The Significance of Community Engagement

My last post highlighed that East Taieri Church sponsors an occasional Business Breakfast at Aurora Café in downtown Mosgiel.  This week we had 32 people attend plus a few walk in off the street for coffee.  There was a real buzz in the air.  Breakfast was delicious.  A range of ages attended, including a young person from Youth East Taieri, who helped with sound, and two YET staff.  I think the prize for inviting the most people would go to Joy Davis our community facilitator.

At the breakfast, I gave some background as I welcomed people by saying: You might be wondering why East Taieri Church is sponsoring this business breakfast.  Our vision is to make a holistic contribution to our community.  In addition to helping people discover more about Jesus and grow spiritually, we are a church who works alongside others to develop thriving communities, which includes thriving businesses.  We hope this breakfast will make a positive contribution to your business or career.

Our speakers from Capable NZ gave interesting input for career and business development.

At the end I prayed thanking God for the food and the people there, and asking God’s blessing on them all.  The formal part finished by 7.50am.  Did anyone come to know Jesus as a result?  Not yet!  But there were good conversations and we were definitely working alongside others to develop thriving communities.  If you are local, join us Feb 25^th for our next Business Breakfast with Dunedin City Counsellor Mike Lord who will speak about issues facing our region and his personal reflections on being a Christian in the community today.

If some of those words I used above sound familiar to East Taieri people, they come from our recently renewed vision statement which says:

We will be a thriving church, responding to God’s grace and passionately living out our faith, wherever we live, work and play.

Together we will work alongside others to develop thriving communities where people feel connected known, loved and valued.

I think the move of churches to have serious engagement with their communities is significant.  As I think back over the way God has moved in New Zealand, I remember some insights from a conversation with Murray Robertson about three significant periods where the number of baptisms in NZ rose dramatically for a time.  One was the evangelistic crusades by Billy Graham and others in the late 50s and 60s.  Another was the charismatic renewal of the 70s and 80s.  A third was during the 90s with the the rise of church programmes such as Alpha, Network, 40 Days of Purpose, etc.  Interestingly churches who were blessed in one period weren’t necessarily open to what God was doing in the next.  For example, people who came to Christ through Billy Graham, weren’t necessarily open to the work of the Holy Spirit in renewal, saying “All we need to do is preach the gospel in big crusades”.  Those blessed in renewal were sometimes suspicious of programmes.  “All we need is for the Spirit of God to move…” And of course, those who benefitted from programmes can become locked into that mindset, looking for the next programme which will be the solution to our problems.

Could it be that the next move of the Spirit that will bring significant growth in the kingdom of God is through Christians working alongside others to develop thriving communities?  Engaging people in the community in biblically faithful ways.  God is already at work there.  We just need to join in.  These are the settings where our fresh expresssions of church are being born.

When God’s people were in exile in Babylon they often though about God taking them back to Jerusalem so life would be like the good old days.  It’s like us thinking, take us back to the days of the renewal, or the days of the big crusades.  Now, in my experience and understanding, preaching the gospel is still crucial.  The work of the Holy Spirit remains indispensable.  Programmes like Alpha continue to bear fruit.  But I believe Christians today need to confidently engage people in their workplaces, schools, neighbourhoods and community groups.  God’s word came to the exiles through the prophet Jeremiah (29:7) “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”  In lots of ways we are in an exile situation today, but the Lord is still with us and can make a difference in our cities and towns.

May God bless all the community engagement that occurs whether one to one spontaneous conversations or organised events and programmes.

Martin.  

Business Breakfast at Aurora Cafe

We are sponsoring a business breakfast at Aurora Cafe on Thursday November 5th 2015, 7-8am.

Why is a church doing this?  In addition to helping people discover more about Jesus and grow spiritually, we are a church who works alongside others to develop thriving communities, which includes thriving businesses.  When businesses are functioning in an efficient and just way, the community is being well served, people have meaningful employment, and everyone can enjoy the economic benefits.

Our speaker this time is Trish Franklin, a facilitator for Capable NZ.  She, along with local businesswoman Kylie Ellis, will highlight the work of Capable NZ in facilitating growth and career advancement through the recognition of experience and individual needs.  See www.capablenz.co.nz

Interestingly, Trish's work with people always leads to reflection on the whole of their life, their past experiences and their future aspirations.  This raises deep questions of meaning and purpose, as well as personal talents and qualities.  There is a strong connection in all this with the good news of Jesus which calls us to turn to a relationship with God that affects every part of our lives.  The best response to God's love and goodness to us, is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love others as we love ourselves.

