade closer to 100 if you need them. They will be awarded each week if needed to move your grade up to 12 for the week. If you do not need them for that week, they will be carried over to the next week(s). Remember the posts that count for points will be at least three sentences long.
Thoughts on Application
Roger gave some good thoughts on application:
"Chapter 75, titled: 'Apply Within' is a lesson in application. The writer explains why it is sometimes difficult applying a sermon to real life situations. I will list some of the reasons application is not applied to our lives.
"First it is "hard work", it is hard to find application to every situation in the congregation,
"second, is wrong assumptions, assuming the audience is able to apply any and all biblical truths is totally a wrong assumption,
"third, is fear, fear of being to deep or to simplistic in the text and failing at application, and then there is training or lack thereof,
"many preachers know the text, and the history and the order of things but are totally untrained in application. One gentleman said it this way," how can you be a good football player when you can pass the ball, or when you can kick the ball, or when you can run with the ball but you don't know the rules of the game."
If you live in the souther Illinois area, we would like to invite you to a Couples' Marriage Enrichment Seminar on Saturday, February 27. It starts at 6:00 p.m and will run to 9:00 p.m.
After the welcome, there will be a dinner. Then there will be an opening session, followed by two breakout sessions, then a short closing.
The Keynote Speaker is Dr. Randy Carney (That's me :)!) and Roger and Janet Dutton will be speaking during the breakout sessions (That's Roger, who is commenting on this blog during this term!). Randy and Rhonda (my wife!) Carney will also have a breakout session discussing "Keys to Marital Bliss."
The Keynote Address will be on the topic of "The Way to a Successful Marriage: The Shocking and Surprising Truth."
Roger and Janet will be talking about "Hope for Restoring your marriage."
The cost is $15.00 per couple and that includes a dinner and all seminar materials. A nursery and childcare will be available. (Please indicate that you need these services when you register.) A book table with resources from Handfuls on Purpose Christian Bookstore will be available.
The seminar is for couples of all ages, ranging from newlyweds to marriage veterans!
To register, call 618-627-2228 to let the church know how may will be attending. Payment can be made at the event. (Make checks to TFBC.) For more information, call the church at 618-627-2228.
The Greatest Love
Since Valentine's Day falls on Sunday this year, I imagine there will be a ton of sermons going out on the topic of love.
Paul talked about love and respect in marriage (Ephesians 5), but he was really saying that that was an illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church.
Christ
Left Heaven to come to this earth.
He
Overcame adversity while here. He even conquered death!
He
Valued mankind so much that He gave Himself on the cross.
He desires fellowship with us. He reconciled the world to Himself, so that people could have an
Intimate realtionship with Him.
He meets all of our
Needs.
He is the supreme example of
Giving.
Do you see the word, LOVING, there? That is what He is--our LOVING Savior! Because of that, we should love one another.
Course 11 Week 4
Scroll down to the week 4 area to begin commenting.
Dealing with the Closed American Mind
One of the chapters Roger is reading is entitled, (something like) "Dealing with the Closed American Mind." I don't know if it is mentioned in the chapter, but I suspect that if you tak about something where a person has a felt need, you can gain their hearing somewhat.
What are your thoughts?
You may scroll down and comment in the week 3 comments area. Visitors are welcome to comment also.
Connecting with Postmoderns
This is something most preachers do every Sunday. If you have young unchurched visitors in your church, you will be trying to reach postmoderns. Even some of your church youth are more influenced by postmodernism than by their previous Sunday school teaching.
Here is my reply to one of Roger's posts:
"Roger, what tips stand out to you for commecting with postmoderns? I think the term modern referred to an age in history that related to new thoughts in science, etc. (If I am off base, refresh my memory.) Post modern refers to the time following that era. Connecting with postmoderns is something you have to do, whether you realize it or not, almost every time you preach."
I will post some of his answers here if he sees the question in time.
