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Pastor Steve’s Weekly Letter For Thursday, July 29, 2010
This week I have been teaching a doctoral course in preaching at Denver Seminary. This is the third time I have done this in the past decade, and it is always a great experience! I am team-teaching the course with Dr. Scott Wenig, Denver Seminary’s professor of preaching and pastoral ministry. He and I work well together. Last night, he even took me to a Colorado Rockies baseball game! It was a nice break. Monday night, I had dinner with my two nephews, Caleb and Jordan, and with Caleb’s fiancée, Kara. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough evenings to get together with all of my other friends in Denver!
Priscilla and Luke will fly here tomorrow. Then, we plan on driving to Bozeman, Montana. This is about 18 miles from the church I served prior to coming to Libertyville. A pastor-friend friend of mine in Bozeman has asked me to preach for him since he will be gone on sabbatical. So I’ll preach Saturday evening and twice on Sunday morning. But the rest is pure vacation! From Bozeman, we’ll drive to Priscilla’s folks who live northwest of Boise, Idaho – right on the Idaho/Oregon border. Luke and I hope to do some fly-fishing, and we’ll visit some museums in Boise – the World Center for Birds of Prey and the Military History Museum. Luke hopes to check out the football program at Boise State University.
This Sunday, August 1, you will be in good hands as Joe Giovanetto, one of our elders, continues our series in the letter of James with a sermon on James 4:13-5:6. Joe will also lead communion. Remember, as I announced last week, that we will continue our current Sunday morning schedule of one worship service until our attendance consistently reaches 400. So, the plan is to hold our worship service from 9:00 to 10:10 a.m. and our education hour (children and youth Sunday School, Adult Bridge Groups) from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
As we think about our church, I encourage you to think in terms of being a “missional church” – that is, a church that sees itself on a mission to its community. Jesus taught his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Our mission as a church is not simply to build a loving community of Christ-followers. That is a key part of it. But we want to build a loving community of Christ-followers to reach a culture in need of God’s presence. New Testament scholar Greg Beale argues: “The mark of the true church is always to be outward-looking and expanding God’s presence and not obsessively introspective.” But our temptation is simply to focus on ourselves. Veteran pastor and church-planter Ed Stetzer observes: “Our churches often struggle because we put our preferences over our call – our preferences over the mission.” So we will do well to ask ourselves how we are going to “go” to people in our community and proclaim to them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One of the adjustments we have to make is to think in terms of going to our community rather than asking our community to come to us. For decades, churches intent on reaching people for Christ have pursued an “attractional” model. That is, we invite people to our Sunday services or special events where we present the gospel. This still works to some extent. But when we really understand the direction of our culture, the more we realize how important it is to go to people where they are rather than invite them to a church event. Now please do not misunderstand me. I believe that that our worship services can be a powerful evangelistic tool. When people come and observe a community of believers genuinely worshipping God, it is possible for them to see that God is truly among us (1 Corinthians 14:25). This is why we try to make our services intelligible to anyone who comes. But we do not design them for nonbelievers. Sometimes, the best strategy for introducing a friend or neighbor to Christ may not be inviting them to a church event. You may need to build a relationship, invite them into your home, and share the gospel with them at Mickey Finn’s long before you ever bring them to a worship service. The process can be slow. If you’ve been doing this for several months or years, keep at it! If not, then think about how you can “go” to your neighbors, to parents at your daughter’s soccer games, or to your co-workers. May God strengthen you and encourage you as missionaries sent by Christ! I’ll see you soon!
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