"Going deep is our part, going big is God's part." "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And [...]
This has been an incredible journey for me to this point. We have finished our last week in this series at The Dwelling Place, but have only begun to scratch the surface of how this all applies to us practically as the church. Our goal was to lay a firm foundation for our ecclesiology. I believe the first layer has been laid well. It's now up to all of us to act as wise builders [...]
Our western consumer mentality has created an expectation and co-dependency in institutional church to provide for our every spiritual need. This has supplanted the all sufficiency of Christ and placed expectations on the church that she can't meet. When these expectations are not met, people get offended or dissatisfied. We must become self-feeders for spiritual growth. There is a season of dependency in discipleship, but many people get used to this provision and never learn [...]
In this 3rd week of rethinking church we are looking at The church as a community. The word community itself tells us something about the church. It is a common unity. "And all that believed were together, and had all things common..." Acts 2:44 Throughout the scriptures we find the community of God's people who together share their faith and lives in common. The description God most often gives to this community of believer and [...]
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1 Paul says there is holy and acceptable worship, which means there is unholy and unacceptable worship. What makes worship unacceptable? Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, (2) "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they [...]
