Grace Baptist Church

Events vs. Family - Giving Appropriate Emphasis

Tim Chester, author of several books include Total Church, recently wrote a thought-provoking blogpost about performance-based ministry and real-life ministry as it relates to the “store-front” image of the church.  His desire is that people not ask about their meetings (events) but rather ask about how the church lives their lives together with gospel intentionality.

Chester writes:

For many Christians church is an event. It is a meeting you attend or a place you enter. Churches may talk about being a family, but most of their resources go into the Sunday morning event. Acquiring a building. Preparing the sermon. Producing the bulletin. Equipping a venue with sound and light. Planning the show. Practicing the band. That’s were their money and their staff time go. We talk about being family and community, but when you look at how we spend our time and money it becomes clear that in practice we view church as an event.

People often ask me about our meetings. ‘When do you meet? Where? What do you do when you meet together?’ But if you ask those questions then you have completely missed the point! We’re not advocating a new way of doing meetings. Actually our meetings are not good! The music is poor and the teaching is nothing you’d go out of your way to hear. What matters to us is our shared life: sharing our lives, doing ordinary life with gospel intentionality.

The church will never out perform TV shows and music videos. But there is nothing like the community life of the church. There is nowhere else where diverse people come together. There is nowhere else were broken people find a home. There is nowhere else when grace is experienced. There is nowhere else where God is present by his Spirit.

Although our corporate times of gathered worship are very important in the life of our church, relatively speaking if we are a healthy church, we would view church life much more than an “event” but a shared journey where we live life together on mission in our community with a gospel-driven passion.  While the de-churched in our community will perhaps find their way to one of our corporate gatherings, the unchurched and unreached people will not exposed to the glorious realities of the gospel without the community apologetic and everyday witness of kingdom living through word (proclamation) and deed (service).

While we do not want diminish the significance of our times of gathered corporate worship, we ought to raise the significance of everyday life in between these gatherings to authentically and intentionality demonstrate how the gospel continues to transform our lives where the Spirit of God makes ordinary moments extraordinary opportunities for glorying in Jesus Christ!

Labels: Cape Coral, Community, Family Life, Grace Baptist Church, Tim Chester | posted by TimBrister at 8:28 am | Categories: Community, Gospel, Small Groups |

Killer Community Tips

Here’s a light-hearted way of communicating some wrong-headed view of community groups . . .

Labels: Community, Small Groups | posted by TimBrister at 12:42 pm | Categories: Community, Small Groups |

Seven Reasons Why Preaching Is NOT Enough - John Piper

Much like Grace, Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN (where John Piper is lead pastor) has been transitioning in structure for small group ministry.  In his exposition on John 5, Piper explained the importance of small group for healthy body life and why preaching is NOT enough.  From Piper’s manuscript (emphasis mine):

Last Sunday when I met with the small group leaders of the Downtown Campus, I tried to show them how essential their role is at this church by giving them seven reasons my preaching is not enough—seven reasons why perseverance in faith and growth in faith call for Christians to meet regularly in a face-to-face way to “serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10). God intends to do things in you which he will only do through the ministry of other believers.

7 Reasons We Need Small Groups

He has given pastors to the church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12). I believe in what I do. And I believe that it is not enough. Here are the seven reasons I gave the small group leaders.

1. The impulse [to] avoid painful growth by disappearing safely into the crowd in corporate worship is very strong.
2. The tendency toward passivity in listening to a sermon is part of our human weakness.
3. Listeners in a big group can more easily evade redemptive crises. If tears well up in your eyes in a small group, wise friends will gently find out why. But in a large gathering, you can just walk away from it.
4. Listeners in a large group tend to neglect efforts of personal application. The sermon may touch a nerve of conviction, but without someone to press in, it can easily be avoided.
5. Opportunity for questions leading to growth is missing. Sermons are not dialogue. Nor should they be. But asking questions is a key to understanding and growth. Small groups are great occasions for this.
6. Accountability for follow-through on good resolves is missing. But if someone knows what you intended to do, the resolve is stronger.
7. Prayer support for a specific need or conviction or resolve goes wanting. O how many blessings we do not have because we are not surrounded by a band of friends who pray for us.

