Perhaps you’ve heard this challenging word about worship from author Annie Dillard (in Teaching a Stone to Talk), but hear it again:

“Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.”

In other words:

Worship is Dangerous.

Is worship a dangerous experience for you or

          is it boring and not every entertaining?

Is worship a dangerous experience for you or

          is it predictable, safe, and comfortable?

Is worship a dangerous experience for you or

          an opportunity to be socialize, wear a new outfit, and catch up on local happenings?

Is worship a dangerous experience for you or

          a memorial for those whose passion and adventurous spirit we admire but choose not to emulate?

If worship IS dangerous is it because of the message or the hearer?

If worship isn’t dangerous is it because of the message or the hearer?

Audio version of this message is available on-line at Sermon.net    or iTunes

“Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble.  And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone?  A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” NLT

The most selfish act of a Christ-follower is skipping out on church! God saved us to be an active member of His body, the church.

Community of Caring

Family (n)   

persons of common ancestry [Christ],

united by certain convictions [faith],

forming an ordered whole [service]
  

  Disintegration of the Family…

Perfection: I don’t like…    Connection vs Individualism

Priority: I need some “me” time.         Compass vs Clock

Pride: Who do you answer to?        Control vs Submission

n The Church is a springboard for change

The source of HOPE, GRACE, FORGIVENESS, and LOVE

Shared wisdom = Suffering avoided

n The Church is a haven in a heartless world

Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack.
1 Peter 5:8

• Protect the unity of the church.
  
• Defend the hearts of those who love and serve you.
  
• Welcome each person from the storms of life.
  

n The Church reveals Christ

You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Cor 12:27

If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your salvation is bound up with mine, then let us work together, side by side.

True worship affects everything in life.

Original Post

What would a church “dream team” look like?

That was hard to think up because a dream team doesn’t exist.

Well, it does exist…as a dream. But most (99.99999%) of us will never land that dream team. That, and every church has different needs. My dream team won’t be your dream team.

Still, there are some people you really really
need in every church.

Five People Who Won’t Kill Your Church

(And May Just Keep It Alive)

Plumbers: Everyone likes to talk leadership. We have books and conferences and classes and keynotes on the glories of leading. Here’s all you need to know about leaders: You don’t need lots of leaders. They aren’t on this list. Leaders are dangerous…because they know they’re leaders. You need plumbers, and lots of them. Why?

Because churches are full of crap.

That statement works on so many levels. There’s the crap that has to be done for a church to run, and there’s the crap that everyone brings with them to church, and both have to be taken care of. If you want real leaders, look for guys doing jobs around the church that no one wants to do. How about the guy who’s unclogging the toilet? (figuratively or literally) That’s your man, the guy who gets stuff done for others without being the chair of a committee. If you want to be a leader, start fixing toilets.

There’s your leadership seminar. That’ll be $300.

Cheerleaders: Not the kind with pom-poms and short skirts…well, maybe. Pastors don’t need ‘yes men.‘ They need people who can keep them accountable, gently. They need people who can tell them when an idea is really bad, nicely. And outside of that, they need to make the pastor, and everyone else feel really good about being at church. Occasional criticism is easier to swallow when there’s positive attitudes everywhere and a large deposit of affirmation and love. It has been suggested that for every criticism there needs to be TEN affirmations for the criticism to be taken seriously. Besides affirmations are far more fun that conflict and criticism! (10:1)

Cooks: I mean people who can ‘feed’ themselves, and others in a spiritual way. The excuse for leaving a church, “I’m just not being fed here,” is usually a cop-out, like a chick breaking up with a dude by saying, “It’s not you, it’s me,” or, “I love you, but I’m not in love with you.” Really? You’re not being fed? Is the pastor supposed to make funny airplane noises as he brings that baby spoon to your mouth Sunday after Sunday? Let me ask who have you helped feed lately? When was the last time you tried to feed yourself? Some pastors are lousy preachers. But in many cases, I suspect that adults would just rather act like a bunch of diaper babies and find someone to blame.

Bouncers: Did you notice how many people came into our church from the outside and did their damage? Now, I’m not talking about making people feel un-welcome at church. But, just like a show, you get the stamp on your hand and you act cool, or you’re going to get 86ed by a big bald guy. That doesn’t make people feel unwelcome, it makes everyone feel safe! Everyone needs to be aggressively protective of the church they steward, because clowns are everywhere. You don’t even have to shave your head…but it might help.

