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Everyday Ways to Help Your People Change the World with Dave & Jon Ferguson

Sean Cronin — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

By unSeminary: Welcome to this week’s episode of the unSeminary podcast. I’m happy to have Dave and Jon Ferguson with us from Community Christian Church. Community has nine locations in Illinois as well as online services and works in three correctional facilities.

Almost all Christians want to share the love of Jesus with their friends and neighbors. But it often feels awkward when we try, or it feels like we failed at a bad sales pitch and results in frustration. Listen in as Jon and Dave share how they’ve equipped the people at Community Christian so they know what it looks like, in very practical ways, to help others find their way back to God.

Blessing vs Converting. // Many believers have been compelled by what they’ve experienced with God, but just haven’t figured out what it looks like to share their faith in a natural way. Often they end up feeling like they are trying to coerce or convince somebody. Community Christian Church believed there had to be a better way when it came to sharing the gospel. They came across a doctoral dissertation called “Blessers vs Converters” where two groups went to Thailand. One group went for the purpose of trying to convert people to Christianity and the other group went to focus on blessing the people there. Over a two year period, the blessers created a lot of social good and saw 100 people come to faith. Meanwhile the converters saw only 2 people come to faith. This led Community Christian to come up with the Bless Practices.Proclamation and demonstration. // The Bless Practices are not something to add to your life, but rather a way to live your life similar to how Jesus lived his. He blessed people and introduced grace to them. Community Christian realized that just because people in the church know your mission statement, it doesn’t mean they are living it out. They may want to, but they need practical tools to do so. This is where the Bless Practices come in.B.L.E.S.S. // Dave and Jon use the word B.L.E.S.S. as an acronym that offers guidance in how to reach out to others. B – Begin with prayer. Pray for the people in your neighborhood and your coworkers and let God direct you who to reach out to. L – Listen. 62% of non-christians and lapsed christians said they would talk about faith with people who didn’t pass judgement. E – Eat. Find ways to integrate other people into meals, coffee breaks and so on and use these things to build friendships. S – Serve. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve to others. Listen and learn how you can best serve that person to bless them. S – Story. When people were ready to listen to Jesus, He would tell a story. We also can tell stories about how God has worked in our lives.Let us bless, let God convert. // It’s important to remember that our job is to bless while it’s God’s job to convert. We often don’t listen long enough because we think it’s our job to convert, but listening is a great way to love someone. Embrace a posture of humility. Although we know the truth and the truth sets us free, we don’t know everything. We don’t know other’s stories and need to listen well as they share.Be a blessing. // Dave and Jon Ferguson have written a book titled B.L.E.S.S.: Five Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World. The book is meant to offer a more organic and authentic way to share faith and goes into more depth on these five simple and straightforward practices and how you can live them out.

You can learn more about Dave and Jon and their book at www.bless-book.org . If your church would like to do a teaching series using B.L.E.S.S., send an email to Dave to get access to free resources that will help you in equipping your church to share their faith more naturally.

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Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Carey Nieuwhof

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Source: Everyday Ways to Help Your People Change the World with Dave & Jon Ferguson

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Next Steps You Can Take During this Pandemic

Esther Ritchey — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 09:00:00 +0000

By: New Life Christian Church

It has been almost 5 months since this pandemic has impacted and altered our way of life in so many ways. That is almost half a year! And, by the look of it, this pandemic will continue to impact us for many more months to come.

At first, it was an interesting challenge to be inside and to watch Church Online and connect with others on Zoom. Now, that has tired. People want to get out and resume some sort of normal life, a life like we once had.

But what if this pandemic was a blessing? What if it was a wake up call that the life we once had was not good enough? What if it was God trying to refocus us on what matters most?

The Bible says in Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” So what does that mean in the midst of this pandemic? How can you stay strong in your faith and encouraged at what God is doing around us? At this time, let’s draw close to God and see what He does in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Here are some ideas:

Pray. Prayers are powerful and make an impact, not just for the situation we are praying about, but for us as well as we give our thoughts and concerns over to God, letting Him take control. Pray that God would provide you with opportunities to minister and serve your community. Also, pray for the Church, both New Life and all the Churches around the world. Take time also to listen to God’s voice as you pray allowing God opportunities to speak to you.

