Plantation Notes for 3/26/08

 

Worship & Prayer

–        Psalm 89:1-2

–        I Know that my Redeemer Lives

o        Quietly thank God for the gift of salvation

–        In Christ Alone

o        Pray for others you know to receive that gift

–        We Believe

 

Share peace, sit with small groups

 

Testimony – review Nancy Ruiz’s and Cheryl Mattingly’s from Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, Nancy and Cheryl shared powerful testimonies of the power of Christ.  Pastor Dave asked those present to share some of what they remembered from their testimonies. 

 

At the 8am service, Nancy shared that prior to attending Community of Hope, she’d attended church but left church there when she left.  Now, she takes church with her everywhere she goes.  As her relationship with God grew, so did her peace and confidence.  Nancy first came to Community of Hope two years ago on Easter Sunday.  Her granddaughter was the one who invited her to church that Sunday.

 

At the 10:30 service, Cheryl shared her story and reminded us that God calls the broken, and we are all broken.  Her testimony was a powerful reminder of how great is God’s forgiveness.  Often people pull away from the church when they are broken, but church is exactly the place we should be when we are broken.  God healed Cheryl of various chemical dependencies.

 

·         Testimonies are memorable – each of these stories were shared only once, but all of us remembered them and were struck by them.

·         Changed lives are why we’re doing this.

·         Wouldn’t it be great to see these stories of transformation happen every week?

 

Video – “What comes to mind when you think of the cross?” from Bluefish TV

To view, go to:

http://www.bluefishtv.com/ProductDetails.aspx?cid=1005&id=1360&f=s1m&cc=&csc=&ldr=&s=Easter

The need is quite apparent! 

 

There are so many people out there who are lost and who either don’t believe in Jesus, or don’t believe that there is one way (Jesus) to be saved.  One of the reasons that testimonies are so powerful is that so many of us have been in Christian communities for so long that we’ve become sheltered and have forgotten what it is like for those outside the church.  Many of us have lost touch with our “before” stories, and we need to reconnect with those stories so that we can meet people where they are at. 

 

Teaching/application

 

  1. Plantation “state of the union”

1.      So far, we’ve been tending the roots.  That is where we needed to start, because our “plant” will never grow beyond the capacity of the roots to feed us.  Prayer is the root.  Prayer links us to power of God.  We’d like to see our Prayer Partner list continue to grow.  Everyone is asked to review the prayer partner list in the Welcome Center.  Who’s not on it?  What prayer warriors outside the church could be added?

2.      Starting to see leaves poking through the ground as a result of prayer.  We’re starting to see changes in lives of those outside the church who we intersect with. 

3.      Core of a church’s outreach will always be individuals “blooming where they’re planted.”  It takes every person shining their light wherever God takes them.

a.     We’ve been working a bit on our tool kit, but in the next few weeks, we’re going to work more on this tool kit.  That tool kit consists of:

·         core beliefs,

·         conversation starters,

·         individual testimonies,

·         gospel illustrations,

·         ways of preparing for a “Matthew party”

b.     Prayer triplets

4.      Simultaneously we will begin to work on corporate (COH versus individual) responsibilities

a.     Hospitality ministries (Immediate focus) – how can we help guests experience the astounding love of Christ?

b.     Healthy churches typically retain 25% of first time visitors, 50% of second time visitors, 75% of third time or more

c.     With a few simple actions, statistics for first time visitors improve to 68% (almost 3 times as many retained)

5.      After Pentecost we will begin to address the following:

a.     What ministries must a new church do well?  What are our top priorities, and how are we doing at these activities?  Prioritize, and enlist Mary Fischer’s help in building teams, improving these ministries.

b.     How can we build bridges and raise the God-consciousness within the community, and attract more visitors?  What are some ways that collectively we can GO and accomplish the great commission.

                                                                           i.      marketing/advertisement

                                                                         ii.      targeted corporate service

                                                                        iii.      large community-oriented events

In building bridges, we will go only as far as our root system can support us.  Prayer will be the mechanism to discern what God is calling us to do.  It wouldn’t be hard to come up with a list of 200+ bridges to build, but we can only do well what God is calling COH to do.

c.     What’s our discipleship pathway that ensures that those far from God can grow into fully devoted followers of Christ?  We want to see the church grow in depth as well as numbers.

6.      We’re not alone!  God is moving in other places identically to what God is telling us.

a.     Parallels to Global Day of Prayer – they are suggesting prayer walking in our neighborhoods for the 40 days leading up to Pentecost, which is something we are already doing.  Then starting 10 days before Pentecost, there will be prayer rallies at 10 different locations.  Then, the vision for the 90 days after Pentecost is 90 days of blessing – where you build bridges into the community.

b.     “Connections” magazine – a new magazine being put out by evangelical Lutherans. 

c.     Continue to hear of additional churches around the country sensing the same direction from God

 

  1. Tonight: What’s distinctive about Christianity? (Part of the Core Belief part of the tool kit).

 

    1.  John 14:6 says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  This is probably one of the most offensive verses in the Bible in our culture.  We’re going to talk specifically about this verse on April 13th as part of our sermon series.
    2. Article from Forum Letter – The Episcopal Church (full communion with the ELCA) in Los Angeles recently held a joint worship service with the Vedanta Society and the Hare Krishnas.  At the service, a statement from the bishop apologized for Christian efforts to evangelize Hindus, and all present were invited to Holy Communion.  In the same issue was commentary on an article from the January 2008 issue of The Lutheran, about a bishop whose daughter was studying to become a Jewish rabbi.  The article commented that “we try to learn from each other,” “supportive from the start,” and “both can be right.”  These articles were shared to illustrate how big the problem is.  We can’t all be right.  It matters what we believe!
    3. Video – “A man fell in a hole” – a modern day parable.  To view, go to: http://www.bluefishtv.com/ProductDetails.aspx?cid=1005&id=1617
      • This video is a parable about ‘what is unique about Christianity?’  It is the only religion where the one who can save you gets into the hole with you and lifts you out.
    4. Four questions to distinguish the Christian gospel from all other religions
      • Who is God?  (Trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
      • Who is Jesus?  (fully human, fully divine)
      • How are we saved?  (by grace through faith, apart from works of the law)
      • How do we know?  (66 books of the Bible)

These four questions are offered not as an evangelism tool, but as a checklist for the truth.  Is the Gospel we are sharing truth?  Is the story someone else is sharing truth?  They will help us to understand where we are and where others are in relationship to us so that we can reach them more effectively.

Discussion that followed included the insight that people used to ask, “Is it true?”  Now, they’re more likely to ask “Is it real?”  Testimonies help address the second question.  One person shared a missed opportunity in a grocery store: she allowed another lady to go in front of her in line, and the other woman was so surprised, she said, “Honey, if there is a heaven, you’re going.”  What would be an appropriate response to such a question?  The discussion included the reality that in evangelism, just like in Christianity itself, we “get into the hole with the other person” – we meet them where they are.  So, a one sentence statement by the other person doesn’t call for a ten sentence response.  A one sentence possible response might be, “Well, there is a heaven, but our actions won’t be what gets us there.”  Another: “I am going to heaven, but it won’t be because of anything I do.” 

 

    1. Prayer triplets  - call your partners during the week and catch up!

 

    1. Encouragement for Plantation to grow.  God’s call for us as a church is not to continue as usual but now with an “outreach committee for people interested in that kind of thing.”  God wants our whole church participating on the front lines, each person in their own unique way.  Plantation workshops are like the core group of a new church plant.  Over many months, that core group grows.  We want to see the same thing happening here at COH.