Mark 2 – Outward Looking Focus

I have just returned from the ‘Fresh Streams’  conference where one of the main speakers was Roy Searle, the ex President of the Baptist Union. In his opening message, he referred to Matthew 28:18 – 20 more often referred to as ‘The Great Commission’ :-

 ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He went on to say that “We exist as Baptists to fulfil the Great Commission‘.

Did you know that this is the only command that Jesus gave his disciples to do that cannot be done in heaven – we can do everything else he commanded in heaven – we can sing – praise – worship – pray – But we cannot ‘Make Disciples’ in Heaven – it will be too late by then.

So how can we fulfil the Great Commission in and around Stockport Baptist in 2015 and beyond?

 

What you said…

On Sunday, we started the Healthy Church series with an exploration of being ‘Energised by faith’. Armed with your pens and post-its (courtesy of O’Briens Catering!) you kindly fed back your comments. We had responses from 20 individuals, and here they are:

Affirming comments

• Thank you for reminding us that life is a GIFT
• Col 2: 6-7 What brilliant verses!
• Great topic – it’s great to be reminded of what a church should be and do
• A good reminder of why we come to church. A chance to renew our faith.

Identified needs

• I would like some place (equivalent to prayer book) to share answers to prayer and exciting God stuff that’s going on (or space in some meetings/services)
• Would like more praise in services
• Q Could we introduce a (monthly?) time of open worship? Eg Sunday evening, where people can come for an hour to be free to express their worship to God more freely, and pray. Help us to receive, Iive, rooted, overflow

Identified issues

• At this time we are a church who just come to hear, but we need to be a church that hears and then does, to work out our faith for our love of Jesus and his commands. We are beginning to understand and open our hearts.
• Jesus was energised by the Holy Spirit. What part does the Holy Spirit play in our lives? This is Jesus’ greatest gift to us.
• Lament? No place to or unable.
• At the moment we don’t share our fears and doubts, our differences and our hopes and dreams for this church. Why? Because our fear of censure, and uncertain how others would react
• How important are numbers to church? Can you grow without increasing numbers? How?
• Active church that prays will become a healthy church. ‘Heal thy church’
• Need to be more accessible to local community eg drop-ins

 General comments and responses

• Is this series based on Robert Warren’s book?
• Community = ? Being together FOR each other; Faith = ? In Jesus FOR salvation; Action = ? In wider community FOR God; How?
• Col 3:12 Live like this: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgive grievances
• Faith is a whole of life thing. Not sure that is a good definition of faith. Faith should be expressed through our ‘whole life’
• How do you stop your faith being led by your feelings?
• Reading and meditating on the Bible. Accepting people and forgiving things about them that annoy.
• Faith encourages prayer (personal and communal)
• The statement ie ‘healthy church’ reminded me of our conclusion re new ‘mission statement’ at SBC!

Do these spark any further thoughts in you? Something you agree with (or not)? Add your comments below and let’s get this conversation started.

Religion is for lovers

What gets your heart racing? What makes you want to sing…and dance? What excites you?

The word that occurs to me as I write that is LOVE! People, and things, that I love will do that to me. These questions we’re asking are questions of the heart.

So, at the start of our Healthy Church season, we’re thinking about being Energised by Faith. That’s not going to happen if faith is reduced to saying I believe in, I agree with, some statements about God, about Jesus Christ, even if they’re true. Stuff like that won’t energise anyone. To be energised by faith, love has to be involved. And one of the ideas behind ‘love’ is that it represents a giving without holding back, an ‘unconditional’ commitment.

John Caputo, a favourite writer of mine, says: ‘Religion is for lovers, for men and women of passion, for real people with a passion for something other than taking profits, people who believe in something, who hope like mad in something, who love something with a love that surpasses understanding.’ Quoting 1John 4:8, he says: ‘the opposite of a religious person is a loveless person.’

So, my encouragement to you over these coming weeks is to stoke up the flame, the embers, or even the ashes of your faith – on your own, in a group, with a friend, at church – and let your light shine before the people.

 

 

Welcome to SBC new blog

Welcome!

The coming months are going to be an exciting, energizing, and forward-looking time for SBC as we explore how we as a church can be ‘healthy’ in every sense.

This week (Sunday 11th) will see the start of a new series looking at the  7 Marks of a Healthy Church. This blog will play a small part in the growth of discussion about what this means for us in practice.

We want as many of our church members / friends as possible to engage with this subject and this is just one of the ways which is available to you. So please leave any feedback or questions you might have or join in any of the discussions that we might have as we work our way through the 7 marks over the next few months.