November 4, 2014
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October 11, 2014
It is very important that we take time to prepare our hearts to worship God before we set foot in the sanctuary on Sunday morning. God made this clear amid the awesome circumstances of the giving of the law in Exodus 19. God called the people to prepare to come into His presence, or near His presence, but not actually onto the mountain where He would speak to Moses. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people’” (Ex. 19:10–11). God wanted the people of Israel, before they came near to Him, to get ready to come near to Him, to prepare themselves for an encounter with Him.
Prepare to Receive
Every time we gather as a church, God will speak to us as his word is preached, sung, read, and studied. Hearing from God is a weighty and glorious thing. Just read Exodus 19–20. To see God for who he is, to be overwhelmed by his greatness and holiness, to experience his presence, to see his boundless love and mercy, to encounter what should make our hearts tremble. Through Jesus, we can boldly come and receive (Hebrews 10:19–22), but confidence does not equal casualness. Prepare by asking God to help you receive his revelation with gratefulness and humility.
Prepare to Respond
When God reveals himself to us, things happen. Experiencing God leads us to respond (Isaiah 6:8). Rather than being a spectator or a passive participant, our hearts are moved to worship because we have once again seen the beauty, greatness, holiness, mercy, and love of our God. We sing to him, confess our sins, receive his word preached, take communion, and give our finances, all in grateful response to seeing who God is and what he has done for us in Jesus.
Prepare for this Sunday by asking that God would help you rightly respond to him.
Prepare to Edify Others
Our worship doesn’t stop when the singing ends, or the preacher says, “Amen.” It continues as we greet, encourage, serve, pray for, exhort, and care for one another. God chooses to use people to edify his body (1 Corinthians 14:26). You and me. Isn’t that amazing?
Do you come to church expecting that God will use you? It might be as you serve practically, it might be as you take two minutes to pray for a friend, or greet a new person, or encourage a child. You have a part to play. This Sunday, prepare for gathering with your church family by asking God how he might use you to edify his church.
So how do you prepare to go to church? This Sunday, come ready to encounter God and respond to him in glad and grateful worship with your heart and life.
October 8, 2014
When we talk about God’s attributes we do so to answer questions like Who is God? and What is God like? It is the way we seek to wrap our minds around just little fragments of who this God is.
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October 3, 2014
Steps To Bring About Organizational Change
“When making change, craft a laser-focused vision statement” – Andy Stanley #Catalyst14
— silbi thomas (@SilbiJohn) October 3, 2014
1. Craft a laser-focused vision statement – This allows you to put out a statement to your organization and let them know what your organization is all about. Without a clear-cut vision statement, organizations flounder because no one knows what the purpose is. Everything will become centered around this vision. From the beginning to the end of the organization, people will have something to follow.
“Cast that laser-focused vision over and over and over again” – Andy Stanley #Catalyst14
— silbi thomas (@SilbiJohn) October 3, 2014
2. Cast the laser-focused vision over and over – You may think people will get sick and tired of hearing the vision statement. Truth be told, they will. But we’ve got to make sure they KNOW the vision.
3. Organize to your vision statement – With your vision statement, you’ve got to begin putting resources to what you’ve said your vision statement is. Without the push towards your vision, you won’t go towards your vision. You weren’t giving something up. You found something better.
3 Things We Should Change In The Local Church
1. The church should be the safest place on the planet for students to talk about anything: There are topics that are scary to us as adults. I’m not sure why. Yet students are open and willing to talk about anything. Don’t be scared to talk about the scary topics like drug use or same-sex attraction.
Personally, in our church, we’ve encountered these issues. We’ve seen students who were attracted to the same sex or struggled with drug abuse. We’ve seen the students hearts sink as we were hesitant to discuss these hot button issues. Don’t be scared to discuss these issues. They’re dealing with them. We need to discuss them.
Now, this is not saying those things are right. But they’re out there in our culture. We can’t ignore what’s happening and our youth are experiencing.
2. The church must stop expecting outsiders to act like insiders when insiders are acting like outsiders: This is funny because it’s something Pam and I firmly believe. There’s scripture to backup this claim.
“Church must stop expecting outsiders 2 act like insiders while insiders act like outsiders”-A Stanley #Catalyst14 pic.twitter.com/Sbuiy5bGhJ
— silbi thomas (@SilbiJohn) October 3, 2014
Check out 1 Corinthians 12-15 When people don’t believe in the Bible or what Jesus said, we can’t hold them to the standards of the Bible. The standards are for the body of Christ. And then, far too often, the body of Christ doesn’t live up to the standards of the Bible. The very people who are claiming to believe what the Bible says have wandered off course and don’t act like the believers they are.
“Jesus doesn’t take sides, He takes over.”Andy Stanley #Catalyst14 pic.twitter.com/zycSIj6wG3
— silbi thomas (@SilbiJohn) October 3, 2014
We can’t dumb down what is clear in the Bible. That weakens the message of Christ.
“If we start to dumb down what has been made clear, where does that stop?” Andy Stanley #Catalyst14
— silbi thomas (@SilbiJohn) October 3, 2014
As long as we’re looking for loopholes in the message of Christ, we lose our relevance.
3. The church must capture and keep the hearts and minds of students: If we claim that the youth are important, we must begin to act out the belief that students are important.
Think about what culture markets to. Culture doesn’t market to adults. They market to the youth.
Who does the church market to? Adults… 40, 50, 60 year olds.
The student generation is worth EVERYTHING.
Andy made a great point. Why do we do so much to get 6 year olds to confess Christ only to push them out the door at 16 when things begin to get tough? This doesn’t make any sense!
Look at your church. Think about where the priorities are.
Are you heavily funding children’s church? More than likely.
Are you heavily funding the adult church? For sure.
Are you heavily funding your youth group? If you’re like the churches I’ve known, probably not. The youth groups are doing things to fund themselves. Why? Why? Why?
In HIM All Things Hold Together 