Stay Engaged. Let’s be honest, being online all the time is hard. But in order to stay connected in community, it can still be very valuable to your spiritual growth. Experience Church Online every Sunday or throughout the week here or get plugged into an online prayer or Small Group here. As you feel comfortable, also look for opportunities to stay engaged in person as well. You can have an in person group or experience Church in person each week. These are great ways you can still stay engaged no matter what is happening around us.

Act on Opportunities. As you pray, ask God to open your eyes to opportunities. While some of the old opportunities we had no longer exist, there are plenty of new ones right in your community. For instance, have you heard about the Neighborhood Champions opportunity? Our Family Minister, Elinor Kinnier, is working on ways communities can come together and support each other during this time, especially as school starts. Find out more about this amazing opportunity by emailing her.

Keep Giving. Even if time is hard and you cannot personally act on some opportunities, stay committed to giving financially. The needs are different now but ministry is still happening. We have all been blessed by God, keep giving sacrificially to the different ministry opportunities happening now and in the future. If you would like to give today, you can here.

Look to serve. Were you serving at New Life in some capacity before the pandemic hit? Even though that role may no longer exist or has changed in some way, that doesn’t mean we don’t need you! It’s simply a new game with new roles and opportunities. Can you hold a camera? Are you willing to learn how to edit video? Would you be willing to serve the homeless population? Can you help collect hygiene products for children in need? Find out where the serving needs are and be part of the solution by clicking here.

While the world has changed, God is still at work and there are lots of different opportunities for you to grow in your faith in the months ahead.

What will you do?

Source: Next Steps You Can Take During this Pandemic

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Prayer During a Pandemic – Part One

Sean Cronin — Tue, 26 May 2020 13:25:12 +0000

Home > Blog > Prayer During a Pandemic – Part One

Prayer During a Pandemic – Part One

By Ed Stetzer

A global pandemic calls God’s church to prayer. On Sunday, March 15, a National Day of Prayer was held regarding the ongoing pandemic that we currently face in our nation. As we face uncertainty about health, jobs, and the immediate future, large numbers of believers in communities and on social media are choosing prayer over paranoia, prudence over panic.

As the spread of the coronavirus touches more lives, shuts down more events, shelters more people in their homes, and awakens more people to the fact that this is real, churches have been challenged to consider both the issues facing corporate worship and how best to minister to the vulnerable. This is indeed a time to remember that prayer serves as the unceasing and appropriate response of believers.

S.D. Gordon observed, “You can do more than pray after you pray, but you cannot do more than pray until you pray.” We should be listening to healthcare experts. We should be practicing recommended sanitizing practices, social distancing, and quarantine when necessary. But as God’s children, we do all these practices on the solid foundation of prayer.

In uncertain times, we remember that prayer is far more than a contemplative religious practice. God truly hears our prayers! We aren’t the first to face times like these. We can look to the church in the book of Acts for wisdom; they faced intense persecution, famine, and a litany of ministry issues, all of which they met on their knees.

Prayer serves as the natural foundation of the Spirit’s work in Acts. Over the next four articles I want to highlight features about prayer that we see in the Acts. The first thing I want you to see is that the church was birthed in prayer. Acts 1:14 tells us “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” Following the Lord’s instruction after His resurrection to His followers, these believers gathered for prayer. Before anything else took place, they were praying together.

Judas has betrayed Jesus and has died. What did the leaders do? They begin to pray for wisdom for Judas’ successor. And in his summary of the life of the church in Acts 2, Luke says this: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers.” In fact, both Acts 3:1 and Acts 16:16 shows how daily prayer marked their routine. Our first recourse is prayer.

My wife, Donna, and I got married in college between our junior and senior year. We then felt the Lord calling us to plant a church somewhere. We begin to pray about where and the Lord began to guide us to Buffalo, New York.