So please know that when this small-group ministry of our church is lifted up, I don’t think it’s an optional add-on to basic Christian living. I think it is normal, healthy, needed, New Testament Christianity. I pray that you will be part of one of these small groups or that you will get the training and start one. This is the main strategy through which our pastors and elders shepherd the flock at Bethlehem: Elders > small group leaders > members to one another.

These seven points provided Piper are important to consider, especially because of the fact that we are all members of one another and participants in the change God wants to bring in conforming us more into the image of Christ.

Labels: Bethlehem Baptist Church, Community, Grace Baptist Church, John Piper, Small Groups | posted by TimBrister at 2:01 pm | Categories: Community, Small Groups |

Proverbs 8 Study Guide & Discussion Questions

In our Grace Community Groups (GCGs), we have been seeking to apply God’s Word (text) to our lives (context) as preached from Pastor Tom Ascol and his series through the book of Proverbs.  In our October GCG, we took up chapter eight of Proverbs, focusing on the nature, value, and accessibility of wisdom.  I am making the study guide and discussion questions available online for download to anyone who might find it profitable for their small group or personal devotion.

To download the Proverbs 8 study guide and questions, click here (PDF).

Labels: Community Groups, Grace Baptist Church, Proverbs 8 | posted by TimBrister at 1:39 pm | Categories: Community, GCG Study Guides, Proverbs, Resources, Small Groups |

Stetzer on Missional Small Communities

Ed Stetzer: “We should not be so concerned about the container but the church being contained.”

Missional Small Communities from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Here is the outline for his talk:

1.  Can small communities be missional?
a.  Made up of people living on mission
b.  Most likely place for life transformation
c.  Less to maintain =  more focus on mission
d.  Yo-Yo Illustration: Centrifugal Force (missional) & Centripetal Force (attractional)
e.  Do something for the gospel, not just ourselves

2.  Why small communities?
a.  Accountable relationships
b.  Provoking is possible (specific vs. generic)
c.  Flat structures help people live on mission (vs. hierarchy)
d.  Maximum participation (from rows to circles to the world)

3.  What are some hindrances to missional small communities?
a.  More of a concern for knowledge than life transformation
b.  Leaders love to teach more than to help people learn
c.  Reflections of the past
d.  Segmentation of the mission (”every expression of the church owns all the mission of God”)

4.  What are some key practices of missional small communities?
a.  Mission orientation
b.  Word-driven community
c.  Multiplication mindset
d.  Incarnationally valid
e.  Stranger welcoming
f.  Kingdom focused

5.  Build a strategy that is communicable and understandable for our people
a. Connect
b. Grow
c.  Share
d.  Go

Conclusion: “The most likely place for life transformation and missional engagement is in small communities.”

Labels: Community Groups, Ed Stetzer, Missional Small Communities | posted by TimBrister at 12:46 pm | Categories: Community, Evangelism, Missional, Small Groups |

Community Groups on Mission

Tim Keller, in his influential article “The Missional Church” explains the difference between the practice of church in “Christendom” and the church in an increasingly post-modern, secularized culture.  His argument is that if the church is going to reach the world in which we live today, we cannot accept the traditional mode of existence within Christendom since it no longer exists but instead embrace a missional posture which seeks to engage and influence the non-Christian society in which we live.

At the conclusion of his article, Keller lists six ways a community group can take on the missional posture, and I want to commend them to you as you participate in our Grace Community Groups.

