I attended a conference this weekend which really opened my eyes to some of the ways I have viewed church and the Christian life. Some friends in ministry shared that they weren't sure if they would attend the conference because it seemed like it was going to be a lot of stuff for the new generation. In a way they were right, but the ideas presented were nearly 2000 years old.
The "One21" Forum was an amazing reminder that we can reach 21st century culture if we return to 1st century ways of sharing Jesus. I've heard a lot of talk about "missional" and "convergent" churches and making our message "relevant" to the world today, but I had never really taken the time to understand the whole idea. I am glad I did this weekend. Sometimes we can get so tied up in our church buildings and programs and trying to get people to "come to church" that we forget to go "into the world" to share the gospel, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are discovering more and more that the world is "coming to the church" less and less and we need to meet people where they are. Over and over in the Bible we see people sharing with other people, meeting their needs and sharing the good news of the salvation offered through Jesus.
I especially was interested in those who talked about making connections in the workplace, school, and other places in the culture we live in. How often we place our Faith in Jesus on a shelf when we go to work. God should not be a "big part of our lives," he should be the thing that ties all of the "parts" of our life together. He should be in our work, our play, our worship, our fun, everywhere.... we can't shut Him out of any part of our culture or we won't be able to share His love with everyone we meet.
Our church is our people... not our building. The church is the living, moving, body of Christ. It is difficult to make an impact on the world when the body only gets moving once a week to come and sit in a building. Let's get the body of Christ awake and effective throughout our world to lead as many as possible to a new life and a new eternity.
The "One21" Forum was an amazing reminder that we can reach 21st century culture if we return to 1st century ways of sharing Jesus. I've heard a lot of talk about "missional" and "convergent" churches and making our message "relevant" to the world today, but I had never really taken the time to understand the whole idea. I am glad I did this weekend. Sometimes we can get so tied up in our church buildings and programs and trying to get people to "come to church" that we forget to go "into the world" to share the gospel, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are discovering more and more that the world is "coming to the church" less and less and we need to meet people where they are. Over and over in the Bible we see people sharing with other people, meeting their needs and sharing the good news of the salvation offered through Jesus.
I especially was interested in those who talked about making connections in the workplace, school, and other places in the culture we live in. How often we place our Faith in Jesus on a shelf when we go to work. God should not be a "big part of our lives," he should be the thing that ties all of the "parts" of our life together. He should be in our work, our play, our worship, our fun, everywhere.... we can't shut Him out of any part of our culture or we won't be able to share His love with everyone we meet.
Our church is our people... not our building. The church is the living, moving, body of Christ. It is difficult to make an impact on the world when the body only gets moving once a week to come and sit in a building. Let's get the body of Christ awake and effective throughout our world to lead as many as possible to a new life and a new eternity.
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