Pastors: These are your leaders, and the church works really well when no one else is trying to be the pastor. Pastors lead by example in ministry, by getting their hands dirty, even by unclogging toilets. He’s the master plumber, the lead cheerleader, the head chef, and the big bouncer. He’s not doing all the work, he’s just leading everyone else in their work, ministering to each other. If the pastor does this, and nothing else, he probably won’t kill his church.

Yeah, I didn’t include God or The Bible, or Ninjas because we all know they’re on the list.

Hey, I don’t know if your church needs a bass guitarist, or a PowerPoint guy, or a minister of frosted hair, or anyone else. Not every church needs them, and no matter how awesome your church is, it will probably always want to add a new teammate. So the group you have will never be perfect or have all the skills you’d wish for.

But if everyone is playing one or more of those five roles, you’re doing all right. And if nothing else, you’ll probably prevent most church killers from doing much damage. If you’re lacking any of them, you’ll probably be really hurting.

What do you see as being your role in your church?

Are you the big bald guy [bouncer], or the one with the pom-poms, Roto-router Man, or something else I haven’t even thought of?

The Monster in the Closet

Monsters are everywhere, hiding in plain sight, like the one you thought was in your closet as a child. Churches can be perfect places to hide, because Christians are trusting, forgiving, and sometimes just oblivious.

My mother called me as I was walking around downtown Kansas City. She had become suspicious of a member who joined six months prior. Everything seemed normal to the unobservant person. He was a doctor; he was smart and friendly. But there were some…quirks. So she Googled his name.

The guy was infamous. He had lost his license in 26 states. Dateline had run an undercover story on him. I won’t even tell you what he was involved in, it’s too grotesque. It’s probably not what you first think. And we had been harboring him.

I believe what I blurted out to my mother was this:

“Of all the churches, how the hell does this guy find ours?”

She concurred.

Churches of all sizes are great for a monster to hide in. And once they’re found out, it can easily lead to a split. Doesn’t matter how you handle it, people will leave. Don’t be oblivious. Every employer does background checks, looks at internet profiles. At least do yourself the service of Googling someone’s name before you let them become members, so they can confess their sins and get it out of the way.

Three years after we threw him out (according to Paul’s standard of church discipline for unrepentant sinners), he’s bankrupt, divorced, and in jail. So, yeah…we were right.

The Denomination

Ah, you either love them or hate them. I’ve got nothing against denominations. But if you don’t have a stomach for politics in your local church, I don’t suggest getting too involved in your denomination.

Our situation was unique. We started an independent church, then we were ‘adopted’ by an association. It doesn’t matter which one it was, so I won’t mention it. From the beginning, we got the feeling that the denominational leadership was not on the same page as we were. We joined a group of people who didn’t fit our vision. We could overlook that though, because one thing did fit our vision:

Money.

Ah, the promise of a big fat bankroll. It was so much easier to build that building with a big organization paying for it! It was a strained relationship, greased by cash. However, that decision would haunt us.

When our Monster was outed, the denominational leadership was frightened by the prospect of a lawsuit from the Monster himself (who had a litigious reputation.) At the same time, our Usurper had found herself elected to some position of leadership in the denomination (and considered the Monster a friend, which figures.) A grand old church trial was put on, with our Usurper pulling the strings from backstage. The judgment was made that our church had acted wrongly in dismissing our Monster from our membership. Attempts were made at revoking the Pastor’s credentials, which didn’t succeed, but the damage was done.

You probably won’t encounter that situation. But be very particular about what sort of friends you allow your church to make. You may find yourself tied to an albatross, not a golden goose.

Three years after this incident, the state denomination is bankrupt due to a financial scandal…so, yeah…we were vindicated on that one too.

The Pastor

At this point, you might be shaking your heads, saying to yourself, “What was this pastor thinking?”

A lot of bad decisions were made, yes. And he takes his share of the responsibility. But consider this:

Our church began to die when the pastor was no longer free to be the pastor. That happened when the Usurper began running the committee, and the other laypeople were unprepared fight her. Christians can, surprisingly, be reluctant to fight sometimes. The most successful churches often have committees to keep the pastor accountable, but they are heavily guarded against Usurpers, and are led strongly by the pastor.

Also, once this much bad stuff starts happening, almost any pastor’s mental health and leadership will suffer. You can only be attacked so many times before you start living up to the problems you’re blamed for.