You are a community group on mission if:

1.  Its members love and talk positively about the city/neighborhood
2.  They speak the language that is not filled with pious tribal or technical terms or phrases, nor disdainful and embattled language
3.  In their Bible study they apply the gospel to the core concerns and stories of the people of the culture
4.  They are obviously interested in and engaged with the literature and art and thought of the surrounding culture and can discuss it both appreciatively and critically
5.  They exhibit deep concern for the poor and generosity with their money and purity and respect with regard to opposite sex, and show humility toward people of other races and cultures
6.  They do not bash other Christians and churches

THEN . . . Keller says that

A.  Seekers and non-believing people from the city will be invited in
B.  They will come and will stay as they explore spiritual issues

Labels: Community Groups, Culture, Missional, Tim Keller | posted by TimBrister at 12:21 pm | Categories: Community, Missional, Small Groups |

Why One Group and One Place: Community Group Q&A (PDF)

This evening, I followed up with addressing two questions that have been asked: (1) Is it okay for me to attend various community groups? and (2) Can we have various host homes for the same community group?  Regarding these questions, I sought to address with biblical considerations, current realities, and specific reasons why the pastors and elders recommend Grace Community Groups meet in the same place and members commit to one particular community group.

I have made the PowerPoint presentation available to download as a PDF document.  To download it, click below:

“Why One Group and One Place? Grace Community Groups Q&A“

Labels: Community Groups, Grace Baptist Church, Incarnational Ministry, Theology of Place | posted by TimBrister at 8:00 pm | Categories: Community, Resources, Small Groups |

Why Weekly? Q&A About Grace Community Groups (PDF)

It is our goal to make as much of our materials and resources available to you, and in keeping with that goal, I am providing a downloadable PDF of this evening’s discussion on the question “Why Weekly?: A Q&A Discusion for Grace Community Groups.”  This short presentation simply covers biblical considerations, current realities, and six practical reasons for transitioning to weekly community groups. If the presentation was recorded, I will also link to the MP3 from this evening.

To downlaod the document, click below:

* Why Weekly? - A Q&A Discussion for Grace Community Groups *

Labels: Community, Grace Baptist Church, Small Groups | posted by TimBrister at 8:52 pm | Categories: Church Planting, Community, Evangelism, Resources, Small Groups |

Nuts and Bolts of a Great Commission Vision (PDF)

As promised, I want to share with you the PowerPoint slides in a PDF document for you to download for further review, prayer, and reflection.  The nuts and bolts of this Great Commission vision is a project in the making; nevertheless, this document gives you a pretty good idea of where the pastors and elders of Grace have been thinking and praying for the past 6-8 months to better facilitate the Great Commission with a strategy and structure for our church scattered and sent on mission for the glory of God.

To download the document, simply click here:

“The Nuts and Bolts of a Great Commission Vision of Grace Baptist Church“

Labels: Church Planting, Community Groups, Grace Baptist Church, Great Commission, Leadership Development | posted by TimBrister at 8:38 pm | Categories: Church Planting, Community, Evangelism, Missional, Resources, Small Groups |

No Person’s Contribution Lost in the Crowd

“Small communities determine a size in which mutual discipleship and care can realistically take place.  They create a simplicity that militates against a maintenance mentality; there are no expensive buildings to maintain or complex programs to run.  They determine a style that is participatory and inclusive, mirroring the discipleship model and table fellowship of Jesus himself. . . . [One another] is simply the practical expression of the priesthood of all believers.  Whatever flexibility there might be about the structure of church, these principles are binding. We are to disciple and exhort one another, to love and care for one another. . . . The priesthood of all believers finds expression when no person’s contribution gets lost in the crowd.”

- Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total Church: A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 93-94.

Labels: Community, Priesthood of All Believers, Small Groups | posted by TimBrister at 2:16 am | Categories: Community, Small Groups |

A Great Commission Vision for Grace Baptist Church

Below is the manuscript from Sunday night’s message I delivered focusing on where we’ve been and looking to head regarding community groups and church planting.  For those who could not attend, I pray this will be an encouragement and help to you as you continue to pray with us about what God has instore for Grace as we seek to reach SW Florida for Christ!