Make sure you invite someone else and I hope to see you there.

Martin.

What's The Story?

Have you been scared off evangelism?  Had some bad experiences?

At East Taieri Church we have drawn together a number of resources that help us relax and naturally share the good news about Jesus and the kingdom of God.  We call the framework "What's the Story?"  It considers three stories:

1. Their Story: Listening to the other person's story
2. Our Story: Telling your own story of coming into a relationship with Jesus.
3. The Story: Telling of God's work in Christ.

These stories don't have to all happen in the same conversation, or in this order, but this is a helpful framework to keep in mind.

1) Their Story:

The idea here is for us to think about who we are in contact with and how we can better listen to their story, noticing and listening to what is going on in their lives and looking for where God is already at work.

Ask for God's help to stop thinking about yourself and what you are going to say, and to have Jesus' eyes and ears to notice what is going on and to listen.  Some fun video clips that can help with this are "Test Your Awareness" and "Test Your Awareness: Whodunnit?"

A more Jesus focused video challenges us to think about what people are going through and to have compassion.  "Seeing with Jesus Glasses"

It can also be helpful to ask some "wondering" questions that invite the person you are talking with to tell you more.  The best questions arise naturally as you allow the Holy Spirit to prompt your interest in the person, but to give you some ideas you can check out these suggestions from Doug Pollock who I think coined the term "wondering questions".

2) Our Story: 

We communicate our story through our lifestyle; through loving actions; and through words.  I remember one university student telling me that another student in her hostel guessed she was a Christian because her boyfriend didn't sleep over in her room.  Often, if we have listened well to their story, people will ask us about our story.  That is a God given moment when you can tell them a simple, short, non-weird "testimony" (story) of what God has done in your life.

My top tips for telling others about what Jesus has done are:

·         Short – 100 words or less

·         Clear – avoid fuzzy generalisations.  One clear plot line.  Don’t have too many characters!

·         Avoid (or explain) Christian Jargon – “salvation”, “born again”, “convicted of sin”...

·         Don’t sound superior or pious (“holier than thou”)

3) The Story:

This is the hardest place to avoid jargon because we want to communicate the big story (metanarrative) of God's redeeming work in Christ on the cross and the here but not yet arrival of the Kingdom of God in the ministry of Jesus.  Most of the time we won't give a pre-packaged presentation of the gospel, but we do need to be able to tell people about Jesus.

Thankfully we have wonderful resources available today at East Taieri Church and on the internet.

This is where it is helpful to have had some training such as XEE, to give you some good illustrations and a framework for sharing the gospel.

This is where all kinds of resources such as books and DVDs can be helpful for people.

This is where programmes like Journeys (a DVD based course from Rob Harley) and the Alpha Course can help.

It can be very helpful to remember the holistic gospel which is so much more than a ticket to heaven when we die.  The good news includes: forgiveness for sins, a life that is being transformed day by day, deliverance from evil, a new heart for others including the poor and disadvantaged, caring for God's good creation, restored relationships, racial reconcilation and justice and peace...   This video clip about the Kingdom of God helps us remember the centrality of the message of the kingdom in the preaching of Jesus.

Finally, the key is building relationships and praying for opportunities.

Martin.

Guardians of Ancora

One of the challenges of our day is encouraging people to get into the Bible.  Even among evangelicals/charismatics/pentecostals, most Christians are weak biblically.

I give top marks to Scripture Union for developing a world class app for Apple and Android devices.

This game encourages 8-11 year olds to read the bible and grow in a relationship with Jesus.  We publicised this at East Taieri Church yesterday, and I hope children, parents and grandparents will download this free app and benefit from it.  The website can be accessed by clicking on the link below:

http://guardiansofancora.com/

There is also an excellent promotional video and FAQ page.

Blessings,

Martin.

Solitude

The extroverts among us will probably find solitude more challenging and yet especially beneficial, but solitude as a spiritual practice can be a significant time for introverts also.

Solitude is choosing to step free from human relationships for a period of time, in isolation or anonymity, to make room for occupation of our lives by God.