We moved there in the time when Buffalo was the fastest shrinking city in America. You read that right. We moved there in the middle of the crack epidemic of the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s. When we arrived, there were drive-by shootings on our street. But we felt the Lord call us there.

How did we know? We began to say, “Lord, what is your plan for our lives?” I was graduating from college. I started seminary when I got to Buffalo, so I had a lot to learn. But we knew enough to know that prayer was vital, and we began to pray. I remember hearing a pastor say, “Don’t go somewhere, don’t do something until you are sure God called you to do it.” We began to pray and say, “Lord, how would You make us sure?”

I went to visit Buffalo. Donna was working at the time and couldn’t go. I went and prayed, and I prayed at a certain intersection on Prospect Avenue where it crosses right in the inner city of Buffalo, New York. I , “Lord, is this what You have in mind for us?” And the Lord, led us clearly, prompting into my heart said, “Come and plant My church.” Not Ed’s church, but Jesus’ Church.

Back then we didn’t have cell phones, so I got into the car and began to drive back home.

We had been praying and fasting for over a week at that time saying, “Lord, we can’t do anything without the clarity that You give us. We look to what You did in the Book of Acts. And we look for You to do it in our hearts today.”

I came back home and Donna said, right away, “I’ve been praying. God wants us to go to Buffalo.” And I said, “Yes, God wants us to go to Buffalo.” I called my dad. We were from the other side of the state. I grew up on Long Island, outside of New York city. My dad said, “That’s the worst city in the whole Northeast.” And it was tough. Someone had a sign on the outside of the town that said, “Would the last worker in Western New York, please turn off the lights?”

But God called us. He called us as we prayed.

We moved to a city in economic distress in a post-steel and post-industrial manufacturing age. But when you know the Lord has led you to do something, you step out in obedience to what the Lord has in mind for you. Just as in the early church in the Book of Acts, we went to the Lord in prayer. He gave us His direction. Two thousand years ago, they went to the Lord in prayer. They then got God’s direction.

The decisions we make regarding the coronavirus should be informed by the best in medical wisdom we have today. It is not a mark of faith to ignore fact. But we have hope beyond the immediate and dire circumstances we face. We remember that we are ultimately dependent uponHim for guidance now and in the days to come.

Prayer becomes alive when we see the privilege and the joy it is to come before God to bring our needs. To simply worship Him and give Him thanks. To confess our sin. To be reminded of our one mediator between God and man, Jesus. They could go to God the Father and sing and pray and praise, and the Church was birthed because of those prayers.

We can draw near to God while we maintain social distance from others. Let’s be wise and let’s worship. Let’s use the technology available to pray with others safely. Let’s be servants and be surrendered. Let’s praise and thank God while we love and serve others.

Source: Prayer During a Pandemic – Part One

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Essentials of a Discipleship Group: Prayer

Sean Cronin — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 10:00:30 +0000

By Replicate: Even though Prayer is the seventh item on the Replicate list of nine essentials of a Discipleship Group, it could easily be first: prayer ought to permeate every part of the discipleship process. Think about it, before we even begin our discipleship group, we’re praying for God to show us those He desires us to invest in. Jesus models this for us in Luke 6, when He spends all night in prayer before picking 12 of the disciples to be apostles.

12 During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. 13 When daylight came, he summoned his disciples, and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: (Luke 6:12-13, CSB)

We not only pray for those God would have us to invest in, we are also prayerful as we approach each person and invite them to be a part of the group. Once the group is formed, everything we do as a group ought to be bathed in prayer.

Why Pray?

A Discipleship group should pray for one another for a couple of reasons. First, when we pray, we are saying without saying a word that we are dependent upon God. Second, we demonstrate that we believe God to do what only He can do. We trust Him to not only open the eyes of our understanding, but to help us to lay hold of the truth in such a way that we apply it to our lives. In other words, we want God’s truth to move from our head to our hearts—then to our hands.

