I will begin preaching my last series for Missio Dei Church, Asheville beginning this Sunday, May 2. We will take 12 weeks and work through Habakkuk: wrestling with faith. I hope that it will be an encouraging series for our community.
This is the final post for this blog. With the transition to plant a new church, I am blogging here.
Showing posts with label Church Planting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church Planting. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Friday, June 12, 2009
Fight Club: Men's Conference
Fellow Acts 29 Network Pastor, Jason Martin, of the Journey Church in Atlanta is hosting a day-long men's conference on Aug. 1.Talk One: Why the church needs fighting men (Scott Thomas - Executive Pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle and Director of Acts 29 Network)
Talk Two: Fighting for Gospel Transformation in your Family (Keith Watson - Acts 29 Member, Pastor of New City Church in Macon, GA)
Talk Three: Fighting for Gospel Transformation in your Job (Leonce Crump - Acts 29 Candidate and planting Renovation Church in Atlanta)
Talk Four: Fighting for Gospel Transformation in you Time (Matt Adair - Acts 29 Member and and Pastor of Christ Community Church in Watkinsville, GA)
Talk Five: Fighting for Gospel Transformation over your flesh (Jason Martin - Acts 29 Member, host pastor)
Talk Six: Fighting for Gospel Transformation in your Church (Scott Thomas)
The conference is from 8:30 - 5 and cost will be low. Sign up by filling out a connect card at our worship gatherings, or by emailing Pastor Kurt (kurt@mdcasheville.org).
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Ministry Structure at Missio Dei Part 1
Missio Dei Church began with a general dissatisfaction with the many and varied forms by which church was being done. It seemed as though the grand story of God’s Gospel and Kingdom were at best forgotten and at worst, being ignored, minimized or changed.
While it’s very easy to deconstruct church paradigms, it takes heavy reliance on the Spirit through prayer and Scriptural study to “reconstruct” what the church should be. Many are asking good questions, but not digging into the Bible and thus are coming up with creative and new ways of being disobedient to God and the Gospel.
The dream at Missio Dei was that we would not come up with new ways of doing church. Our intention has been to always “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), so that things such as virgin birth of Messiah, inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy, authority of Scripture, necessity of faith in Christ alone, etc. were not up for debate. Missio Dei, to be a faithful, Christ honoring church would have to remain committed to an unchanging Gospel, contextualized to a changing culture. The Gospel would be the foundation of our community.
The Gospel, as presented in Scripture is not simply a way into the Kingdom. It is the way of the Kingdom of God. The Gospel expressed in the Scriptures teaches us that human beings were created to be perfect reflections of God, husbands and wives, parents, developers of culture, etc. (Gen. 1:26-28). In essence, humans were to be a people who rule over creation by living according to God’s truth, in communion with God and one another. Adam, our first father, failed and since the fall of our father Adam, by nature and by choice, we are fallen in our capacities and abilities from being what we were created to be. And because of this, God Himself curses us (Gen. 3:17-19, Rom. 8:19-22). Albert Wolters describes it precisely saying, “Whether we look at societal structures such as the state or family, or cultural pursuits such as art or technology, or bodily functions such as sexuality or eating, or anything within the wide scope of creation, we discover that the good handiwork of God has been drawn into the sphere of human mutiny against God” (Creation Regained, p. 54).
The good news is that there is One who would perfectly rule over creation, live according to God’s truth and commune with God and man. Jesus was the perfect image of God and came to rescue (John 6:38-40). Jesus form of rescue was not simply an example of a better way to live (though it was that), but He was condemned in humanity’s place. Three days after his unjust murder on a Roman cross, He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father (Rom. 5:6-11). The aim of Jesus is to bring new life and vitality to the fallen, broken creation; to restore creation’s original purpose (Col. 1:15-20).
Jesus is working to restore creation through the church, whose call is to promote renewal in every area of creation (John 20:21, II Cor. 5:17-21). This authoritative sending activity of God is not simply propositional (Matt. 28:18-20). The goal of making disciples takes place in the context of relationships. This means that, in everything we do, we are to be engaged in building friendships and showing the beauty of the gospel (the hope of redemption) to the world around us. We attempt, though imperfectly, to spell out personal and corporate (group) beliefs and behavior patterns that show the larger society what the Kingdom of God is all about.
With this Gospel-centered vision for the church community, and a desire to organize in simple and honest ways, I began reflecting on how we would express the body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27)and mobilize the church to effectively go into the city with the Gospel. The convictions that formed our ministry design included the commitment to facilitate environments where the Gospel is preached for clarity, applied to life among fellows on the journey, and shared with our culture through service. These environments lined up neatly with the offices Christ came to fulfill and the areas in which he succeeded where Adam failed.
The offices are Prophet (declaring the truth of God), Priest (communion with God and people), and King (ruling over creation). They shape our environments of gathering for explanation/proclamation of the Gospel, community groups for exploration of the Gospel, and lifestyle service for expression of the Gospel.