Some Hints:

·  Try setting aside 3 or 4 hours at first in a pleasant place (even if you live alone, plan a specific time of solitude).

·  Just observe.  Don’t do anything.  Notice your surroundings – especially if you are outside enjoying God’s creation.

·  Try walking along the beach.

·  You might pray, but don’t make a job of it.  Simply talk to your Heavenly Father.

·  If you are at home and you fall asleep, don’t worry.  Enjoy the rest and talk to God when you wake up. (1 Kg 19:4-9)

·  Solitude is not a private therapeutic place.  Rather, it is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born.

Some Benefits of Solitude:

•  It breaks our co-dependency.  Others can live without us and us without them.

•  We learn to appreciate other people more, without needing to control them.

•  It frees us from busyness and overwork (and other things that bind us).

•  It builds trust in God as we take our hands off and allow God to take charge.

• It provides time to focus on God and to develop other spiritual practices such as prayer and Bible study.

God bless you in these times alone with God.

Martin.

Fixed Hours of Prayer

Have you ever noticed how a busy day can disappear and you wonder where God has been in your day?  How can we be more conscious of what God might be saying to us and doing around us when there are things that demand our full attention?  In Jewish Culture and through the early church, people practiced fixed hours of prayer.  Christians today are rediscovering the value of ordering their activities around prayer at regular times of the day.

Ruth Haley Barton has written about this practice noting that Psalm 55:17 points to it.  "I call to God and the LORD saves me.  Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice."  Daniel prayed three times a day, even when it threatened his life.  In Acts 3 Peter and John were going up to the temple at the afternoon time of prayer.  In Acts 10 Peter went up on the roof at noon to pray.

The idea is that at regular times during the day, morning, noon, afternoon, evening, we pause to pray, ideally gathering with one or two others.  There are Christian communities around the world who follow this practice.  Our ministry team have followed this pattern on retreat, and we prayed together at lunchtime on our last day of prayer and fasting and found it uniting and powerful.  This is especially helpful during times of planning, discernment, or significant change.

Traditionally these times of prayer might contain various elements, although there are no rules!  Like all spiritual disciples, this are tools to help, not rules that must be followed.  Possible components include:

• A recognition that God is with us.
• A psalm or a prayer based on the psalms
• Sometimes another Bible reading.
• Possibly the Lord's Prayer and/or a creed so people can affirm their faith.
• There might be some moments of silence.
• A hymn or song might be sung (or played on CD or phone)
• A closing blessing.

If you are at work, it may only be possible to pause briefly, but you can still recognise the time of prayer.  Sometimes you will be able to do this with others. 

In his book, Praying with the Church, Scot McKnight wrote, “We are formed together as we learn to pray together. Ancient Jews and Christians uttered sacred prayers together. They did this every day—together. These prayers established sacred rhythms to their days and lives as a community. And they can do the same today. For us. As the Church. As a community of faith.”


Churches like East Taieri are often sceptical of pre-written prayers and traditions, regarding spontaneous prayer as more "spiritual".  It is certainly true that over history fixed prayer routines have sometimes become a meaningless habit that people carried out by rote.  Jesus warns us about babbling away in prayer without our heart being in it. (Matt 6)  However, in addition to spontaneous prayers, we can benefit from praying the great prayers of scripture and the church and really mean them!

Ruth Hayley Barton offers the following as examples of pre-written prayers that her Christian community - the Transforming Centre - have used:

Morning Prayer. In the morning, we begin with praise, affirming and celebrating God’s presence with us, receiving his loving care towards us and committing the work of the day to him.

O God, open our lips and we shall declare your praise.
God said: Let there be light; and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.
This very day the Lord has acted!
Let us rejoice!
Praise the Lord!
God’s name be praised!

Mid-day Prayer. At mid-day, when tasks and to-do lists are pressing in and human effort is at its height, we stop to renew our awareness of God’s presence, to rest in him for a few moments and ask for his peace and guidance regarding those things that are concerning us. The opening prayer/invocation is always our heart cry:

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Oftentimes mid-day prayer will contain some sort of a prayer for wisdom such as this Collect for Grace, which is one of our favorites in the Transforming Center.

O God, by whom we are guided in judgment,
And who raises up for us light in the darkness,
Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties,
The grace to ask what you would have us to do;
That your wisdom may save us from all false choices,
And in your straight path we may not stumble.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

If you pray that prayer with any kind of sincerity at all, it is guaranteed to change the trajectory of your day!