This blog is from our partner Replicate. Sign up here to get updates sent to your inbox about ministries like theirs so you can grow as a disciple maker.

Model The Role

A D-Group leader should be a role model for those in their groups. They should demonstrate what it looks like to be a man or woman of prayer. Since prayer is one of those disciplines that is caught as much as it is taught, setting an example for those you are discipling can have more of an impact than you may realize. In many ways, we learn to pray by praying. We should pray with others as well as spending time in prayer alone.

As a leader, you not only want to teach your members what gospel centered prayer looks like, you want to pray often with and for your group. We should lead our groups to see prayer as a never-ending conversation with God. As the Apostle Paul said to the believers in Thessalonica:

17 pray constantly, (1 Thessalonians 5:17, CSB)

In addition, teach your discipleship group to pray before reading or studying the Word of God. Pray as the psalmist did:

18 Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wondrous things from your instruction. (Psalm 119:18, CSB)

Also, help them understand that it is absolutely necessary that they pray for one another throughout the week. I will include that in my covenant that I have them sign when they begin meeting together as a group. Your group should know that everyone in the group is praying for each other. So, when they promise to pray for one another and their families, I call their attention to 1 Samuel 12:23, which says:

23 As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. (1 Samuel 12:23a, CSB)

Never minimize the importance of prayer for your discipleship group and in your time together as a group. Remember the classic quote by E. M. Bounds, “You can’t rightly talk to men about God until you first talk to God about men.”

By Replicate

Originally posted on Replicate’s blog here. Used by permission.

The post Essentials of a Discipleship Group: Prayer appeared first on Discipleship.org.

Source: Essentials of a Discipleship Group: Prayer

The post Essentials of a Discipleship Group: Prayer appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Pastor Like You Parent with Lee Eclov

Sean Cronin — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 10:00:05 +0000

by unSeminary: Welcome to this week’s unSeminary podcast. Today I’m speaking with Pastor Lee Eclov. Lee has been in Lincolnshire, Illinois, in the suburbs of Chicago, for almost 22 years. Set in a transient community, Village Church of Lincolnshire is a church of about 200, where Lee pastors.

Lee is the author of the book Feels Like Home: How Rediscovering the Church as Family Changes Everything. He is talking with us today about how leading and loving in our churches should be like that of a parent rather than a CEO.

The mission of a church. // The idea to write the book came to Lee during a time of unsettledness in his heart and in the church. He had wrestled with the mission of the church and realized God had wired him to think of the church in terms of its environment. And the environment of a church should be a home, or household. Believers are God’s sons and daughters and together we are a family. So Lee began to ask, then how would you do church?The heart of a church. // Leaders will always naturally think organizationally and strategically. But at the heart of the church is the relationships we have with Jesus and one another. The Bible’s picture is the healthy church home gains a kind of gravitational pull to the gospel; if we are solid inside then attracting people will be more organic rather than require using corporate methods.People as a family. // It’s easy to do church for the individual, but we should focus on the importance of the body of believers as a family. The number one command is to love one another, but if we don’t even know each other’s names within our churches, it’s hard to say we’re loving one another. No matter how many people are in the church, big or small, it is still the home and family of God and we should get to know each other. Church well cared for grows healthy. // The staff needs to run and organize things within the church, but also needs to remember to make time to interact with the people. Part of the tactic at Village Church of Lincolnshire is to prioritize personal touch. This could be as simple as reaching out to people that God puts on your heart by sending an email, text or handwritten note, letting them know they are in your thoughts or prayers. Remember that you are taking care of these people.Focus on the holiness. // It’s good to know numbers, such as recording how many people are being baptized or how small groups are doing in attendance. But there can be danger in thinking that the only measure of a church’s health is if the numbers grow. Focusing only on numbers can distract us from the growth in holiness of the people because that’s often something that can’t be measured.

You can find out more about Lee and his book at www.leeeclov.com. You can learn more about the church at www.evcl.org.

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Source: Pastor Like You Parent with Lee Eclov

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