In future articles, I’ll unpack how these environments are played out in the context of Asheville, a creative urban hub for the spiritually and morally disenfranchised of the Southeast.
While it’s very easy to deconstruct church paradigms, it takes heavy reliance on the Spirit through prayer and Scriptural study to “reconstruct” what the church should be. Many are asking good questions, but not digging into the Bible and thus are coming up with creative and new ways of being disobedient to God and the Gospel. The dream at Missio Dei was that we would not come up with new ways of doing church. Our intention has been to always “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), so that things such as virgin birth of Messiah, inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy, authority of Scripture, necessity of faith in Christ alone, etc. were not up for debate. Missio Dei, to be a faithful, Christ honoring church would have to remain committed to an unchanging Gospel, contextualized to a changing culture. The Gospel would be the foundation of our community.
The Gospel, as presented in Scripture is not simply a way into the Kingdom. It is the way of the Kingdom of God. The Gospel expressed in the Scriptures teaches us that human beings were created to be perfect reflections of God, husbands and wives, parents, developers of culture, etc. (Gen. 1:26-28). In essence, humans were to be a people who rule over creation by living according to God’s truth, in communion with God and one another. Adam, our first father, failed and since the fall of our father Adam, by nature and by choice, we are fallen in our capacities and abilities from being what we were created to be. And because of this, God Himself curses us (Gen. 3:17-19, Rom. 8:19-22). Albert Wolters describes it precisely saying, “Whether we look at societal structures such as the state or family, or cultural pursuits such as art or technology, or bodily functions such as sexuality or eating, or anything within the wide scope of creation, we discover that the good handiwork of God has been drawn into the sphere of human mutiny against God” (Creation Regained, p. 54).
The good news is that there is One who would perfectly rule over creation, live according to God’s truth and commune with God and man. Jesus was the perfect image of God and came to rescue (John 6:38-40). Jesus form of rescue was not simply an example of a better way to live (though it was that), but He was condemned in humanity’s place. Three days after his unjust murder on a Roman cross, He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father (Rom. 5:6-11). The aim of Jesus is to bring new life and vitality to the fallen, broken creation; to restore creation’s original purpose (Col. 1:15-20).
Jesus is working to restore creation through the church, whose call is to promote renewal in every area of creation (John 20:21, II Cor. 5:17-21). This authoritative sending activity of God is not simply propositional (Matt. 28:18-20). The goal of making disciples takes place in the context of relationships. This means that, in everything we do, we are to be engaged in building friendships and showing the beauty of the gospel (the hope of redemption) to the world around us. We attempt, though imperfectly, to spell out personal and corporate (group) beliefs and behavior patterns that show the larger society what the Kingdom of God is all about.
With this Gospel-centered vision for the church community, and a desire to organize in simple and honest ways, I began reflecting on how we would express the body of Christ (I Cor. 12:27)and mobilize the church to effectively go into the city with the Gospel. The convictions that formed our ministry design included the commitment to facilitate environments where the Gospel is preached for clarity, applied to life among fellows on the journey, and shared with our culture through service. These environments lined up neatly with the offices Christ came to fulfill and the areas in which he succeeded where Adam failed.
The offices are Prophet (declaring the truth of God), Priest (communion with God and people), and King (ruling over creation). They shape our environments of gathering for explanation/proclamation of the Gospel, community groups for exploration of the Gospel, and lifestyle service for expression of the Gospel.
In future articles, I’ll unpack how these environments are played out in the context of Asheville, a creative urban hub for the spiritually and morally disenfranchised of the Southeast.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Plant & Thrive
I cannot express enough gratitude for the influence and sharpening that I get personally and Missio Dei recieves through the Acts 29 Network. Their concern for the clear preaching of the Gospel and the attention and care for the men preaching the Gospel is top notch.
In February, Vintage 21 in Raleigh will host the Acts 29 bootcamp Plant & Thrive.
This bootcamp is required for all Acts 29 applicants and is helpful for anyone thinking about church planting, no matter your denominational affiliation.
Main sessions include speakers, Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church, Seattle), Tyler Jones (Vintage 21, Raleigh), Daniel Montgomery (Sojourn Community Church, Louisville), Dr. Wayne Grudem, and Dr. Andreas Kostenberger among others.
You can get more information including registration on the Acts 29 Network website.
I'll be there assisting with assessments and if you're thinking about going, would love to get a chance to dialogue about your plant.
In February, Vintage 21 in Raleigh will host the Acts 29 bootcamp Plant & Thrive.
This bootcamp is required for all Acts 29 applicants and is helpful for anyone thinking about church planting, no matter your denominational affiliation.
Main sessions include speakers, Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church, Seattle), Tyler Jones (Vintage 21, Raleigh), Daniel Montgomery (Sojourn Community Church, Louisville), Dr. Wayne Grudem, and Dr. Andreas Kostenberger among others.
You can get more information including registration on the Acts 29 Network website.
I'll be there assisting with assessments and if you're thinking about going, would love to get a chance to dialogue about your plant.
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