Dear Church, Everything Has Changed

Announcement

Tonight, Remove the High Places Info Meeting

Feb 13 Super Bowl Sunday, Remove the High Places Kick-off & Tail Gate Party

Introduction

Logan reads Acts 2:42-47.

Ski slope…

Leading Change by John Kotter, the first step is establish a sense of urgency.

Is what we’ve been doing working? (Statistics from the “American Worldview Inventory 2021” research study conducted by Dr. George Barna, the Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.)

69% of Americans self-identify as Christians.

But only 6% of Americans have a functional Christian faith.

58% of Americans who self-identify as Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is not real.

72% argue that people are basically good, not inherently sinful in need of a savior.

60% of Americans who self-identify as born-again Christians believe that if a person is good enough, they will earn their way into Heaven.

Among Americans aged 18-29, only 2% have a functional Christian faith.

The next steps in Leading Change are (2) create a guiding coalition and (3) develop a vision and strategy. Step 4 is communicate the change vision, and that’s what this series is about.

How the target has moved.

Illustration: Moving the target.

The target has moved from a disciple-making movement to a church growth movement.

Explanation

In the 1970s and 80s, churches began to change their definition of success to becoming the next mega-church… spiritual formation vs. butts in the seats and dollars in the bank.

Church growth isn’t a bad desire. The motives are good: more people here = more people hearing the gospel. But if we’re not discipling people, what good are we doing?

Application: Acts 2:46-47… our job, God’s job

The target has moved from a spiritual community to a Christian non-profit organization.

Explanation

Churches in the NT were communities, social groups, spiritual families (Acts 2:42… the fellowship).

But somewhere along the way, churches stopped seeing themselves as spiritual communities and started seeing themselves as Christian organizations.

Churches became more institutionalized… a family activity with immediate family vs. a family reunion with extended family.

Community organizing instead of personal evangelism.

Providing spiritual goods and services instead of leading people on a path of spiritual formation.

Seeing ourselves as spiritual consumers instead of spiritual family members.

Illustration: In Guatemala, the kids called me Tio.

Application: Eph 2:19… Imagine going to a church where everyone was family.

The target has moved from doing to discussing.

Illustration: Loading the dishwasher (Pastor Ben Griffin from Westwood Community Church)…

Application: John 14:15.

How we’re going to move it back.

You’ve probably picked up by now the importance of being a spiritual community focused on teaching and encouraging one another do what Jesus taught. We can’t do that without relationships—genuine relationships with one another.

We’re going to move the target back by reorganizing our community around relational contexts.

Our focus will not be establishing programs but creating relational spaces where people can relate and connect.

Bible study

Campfire Worship, Fall Festival, Tail Gate Party

Different spaces create different interactions and relationships (Acts 2:46).

Room of 200... backyard with 30… kitchen table with 6

Jesus had the 72, the 12, and the 3.

Three relational spaces

Gathered worship: full extended-family reunion

Gospel community: smaller family holiday gathering

Close friendship: immediate family, life-on-life spiritual formation

Growth Groups are not a rebranded small groups program.

Not having trained leaders

Not having a curriculum

We need to trust the Holy Spirit to apply God’s Word to our lives as we encourage one another to do what Jesus taught.

David Platt — “Do you believe you can make disciples without the performance, the professional, or the program?”

Conclusion

God is calling us to be a different kind of church—to move the target back, and this is how we’re going to do it. Will you move the target with us? Will you step off the edge and ski this slope?