Evening Prayer. In the evening as the sun sets and the natural light fades, we acknowledge God as the source of our light and greet one another with expressions of peace.

You, O Lord, are my lamp.
My God, you make my darkness bright.
Light and in Jesus Christ our Lord,
Thanks be to God!

In many communities, evening prayer is the longest of the prayer services, offering us the opportunity to place the cares of the day in God’s hands as we make the transition from day to evening.

We praise you and thank you, O God,
For you are without beginning and without end.
Through Christ, you created the whole world;
Through Christ, you preserve it
Through Christ you made the day for the works of light
And the night for the refreshment of our minds and our bodies.
Keep us now in Christ, grant us a peaceful evening,
A night free from sin, and bring us at last to eternal life.
Through Christ and in the Holy Spirit,
We offer you all glory, honor and worship,
Now and forever. AMEN.

Evening prayer typically includes the Gospel reading for the day and may include a brief reflection or homily. Later on in the evening prayer service, we offer up general intercessions for ourselves and others, bringing our own specific needs and the burdens we are carrying for others to God. The fact that the intercessions are written for us relieves us of the need to be so wordy in our intercessions—a helpful discipline given the fact that this is another place in the spiritual life where human striving and fixing can so easily take over. As our personal spiritual journeys lead us to a greater capacity to be with God with what is true about us and to rest in him with our own lives, so we are able to hold others and their needs quietly in God’s presence as well.

Written intercessions (also called Prayers of the People in some settings) allow us to join together in lifting up our shared concerns to God and then to agree together by praying in unison,

Lord, in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.

Night Prayer. When we are together on retreat, we end the day with night prayer in which we celebrate God’s presence during the day and ask him to grant us the rest we need.

May God grant us a quiet night and peace at the last.
AMEN. It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
To sing praise to your name, O most high;
To herald your love in the morning.
Your truth at the close of the day.

Night prayer might also include a time of examen in which we are able to confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness as an important aspect of letting go of the day, receiving God’s gift of rest, and preparing to receive the new mercies that God will have prepared for us when we awake.

Since these prayers are written, there is nothing for any of us to figure out. Scriptures are taken from the lectionary—a reading schedule that follows the Christian calendar—and are read without comment, giving God the opportunity to address us directly through his word in whatever moment we are in. The Gospel readings in particular help us to stay connected to the person of Christ as the model for our life and work. As we pray the hours in community, the Spirit has access to us throughout the day and we are constantly amazed at how God meets us, giving us perspective, assurance, and guidance as we need it far beyond human orchestration.

Fasting

We recently had a day of prayer and fasting at East Taieri Church.  It was a significant time for many people and I believe God was at work in at least two levels.  First, our Saturday retreat about our ministry in the community went very well, so God answered our prayers.  But, just as importantly, God was encouraging people in their discipleship through the experience of fasting.  Some people commented that they hadn't fasted for some time and it was a helpful day focusing them on God.  Others described the way they prayed when they felt hungry.

If you haven't fasted before or not for some time, can I encourage you to experiment with this spiritual practice more.

Fasting is going without food (or some other thing) for a limited time for the spiritual purpose of focusing on God and glorifying Him.  Fasting is not a hunger strike, nor tying to get God to do what we want; nor an attempt to earn our way into heaven, nor a way of appearing to be deeply spiritual.

Some Hints:

·  Fasting usually helps our physical health, but check with your doctor if you are uncertain (e.g. diabetics, expectant mothers should probably not fast.)

·  Fasting and Prayer go together.

·  Begin gently.  Try missing one meal.  Then fast from after dinner until the next dinner, missing breakfast and lunch, drinking fruit juice.  Then try drinking only water.

·  Your stomach will initially complain – especially at meal time.  Try sipping a drink at those times (not too cold).

·  Then consider longer periods.  Headaches from caffeine withdrawal and feelings of weakness or dizziness will pass.

Some Benefits of Fasting:

Ø  It puts the non-essential things in perspective.  “We do not live by bread alone…”

Ø  We affirm and experience another world.  Fasting is feasting.

Ø  We humbly learn to trust God to sustain us.

Ø  It develops self-control over our body.  Our bodily passions need not rule over us.

It often reveals the things that control us (anger, pride…), and begins to deal with them.