Preaching--Proclamation of God's Word
Preaching, by one definition, is the proclamation of God's Word. As such, a person, can take the Scriptural passage and find some of its main points and emphasize those points.
While I believe we should learn all we can about the grammatical construction of the words of Scripture, and that we should learn all we can about the historical setting for when those words were originally spoken; the nice thing about proclaiming the Word is that you can just take what the text says and emphasize it. Then the Word will not return void.
People with all different types of backgrounds have been called to preach throughout the centuries. Some very "unlearned" (as the world would put it) men have had great results by simply taking the main ideas of Scripture and simply emphasizing them. As long as we do not twist the meaning, this simply shows the amazing power of the Word of God.
New Format
I am going to try putting my comments for each day in this left sidebar. The comments areas for the remaining weeks are displayed to the right. That is where you will place your comments for each week.
12 comments:
My course is a book and dvd course. The book is titled "Suprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to each Them" by Thom S. Rainer. The dvd course is "Church Growth", taught by Terry Forrest. I'll dicsuss 2 chapters and I'll watch 3-4 classes on the dvd class.
April 8, 2009 10:00 AM
The book chapters i'll discuss this week are:
3. Relationships that Click
4. Impressed by 1st impressions
The book so far has been very imformative. They do research and surveys with people who are Christians but have recently joined a church or been saved. the titles describe the subjects very well.
Hey, Sean. I find the title of chapter three to be interesting. I have friends that, when I first met them, we just hit it off. I feel that God has something to do with it. What does that chapter discuss?
Hey Sean, first impressions are very important, you can learn alot about someone by their first impression. When I read about Jesus's triumpant entry into Jerusalem I wonder what kind of impression Jesus gave to the city. What does your study say is important more than your spirituality? Or is this the most important thing?
I remember that the first thing Jesus did was cleanse the temple. I guess that the first impression was that Jesus was not going to let this go on anymore. I sometimes wonder what the disciples thought at that moment.
I think I heard somewhere that the cleansing of the temple came right on the heels of the triumphal entry. I bet that was confusing to the disciples, but Jesus knew that He must go to the cross; so, it didn't matter to Him if he continued to receive the praise of ment.
Sean,
I enjoyed your message at Youth Rally tonight.
Ch 3 talks about how relationships played a part in the unchurched decision in joining a church. The book gives a lot of statstics on it. It said about 57% said it did play a part in it. The 2nd highest reason was that the church had people who cared for others. #1 was Doctrine/ Theology being the biggest factor in choosing a church.
Ch 4 was interesting in pointing out some things that were important to newcomers. Here's a list:
Adequate parking
Clean facilities
Modern facilities
High Quality preschool/nursery
Variety of quality programs
Revelant and quality music
Clean bathrooms
Friendly people
Outgoing Greeters
Clearly marked and functional welcome center
Good signage
Comfortable Pews & chairs
Attention holding preaching
This is a long list and at first I thought "this shouldnt matter". But after some thought I realize that a lot of people that visit aren't looking for the Spirit. THis is something that they accept when they're ready. This list of things make sense because they need to return to feel "comfortable", or undistracted by things that bother them or worry about.
in my DVD course, one discusses missionaries. It talks about a book by McGavin. He says all people should be:
1. Found
2. Reconciled to God
3. taught responsible membership
Basically he emphasises that the church needs to do more that just "spread the word".
One of the other classes discusses doctrine. It uses the word ecumenical, which means open. He discusses how some churches want to be open to different things. He says that in doing so, these churches have grown fast, but have stopped or fallen off because people usually want something that is clear. It later goes into the differences in our belief and Catholics. Another interesting point he says is that the Protestant movement was formed in "protest" of the Catholics. belief.
Sean, you guys did a great job last night. I was proud of all the youth. It is such a blessing to see those young men and women get up and praise the Lord. I will continue to pray for you guys as leaders and the young people as well.
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