:: A Great Commission Vision for Grace Baptist Church ::

[Introduction]

I think it is safe to say that the most vivid and significant moment in the life of Grace last year was the day when Pastor Tom was struck by lightning.  It was a serious and sobering time of intense prayer, genuine concern, and deep reflection on the providence of God.  However, what many if not most of you may not be aware is that Pastor Tom was struck two days after he preached the message on the Great Commission and expressed his desire to see Grace Baptist Church become a church planting church.  I don’t want to draw too strong of a connection between Pastor Tom’s message and the lightning strike, but one thing is for sure: the devil does not want us to be on the offensive! He does not want us to be full of faith, confident in the Spirit’s work of drawing sinners to Jesus, courageous in preaching the gospel and establishing churches!  I suppose there could be numerous reasons as to why one might speculate why God allowed Pastor Tom to be struck by lightning, but in light of our recent study on spiritual warfare, we cannot forget that our enemy’s goal is to destroy the work of God wherever it is found.

The work of God here at Grace over the past few years has been a growing desire and commitment to embrace the call of the Great Commission like never before.  As Pastor Tom mentioned in his message last summer, embracing the Great Commission is essentially embracing the call to be a church planting church.  Knowing that Christ has promised to build His church and that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18), and knowing that God has chosen the church as the vehicle through which “the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10)-then we should rest assure that the advancement of the gospel through a Great Commission church is a principal target for the fiery darts of the evil one.

(more…)

Labels: Church Planting, Community Groups, Grace Baptist Church, Great Commission | posted by TimBrister at 8:48 pm | Categories: Church Planting, Community, Evangelism, Gospel, Missional, Sermons, Small Groups |

The Means of Biblical Fellowship

Continuing in the series based on the book Why Small Groups?, I want to pick up where I left off on second chapter focusing on rediscovering biblical fellowship.  The last post in this series address the nature of biblical fellowship, and today I want to address the means of biblical fellowship.

John Loftness, author of the second chapter, argues that the “failure to practice [these] means of fellowship denies us the opportunity to draw on fellowship as a means of grace.” That’s a significant statement to consider.  What does Loftness mean by this?

When God saved us, He called us into community with one another.  No Christian has the liberty to live a life of individuality.  The child of God has been adopted into the family of God where God is our Father.  We do not pray, “My Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name” but “Our Father . . .”.  Being in Christ means being connected to the body of Christ.  Therefore, to unite with Christ by faith effectively translates into being intimately connected with brothers and sisters in Christ who call upon His name.

God has so designed the Christian life that the means of grace for personal growth are bound up in the means of biblical fellowship as we live in community together.  What that means is a Christian can never fully understand the life of a Christian in isolation.  To deny the means of biblical fellowship is to deny the very good that the gospel brings in the exchange of lives through the bonds of a covenant commitment to one another.

The various means of fellowship Loftness mentions include corporate worship, prayer and intercession for one another, utilizing spiritual gifts, carrying one another’s burdens, sharing spiritual experiences, correcting one another, confessing sins to one another, and serving in practical ways.  Although this list is not comprehensive, it gives us a good idea of what God has provided us in the means of biblical fellowship. Means are meant to be used, and to the degree we take advantage of these means reveal the nature of our commitment (or lack thereof) to experiencing biblical fellowship.

As you examine your spiritual life and take inventory, I encourage you to not consider only the spiritual disciplines of private devotion but also the disciplines that accompany devotion to one another.  The disciplines of the Christian life are exercised in a life devoted to Jesus and His Church, that is, for His glory and their good.  May our growth in grace manifest a undeniable connection to our growth in biblical fellowship!

Labels: Community Groups, Means of Biblical Fellowship, Why Small Groups? | posted by TimBrister at 7:23 am | Categories: Community, Small Groups |

Community Groups of Grace

We have just started posting new information and details regarding the community groups that will be starting next month.  Much more information will be provided in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned!  For now, you will find two pages of interest: community groups (located under “ministries” menu bar) and host homes. Please continue to pray about Grace scattered all throughout Southwest Florida in community groups so that the gospel will run deep into our hearts and wide into our lives.