One decision that was not clouded by mental fatigue was his commitment to God when our Monster was uncovered. He promised God he’d do the right thing, to stand up to an unrepentant victimizer, no matter what the cost. It ended up costing friends, reputations, health, money, jobs, years of work, and a church.

Sometimes, doing the right thing just sucks.

Epilogue

In a few years, we had gone from a vibrant little church in a house, to an absolutely miserable place. We were attacked repeatedly. We bought more than one bill of goods. We uncovered a terror, and were run over by our denomination and our own former members. Members and friends left without a word, run off by the constant problems. Our building felt empty. We were mentally and spiritually exhausted.

We looked back at the years we had spent together and realized that we had the time of our lives worshipping in the little house, before we had a building, before this story had even begun, being a church on a journey.

So we walked out of our church building after worship for the last time with nothing left to lose, and an invitation was given to the remnant that was left.

“Whoever wants to show up next Sunday, we’ll have church at our house.”

Best decision ever.

So in a stroke of irony, the founding pastor really was the one to pull the trigger and put the church out of its misery. We called the new church Levi’s House – from the story of Jesus eating with the sinners at the home of the tax collector, Levi (Matthew). Not everyone came. Another third of the group turned away to ‘real’ churches in buildings. That’s how most Americans react to house churches. Doesn’t matter. We’re having the time of our lives. I don’t know how long it will last, how long God will let us do this. But it’s a great thing that most Americans won’t ever experience.

God is good, all the time.

All the time, God is good.

The Hijacker

Picture the perfect church visitor. He walks in, eager to meet people. He’s enthusiastic about your little church and wants to participate. He even has skills to contribute to your worship service! He seems mature and willing to serve.

Nothing makes a little church wet its pants faster than new visitors. And if the visitor actually wants to contribute? Let’s get you a nametag right now, new member!

Our hijacker fancied himself a musician. Like many, his skills did not match his ego. Strike one.

He was seminary trained, but not a minister. Strike two.

His family just couldn’t find a church like the one back home. Strike three.

He had designs on us. We were small and thus malleable enough, that he would’ve made short work of molding us into his image. He had the controlling personality of a minister but a weak stomach for the responsibility. And he was bent on recreating us into that blessed church he so missed.

For the love of everything holy, no matter how good a visitor looks, make them sit down and shut up for six months before you let them do anything beyond bringing cookies. Fortunately, our hijacker aborted his mission when a message from God told him there was a church down the street that needed him even more.

The Snake Oil Salesman
Pastor: “I think we need to expand our influence on our community beyond Sundays and Wednesdays…”

Elder: “I agree, we should do something. We need to look more important than those Baptists down the street. But how?”

Deacon: “We don’t use our building more than twice a week. How do we put it to good use?

Enter: Snake Oil Salesman:
“Friends, I couldn’t help noticing your empty building and monitoring your conversation from the bushes outside. The name’s Lanley. Lyle Lanley. And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest… Aw, it’s not for you. It’s more of a First Baptist idea.”

Pastor: “Now just a minute. We’re twice as smart as those Baptists. Just tell us your idea, and we’ll vote for it.”

Snake Oil Salesman:
“Okay, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. You’ve got a building I want. I’ve got people you want. You open your building five nights a week to my non-church related community group. Why, I guarantee that this building itself will make strangers automatically convert and join your congregation! And it will cost you practically nothing, though we can’t pay you anything. It’s win-win!”

From the time you start a church, there will be people who want to use the church, the people, and the money for non-church purposes. And you will want to give in because it might make your church important to people who don’t go to church. Fact: anything the church sponsors that doesn’t directly relate to worship or missions will cost more than you think and probably yield almost nothing.

The Usurper

Every hero needs a villain. If you’re a pastor, you’re Batman. And your villain probably won’t be likable or charming like Catwoman…unless she’s that Catwoman that came out a few years ago, because that was the worst.

It will be the Usurper’s job to love the church more than anything else…and hate the pastor more than anything else. In fact, the Usurper will love the one and dislike the other so much, she’ll want the pastor’s job! Sure, she may not have seminary training, leadership skills, basic hygiene, or even a calling to the ministry. But an undying lust for power is enough qualification to run a church.

You may find a Usurper already in the woodwork when you get hired at a church. If you’re starting a church, your Usurper will play nice until she gets her grubby paws on some seemingly insignificant responsibility. Once that happens, the gloves are off, as she tries to influence every aspect of the church, hoping people will begin to think her indispensible.

