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Campaign week four: "Bursting the Wineskins Part 2” (see attached PowerPoint below)
PowerPoint 1: Matt. 9:14-17
Parable as metaphor: Just like the wineskins, when there is no elasticity, we, as individuals, become hard and unusable… Rigidity, personally, or corporately, will stifle growth.
Today we will look at when Churches become hard and unusable…two classic examples most of us have seen have been the conservative/charismatic debate…”My way or the highway” mentality…
The Origins of Rigidity
PowerPoint 2 & 3: Denominational funnels (A & B)
As we continue in a particular denomination long enough, it usually 'shapes' us to our detriment. What should happen is that God gets 'bigger'; in other words, we experience all the grace and wonderment of what God intended, rather than the narrow, unbalanced view of some denominations. Often it's not a case of being wrong, they are simply incomplete.
For example Churches in the Book of Revelation… (note: we can't read too much into these, but broad principles can be applied)
PowerPoint 4: The Church at Ephesus
A RED Church – very active, but lost first love
PowerPoint 5: The Church at Pergamum
A GREEN Church – very faithful, but fell into false doctrine
PowerPoint 6: The Church at Sardis
A BLUE Church – said it was 'alive' but was actually dead
Should Ephesus try to 'work harder' to fix their problems? No!
Should Pergamum be more faithful in the face of persecution? No!
Given that it's going 'so well', should Sardis offer a conference on Church growth? No!
Just focusing on your strengths often will NOT work.
Also, we need to be wary of simplistic solutions, ie, Emotional problems – just devour the Word! (a Red response) Physical problems – just claim your healing! (a typical Blue response)
The more 'radical' our balance is, the more rounded and therefore fruitful we can be…
PowerPoint 7: The Answer - My Aquarium
The NCD concept of minimum factor is important for my aquarium –
Thriving aquarium plants = A balance of light, water quality, nutrients…
PowerPoint 8: The 8 quality characteristics
Not just one key to Church health and growth
In the past, we have all experienced typical "Church Growth” models: Pray for revival, get holy, mobilise spiritual gifts especially evangelism, etc, etc.
Quote from CYW p.110 (bottom)
LCC's minimum factor – Need Oriented Evangelism, though it's linked to several factors as all the 8 quality characteristics are inter-related…
PowerPoint 9: The Trinitarian compass
World focused…Word focused…Spirit focused…
The Compass has the potential to steer us away from the mistakes of the Churches in Revelation…
Response
• Each individual effort, or lack of it, at LCC has a corporate effect.
• We can influence each other for the better, or for the worse. Remember what Hebrews 12:15 teaches us – "Bitterness defiles many…”
• Radical Balance is again the key – both personally and corporately.