Labels: Community Groups, Small Groups | posted by TimBrister at 8:09 pm | Categories: New Website Content, Small Groups |

Rediscovering Biblical Fellowship

Continuing in our discussion on small groups, I want to highlight the second chapter of the book Why Small Groups? which focuses on “rediscovering biblical fellowship.”  The idea of Christian fellowship, especially in Southern Baptist churches is often associated with sharing a meal together (especially if it is fried chicken!).  More times than not, it is a scheduled event or program that randomly occurs on the church calendar.  Yet, can we actually argue that this is a truly biblical understanding of fellowship?

In his chapter, John Loftness explains both what fellowship is not and what it is.  He argues that fellowship is not merely “warm human interchange” around common interests, experiences, or viewpoints.  He goes further to argue that neither is it merely showing up at a Bible study or sharing doctrinal commitments with other people.  Rather felowship is

“participating together in the life and truth made possible by the Holy Spirit through our union with Christ.  Fellowship is sharing something in common on the deepest possible level of human relationship–our experience with God Himself.”

In order for there to be genuine fellowship, Loftness explains that “fellowship with others begins with an honest, open, obedient relationship with God rooted in the truth of His Word. How we share that relationship with others–how we wrestle with understanding and struggle to apply it to our lives–is the essence of fellowship.”

One of the risks involved in the interplay of give and take made possible by investing in others and being invested in is becoming intimately acquainted with one another–and our problems.  Loftness writes, “To pursue relationships is to open ourselves to hurt, misunderstanding, and inconvenience, for our relationships are inevitably influenced by our sin.”  In other words, biblical fellowship is messy. You will get your hands dirty loving, serving, and confronting one another. It means that we must understand that it is “by the grace of God I am what I am” and that we have no reason to “save face” but be willing to be exposed knowing that it is Christ’s righteousness, not our own, that covers our sinful nakedness.  Applying the gospel through daily repenting and believing, together we can slowly free ourselves from the dangers of legalism (self-righteousness) and guard ourselves from the license to sin without being held to account. Loftness adds,

“We belong to one another. We are pilgrims on our way to the promised land, called to help one another on the journey. God has chosen fellowship to be a primary channel of life in the body.”

If, in the pilgrim’s progress, we find only one set of footprints in the sand, something has gone wrong. God has made us a people together by His mercy to communicate His love and display His glory together that others might know such mercy.  May God help us rediscover biblical fellowship where superficial relationships are intolerable and life transformation is inevitable.

Labels: John Loftness, Small Groups, Why Small Groups? | posted by TimBrister at 3:40 pm | Categories: Community, Small Groups |

Loving One Another With the Gospel

Continuing the discussion with small groups, I want to provide an excerpt from an excellent little book called A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love by Milton Vincent.  Regarding ways in which we love one another he writes:

The more I experience the gospel, the more there develops within me a yearning affection for my fellow-Christians who are also participating in the glories of the gospel.  This affection for them comes loaded with confidence in their continued spiritual growth and ultimate glorification, and it becomes my pleasure to express to them this loving confidence regarding the ongoing work of God in their lives.

Additionally, with the gospel proving itself to be such a boon in my own life, I realize that the greatest gift I can give to my fellow-Christians is the gospel itself.  Indeed, I love my fellow-Christians not simply because of the gospel, but I love them best when I am loving them with the gospel!  And I do this not merely by speaking gospel words to them, but also by living before them and generously relating to them in a gospel manner.  Imparting my life to them in this way, I thereby contribute to their experience of the power, the Spirit, and the full assurance of the gospel.

By preaching the gospel to myself each day, I nurture the bond that unites me with my brothers and sisters for whom Christ died, and I also keep myself well-versed in the raw materials with which I may actively love them in Christ.

Have you ever considered stirring one another up to love and good works through the gospel’s work in and through your life?  How does a gospel-believing community of believers practically exhort one another and apply the gospel to their lives?  These are the kinds of questions that lead to the importance of participating in a small group of believers where you can not only “speak gospel words to them, but also live before them and generously relate to them in a gospel manner.”  Let us pray and seek meaningful ways to love one another not only because of the gospel but with the gospel!

Labels: Gospel Primer, Love One Another, Small Groups | posted by TimBrister at 6:49 am | Categories: Gospel, Small Groups |