Our Usurper became pivotal once all the pawns were in place for her to make the perfect play…

Everyone in your church may be ‘Christians,’ but that doesn’t mean a Christian can’t be an enemy who God will take away if you pray hard enough. Enemies who think they’re saved fight to the bitter end.

The League of Rebels

Even the strongest villain needs an army of darkness, and it’s likely that your Usurper won’t be alone. Where you find one bug in the house, there’s bound to be more.

If you don’t take care of your Usurper right away, you’ll find she’s spawned, like a giant disgusting termite queen birthing tons of hungry little worker-Usurpers, all tearing down, causing disunity. They’ll be everywhere, sowing seeds of dissent against the pastor for any reason, real or imagined. Because when people are fighting for the church they love, it’s not just a fight, it’s a holy war.

By George Bullard

What does it take to become a missional congregation? Not to co-opt the name and claim that is who you are, but to truly become a missional congregation. As a popular name or designation in many places, missional as a concept is being watered down.

First, let’s start with a definition. Another one won’t hurt, and it will also define the frame of these musings.

A missional congregation is one who, out of their worship of the triune God and their passion around fulfilling the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment, seeks to make the world more loving and just through actions focused on spiritually transforming the lives of their neighbors and modeling the gathering of these neighbors into healthy mission outposts called congregations for the scattering of these same neighbors through their own missional efforts. [Wow! That's a mouthful. Let's try a short version.]

A missional congregation seeks to make the world more loving and just through spiritually transforming the lives of neighbors.

Neighbors are defined here in a full global and local context. It is not a geographical neighbor but a theological neighbor. It is not neighbors to be attracted, but neighbors with whom we can represent the incarnational presence of the triune God.

Missional congregations, while deeply caring for the needs of one another in its own congregation, are focused externally and seek to mobilize their congregations to be received, accepted, caught, embraced, and trusted by their neighbors. Missional congregations do not send missionaries and volunteers into their immediate or world context. Rather they invite people to be received by the neighbors for whom God has given them great passion.

Since many congregations claim the term missional for what they do, let’s break down the concept into three different types. First, push missional congregations are seeking to increase disciplemaking processes in their congregation to prepare people to go out into the mission field and express their gifts and passions to neighbors. [I suspect this is the approach taken by 80 percent of congregations claiming to be missional. That is just a hunch. I have no research to support it.]

Second, pull missional congregations are seeking to understand the neighbors to which they perceive God has called them, and then equip disciples within their congregation with the skills needed to be received by those neighbors.

Third, leap missional congregations are seeking to connect with emerging cultures that often cannot be geographically defined, and for whom there are few if any people fully prepared to reach these cutting edge target groups composed of neighbors who may feel disenfranchised by God and the Church, or may have a clear awareness of neither.

Push is primarily boxed. Pull is moving beyond the box. Leap is outside the box and has declared it irrelevant. If your congregation is seeking to become missional, it must at least be pull in its focus. Anything less is not yet missional.

What are your thoughts? What is the next thing you need to know about becoming a missional congregation?

This is God’s Word for my life in this place and at this time. Today, I am a new creation in Christ, I am God’s very own, and I believe He has a purpose for my life.

Matthew 7:24-29 (NIV)

Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Why Worship?

Inspiring (v.) – to breathe in, to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on, MOTIVATE, STIR

♦  Worship is LIFE

Wisemen build…                    Fools build…
How you see life defines life.

♦ Worship is about  growing & building
Learn from the Past
Celebrate the Present
Look to the Future

♦ Worship is  WORK
“and puts them into practice.” v 24

Without action, every confession is a grand delusion.

Worship provide a Plan

• What in my life needs to be changed?    [Reflection]
• What am I willing to commit to change?    [Confession]
• What am I going to specifically do to change?    [Repentance

 Wow, Lord, we worship you. We thank you. We exalt you. We give you praise and honor and glory and even as these words leave my mouth Lord, I am amazed that they just feel feeble. And yet Lord you are mindful that we are but dust. You know what it is like Jesus to walk around in these fleshly shells and how distracted we are, how short term our attention span is and yet you receive gladly our praise, and that just causes me to want to praise you more, and it is this wonderful, holy, viscous cycle. Lord, teach us this week, help us through your spirit to worship you with our lives, to be pleasing aromas to you. That we may learn what it means to live at the center of our bulls eye, that worship really is an end of itself because you are at the center of it and again Jesus, thank you for who you are, that in the flesh you are God explained and we worship you. And it’s in your name we pray. Amen.